[Event of the week]
Landslides claim 12 lives in black sea province of Rize

Officials said telephone communications and electricity were cut in the mountainous area. Yesterday, bulldozers tried to move a four-story building that had been toppled by a landslide.

State Minister Faruk Nafiz Özak, speaking at the scene of the landslide, told reporters that Turkey should devise new plans in the region to protect local areas from flooding. “Otherwise we will experience worsening problems with increased rainfall,” he said. Officials have begun an assessment of the damage, he said, adding that urgent financial aid will be sent from Ankara to help the flood victims. He also said the state will pay the rent for a period of time for those whose houses were damaged in the flooding.

State Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Çiçek rushed to the area. He examined the damage with Minister Özak and Rize Governor Seyfullah Hacımüftüoğlu. Rescue teams worked throughout the day, Çiçek said.

“Officials in Rize are working day and night to thoroughly address this situation as quickly as possible,” he said.Erol Aydın from the Trabzon Regional Meteorological Bureau said over 160 kilograms of rain per square meter had fallen in Rize over a short period of time on Thursday, causing extensive damage.

Deadly landslides are common on Turkey’s Black Sea coast, where heavy rain can displace unstable land on which some residents have erected structures that do not meet building codes.

In June last year, heavy rains in Giresun flooded virtually the entire city and the Great and Lesser Güre rivers broke their banks, sweeping approximately 150 motor vehicles into the Black Sea. The Giresun State Hospital as well as schools and many homes were flooded.

 The Democratic Society Congress (DTK), a group affiliated with the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), convened in Diyarbakır to devise a “roadmap” for the solution of the Kurdish question. The group also established a “dialogue delegation” that plans to meet with state officials as well as members of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

 An iftar (fast-breaking) dinner hosted by the İstanbul branch of the Felicity Party (SP) in İstanbul turned into a brawl between supporters of SP Chairman Numan Kurtulmuş and those of Necmettin Erbakan, the party’s honorary leader. The brawl erupted when a group of 50 Erbakan supporters began to hold a protest in front of the WOW Istanbul Hotel in Yeşilköy demanding Kurtulmuş’s resignation.

 A total of 41,120 people broke their fast at a 10-kilometer-long dinner table set up in İstanbul’s Esenler district by the Esenler Municipality on Saturday.

 The General Staff on Saturday broke its long silence regarding allegations that the military failed to act against terrorists in Çukurca despite intelligence provided by Heron unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to 30 security units during every moment of an attack on the Hantepe outpost in July. However, the statement, posted on the military’s website, did not help ease public concerns about the accusations.

Aug. 22 Sunday

 Two soldiers were killed and four others were injured when a military vehicle overturned in the northern province of Kastamonu. The driver of the vehicle, which was en route to the district of Devrekani, lost control and overturned around Kırcalar. Spc. Sgt. Mehmet Poyraz and Spc. Sgt. Ahmet Erdönmez died at the scene of the accident, while special sergeants Levent Çavuş, Selim Şenol, Hüseyin Timirli and Akın Yıldız were injured.

 “The terrorist organization speaks from [the] Kandil [Mountains], and the Republican People’s Party [CHP] and the Nationalist Movement Party [MHP] operate like its loudspeakers in Ankara,” said Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, slamming opposition parties for their staunch opposition to the government’s constitutional amendment package. According to the prime minister, the opposition parties’ efforts against the reform package serve the plans of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

 CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has called on Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to join him in a televised debate regarding the upcoming referendum. “Let’s appear on TV and have a debate on the constitutional amendments. You can choose what TV station will carry the debate. Do it if you’re a man!” Kılıçdaroğlu said at a rally held on Sunday in İstanbul’s Çağlayan Square, for which thousands of people turned out, as the CHP leader called for a “no” vote in the Sept. 12 referendum.

Aug. 23 Monday

 The co-chairman of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Congress (DTK), Ahmet Türk, stated that a cease-fire announced recently by the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) is an important opportunity that should not be wasted. During a press conference following a DTK convention, Türk said: “We call on the government, the state and all public agencies once again to end all military and political operations. It is obvious that civil society organizations have to pursue a strategy that will push the state and the government to take steps on this issue in order to prevent another wasted opportunity.”

 Outgoing Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ, who will retire at the end of this month, paid a farewell visit to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Erdoğan received Gen. Başbuğ at the Prime Ministry. After the meeting, which lasted one hour and 45 minutes, the prime minister bid farewell to Gen. Başbuğ at the exit of the Prime Ministry. The meeting was the longest farewell visit by a military chief to Erdoğan in his time as prime minister.

 First Army Corps Commander Gen. Hasan Iğsız handed over his post to Gen. Hayri Kıvrıkoğlu, who was previously serving as the commander of the Aegean Army.

 Members of an international fact-finding team established by the UN Human Rights Council began meeting with Turkish officials in Ankara on Monday as part of an investigation into Israel’s deadly attack on an aid flotilla attempting to break the blockade of Gaza that left nine activists dead on May 31.

 A new report prepared by the General Staff rejects all accusations against Third Army Commander Gen. Saldıray Berk included in an indictment prepared by a civilian prosecutor. According to the indictment, Berk worked to put into operation a suspected military plot in the eastern province of Erzincan. Titled “Action Plan to Fight Reactionaryism,” the plot was allegedly intended to undermine the power of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party), eventually leading to a military coup. The General Staff report, which was featured on the CNN Türk website on Monday, suggested that accusations included in the indictment against the general are not based on any evidence, but on speculation.

 An imam who previously received death threats from the terrorist PKK was fatally shot in front of the Hacı Sair Mosque in the eastern province of Hakkari after the dawn prayer on Monday.

 Police officials announced that 18 people had been detained over an attack at a fast-breaking iftar dinner organized on Saturday by SP leader Kurtulmuş. The Bakırköy Police Department conducted operations at 35 locations to find the perpetrators of the attack. Among the detainees are the former leader of the SP’s youth organizations and the deputy leader of the party’s Fatih district branch.

 “The window to a new constitution will open when the referendum package passes on Sept. 12,” Prime Minister Erdoğan said, adding that this new constitution would be completely “of civilian making” and fully supportive of freedoms and democracy. Speaking to journalists during a visit to the city of Van on Monday, Prime Minister Erdoğan said the process of drafting a new constitution would speed up if a “yes” emerged from the referendum, but that his government had no intention of giving up on efforts to adopt a new constitution if a “no” result is seen on Sept. 12.

Aug. 24 Tuesday

 Retired Gen. Iğsız, whose military career ended on Monday when he handed the top post at the First Army Corps over to Gen. Kıvrıkoğlu, arrived at the Beşiktaş Courthouse in İstanbul to testify as part of a probe into several websites set up by the General Staff to back alleged propaganda campaigns against civilian groups. The retired general was summoned to testify as part of the probe in early August, but refused to comply. Prosecutors have been waiting to interrogate him for more than three weeks.

 There is no evidence of cheating on the centralized State Personnel Examination (KPSS), a statement from the Student Selection and Placement Center (ÖSYM) said following speculations that some of those who took it had obtained the questions in advanced as more than 3,200 people answered most or all of the more than 100 questions on the test correctly.

 Israel is not cooperating with the UN Human Rights Council’s probe of its deadly raid on an international aid flotilla that was trying to break the blockade of Gaza, a UN official said on Tuesday. Juan Carlos Monge said the fact-finding mission is speaking to witnesses and government officials in Turkey and Jordan, but added that the team has not been granted access to Israel. Israel’s UN mission said it was not commenting on the investigation.

Aug. 25 Wednesday

 Vice Adm. Mücahit Şişoğlu and Rear Adm. Türker Ertürk arrived at the Beşiktaş Courthouse early on Wednesday to testify in an investigation into a prostitution gang. Both testified as plaintiffs, sources said. Civilian prosecutors overseeing the probe summoned them to testify last week.

 Vice Adm. Mehmet Otuzbiroğlu took his turn to testify to civilian prosecutors as part of a probe into several websites set up by the General Staff to back alleged propaganda campaigns against civilian groups. Otuzbiroğlu is the head of the North Command Sea Area.

 Main opposition CHP leader Kılıçdaroğlu signaled that his party would favor a general amnesty for members of the outlawed PKK to help settle Turkey’s long-standing Kurdish question as he was addressing residents of Tunceli, his hometown, on Wednesday.

 Turkey’s Nobel-prize winning author Orhan Pamuk said he will vote “yes” in an upcoming referendum on a constitutional amendment package. Pamuk, who spoke on NTV television on Wednesday, said approving the reform package would not mean approving the governance of the AK Party and added that there are many people who would approve the reform package but would not vote for the ruling party in elections.

Aug. 26 Thursday

 Attorneys from the Reform in the Judiciary Group called for a “yes” vote in the Sept. 12 referendum for a constitutional amendment package. Lawyers from the group gathered yesterday in front of the offices of the İstanbul Bar Association and walked toward Galatasaray High School on İstiklal Street in Taksim. .

 President Abdullah Gül instructed the State Audit Institution (DDK) to launch an inquiry into claims that some test takers cheated on the State Personnel Examination (KPSS), as more than 3,000 people answered most or all of the more than 100 questions on the test correctly.