Page 5 - aruba-today-20231002

A5
WORLD NEWS Monday 2 october 2023
Turkey strikes suspected Kurdish militant targets in northern Iraq

after suicide attack in Ankara

By SUZAN FRASER to drive away the Islamic
Associated Press State group and a Kurdish
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — militia group, known by the
Turkish warplanes carried initials YPG, and controls
out airstrikes on suspected swaths of territory in the
Kurdish militant targets in area.
northern Iraq on Sunday Turkey views the YPG as an
following a suicide attack extension of the PKK, which
on a government building is listed as a terror group by
in the Turkish capital, Tur- Turkey, the United States
key's defense ministry an- and the European Union.
nounced. The PKK has waged an in-
Some 20 targets of the surgency against Turkey
Kurdistan Workers' Party, or since 1984. Tens of thou-
PKK, were "destroyed" in sands of people have died
the latest aerial operation, in the conflict.
including caves, shelters Last year, a bomb blast in
and depots, the ministry a bustling pedestrian street
said, adding that a large in Istanbul left six people
number of PKK operatives dead, including two chil-
were "neutralized" in the dren. More than 80 oth-
strikes. ers were wounded. Turkey
Earlier on Sunday, a suicide blamed the attack on the
bomber detonated an ex- Turkish security forces cordon off an area after an explosion in Ankara, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. PKK and the YPG.
plosive device near an en- Associated Press Security camera footage
trance of the Interior Min- month summer recess with sisted the terrorists as soon Parliament as planned and on Sunday showed the ve-
istry, wounding two police an address by President Re- as they got out of the ve- called the attack "the last hicle stopping in front of
officers. A second assailant cep Tayyip Erdogan. hicle," Interior Minister Ali stand of terrorism." the Interior Ministry, with a
was killed in a shootout with The two assailants arrived Yerlikaya told reporters. "The scoundrels who tar- man exiting it and rushing
police. at the scene inside a light "One of them blew himself geted the peace and se- toward the entrance of the
The PKK, which maintains commercial vehicle, which up, while the other one was curity of the citizens could building before blowing
bases in northern Iraq, they seized from a veteri- shot in the head before he not achieve their goals and himself up. A second man
claimed responsibility for narian in the central prov- had a chance to blow him- they never will," he said. is seen following him.
the suicide bombing, ac- ince of Kayseri, accord- self up." The president reiterated his Earlier, television footage
cording to a news agency ing to the Interior Ministry. "Our fight against terror- government's aim to cre- showed bomb squads
close to the rebel group. The pro-government daily ism, their collaborators, the ate a 30-kilometer (20 mile) working near a vehicle in
Turkey's Interior Ministry also Sabah reported that they (drug) dealers, gangs and safe zone along Turkey's the area, which is located
identified one of the assail- shot the man in the head organized crime organiza- border with Syria to secure near the Turkish Grand Na-
ants as a member of the and threw his body into tions will continue with de- its southern border from at- tional Assembly and other
outlawed group. It said ef- a ditch by the side of the termination," he said. tacks. government buildings. A
forts were still underway to road. They then drove the Police found plastic explo- Turkey has conducted nu- rocket launcher could be
identify the second attack- vehicle to Ankara, roughly sives, hand grenades and merous cross-border of- seen lying near the vehicle.
er. 300 kilometers (200 miles) a rocket launcher at the fensives against the PKK Turkish authorities later im-
The attack happened hours away. scene, a ministry statement in northern Iraq. It has also posed a temporary black-
before Turkey's Parliament "Our heroic police officers, said. launched incursions into out on images from the
reopened after its three- through their intuition, re- Erdogan gave his speech in northern Syria since 2016 scene.q

Germany’s government and Elon Musk spar on X over migrant rescue ships

BERLIN (AP) — Germany's aware of this?" Musk wrote it. Interesting," he wrote to
government rebuked X in his repost. the Foreign Office, adding
owner Elon Musk after he The German Federal For- that he thinks such mari-
criticized the recent work eign Office replied to Musk time operations have "inva-
of migrant rescue ships directly on X, writing: "Yes. sion vibes."
that German humanitarian And it's called saving lives." The exchange comes as
groups operate in the Med- Musk responded that he migration has returned to
iterranean Sea. doubted the German pub- the political forefront in
Musk late Friday shared lic supports the actions of Germany and other Euro-
a video that showed mi- non-governmental orga- pean countries, with gov-
grants and aid workers on nizations that take asylum- ernment officials and op-
a boat. The right-wing ac- seekers from unseaworthy position politicians sparring
count that first put the con- vessels in the Mediterra- about how best to handle
tent on X, formerly known nean. He also asserted an increasing number of ar-
as Twitter, praised the pop- it was "surely" a violation riving migrants. Tesla CEO Elon Musk attends the opening of the Tesla factory
ulist far-right Alternative for of Italy's sovereignty for More than 220,000 people Berlin Brandenburg in Gruenheide, Germany, March 22, 2022.
Germany party, which has German-operated ships to applied for asylum in Ger- Associated Press
taken a hard line on migra- bring rescued migrants to many from January to Au-
tion issues. Italian territory. gust this year. In all of 2022, plied for asylum. In 2015-16, ple applied for asylum in
"Is the German public "So you're actually proud of about 240,000 people ap- more than 1 million peo- Germany.q