Month: May 2024

The Kariye Mosque was formerly a Byzantine church, then a mosque and then a museum. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ordered the building to be reconverted into a Muslim place of worship in 2020.

 

 

His order came followed a similarly controversial ruling on the Unesco-protected Hagia Sophia — a cathedral in Istanbul that was converted into a mosque and then a museum, before becoming a mosque again.

The changes were seen as part of Erdogan’s efforts to galvanise his more conservative and nationalist supporters. But they have also added to tensions with prelates in both the Orthodox and Catholic churches.

Erdogan on Monday declared Kariye Mosque reopened for worship remotely during a ceremony at the presidential palace in the capital, Ankara. A picture from the mosque showed one worshipper wave a Turkish flag before the congregation who performed their prayers on a brick-red colour carpet on Monday afternoon.

Images also revealed that two mosaics carved into the walls of the ancient church on the right and left sides of the prayer room were covered with curtains. Most of the mosaics and frescos however remained visible to visitors.

“I had the opportunity to visit the place before and I was initially a little afraid of the work that could have been carried out,” said Michel, a French tourist, who would not give his full name.

“But ultimately we must recognise that it’s well done, that the frescos are accessible to everybody,” the 31-year-old researcher said. The decision in 2020 to convert the building drew an angry response from neighbouring Greece, which called the move “yet another provocation against religious persons everywhere”.

The Holy Saviour in Chora was a Byzantine church decorated with 14th-century frescoes of the Last Judgement that are still treasured by Christians. The church was converted into Kariye Mosque half a century after the 1453 conquest of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks.

It became the Kariye Museum after World War II, when Turkey sought to create a more secular republic from the ashes of the Ottoman Empire. A group of art historians from the United States helped restore the original church’s mosaics and they were put on public display in 1958.

The visit comes at a time of heightened regional tensions and with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) criticising Iran for lack of cooperation on inspections and other outstanding issues.

News agencies reported Grossi’s arrival “at the head of a delegation to participate in the nuclear conference and negotiate with top nuclear and political officials of the country”. He met with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and is scheduled to meet Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran chief Mohammad Eslami.

Grossi later said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that at his meeting with the foreign minister he proposed “concrete practical measures” with the “aim of restoring process of confidence building and increasing transparency”.

 

 

At its opening ceremony, Eslami expressed hopes of cooperation with the IAEA, saying this was “at the forefront of the Islamic republic of Iran’s policies”.

“We hope that the agency can play its role as an independent international institution free from political pressures,” he added. The three-day event is being held in Isfahan province, home to the Natanz uranium enrichment plant and where strikes attributed to Israel hit last month.

IAEA and Iranian officials reported “no damage” to nuclear facilities after the reported attack on Isfahan.

This was widely seen as Israel’s response to Iran’s first-ever direct attack on its arch-foe days earlier, which itself was retaliation for a deadly strike on Tehran’s Damascus consulate.

On Wednesday Eslami said he was “sure that these negotiations will further help clear ambiguities, and we will be able to strengthen our relations with the agency”.

Speaking to broadcasters for the first time since the extent of Tory losses were clear, the PM said he was “determined to fight” on.

The party lost 470 council seats, as well as all but one mayoral contests.

The BBC has spoken to a number of Tory MPs who reflected an increasing pessimism in the party.

One senior figure in the party described the next months as “managed decline”, and talked of the Conservatives waiting for their fate.

But there appears to be no prospect of a move against Rishi Sunak in the coming days.

 

Challenged over his suggestion there could be a hung Parliament, Mr Sunak said: “The independent analysis shows that whilst of course this was a disappointing weekend for us, that the result of the next general election isn’t a foregone conclusion and indeed actually is closer than, or the situation is closer than, many people are saying – or indeed some of the opinion polls are predicting.

“And that’s why I’m absolutely determined to fight incredibly hard for what I believe and for the future country that I want to build, and that’s what I’m going to do.”

One MP argued talk of hung Parliament was “delusional” and said the Tories would be lucky to win more than 200 seats out of 650 at the general election.

Jeremy Corbyn won 202 seats in Labour’s drubbing in 2019.

Others are more pessimistic and think the number of Tory MPs could be similar to 1997, when John Major returned just 165.

Even among those who think a hung parliament is possible, few are arguing the Conservatives have much chance of being the biggest party.

One former cabinet minister, themselves facing a challenge to keep their seat, said the case to voters would be they should vote Conservative to stop a Labour landslide.

The prime minister’s job in the next few days will be to try and rally his party and persuade them all is not lost.

But as has been the case for some time now, there is still an active debate about what the party should do next.

Former prime minister Liz Truss is among those arguing privately that changing the leader would be mad but that the Conservatives need to offer “fundamental reform” – policy, not personnel.

There are figures on the right of the party agitating, and calls for the Conservatives to back leaving the European Convention on Human Rights.

Some want a radical reshuffle or more moves to cut taxes.

Some have suggested finding more wedge issues to highlight differences with Labour on cultural issues.

Former home secretary Suella Braverman is among those urging the prime minister to change course and adopt more right-wing policies, although she argued it would be “impossible” to change leaders so close to a general election.

But those in the centrist One Nation group agree with Andy Street, who lost the West Midlands mayoral contest by just 1,508 votes, that the party should focus on “moderate, inclusive, tolerant Conservatism”.

As Pakistani origin Briton Sadiq Khan became the mayor of London for a historic third time, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif congratulated the Labour Party leader on achieving a “hat-trick”.

Khan beat Conservative challenger Susan Hall in the local elections across England, confirming the political supremacy of his party, which is the main opposition group in the country’s politics.

Taking to X, formerly Twitter, PM Shehbaz felicitated the third-time London mayor, expressing pride in him and his competence in public service.

“The proud son of a hardworking British Pakistani has made every Pakistani proud, not just his parents. Being elected as the Mayor of London for the third time is a testament to Sadiq Khan’s ability and public service,” the premier wrote.

He also wished Khan more success in the future.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar also congratulated Khan on his re-election as the Mayor of London and wished him success.

“I wish him every success as he continues his onward march to serve the people of London with dedication and distinction!” Dar said in a post on X.

Following Khan’s victory in last week’s local elections, #SadiqKhan became a trend on the social media site as hundreds of tweets poured in to congratulate him.

Meanwhile, his opponent Susan Hall issued a video statement claiming that it was she who had won the mayoral election but her “votes were stolen”.

However, the Londoners expressed trust in Khan in their tweets.

Khan, 53, who became the first Muslim mayor of the British capital in 2016, has pledged to build more social housing and work with a future national Labour government to boost police capacity.

Speaking at City Hall after his win, Khan said: “We faced a campaign of non-stop negativity, but I couldn’t be more proud that we answered the fear-mongering with facts, hate with hope, and attempts to divide with efforts to unite.

“We ran a campaign that was in keeping with the spirit and values of this great city, a city that regards our diversity not as a weakness, but as an almighty strength — and one that rejects right hard-wing populism and looks forward, not back.”

French President Emmanuel Macron is set to urge Xi to reduce trade imbalances and to use his influence with Russia over the war in Ukraine. China’s President is due to meet Macron and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen on Monday.

Xi, who was welcomed in Paris by Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, said in a statement released on his arrival that ties between China and France were “a model for the international community of peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation between countries with different social systems”.

France is backing a European Union probe into Chinese electric vehicle exports, and in January, Beijing opened an investigation into mostly French-made imports of brandy, a move widely seen as a tit-for-tat retaliation for EU probes.

“We want to obtain reciprocity of exchanges and have the elements of our economic security taken into account,” Macron said in an interview with French newspaper La Tribune, ahead of Xi’s two-day visit, his first trip to the region in five years.

The EU’s 27 members — in particular France and Germany — are divided on their attitude towards China.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will not join Macron and Xi in Paris due to prior commitments, sources said. “In Europe, we are not unanimous on the subject because certain players still see China as essentially a market of opportunities,” Macron said, without naming any countries.

These divisions could undermine the EU’s ability to influence the Asian giant.

France will also seek to make progress on opening the Chinese market to its agricultural exports and resolve issues around the French cosmetic industry’s concerns about intellectual property rights, officials said.

France has been keen to nudge China into pressuring Moscow to halt operations in Ukraine.

Macron will take Xi to the Pyrenees, a mountainous region dear to the French President as the birthplace of his maternal grandmother, on Tuesday before Xi heads to Russia-friendly Serbia and Hungary.

In their second round of truce talks with Egyptian and Qatari mediators that ended here in Cairo on Sunday, Hamas negotiators maintained their stance that any truce agreement must end the war.

A Hamas official told AFP that the group’s negotiators in Cairo were leaving for Doha on Sunday after talks ended in the Egyptian capital, part of mediation efforts towards a truce in Gaza. On the other hand, CIA director Bill Burns is also expected in Doha, where he would meet with Qatar’s prime minister to discuss mediation in the Gaza war, a source with knowledge of the talks disclosed.

While French President Emmanuel Macron earlier urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a telephone talk to reach a deal in negotiations with the Palestinian group on ceasefire, the latter did not show willingness. Netanyahu reiterated Israel’s aim since the start of the war nearly seven months ago: to disarm and dismantle Hamas for good.

Israeli police raid Al Jazeera office after shutdown order; CIA, Hamas officials due

The Israeli prime minister said Tel Aviv was willing to only “pause” fighting in Gaza in order to secure the release of Israeli prisoners still being held by Hamas, believed to number more than 130. He blamed Hamas for remaining entrenched in its extreme positions.

Reacting to Netanyahu’s statement, Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh said the group was still keen on reaching a comprehensive ceasefire that ends the Israeli aggression, guarantees Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza, and achieves a serious deal to free Israeli prisoners in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners. He also blamed Netanyahu for the continuation of the aggression and the expansion of the circle of conflict, and sabotaging the efforts made through the mediators and various parties.

More than 250 Hezbollah members and 75 civilians have been killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon since October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, security sources there say. In Israel, missile fire coming from Lebanon has killed around a dozen Israeli troops and several civilians, Israeli sources say.

More than 34,600 Palestinians have been killed, 29 of them in the past 24 hours, and more than 77,000 have been wounded in Israel’s assault, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

Video circulated online showed plainclothes officers dismantling camera equipment in a hotel room. The Al Jazeera source said the hotel was in East Jerusalem.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet shut down the network for as long as the war in Gaza continues, claiming “Qatari television network threatens national security”.

Al Jazeera called the move a criminal action and rejected the accusation the network threatened Israeli security as a dangerous and ridiculous lie that puts its journalists at risk. It said that it reserved the right to pursue every legal step.

The network has been critical of Israel’s military operation in Gaza.

Speaking for the first time since the full scale of Tory losses was revealed, the prime minister called losing 470 councillors “bitterly disappointing”.

But Mr Sunak told The Times newspaper he was “determined to show people that we are delivering for them”.

The Conservatives are licking their wounds after a string of local election defeats. After the final votes were counted on Sunday, the Tories had lost control of 10 councils, more than 470 council seats and a totemic loss of West Midland mayor Andy Street.

The party also lost 10 Police and Crime Commissioners to Labour, marking a potentially significant blow for the Conservatives if they aim to centre their next general election campaign on law and order.

Appearing to concede for the first time that his party could be on course to lose its majority, Mr Sunak said the local election results “suggest we are heading for a hung parliament with Labour as the largest party”.

His comments reflect analysis by leading psephologist Professor Michael Thrasher for Sky News – which suggested Labour would win 294 seats at a general election.

The projection, which has been dismissed by some polling experts, used the local election results to project a nationwide estimate of vote share at a general election.

Mr Sunak told The Times: “Keir Starmer propped up in Downing Street by the SNP, Liberal Democrats and the Greens would be a disaster for Britain.

“The country does not need more political horse trading, but action. We are the only party that has a plan to deliver on the priorities of the people.

“I know the last few years have been tough, and I understand why people are frustrated.

“Losing good Conservative councillors and a mayor as fantastic as Andy Street who has done so much good for the West Midlands is of course bitterly disappointing.

“There is work to do and more progress to be made and I am determined that we will come together as a party and show the British people we are delivering for them.”

Labour has denied it is planning alliances with other parties in order to form a government at the next general election, expected in the second half of this year.

Speaking on BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Labour’s election co-ordination Pat McFadden said there was now a “sense of belief” that his party could win.

He hailed the “tremendous” election results for the party, especially winning the West Midlands mayoral race which was “beyond our expectations”.

“When people look at the Labour Party now, they can see a changed Labour Party compared to a few years ago,” Mr McFadden said.

“A Labour Party that is passing the essential tests of trust that the voters look for.”

Speaking on Sunday, ex-home secretary Suella Braverman said Mr Sunak’s plan was “not working”.

“There is no disguising the fact these have been terrible election results for the Conservatives,” Ms Braverman told the BBC.

Mr Sunak must “change course” towards more right-wing policies in order to win back Tory voters who are “on strike”, she added.

Although a frequent critic of the prime minister, Ms Braverman did not call for Mr Sunak’s replacement, arguing it would be “impossible” to change leaders so close to a general election.

Ms Braverman is among several conservative voices who have come out to advocate for a rightward policy shift in light of the bleak local election results.

Miriam Cates, co-chair of the New Conservatives group mostly made up of “red wall” MPs, from the party’s 2019 intake, said her party must offer “patriotism and national security” to avoid falling into the “abyss”.

Writing in the Telegraph, Mr Cates called on Mr Sunak to ignore policies that “serve an international elite” and instead focus on drastically reducing immigration and reforming planning laws to boost house-building.

Former lead Brexit negotiator Lord David Frost said he believed it was “too late” to save the Conservative Party from “electoral defeat at the next general election”.

To save the party Mr Sunak must produce “more tax cuts, more spending cuts” and a “serious assault on the burden of net zero”, Lord Frost argued.

Damian Green, chair of the influential One Nation Group of Conservative MPs, said “suggesting that what we need to do is to move to the right is irrational in the face of the electorate”.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Westminster Hour, the former first secretary said: “I would just observe the seats that we have lost in the past few days – we lost to parties to the left of us.”

The Chair of the Conservative Party, Richard Holden, told the same programme that voters wanted the party to put forward a “clear vision for the country”.

“I think it is self-indulgent for us to be talking to ourselves and talking about ourselves at the moment,” he said.

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that the government will put everything before the people with regard to those responsible for the wheat import scandal

“We will put everything before the nation,” PM Shehbaz said during a meeting with Cabinet Division Secretary Kamran Ali Afzal, the bureaucrat leading the probe into the said issue.

Directing Afzal to fix responsibility and inform the individual(s) responsible for the scandal, the premier ordered the cabinet secretary to  work out recommendations with available records and documents and submit the final report by Monday (tomorrow).

The premier’s remarks came as the federal government has been caught in a fix after the Balochistan and Punjab governments were unable to purchase wheat from the farmers due to a surplus in stock which, so far, is being attributed to excessive import of the crop.

Due to the non-purchase of wheat by the provincial governments, wheat is being sold at a lower price than the official rate — a matter of grave concern for the farmers.

However, a day earlier, former caretaker prime minister Kakar, while speaking during an interview, ruled out his role in the prevailing crisis stressing that “it’s not a job of a prime minister to oversee wheat production”.

Commenting on the decision to import wheat, he said that only 3.4 million metric tonnes of the said crop was imported whereas the shortage was of 4 million metric tonnes.

Sources told Geo News that the Ministry of National Food Security had apprised PM Shehbaz’s cabinet that 28.18 million tonnes of wheat was produced last year and the caretaker government decided to import 2.45 million tonnes more.

The premier has also been told that the additional wheat import caused a loss of more than Rs300 billion to the national exchequer.

Separately, chairing a meeting in Lahore, PM Shehbaz reassured that the government will procure 1.8 million metric tonnes of wheat through the Pakistan Agricultural and Storage and Services Corporation (Passco) to ease the economic problems of farmers.

Taking serious notice of the reports of difficulties being faced by farmers, the PM said that there would be no compromise on the economic protection of growers and ordered the relevant officials to personally oversee wheat procurement opportunities.

Furthermore, PM Shehbaz has also constituted a national food security committee to ensure farmers’ facilitation regarding wheat procurement and address their concerns.

The committee would take measures within four days to safeguard farmers’ interests.

Meanwhile, apprising the prime minister about the hindrances in the ongoing investigation, Secretary Afzal refuted the reports suggesting that Kakar and the then-caretaker chief minister Punjab Mohsin Naqvi were summoned by the investigation team.

“Neither caretaker PM nor [Mohsin] Naqvi was summoned [in the investigation],” he said.

Shedding light on the scandal, government documents available with Geo News reveal that the country had 113,529 metric tonnes of carry-forward stock of wheat when PM Shehbaz took office.

Revealing that the caretaker government imported wheat costing Rs98.5 billion, the documents show that the Finance Ministry allowed the import of 0.5 million metric tonnes of wheat on September 27, 2023, via the private sector at the time when the dollar was being exchanged at 305 against the local currency.

The imported wheat had cost the government more than Rs93 per kilogram.

Meanwhile, former secretary food security Muhammad Mehmood had sent the summary of wheat import to the prime minister, whereas the Ministry of Maritime Affairs directed to prioritise the arrival of imported wheat at ports.

The permit to import wheat also provisioned an option to revise the summary if required.

It also showed that 75% of wheat procurement targets from provinces were achieved last year.

The wheat production target for 2023 in the four provinces was set at 28.18 million metric tonnes.

In 2022-23, there was 1.63 million metric tonnes of carry-forward wheat stock in the country.

Meanwhile, the document also mentions the wheat quota for the armed forces (2022-23) with the Pakistan Army’s 175,000 metric tonnes, Pakistan Air Force’s 10,500 metric tonnes and Pakistan Navy’s 2,200 metric tonnes.

For provinces, the quota for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was 1.4 million metric tonnes, Gilgit Baltistan’s 200,000 metric tonnes and Azad Kashmir’s 300,000 metric tonnes of wheat.

Utility stores’ quota was fixed at 400,000 tonnes, whereas 244,810 metric tonnes of wheat was allocated for others.

In total, 2.732 million metric tonnes of wheat quota was allocated for various institutions and provincial governments.

ISLAMABAD: Stressing the need for expanding revenue collection, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday said that Pakistan would leave India or even a greater economy behind with hard work.

His remarks came as the cash-strapped country’s tax evasion (revenue gap) was estimated to be around Rs5.8 trillion on an annual basis of fiscal year 2022-2023, which makes 6.9% of the GDP, according to The News.

 

On the other hand, India collected a record $25.15 billion as gross goods and services tax (GST) in April, recording a 12.4% surge from the same period last year, New Delhi claimed this week, according to Reuters.

Addressing a ceremony to award shields to the honest, hardworking and efficient officers of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), PM Shehbaz said that the country had the potential to collect revenues of over Rs24 trillion against the annual tax target of Rs 9.4 trillion.

He said an amount of around three-time of the annual revenue target was “going down the drain” due to corruption, inefficiency and negligence.

The premier said that the nations which believed in reward and punishment made progress.

Pakistan was facing various challenges, the premier said, adding: “Revenue collection is a big challenge. Neighbouring countries are far ahead of us.”

Lashing out at the corrupt practices, the country’s chief executive said: “Recoveries that should add to the national exchequer are prone to corruption and fraud.”

“We are compelled to seek loans and approach IMF.”

Hinting at harsh accountability in the FBR, the premier said: “We will ‘separate the white from the black’ on the reports of agencies and the input of the organisation.”

“Justice is decided on the basis of merit,” the PM said, adding that the  the government would not show leniency to the corrupt officers.

“Shields are awarded [to the FBR officials] on merit.”

Promotion would be given to the official on the basis of merit, he vowed.

As regards the amount worth Rs 2.7 trillions held up across various appellate forums, including commissioners’ appeals, Appellant Tribunal Inland Revenue (ATIR) and various courts, he said now the law had been made to recover such amounts.

“Rs2700 billion were stuck at various forums, if even half of the amount is returned, is this a bad deal?”

Pointing to another Rs 756 billion sales tax scam recently uncovered by the FBR, the prime minister said he had directed the authorities concerned to make every possible to recover such looted money.

Earlier, the prime minister gave away the shields to the honest and hard working officers of the FBR and said that he was feeling proud that the country had plenty of such honest officers which could play their due role in development and prosperity of the country.