Turkey has issued a warning to avoid bootleg alcohol in the country after around 103 people were reported to have been fatally poisoned in two major cities since the new year. According to the Independent, all deaths happened in Ankara and Istanbul, after authorities warned about a rising death toll tied to an increase in illegal alcohol being sold disguised as big-name brands. In Istanbul, 70 people have died since January 14, and in Ankara, 33 have died since January 1. Across the two cities, another 230 were hospitalised in connection with the poisoned “booze” with 40 of those in critical condition, officials said. 

In Turkey, the price of alcohol has spiked in the last few years due to heavy taxes imposed by President Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling AK Party. Alcoholic drink makers have also faced an increasingly onerous tax burden and other restrictions, the outlet reported. Moreover, the Turkish government has again hiked taxes on alcohol and tobacco products for 2025 on 3 January.

This high cost has pushed some consumers, shops, restaurants and bars to rely on bootleg alcohol and homemade drinks, leading to rising poisoning in recent years. 

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Istanbul’s governor’s office last month said it had taken steps to combat bootleg sales and distribution, including mandatory cameras at shops selling alcohol, suspending or revoking sale licences, and carrying out regular inspections. Authorities have arrested 13 people in Ankara and 11 others in Istanbul. They have also reportedly seized 102 tons of methanol and ethanol in Ankara, and over 86,000 litres of bootleg pr smuggled alcohol in Istanbul, as per The Independent. 

Meanwhile, the recent deaths in Turkey come after six tourists, including an American and a backpacker from the United Kingdom, died in Laos after unknowingly consuming methanol-tainted booze. The youngest victim, an Australian woman, was only 19 years old.

New Delhi:

Around 400 IndiGo passengers, scheduled to travel between New Delhi and Mumbai, and Turkey, have allegedly been stranded at Istanbul airport for 24 hours.

In response to a passenger, the airline said the flight is delayed due to operational reasons. 

Passengers took to social media platform X and LinkedIn to claim that the flight was first delayed and then cancelled without notice. One of the fliers Anushri Bhansali said the flight was delayed twice by and hour, then cancelled and finally rescheduled 12 hours later, leaving passengers stranded. While complaining of exhaustion and a fever, she also said fliers were not given any accommodation, meal vouchers or even approached by an IndiGo representative at the airport.

Another passenger Rohan Raja said that after the 6.40 am flight from Delhi was cancelled, people struggled amid the chilly weather as the airline provided no transport to the accommodations they were allegedly provided.

Scheduled to travel to Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Parshwa Mehta wrote the 8.15 pm was delayed to 11 pm and then pushed to 10 am the next day. Further, chaos ensued as there was no IndiGo announcement and the information was received from the Turkish Airlines crew.

“We were told we’d get lounge access at Istanbul airport as compensation. But the lounge was far too small to accommodate the huge number of stranded passengers. Many of us were left standing for hours without proper facilities. No alternative flights were offered, no proper communication was made, and to top it all off-no plans for reparations were shared,” he wrote in a post on X.

Mr Mehta, we sincerely apologise for the inconvenience and will connect with you. ~Poulami

— IndiGo (@IndiGo6E) December 12, 2024

Hitting out at the airline’s “blatant failure of basic customer service”, Mr Mehta said every passenger is owed an apology and fair compensation.

Earlier this month, the AirHelp Score report 2024 placed IndiGo among the world’s worst airlines, ranking it 103rd among the 109 analysed. The report also ranked Air India at 61st and AirAsia at 94th.

Firefighters work after a fire broke out at a nightclub in Istanbul, Turkiye, on April 02, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

A fire at an Istanbul nightclub during renovations on April 2 killed at least 29 people, officials and reports said. Several people, including managers of the club, were detained for questioning.

At least one person was being treated at a hospital, the Istanbul governor’s office said in a statement.

The Masquerade nightclub, which was closed for renovations, was on the ground and basement floors of a 16-story residential building in the Besiktas district on the European side of the city bisected by the Bosphorus. The fire was extinguished.

Gov. Davut Gul told reporters at the scene that the cause of the fire was under investigation and the victims were believed to be involved in the renovation work.

Authorities detained five people for questioning, including managers of the club and one person in charge of the renovations, Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said.

Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu said authorities were inspecting the entire building to assess its safety.

Several firefighting and medical teams were dispatched to the scene, he said.

Turkey’s main opposition party appeared set to retain its control over key cities in Sunday’s local elections, preliminary results showed, in a major upset to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who had set his sights on retaking control of those urban areas.

With some 20% of the votes counted, incumbent mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, of the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, was leading in Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city and economic hub — according to state broadcaster TRT. Mayor Mansur Yavas, the mayor of the capital Ankara, also appeared poised to retain his seat with a comfortable majority, the results indicated.

The CHP appeared to be leading in 35 of Turkey’s 81 provinces, according to the preliminary results reported by TRT.

The vote was seen as barometer of President Erdogan’s popularity as he sought to win back control of key urban areas he lost to the opposition in elections five years ago. The CHP’s victory in Ankara and Istanbul in 2019, had shattered Mr. Erdogan’s aura of invincibility.

The main battleground for the 70-year-old Turkish president was Istanbul, a city of 16 million people where he was born and raised and where he began his political career as mayor in 1994.

A strong showing for Mr. Erdogan’s ruling Islamic-oriented Justice and Development Party, or AKP, would likely harden his resolve to usher in a new constitution — one that would reflect his conservative values and allow him to rule beyond 2028 when his current term ends, analysts say.

For the opposition — divided and demoralized after a defeat in last year’s presidential and parliamentary elections — keeping Istanbul and Ankara would be a major boost and help remobilize supporters.

Some 61 million people, including more than a million first-time voters, were eligible to cast ballots for all metropolitan municipalities, town and district mayorships as well as neighborhood administrations.

Turnout is traditionally high in Turkey, but this time the vote comes against the backdrop of a cost-of-living crisis. Observers said disillusioned opposition supporters could opt to stay home, doubting that the election will change things. Governing party supporters, meanwhile, could also choose not to go to the polls in protest at the economic downturn that has left many struggling to pay for food, utilities and rent.

Some 594,000 security personnel were on duty across the country to ensure the vote goes smoothly. Nevertheless, one person was killed and eleven others were hurt in the city of Diyarbakir where a dispute over the election of a neighborhood administrator turned violent, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. At least six people were also injured in fighting that erupted in the nearby province of Sanliurfa.

“According to the data we have obtained, it seems our citizens’ trust in us, their faith in us has paid off,” Mr. Imamoglu said of the early results.

Polls had pointed to a close race between Istanbul’s incumbent mayor, Mr. Imamoglu, and the AKP’s candidate Murat Kurum, a former urbanization and environment minister.

Mr. Imamoglu — a popular figure touted as a possible future challenger to President Erdogan — ran without the support of some of the parties that helped him to victory in 2019.

Both the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party and the nationalist IYI Party fielded their own candidates in the race.

A six-party opposition alliance led by CHP disintegrated after it failed to oust President Erdogan in last year’s election, unable to capitalize on the economic crisis and the government’s initially poor response to last year’s devastating earthquake that killed more than 53,000 people.

Hamish Kinnear, a senior Middle East and North Africa analyst at risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft, said that if Mr. Imamoglu hangs on in Istanbul, “he will be well placed to unify the fractious opposition and launch a bid for the presidency in 2028.”

However, losing Istanbul would deal a significant blow to both Mr. Imamoglu and the opposition, Mr. Kinnear said.

Meanwhile, a new religious-conservative party, the New Welfare Party, or YRP, is appealing to voters who have been disillusioned with President Erdogan’s handling of the economy and was expected to draw some votes away from his candidates.

In Turkey’s mainly Kurdish-populated southeast, the DEM Party was poised to win many of the municipalities but it’s unclear whether it would be allowed to retain them. In previous years, Erdogan’s government removed elected pro-Kurdish mayors from office for alleged links to Kurdish militants and replaced them with state-appointed trustees.

Mr. Erdogan, who has presided over Turkey for more than two decades — as prime minister since 2003 and president since 2014 — has been advocating a new constitution that would put family values at the forefront. He does not have sufficient votes to enact a new constitution now, but a strong showing could allow him to woo some conservative, nationalist or Islamic legislators from the opposition camp for a needed two-thirds majority.

Berk Esen, an associate professor of political sciences at Istanbul’s Sabanci University, said Mr. Erdogan is pushing for a new constitution “more conservative than the current version” to expand and define his legacy.

This is where the local elections come in.

“This would be a big opportunity for Erdogan to leave his political imprint,” Mr. Esen said.

Turkey’s main opposition party retained its control over key cities and made huge gains elsewhere in Sunday’s local elections, in a major upset to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who had set his sights on retaking control of those urban areas.

With more than 90% of ballot boxes counted, incumbent Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, of the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, was leading by a wide margin in Turkey’s largest city and economic hub, according to the state-run Anadolu Agency. Mansur Yavas, the mayor of the capital, Ankara, retained his seat with a stunning 25-point difference over his challenger, the results indicated.

In all, the CHP won the municipalities of 36 of Turkey’s 81 provinces, according to Anadolu, making inroads into many strongholds of Erdogan’s party. It gained 37% of the votes nationwide, compared to 36% for the president’s party, marking the CHP’s greatest electoral victory since President Erdogan came to power two decades ago.

Mr. Erdogan acknowledged the electoral setback in a speech delivered from the balcony of the presidential palace, saying his party had suffered “a loss of altitude” across Turkey. The people delivered a “message” that his party will “analyse” by engaging in “courageous” self-criticism, he said.

“Unfortunately, nine months after our victory in the May 28 elections, we could not get the result we wanted in the local election test,” Mr. Erdogan added. “We will correct our mistakes and redress our shortcomings.”

He vowed to press ahead with an economic program introduced last year that aims to combat inflation.

The vote was seen as a barometer of Mr. Erdogan’s popularity as he sought to win back control of key urban areas he lost to the opposition in elections five years ago. The CHP’s victory in Ankara and Istanbul in 2019 had shattered Erdogan’s aura of invincibility.

The main battleground for the 70-year-old Turkish president was Istanbul, a city of 16 million people where he was born and raised and where he began his political career as mayor in 1994.

The result came as a boost for the opposition, which was left divided and demoralized after a defeat to Mr. Erdogan and his ruling Islamic-oriented Justice and Development Party, or AKP, in last year’s presidential and parliamentary elections.

“The voters decided to establish a new political order in Turkey,” CHP leader Ozgur Ozel told a crowd of jubilant supporters. “Today, the voters decided to change the 22-year-old picture in Turkey and open the door to a new political climate in our country.”

A large crowd, meanwhile, gathered outside Ankara City Hall to celebrate Mr. Yavas’ victory. “Ankara is proud of you!” supporters chanted.

Sinan Ulgen, director of the Istanbul-based Edam think tank, said “the surprising outcome” was due to voters wanting to punish the ruling party over the “depth of an economic malaise.” Skyrocketing inflation has left many Turkish households struggling to afford basic goods.

AKP supporters opted to stay away from the ballot stations or voted for other parties, Mr. Ulgen said.

“Turnout was relatively low compared to past elections,” he said. “There were cross-party shifts in the vote, which did not happen in the nationals elections because of stronger ideological attachments. This time around the economy prevailed over identity.”

Some 61 million people, including more than a million first-time voters, were eligible to cast ballots for all metropolitan municipalities, town and district mayorships as well as neighborhood administrations.

Turnout was around 76%, according to the state-run Anadolu Agency, compared to 87% last year.

Some 594,000 security personnel were on duty across the country to ensure the vote goes smoothly. Nevertheless, one person was killed and 11 others were hurt in the city of Diyarbakir where a dispute over the election of a neighborhood administrator turned violent, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. At least six people were also injured in fighting that erupted in the nearby province of Sanliurfa.

“According to the data we have obtained, it seems our citizens’ trust in us, their faith in us has paid off,” Mr. Imamoglu said of the early results.

Mr. Imamoglu won 50.6% of the votes in Istanbul, while AKP candidate Murat Kurum, a former urbanization and environment minister, received 40.5%, according to Anadolu. Opinion polls had pointed to a close race between the two.

Mr. Imamoglu — a popular figure touted as a possible future challenger to President Erdogan — ran without the support of some of the parties that helped him to victory in 2019. Both the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party and the nationalist IYI Party fielded their own candidates in the race.

A six-party opposition alliance led by CHP disintegrated after it failed to oust President Erdogan in last year’s election, unable to capitalize on the economic crisis and the government’s initially poor response to last year’s devastating earthquake that killed more than 53,000 people.

Mr. Ulgen said the result has thrust Imamoglu into the role of possible leader of the opposition to challenge Erdogan for the presidency in 2028.

“This outcome has certainly been a watershed for Imamoglu,” he said. “He will emerge as the natural candidate of the opposition for the next round of presidential elections.

Meanwhile, a new religious-conservative party, the New Welfare Party, or YRP, is appealing to voters who have been disillusioned with President Erdogan’s handling of the economy.

In Turkey’s mainly Kurdish-populated southeast, the DEM Party was poised to win many of the municipalities but it’s unclear whether it would be allowed to retain them. In previous years, Erdogan’s government removed elected pro-Kurdish mayors from office for alleged links to Kurdish militants and replaced them with state-appointed trustees.

Analysts said a strong showing for Erdogan’s party would have hardened his resolve to usher in a new constitution — one that would reflect his conservative values and allow him to rule beyond 2028 when his current term ends.

Mr. Erdogan, who has presided over Turkey for more than two decades — as prime minister since 2003 and president since 2014 — has been advocating a new constitution that would put family values at the forefront.

Istanbul:

Stressed before a big flight? Therapy dogs are now on hand at Istanbul Airport to help calm the nerves of tense travellers.

The airport has been running the program for the past month to help reduce stress and anxiety among passengers passing through its terminals.

Kneeling to pet therapy pooch, Kuki, traveller Anastasia Podmazova praised the service.

“It relaxes me. I love animals. It is very good,” she said.

Following positive feedback from passengers, airport operator IGA wants to expand the project, raising the number of dogs on hand to comfort travellers from five to 10, said Abdulkadir Demirtas, a customer experience manager.

“Travelling can be stressful … According to research, interaction between animals and humans reduces stress levels and anxiety,” Demirtas said.

Murat Cengiz Koca, a dog behavioural expert and trainer who accompanies the canines around the airport, said the animals were trained not to react to sounds or people.

“The dogs we have chosen here have gone through a year-long process and training. They are here today because they have been successful,” he said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)