Day: February 17, 2022

Facing difficulties in France due to his culture and religion, French anesthesiologist of Algerian origin Dr. Zeki Tuvati, has decided to settle in Turkiye and practice his profession there.

Tuvati, who has lived in Paris for nearly 20 years, said he decided to relocate from France to Turkiye after receiving an equivalency diploma.

“It is very difficult to live Muslim traditions in France. Religion is very important in my life. That’s why I decided to leave France,” Tuvati told Anadolu Agency.

“I just thought about which country I should choose. The most important thing is to be a Muslim country. Apart from that, I wanted a good economy and a good life. That’s why I chose Turkiye.”

Life in Turkiye

Visiting Turkiye before taking the decision to settle there, Tuvati said, “I love Turkiye very much, it is a Muslim country and it has all the features I am looking for.”

Moving along with his family to the city of Istanbul, the French anesthesiologist said he enrolled his children in Turkish schools and that he was looking forward to working as a doctor in Istanbul after receiving an equivalency diploma.

“My children now speak Turkish, but they did not forget Arabic,” he said. “We are adapting to the Turkish culture, but we do not forget the language and culture of Algeria, which is our culture.”

He continued, “If my children grew up in France, they would forget Arabic. They would only speak French, which is too bad for us.”

Speaking about his professional career in Turkiye, Tuvati said he plans to first pass some exams for an equivalency diploma.

Tuvati, who speaks English, French and Arabic, said he plans to deal with foreign patients coming to Turkiye in the future and inform them about the health system in the country.

Turkish health system

Regarding the Turkish health system, Tuvati, who currently works as a doctor in a hospital in France for 15 days a month, said, “The health system in Turkiye is no different from France.”

“I like Turkish hospitals very much. There are very developed equipment,” he said. “For me, it is not much different [from Europe], the procedures are the same.”

Saying that he started learning Turkish by himself, Tuvati said, “I was keen to learn a new Turkish word every morning until I started to build sentences by myself.”

“I speak Turkish with the Turks who come to my hospital in France. They become very surprised when they hear me speaking Turkish.”

Source: Anadolu Agency

Two more families joined a sit-in protest in southeastern Diyarbakir province against the PKK terror group in hopes of being reunited with their beloved who was abducted by the terror group.

Since Sept. 3, 2019, families have camped for 899 days outside the Diyarbakir offices of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP). Turkiye’s government said the party has links to the PKK.

Father Ashat Akin joined because his son, Cetin, was forcibly recruited by the PKK in 2010.

He said he had not heard from his son for years and urged him to surrender to security forces. Cetin was kidnapped in the Semdinli district of southeastern Hakkari province when he was 12.

“I want my son from HDP,” he said. “The HDP took him to the PKK. We miss him very much.”

Bedriye Uslu joined the protest because her son, Mahmut, was kidnapped in 2010 in Diyarbakir.

She said Mahmut was tricked into the mountains through HDP supporters when he was 18.

Uslu said she would take part in the protest until she is united with Mahmut.

Demonstrations have spread to other provinces, including Van, Mus, Sirnak, and Hakkari.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkiye, the PKK — listed as a terrorist organization by Turkiye, the US, and the EU — has been responsible for the deaths of more than 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.

State prosecutors have filed a case with Turkiye’s top court to close the HDP because of its reported terrorism ties.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Minster of Foreign Affairs Ioannis Kasoulides met with the Speaker of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom Sir Lindsay Hoyle on Thursday, in Nicosia, and discussed ways to strengthen bilateral relations and cooperation.

According to a post by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Twitter, during the meeting, which took place in the framework of the British official`s three-day visit to Cyprus, discussions were held on issues of common interest, such as the strengthening of the bilateral partnership, the cooperation within the Commonwealth framework, as well as the promotion of ties between the peoples of the two countries. No press statements took place after the meeting.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Cyprus’ House President, Annita Demetriou, said on Thursday she would send a letter to the Council of Europe (CoE) about the issue of missing persons and call on the human rights organisation to help so that the issue is brought to the fore.

According to a statement by Parliament following a meeting between Demetriou and members of the Pancyprian Organisation of Relatives of Undeclared War Prisoners and Missing Persons, the House President said that the issue of the missing persons, was “the most tragic aspect of the Cyprus problem”, and must be above any political expediencies.

She also reassured the chairman of the organisation, Nikos Sergides, that she would take steps on the matter, both with a letter to the Council of Europe but also through the special committee of the Cypriot MPs who participate in the CoE.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Cyprus Foreign Affairs Minister, Ioannis Kasoulides, will request EU`s support to promote Nicosia`s proposal for Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) between the two communities in Cyprus, during bilateral meetings he will have in Brussels, where he will participate on Monday in the EU Foreign Affairs Council.

Kasoulides will elaborate on the CBMs issue during the separate encounters he will have with the EU High Representative, Josep Borrell, and with the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Italy and Germany, Luigi Di Maio and Annalena Baerbock respectively.

Foreign Ministry`s spokesperson, Demetris Demetriou, told the Cyprus News Agency (CNA) that on Monday morning Kasoulides will hold a meeting with Borrell, the first one after Kasoulides assumed his duties as Foreign Minister, last month.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Health Ministry on Thursday announced that 66% of the patients receiving treatment in hospitals are unvaccinated. The figures do not include the post covid patients who are still hospitalized.

Figures up to February 16th show that partially vaccinated patients are 12%, fully vaccinated 2% and fully vaccinated with the booster jab as well are 20%. Ministry said that announcements are made in an effort to accurately inform the citizens and in order to strengthen transparency.

Partially vaccinated people are all those who were administered the 1st dose of a two-dose jab, those who got both doses but 14 days have not elapsed from the second dose, all those who got the JJ vaccine and 14 days have not passed and all those who got both shots but 5 months have elapsed and they did not show up for the booster.

Fully vaccinated are all those who were a

Source: Cyprus News Agency

All states and regions of the European Union and the European Economic Area (EEA) remain in the deep red category for yet another week in the weekly epidemiological map issued by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) on Thursday.

The only exceptions in this week’s map are Portugal, Denmark and Malta, where the data available is insufficient.

The map is a tool for providing updated information to local authorities and citizens on the epidemiological situation on a local level, in order to facilitate the imposition of restrictive measures and inform citizen decisions on travelling.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Cyprus Health Ministry announced on Thursday four deaths from COVID and 2,200 new cases, bringing total number of deaths to 802 and of cases to 300.435. A total of 168 patients are receiving treatment in hospitals. The positivity rate stands now at 2,21%. Figures show that 66.08% of patients are unvaccinated.

The deceased are a female 67 years old who passed away yesterday, and 3 males, 63, 89 and 93 years of age who died today. Of the 168 patients 43 are in serious condition, 12 are intubated and 31 are in an ACU. Moreover, 29 patients who are no longer infectious are still intubated in an ICU.

A total of 99.502 tests were carried out today of which 7.389 were PCR and 311 positive cases were detected with positivity rate at 4.21%. Rapid tests were 92.113 and 1.889 came back positive (positivity rate 2.05%).

In the framework of contact tracin

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Health Minister Michalis Hadjipantela will meet with the scientific committee on COVID Monday to discuss the situation as regards the possibility of relaxations .

The Minister who made statements to the press Thursday was asked if the obligation for a 24-hour test for the unvaccinated will change and if new conditions will be put in effect for vaccinated citizens. He said that these issues are being discussed and some time is needed for announcements to be made.

Source: Cyprus News Agency