No reports yet of Pinoys hurt in Turkey blasts — DFA


The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Monday said there are no reports yet about Filipino casualties in the Turkey twin-car blasts that left at least 43 killed and 100 injured on Saturday.
 
“No reports yet.” DFA spokesman Raul Hernandez told GMA News Online via text on Monday morning.
 
Malacañang has instructed the DFA on Sunday to check on the incident to verify if there were any Filipinos casualties.
 
The bombs exploded on Saturday afternoon in the streets of Reyhanli, Hatay province where thousands Syrian refugees are residing.
 
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc pointed the blame on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's administration.
 
"We know that the people taking refuge in Hatay have become targets for the Syrian regime. We think of them as the usual suspects when it comes to planning such a horrific attack,” said Arinc.
 
Meanwhile, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said the blasts may have been done to stir sensitive issues in the country while it's sheltering at least 300,000 Syrians who were caught up in the civil war.
 
Erdogan added that Turkey will be supporting a no-fly zone in Syria enforced by the United States. US authorities believe the no-fly zone will pressure Assad as this prevents him to hit rebels through airstrike.
 
Erdogan will be meeting with US President Barack Obama in Washinton on May 16. - Andrei Medina, VVP, GMA News

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more