Today’s featured photograph is by Fethiye Times reader Şefik Akkurt.
NEWS
10 arrested in connection with drowning of 9 immigrants
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Ten people have been arrested on suspicion of people-trafficking in connection with the drownings of nine immigrants off the coast of Fethiye.
The rubber dinghy carrying 15 immigrants sank near Kızılada (Red Island) on 3 January. Search and rescue efforts by Coast Guard teams initially recovered eight bodies. A further body was found during the search for the seven immigrants listed as missing. The remaining six immigrants are still missing.
As a result of the investigation carried out by Fethiye District Police Department Immigration and Human Trafficking Group, Fethiye District Gendarmerie Command, Coast Guard Command and Mugla Province Police Department, 12 suspects were detained, ten of whom were subsequently arrested and are now in custody.
Amongst those arrested was the leader of the smuggling organisation who was detained as he attempted to flee from Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen Airport to Kosovo.
Source: SonDakika
Smart garbage containers pilot launched in Bodrum
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A new era of smart garbage containers was launched in Bodrum, the pilot area for the Akıllı Smart Waste Collection System, this week.
The new containers are linked to a monitoring centre and contain chips that record and report when they are full and when emptied by the Multi-Purpose Garbage Vehicle – ÇAÇA. The containers have the ability to send a signal when they are not emptied.
They also send a notification to the monitoring centre as soon as their temperature reaches 60 degrees to minimise the risk of fire.
The new generation 3000 litres containers replace the existing 750 litres containers and are resistant to cold and heat from the sun and have a tank designed to prevent the leakage of waste water.
By the end of May 2020, a total of 200 new generation containers will be placed in landfills on the Bodrum Peninsula.
Source: Gerçek Fethiye
Sniffer dogs customs agents’ best friends
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.Dogs undergo training for sniffing different types of drugs, explosives and other illegal substances. (DHA Photo)
As smugglers come up with new methods to disguise smuggled goods, sniffer dogs remain one of the most reliable partners of customs agents. State-run Directorate of Customs officials say it was thanks to the dogs that they prevented 9 tons of drugs, 160 tons of tea, about 11 million packs of cigarettes and about 50 tons of tobacco, as well as $1.5 million and 90,000 euros from being smuggled into Turkey in 2019.
Just like their human counterparts, sniffer dogs undergo a strict training process to spot the smugglers and the goods they smuggle. At a training center in the capital Ankara, dogs specialize in spotting narcotics, currencies, tea, tobacco, guns and explosives no matter how well hidden they are. A total of 167 dogs have graduated from the training center since it opened in 2016.
Four-legged recruits are chosen from among a large number of dogs and start their training when they are 3 months old. They are first trained on how to act in noisy environments and uneven surfaces before their sniffing training. An average training session takes 15 weeks and every trainee returns to the center once every two years to refresh their training. Sniffer dogs are employed for 10 years before their “retirement.” Retired dogs are then given to families who adopt them for the rest of their lives.
Uğur Yavuz, a trainer at the center, says he has trained 35 dogs in the center, and they now work in other branches of the directorate across Turkey. “We currently have 25 puppies here,” he said. Yavuz says they mostly train Malinois, a variety of Belgian Shepherd, German shepherds and crossbred puppies of those two breeds. “We train them in five different fields. For narcotics, dogs are introduced to eight different substances and undergo a 14-week training. For explosives, they are introduced to 16 different substances,” he says.
Yavuz says matching trainers and dogs is also important. “They are taught how to approach dogs and on communicating with animals. They are picked from among those that pass a test on those subjects. Every dog is matched with a trainer based on how well they get along. Once training is complete, they are paired for 10 years,” he said.
Source: Daily Sabah
4.8-magnitude earthquake near Istanbul triggers fear
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A 4.8-magnitude earthquake which struck southwest of Istanbul in the Marmara Sea caused panic among the residents of Istanbul on Saturday.
On 17 August 1999, a 7.5 magnitude quake lasting 45 seconds hit the Marmara region, the most industrial and densely populated area of the country, killing 17,480 people, damaging over 285,000 buildings and leaving 600,000 people homeless.
Turkey saw a rise in the number of earthquakes in 2019.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.A house collapsed in an earthquake of 4.9 magnitude in the Acıpayam district of Denizli, Mar. 31, 2019. (AA Photo)
Tremors in Turkey and its immediate region jumped to 23,380 last year compared to over 15,000 tremors in 2018. More here…
Sources: Hürriyet Daily News/Daily Sabah
SPORT
Thank you to Brian Lloyd for the Fethiyespor updates.
Fethiyespor
Fethiyspor signed a 2.5 year contract with left-back Erol Hakan Sepil from Göztepe this week.
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Fethiyespor lost their first match of the second half of the season away against Erokspor. The final score was 5-1.
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Fethiyespor remain in second place on the league table.
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The next league matches are:
Saturday 18th January at home against Kocaelispor. Kick off is at 13:30.
Sunday 26th January away against Agri 1970. Kick off is at the slightly earlier time of 13:00.
Turkish women’s volleyball team qualify for Olympics
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The Turkish women’s volleyball team qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after beating Germany 3-0 in the CEV European qualification final on Sunday.
President Erdoğan congratulated the team on Twitter saying “I congratulate our Turkish women’s volleyball team on beating Germany in CEV European qualification final.”
Turkey defeated their opponents with 25 – 17, 25 – 19 and 25 – 22 sets in the final game in Apeldoorn, Netherlands.
Turkey’s outside spiker Hande Baladin was the top scorer with 18 points at Omnisport Apeldoorn.
Italy, Russia and Serbia had already secured their participation in the 2020 Olympics.
With this win, Turkish women’s volleyball team booked their ticket to the Olympic Games for the second time. Turkey also took place in the 2012 London Summer Olympics.
Source: aa.com.tr
Turkish Lira (TL) exchange rates
The British Pound bought 7.67 TL by the close of business on Friday. The week before it was selling for 7.81 TL.
The US Dollar bought 5.87 TL by the close of business on Friday. The week before it was selling for 5.97 TL.
The Euro bought 6.53 TL by the close of business on Friday. The week before it was selling for 6.66 TL.
Source: FxexchangeRate.com
Weather Forecast
Here’s your weather forecast for the week ahead.
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Source: Living Earth
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