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.

Istanbul:

Fourteen people have now been arrested as part of a criminal investigation into a fire at a Turkish luxury ski resort hotel that killed 78, state media reported on Friday.

The Anadolu news agency said eight people were brought before prosecutors on Friday in connection with the blaze that swept through the Grand Kartal Hotel in Kartalkaya early Tuesday.

The owner of the hotel and his son-in-law are among those detained, along with the general manager, director and chief electrician, and the fire chief in the nearby town of Bolu.

Negligence is suspected for the high death toll, after survivors said there were no fire alarms, safety exits or fire doors at the 12-storey hotel, trapping people inside.

Turkey’s Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya has said 238 people, most of them families with children, were staying at the hotel northwest of the capital Ankara at the time of the fire.

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Istanbul:

A fire engulfed a hotel at a ski resort in northwestern Turkey on Tuesday, killing 10 people and injuring 32 others, the interior minister said.

Witnesses said desperate guests had tried to escape using ropes, footage showed bedsheets hanging from the windows, and media reports suggests some had died after trying to jump to safety.

Several ministers have arrived at the scene at the Kartalkaya resort around 170 kilometres (100 miles) northwest of the capital Ankara, and officials said the fire had now been contained.

The blaze broke out at 3:27 am (0027 GMT) in the 12-storey Grand Kartal hotel, which has wooden cladding, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on X.

Local media reported at least 230 people were staying at the hotel, a peak time during a two-week school holiday.

Private NTV broadcaster said the dead included three people who had jumped from the hotel’s windows.

The fire is believed to have started in the restaurant and spread quickly, though it was not immediately clear what caused it.

Part of it backs onto a cliff, making it harder for firefighters to tackle the blaze.

Television footage showed huge plumes of smoke rising into the sky with a snowcapped mountain behind the hotel.

“I heard screams around midnight, (hotel) residents were shouting for help,” Baris Salgur, who works at a nearby hotel, told NTV television.

“They asked for a blanket, saying they will jump … we did what we could, we brought rope, pillows, we brought a sofa. Some people threw themselves once the flames approached them.”

Officials fear the number of dead could rise.

‘No safety’

Footage showed the wrecked lobby of the hotel with shards of glass on the floor, the reception desk and the wooden furniture inside charred black.

Authorities warned the building could collapse.

A survivor who managed to escape the flames told local media that no alarms rang at the hotel when the fire started, complaining lack of any safety measures including fire stairs or smoke detector.

Footage revealed hotel sheets hanging from the hotel’s windows indicating some tied them in order to escape the blaze.

“I pray to God for mercy upon our citizens who lost their lives in the fire,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on X.

He said he wished a speedy recovery to the injured affected by “this tragic accident”, adding that an investigation had been launched.

Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said six prosecutors had been allocated to investigate the blaze.

Those evacuated were rehoused in nearby hotels.

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Supporters of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) display flags with a portrait of jailed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan, in Istanbul, Turkiye, March 17, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

A delegation from Turkiye’s main pro-Kurdish DEM party on Saturday (December 28, 2024) visited jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, who is serving life on a prison island off Istanbul, party officials said.

The visit would be the party’s first in almost 10 years.

DEM’s predecessor, the HDP party, last met Ocalan in April 2015.

“The delegation left in the morning,” a party source told AFP, without elaborating how they would travel to the island for security reasons.

On Friday, the government approved DEM’s request to visit Ocalan, who founded the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) nearly half a century ago and has languished in solitary confinement since 1999.

The PKK is regarded as a “terror” organisation by Turkiye and most of its Western allies, including the United States and European Union.

The DEM party delegation is made up of two lawmakers — Sirri Sureyya Onder and Pervin Buldan. They are not expected to make a statement after the visit, the same source told AFP.

DEM’s co-chair Tuncer Bakirhan said he hoped the talks with Ocalan would “open a new era” for a democratic settlement to the Kurdish problem.

“While I speak here, our delegation is currently meeting with Mr Abdullah Ocalan at Imrali [island]. We believe it’s important,” he told reporters in the Uludere district near the Iraqi border.

‘Door must be unlocked’

He was attending a commemoration ceremony marking the anniversary of 2011 killing of 34 civilians by a Turkish airstrike, an incident which was later called “Uludere or Roboski massacre”.

“Imrali’s door must be unlocked,” Bakirhan said.

“I hope that the discussions there will enable the Kurdish issue to be resolved through democratic means and on a democratic basis.”

Detained 25 years ago in a Hollywood-style operation by Turkish security forces in Kenya after years on the run, Ocalan was sentenced to death.

He escaped the gallows when Turkiye abolished capital punishment in 2004 and is spending his remaining years in an isolation cell on the Imrali prison island south of Istanbul.

Saturday’s rare visit became possible after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s nationalist ally Devlet Bahceli invited Ocalan to come to parliament to renounce “terror”, and to disband the militant group.

Bahceli, who heads the ultra-nationalist MHP party, is fiercely hostile to the PKK.

‘Historic’

Erdogan backed the unprecedented appeal as a “historic window of opportunity”.

“My dear Kurdish brothers, we expect you to firmly grasp [Bahceli’s] sincerely outstretched hand,” he said in October, urging them to join in efforts to build what he called the “century of Turkey”.

Soon after Bahceli’s call, Ocalan was allowed his first family visit since March 2020, prompting DEM to make its own request to the justice ministry to visit the 75-year-old militant.

PKK militants subsequently claimed responsibility for an attack in October on a Turkish defence firm that killed five. That delayed the government approval of DEM’s request.

For several years up to 2015, Ocalan was engaged in talks with authorities, when then-prime minister Erdogan called for a solution for what is often called Turkiye’s “Kurdish problem”.

The peace process and a truce collapsed in 2015, sparking the resumption of violence, especially in the Kurdish-majority southeast.

The government’s approval of the DEM party visit comes after rebels in neighbouring Syria overthrew strongman president Bashar al-Assad on December 8.

Turkiye routinely targets Kurdish fighters in northern Syria and Iraq.

The helicopter first hit fourth floor of the hospital building before crashing into the ground.

Ankara:

Turkey said Friday it had urged Russia and Iran not to intervene militarily to support Bashar al-Assad’s forces as Islamist-led rebels mounted their lightning advance on Damascus that ended with the Syrian strongman’s ouster.

“The most important thing was to talk to the Russians and Iranians to ensure that they didn’t enter the equation militarily. We had meetings with (them) and they understood,” Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told Turkey’s private NTV television.

He said if Moscow and Tehran, both key Assad allies since the start of the civil war in 2011, had come to the Syrian president’s aid, the rebels could still have won but the outcome could have been far more violent.

“If Assad had received support, the opposition could have achieved victory with their determination, but it would have taken a long time and could have been bloody,” he said.

Turkey’s aim was to “hold focused talks with the two important power players to ensure minimum loss of life,” Fidan said.

They quickly realised the game was up, that Assad “was no longer someone to invest in” and “there was no point anymore”, he added. a

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Damascus:

In a seismic moment for the Middle East, Islamist rebels in Syria announced President Bashar al-Assad’s ouster on Sunday after seizing control of Damascus, forcing him to flee and ending his family’s decades of rule after more than 13 years of civil war. The fall of Bashar al-Assad came as a major blow to the influence of Russia and Iran in the heart of the region, key allies who propped up the President during critical periods in the conflict.

The end of the Assad family’s five-decade rule in Syria is set to reshape the power balance in the region, with regional and global forces rising to fill the power vacuum left behind by the dramatic regime change. While the Western and Arab states, along with Israel, would try to curtail Iran’s influence in Syria, it is unlikely for them to support a radical Islamist regime to replace Assad, according to a report by CNN.

For Iran the fall of Syria could shatter its so-called Axis of Resistance, comprising allied states and militia.

What Led To Asaad’s Fall?

Rebels reportedly were encouraged to make an advance for Aleppo last week after Israel debilitated Hezbollah and weakened Iran’s footprint in the region. “Due to the Lebanese war and decrease in Hezbollah forces, (Assad’s) regime has less support,” Hadi al-Bahra, a Syrian opposition leader representing anti-Assad groups told news agency Reuters in an interview. 

He added that Iran-backed militias also have fewer resources, and Russia is providing less air cover to Assad’s forces due to its “Ukraine problem”. 

What’s At Stake?

Iran

For years, Syria was used by Iran to expand its regional influence through proxy groups stationed in the majorly Sunni nation. Tehran, along with its proxy Hezbollah, have helped the Syrian government forces regain lost territory.  The Islamic Republic also sent its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commanders to advise Assad’s military, which proved instrumental in keeping the President in Power.  

However, since the beginning of the Middle Eastern conflict in October last year after the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched its attack on Israel, Hezbollah pulled its forces out of Syria to focus on its war with Israel. Iran has been reportedly using supply routes in Syria to transfer weapons to its proxies fighting Israel. The fall of Aleppo and potentially other cities bordering Lebanon could disrupt those routes, placing Iran in a difficult position. Losing Syria would be “a huge blow” for Iran, according to experts. 

“The investment Iranians have made in Syria is very significant, it’s an important land bridge to Lebanon, but also the alliance the Iranians have with the Assad regime has lasted across the Islamic Republic’s history,” Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Washington DC-based Quincy Institute told CNN. 

As per the report, Iran would want to use its proxies in the region as leverage in potential talks with incoming US President Donald Trump’s administration.

“If Iran loses too much of their position in the region, will they be too weak to negotiate? But if they fight back to try and retain as much of that position as possible, do they risk escalating the war to the point where diplomacy may no longer be possible?” Mr Parsi said. 

Lebanon

As per experts, the events in Syria are bound to impact Lebanon, where a truce deal between Tehran’s proxy Hezbollah and Israel is hanging by a thread. Hezbollah was a crucial player in keeping the Asaad regime afloat, but it has been weakened by the war with Israel. 

In case the Syrian insurgents manage to reach the Lebanese border, Hezbollah’s key logistics and supply route from Iran– which passes through Syria and Iraq– could be cut off, confining Tehran’s proxy in Lebanon. 

“One of the causes of what is happening today in Syria is the control of the Syrian-Lebanese borders to prevent the passage of strategic weapons into Lebanon,” Euronews quoted Antoine Habchi, Lebanese MP from the Bekka Valley, as saying. 

“Turkey has tried to make sure that the Lebanese borders are not a route for the transfer of strategic weapons through Syria. Even al-Assad doesn’t control passage through his own territory here, which is controlled by other factions and international forces, and notably Iran,” Mr Habchi added. 

Turkey

Turkey had been seeking to increase its leverage with President Assad to boost its standing in the region and allow it to keep closer control of Kurdish separatists, located along the Turkish-Syria border, to create a buffer zone. Ankara had represented the rebels in negotiations with Russia in the past decade, which eventually led to a ceasefire agreement between the Syrian government and Opposition forces in 2020.

Despite its support for opposition forces, Turkey has not ruled out a rapprochement with Syria. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has long opposed Kurdish nationalism. He has time and again said that his ultimate goal is to eliminate the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a Kurdish far-left militant and political group based in Turkey and Iraq that has fought the Turkish state for more than three decades.

Another goal for Ankara is to reportedly maintain control over oil-rich Syrian sanctuaries in semi-autonomous northern areas of the country. 

Israel

The imbalance in power in Syria has also caught Israel in a difficult position. While President Assad viewed Israel as an enemy, he did not pose a direct threat to Tel Aviv and opted to not respond to the regular Israeli strikes in Syria over the past year. 

However, Asaad’s regime allowed its territory to be used by Iran to supply weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon. But the fall of Mr Asaad did not come as a relief to Israel as the group leading the rebellion in Syria is Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS) whose leader Abu Muhammad Al Jolani is a former al Qaeda fighter with an Islamist ideology that opposes Israel.

“Israel is in between Iran, its proxies and Syria’s Islamic rebels,” Avi Melamed, a former Israeli intelligence official, told CNN. 

“None of the choices are good as far as Israel is concerned but for the time being Iran and its proxies are weakened, which is good,” he said

The newly revived conflict has allowed Tel Aviv to resume strikes on targets in Syrian territory. Suspected Israeli airstrikes hit Mazzeh district of Damascus on Sunday, Reuters reported. 

As per the report, jets believed to be Israeli also bombed the Khalkhala air base in southern Syria which was evacuated by the Syrian army overnight. The regional security sources also told the agency that at least six strikes hit the main air base in the north of the city of Suweida which has a large stockpile of rockets and missiles left by Syrian troops.

The attack appeared aimed at preventing these weapons from falling into the hands of radical groups, one source told Reuters.

A 20-year-old British man has died after being found injured in a lift shaft at his hotel near Lara Beach, Antalya. According to the Guardian, Tyler Kerry was on a vacation with his grandparents, Collette and Ray Kerry, girlfriend Molly and other relatives when the incident occurred. His body was discovered at the bottom of the lift shaft in their hotel in Antalya on Friday morning. According to his uncle, Alex Price, Tyler was found at 7 am local time and was pronounced dead at the scene.

“I got a phone call from my sister and she just said that Tyler had been found in the lift shaft at the hotel. An ambulance team were attending to him but unfortunately, they weren’t able to resuscitate him, and he was pronounced dead at the scene,” Mr Price said.

His family is devastated and seeking a thorough investigation into the circumstances of his death, which remain unclear. “The details are limited at the moment. The family is still in the dark about what’s happened and are eager for a thorough investigation to find out what’s happened,” Mr Price added.

The family is receiving support from the British consulate in Antalya and a representative from Tui, their tour operator. According to Mr Price, they are working to repatriate Tyler’s body to the UK, with the hope of completing this process by Tuesday. 

An FCDO spokesperson said: “We are assisting the family of a British man who has died in Turkey.”

Meanwhile, a fundraiser has been launched to assist with funeral costs. On the GoFundMe page, his family wrote, “A young man full of personality, kindness and compassion with his whole life ahead of him. He was completely devoted to his family and girlfriend Molly. We are all absolutely devastated. Tyler had travel insurance which will hopefully cover the cost of bringing him home. We are asking for any donations towards the unforseen costs of dealing with the consequences of such a tragic incident, particularly the inevitable costs of laying Tyler to rest and ensuring he has a fitting and respectful funeral/memorial.”

 

All 89 passengers and six crew were safely evacuated.

Istanbul:

Turkey began unblocking Instagram Saturday evening after depriving access to millions of users for nine days.

“Following our negotiations with representatives of Instagram, we will unblock access starting from 9:30 pm (1830 GMT) after they agreed to respond to our demands,” transport and infrastructure minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said on X.

Instagram access began to progressively return after that time, AFP reporters noted.

“Since the beginning, we have wanted social media platforms to respect the laws of the Republic,” Uraloglu insisted.

The platform had been blocked since the morning of August 2 for reasons that were never fully explained.

Saturday evening the minister mentioned “violations linked to content”, adding that Instagram had refused to delete thousands of posts involving “gambling, drugs and abuse of children”.

Meta, the owner of Instagram, denied not cooperating, saying it had withdrawn almost 2,500 posts in the first half of the year at the request of Turkish authorities.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s communications director, Fahrettin Altun, accused Instagram of blocking messages of condolence for Ismael Haniyeh, political leader of the Palestinian group Hamas and a close ally of Erdogan’s.

Haniyeh was killed in Tehran last month in an attack blamed on Israel.

Between 60 and 70 percent of Turkey’s 85 million inhabitants have an Instagram account, and about $57 million of business is carried out on the site each day, according to Emre Ekmekci, vice-president of an e-commerce association.

Access to the online game Roblox, particularly popular in Turkey, remained blocked for a fourth day Saturday evening.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)