Chinese Paralympian survived 28 hours buried in quake rubble


 17/07/2021

Tang Xuemei is a Paralympic gold-medallist in sitting volleyball Handout China's Sitting Volleyball Women's Team/AFP


Shanghai (AFP)

Tang Xuemei was just a teenager when her school dormitory began shaking violently before the floor crumbled in a powerful earthquake, sending her spiralling into a dark void.

But 13 years on from the trauma of losing part of her leg in a disaster that left nearly 90,000 people dead or missing, she is a Paralympic gold medallist and will again represent China in Tokyo in sitting volleyball.

She will do so with a smile on her face and a resounding message for others with disabilities.

"We are no worse than others," Tang, taking time out of training in Shanghai for the August-September Paralympics, told AFP in written remarks.

"Even if we have such an unfortunate experience, we will still face it with a smile and work harder and bravely to pursue our dreams."

The 7.9-magnitude Sichuan earthquake of 2008 is seared into China's collective memory not only because so many people died but also because children and teenagers, including Tang, were prominent among the victims.

An outpouring of grief soon turned to fury as it emerged that thousands of children were killed in 7,000 schools that collapsed, sparking allegations that corruption had led to shoddy building work.

Now 27, Tang declined to answer questions about the fateful moment the quake brought her school down -- the issue remains highly sensitive in China even today.

But in a recent interview with the official website of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), she described in detail the experience of running for her life and the dormitory floor disappearing beneath her feet.

When she came to, the then 14-year-old found herself buried, her left leg pinned down by rubble.

She would wait in eerily dark silence for 28 hours before she was rescued.

"Between life and death, you only think of the people that matter to you the most," Tang told the IPC.

"And thinking of my parents, I knew that I cannot die, I had to live."

- Heart-wrenching decision -

In her remarks to AFP, Tang states matter-of-factly that she had part of her leg amputated and that "the state provided help for the children affected by the earthquake".

But her comments masked the heartache that came with that life-changing decision.

Her parents begged doctors not to amputate, fearing what kind of future Tang would have as a disabled person.

In the end, it was the teenage Tang who told them that if they did not sign the consent form, she would sign it herself because she feared she would die without the operation.

But with her impairment, Tang became withdrawn, her path in life unclear.

Tang picks up the story of what happened next and how it ultimately led her to where she is today -- a gold medallist at London in 2012 and eyeing more success in Tokyo.

"I put on a prosthetic limb and the joy of standing up again alleviated my worries about the future," she told AFP.#photo2

"Fortunately, I came across sitting volleyball by chance after taking part in a competition for disabled children and teenagers."

Tang, who had always been sporty, was immediately struck by the confidence the young volleyball players exuded despite their disabilities.

She would later go on to win a place on Shanghai's sitting volleyball team and honours followed with China, who should be serious title contenders again in Tokyo.

Tang is relishing the prospect of "winning glory for my country".

But more than that, sitting volleyball gave her renewed self-worth and she sees the Paralympics as "a higher platform to realise more the value of life".

"Sport can help us rehabilitate physically and mentally," she added.

© 2021 AFP

Belarus opposition leader to meet White House officials next week


Issued on: 17/07/2021 - 

Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya was forced into exile after last year's disputed elections Christoph Soeder POOL/AFP/File

Washington (AFP)

Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya will meet with White House officials during her US visit next week, an administration official said Friday.

Mass anti-government demonstrations broke out in Belarus in August 2020 after President Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus with an iron grip for nearly three decades, claimed a sixth term in power.

Tikhanovskaya, until then a stay-at-home mom, ran in place of her detained husband and claimed to have easily won but allegations of fraud mushroomed and Lukashenko declared himself the winner.

Tikhanovskaya was forced to choose exile and now lives in Lithuania.

"The world has been inspired by the Belarusian people -- including the Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya -- who continue to bravely demand a meaningful voice in their country's future in the face of cruel repression," the US official said.

"Senior officials at the White House look forward to meeting Ms Tikhanovskaya next week when she is in Washington. The United States stands with her and the people of Belarus, and will continue to support their democratic aspirations," the official said.

Belarus on Friday jailed 11 university students and raided the homes of 18 journalists in a continuing crackdown on the opposition.

© 2021 AFP

Fossil fuel electricity peaks as emerging markets leapfrog to renewable energy: report

Emerging economies are increasingly investing in clean power grids over polluting power plants, but many are still reluctant to quit coal.


Certain countries, like Vietnam, are experiencing a solar energy boom


Researchers say the amount of electricity generated from burning fossil fuels has likely peaked worldwide, as emerging markets invest in clean and cheap renewables over coal, oil and gas.

That is the finding of a report published Wednesday by environmental think tanks Carbon Tracker, in the UK, and the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) in India. The researchers say that emerging markets will provide 88% of the growth in electricity demand over the next two decades, and say these markets are increasingly leapfrogging polluting energy sources that are uncompetitive.

Clearly fossil fuel plants haven't disappeared, said Arunabha Ghosh, CEO of CEEW and co-author of the report. But the new electricity capacity is "almost entirely likely to be non-fossil fuels."

Emerging markets investing in renewable energy may be able to avoid stranded assets like unprofitable coal plants

Replacing fossil fuels

About one in every nine people on the planet lack access to electricity, mostly in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Leaders of poorer countries have historically had to choose between raising living standards and protecting the climate and people's health. Two recent studies estimate that between 1 million and 8 million people die each year from breathing in dirty air that comes from burning coal, oil and gas.

But as the cost of renewable energy plummets, that trade-off is starting to vanish.

Countries like Kenya and Nigeria — with fast-growing populations but low emissions — could skip fossil fuel electricity altogether and avoid the destructive pathway taken in many industrialized countries. Other countries like India and China could switch from coal to solar and wind without relying on fossil gas.

The report draws an analogy with the telecommunications industry, where emerging markets went from a small amount of fixed line phones directly to mobile without wasting money on unnecessary physical infrastructure. A similar shift has been seen in banking.

Burning coal, oil and gas carries a extra cost to human health

But another report finds that shorter-term electricity trends are worrying.

Renewable electricity generation continues to grow strongly but cannot keep up with increasing demand, according to a separate report published Thursday by the International Energy Agency (IEA). Despite the rapid increases, the authors wrote, renewables are expected to serve only around half of the projected growth in global demand in 2021 and 2022.

"Fossil fuels fill most of the gap," tweeted IEA executive director Fatih Birol. The agency projects a rebound in coal that would surpass pre-pandemic levels in 2021 and could reach an all-time high in 2022. Such a rise would push the world further away from its target of keeping global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius — and ideally no higher than 1.5 C (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) — compared to pre-industrial levels.

Current policies put the world on track for a catastrophic 3 degrees Celsius of warming this century, but scientists caution that 4 degrees is still possible if the climate is particularly sensitive to the sunlight-trapping gases released when burning fossil fuels.

A landmark IEA report published in May charted out a path to reaching net-zero emissions by 2050. As well as a massive expansion of renewable energy, the policy shifts include near-term changes like banning the sale of fossil fuel boilers by 2025 and new combustion engine vehicles by 2035. Starting immediately, world leaders would have to stop approving oil fields, gas fields and coal mines. They would also have to stop approving new coal plants.

The switch to renewable energy is creating jobs as well as shutting them down

Falling cost of renewables

The CEEW report finds that renewable sources like solar and wind have become the cheapest source of new electricity in 90% of the world. Electricity from burning fossil fuels peaked in rich countries in 2007 and is down 20% since then. It peaked in South Africa in 2007, Russia in 2012, Chile in 2013, Thailand in 2015 and Turkey in 2017.

"The sun is shining bright in many of these countries because the economics is going to support this for quite a long time," said Marcelo Mena-Carrasco, a former Chilean environment minister who is also the director of the Climate Action Center at Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Valparaiso. "Renewable energy provides many more jobs for megawatt installed. Countries will seize on this opportunity."

But there are other barriers. The report says that while renewables are cheaper than fossil fuels over their lifetime, and the costs of building a wind farm or solar plant have fallen enough to compete with new fossil fuel plants, the costs of getting the capital to build them are still high.

This is because banks are still lending to companies building coal, oil and gas plants at lower interest rates than for solar and wind projects. Some governments are locked into multiyear contracts with energy companies that they can't quickly escape from.

Of the $2.6 trillion (€2.2 trillion) invested in renewable energy between 2010 and 2019, only China, India, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa — along with several rich countries — managed to secure investments exceeding $20 billion. In other words, the authors wrote, "money does not flow yet to where the sun shines the most or the wind blows the hardest."

Investment in renewable energy has mostly gone to wealthier countries

Calls for a just transition

The report finds that vested interests like fossil fuel lobbies are holding back change. This is a particular issue for energy exporters like Russia and Saudi Arabia.

But there are also about 20 million people who work extracting fossil fuels — about 1% of the global workforce — who rely on industries like coal mining for jobs. Climate justice activists like the Fridays for Future protest group have called for a "just transition" to ensure the costs of a new energy system do not fall on the poorest. Lawmakers in Europe have an investment plan to mobilize €65-75 billion between 2021 and 2027 to regions that rely on fossil fuels so that "no one is left behind."

Like signing a trade deal, there will be winners and losers, said Ghosh from the CEEW. "But if the overall gains are greater than the losses, you are able to compensate for this. That is exactly what needs to be done with the energy transition."

Otherwise, he added, "we'd never have had cars, we'd only have horse-drawn carriages. And we'd never have had electricity, we'd still be reading Moby Dick because we'd be running after whale blubber for lighting."

German court to try 96-year-old over time at Nazi concentration camp

The elderly woman, once a secretary at Hitler's Stutthof camp, is accused of being an accessory to the murder of over 11,000 people. 

She will be tried in a juvenile court as she was 18 at the time.


Around 65,000 people died at the Stutthof concentration camp in German-occupied Poland during World War II

A 96-year-oldformer secretary at the Stutthof Nazi concentration camp will be tried at a north German juvenile court, accused of assisting in the systematic murder of thousands of people.

The regional Itzehoe court in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein said on Friday that the trial would provisionally start on September 30.

It decided to try the woman for the crimes in the Juvenile Chamber because she was a teenager when she worked as a secretary at the Stutthof camp near Gdansk during the Nazi occupation of Poland in World War II.
What is the woman accused of?

The 96-year-old, who worked as a civilian employee in the Stutthof Nazi concentration camp, is accused of aiding and abetting the murder of more than 11,000 people.

The indictment reads: "The defendant is charged with committing a crime as a stenographer and typist in the camp commandant's office of the Stutthof former concentration camp between June 1943 and April 1945."

It adds that she is alleged to have "assisted the camp commanders in the systematic killing of those imprisoned there."
Why has she been charged?

The defendant has already been questioned a number of times about the Holocaust as a witness, according to the ARDꞌs Taggesschau

She testified in a 1954 court case that all correspondence with the SS-Wirtschaftsverwaltungshauptamt had passed over her desk. Commandant Paul Werner Hoppe dictated letters and radio messages to her every day.

She has denied knowing anything about the killings at the camp.

A medical expert has examined the defendant and deemed that she is capable of standing trial.
Stutthof: First Nazi camp opened outside Germany, last to be liberated

The Nazis first opened the Stutthof camp in September 1939 with the majority of the inmates being Polish. Prisoners from 28 countries arrived later with around 110,000 people passing through the camp in total.

At least 65,000 people were killed there, over a third of them Jews, through a combination of starvation, disease, gassing, lethal injection, gunshots or being clubbed to death.

Stutthof was the last camp to be liberated by the allies in May 1945, just days before the end of the war. Many of its commanders and guards were hung for their crimes.

The site of the former Stutthof camp is now a museum

More trials in recent years after Demjanjuk precedent

The legal precedent that made it easier to try to bring elderly former Nazi concentration camp workers to justice in Germany was set by the John Demjanjuk trial, who was tried in Germany in 2011.

Nazi Germany captured Demjanjuk as a Ukrainian prisoner of war but he was later drafted in to work at the notorious Treblinka extermination camp.

Before that case, judges needed solid enough evidence of concrete personal involvement in a specific murder or murders before they could agree to hear a case. Now, demonstrating that an individual worked at a concentration camp and contributed to its more general systematic killing of inmates can suffice for a conviction. The legal change came too late to bring justice to many Nazi collaborators.

In July 2020, a 93-year-old man was found guilty at a juvenile court for being an SS guard at the camp and given a two-year suspended sentence.

jc/msh (dpa, epd)

Private shores force Senegalese to cool off on 'death beaches'



Issued on: 17/07/2021

Drownings in Dakar have spiked this year as residents flock to beaches for a dip during periods of hot weather Seyllou AFP


Malika (Sénégal) (AFP)

In a beachside suburb of Senegal's capital Dakar, fisherman Madiop Dieng urges police officers to get dozens of youngsters out of the water.

"If we let it happen, there will be drownings. The sea is rough today," he says.

The youngsters come ashore, but Dieng watches in disbelief as they hop back into the ocean as soon as the police leave.

Drownings in the seaside West African city have spiked this year as residents have flocked to beaches to take a dip in the Atlantic waters during periods of hot weather.

Most people of the city of over 3 million cannot swim, and many ignore swimming bans on beaches that are subject to lethal rip tides.

But there are few other ways to cool off: Hotels and restaurants have mushroomed along the coast, privatising large stretches of safer shoreline.

Dakar fire-brigade officer Abdoulaye Ndiaye said that 48 mostly young people drowned between January and June -- four more than over the same period last year.#photo1

Eight people drowned during one weekend alone last month, sparking nationwide concern.

Ibrahima Fall, the president of the Senegalese lifeguards' association, blamed the drownings on the rash of beach privatisations.

"People are forced to fall back on to the Grande Cote and these beaches are dangerous," he said, referring to the shoreline north of Dakar.

- 'Death beaches' -

Senegal's press has dubbed the dangerous stretches of coast "death beaches," with some observers predicting that more people will drown in July and August.

Most of the deaths occur along the first several kilometres of the so-called Grande Cote, which runs from the tip of the Dakar peninsula to the border with neighbouring Mauritania.

This coast is buffeted by the rough Atlantic Ocean.

The sheltered shoreline south of the peninsula, known as the Petite Cote, has calmer waters and is popular with tourists.#photo2

Abdoulaye Ndiaye said that on calmer parts of the city's northern shoreline, pools can form.

But waves breaking at high tide create a depression in these pools, he explained, "that pulls the victims out to sea".

Lifeguards are usually on duty only on beaches in Dakar where swimming is permitted, leaving bathers on many northern beaches unsupervised.

Fall also said that few are able swim because lessons are expensive.

About 40 percent of Senegalese people live below the poverty line, according to a World Bank metric.

There is also only one public swimming pool in Dakar.

- 'Get some air' -

In June, ten people drowned on the treacherous Malika beach in Dakar's northern suburbs.

A bus is now parked by the beach, blaring warnings through loudspeakers about the dangers of getting into the water.

The message appears to be getting through.

"I just came to get some fresh air," says Moustapha Diagne, 22. "I can't swim because the police are here, there have been deaths here."#photo3

But some are pointing out that warnings will not be enough to stop the drownings.

Aida Sow Diawara, member of parliament and mayor of Golf Sud, another northern suburb, is pushing for the closure of dangerous beaches altogether.

"Once people have access to the beach, you can't forbid access to the sea," she said.

Diawara has written to the governor of the Dakar region, and is yet to receive a reply.

© 2021 AFP

Getting paid to play: Kenya's esports boom

Digital games in Kenya now seem more of a sure bet than real-life sporting activities in the East African nation. Esports have also become a huge money-spinner for young Kenyans.


Kenya's esports professionals train for some 12 to 14 hours a day

The future of professional sports in Kenya — from where some of the world's top athletic performers originate — is still rather uncertain in the face of the COVID pandemic.

Athletes preparing for the Tokyo Olympics, or anyone wanting to get out and exercise, have had to make do with alternative spaces as coronavirus measures put many gyms and stadiums off-limits.

But, as far as young people are concerned, the virtual world of esports is on the up. The competition is as tough as any athletic tournament, but video gamers are taking the challenge and getting paid to play.

Esports is taking place in the cyber realm of Kenya's capital, Nairobi, and other places, where young gamers are glued to computers to battle it out with their opponents.
Virtual football boss

Fredrick Renja Ochami has me locked in battle at his apartment in the city and I'm being demolished. It's hand-to-hand combat in a Tekken showdown in Nairobi.

The Japanese game is one of a few that Ochami plays professionally. He's also a virtual football boss at world-tournament level in the real-time FIFA video game series.

"My top three are FIFA, Tekken and League of Legends," he said. "Tekken is one of the most balanced fighting games I know. Unlike Mortal Kombat, every fighter feels like he has a chance to win."

And with esports, the payoff is money. Ochami's virtual football team earns him a share of his rent and some cash for groceries. He also makes some money as a fiction writer.

Marathon training sessions

"There's no one who is overpowered because everyone has an equal chance. It depends on your skill, not on the character that you choose," the Tekken professional said.

Kenya's esports professionals are aged between 15 and 35. The men and women on the gaming scene who spoke to DW said they train 12 to 14 hours a day, three to four times a week.

"For now, I spend like four hours on weekdays and eight hours each weekend," said Ochami.
What's the payoff?

"I would say esports, especially games like Call of Duty and FIFA, those are the games you should play if you want to go pro, because they have big prize pools," Ochami said.

"They have constant tournaments and if you are really good, you can be making over €100,000 ($118,000) a tournament if you win. If you take part in three to four tournaments a year, it adds up."

Women in games

Sylvia Gathoni was the first Kenyan Tekken professional to sign for up to an international gaming team. She said people sometimes cast a suspicious eye when they hear how she earns a living.

Gathoni — who goes by the name Queen Arrow in the gaming world — said she believes that that's simply because she's a woman.

"Some people feel like the opportunities I have gotten are due to my gender and not my hard work and passion and talent. But, as they say, the best revenge is success. You just focus on your goals and you continue pushing," she said.

Esports leagues come with stipends and corporate sponsorships. Gamers in Kenya said that being part of an eight-member virtual FIFA team on a winning steak can mean €500 in the bank every month.

One more try at Ochami's place. FIFA: final score: 7-0.

Uganda: A battle for sacred lands as nature wins new rights

In Uganda's Albertine Rift, an immense network of grasslands and mountains that supports great biodiversity, two energy giants are preparing to extract the largest onshore oil deposit in sub-Saharan Africa.


Guardians of the land
Alon Kiiza, an elder of the area's Indigenous Bagungu community, lives in the rural Buliisa district at the epicenter of this ongoing, foreign-led scramble for the continent's natural resources. The 88-year-old is among many there watching the industrial hubbub with concern. "Drilling for oil will disturb the ecosystem," he said. "The spirit of the land does not connect well with these machines."
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Opinion: The climate crisis can't be stopped, we must adapt

Most people should have realized by now that we're facing a climate crisis. Curbing greenhouse gas emissions is just one side of the problem. Adopting safety precautions is the other, says David Ehl.


Faced with disasters like the recent flooding, Germany — and the world — needs to adapt

The extent of destruction and death wrought by Germany's recent floods is slowly becoming apparent. Dozens of people have died, with many still reported missing. The disaster has devastated entire towns, washing away residential houses, cars and trees.

David Ehl

Natural disasters are nothing new. They occurred long before the advent of the industrial age, when humans began burning fossil fuels on a large scale.

Over time, however, atmospheric CO2 concentrations have doubled, raising Earth's temperature by 1 degree Celsius (1.8 Fahrenheit). A greater frequency and intensity of natural disasters has been the consequence.

As vast swaths of western Germany are dealing with one of the worst floods in years, parts of North America are grappling with scorching hot temperatures that have left scores dead and sparked forest fires that have proven very difficult to contain. The Northern Hemisphere, in short, is facing a climate crisis.
Time to talk about protective measures

Fortunately, there is finally talk of mitigating climate change — that is, taking measures to counteract its gravest consequences. The European Commission has just unveiled its "Fit for 55" plan, a package of revisions and regulations targeted at drastically cutting greenhouse gas emissions. One key policy stipulates that by 2035 sales of vehicles with internal combustion engine cars will be banned.

But Armin Laschet, who leads Germany's center-right CDU and is vying to succeed Chancellor Angela Merkel in September, has said lawmakers should not set specific phaseout dates. Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, meanwhile, has lambasted the EU proposal, writing: "Unless the EU tear up their new #Fitfor55 package, the world will not stand a chance of staying below 1.5°C of global heating."

At 32, I'm closer to Thunberg than Laschet, age-wise. The floods and heat waves we are witnessing today are frightening. Are they merely a taste of what's to come once I reach Laschet's age? And what will coming generations be up against? What we need, therefore, are mitigating measures against climate change, alongside steps to adapt to a warming planet.
Adapting is key

Germany's Federal Statistical Office recorded an 11% increase in deaths during a weeklong heat wave this summer. It is almost unimaginable what would happen if temperatures were to rise to 46, 47 or even 49 degrees Celsius (120 degrees Fahrenheit), as they have done this summer in the Canadian town of Lytton. Lytton, incidentally, lies near 50 degrees north latitude, just like the German towns of Boppard and Coburg, in central Germany.

This means we should be taking safety precautions. Reconfiguring our cities could help, for instance by ensuring air can properly circulate in urban conglomerations. Preserving or cultivating green spaces can help lower temperatures. Concrete structures and asphalt surfaces, after all, lock in the heat.

There are numerous tried-and-tested tools for dealing with heavy, incessant rainfall and flooding. These go beyond high-capacity sewage pipes and non-return valves. Indeed, dikes, weirs and retention basins further reduce the risk of catastrophic flooding.

Regional flood plains act as an additional safety precaution. Cities should consider designing and designating similar flood prevention zones. Rotterdam, for example, boasts a main square with three large basins that can capture rainwater. When the weather is pleasant, meanwhile, locals can hang out on the steps, or go skateboarding.

Miami Beach, meanwhile, is taking urgent action to avoid flooding as seawater levels rise and hurricanes intensify. Authorities there are working to elevate the city and install a network of underground pipelines, basins and powerful water pumps.

Countless safety measures like these have been dreamed up already. While they will not work as a panacea and shield us from all destruction wrought by extreme weather events, they can surely minimize the damage.

Above all, we need to cut CO2 emissions — and develop a greater awareness for how we can protect ourselves against the devastating impacts of climate change.

This article has been adapted from German

Five Years after Coup Attempt, Crackdown on Turkish Artists Continues

Artists and culture creators are being increasingly targeted by the Erdogan government.

Istanbul, Turkey. Photo: Osman Köycü/Unsplash

Ceyda Nurtsch
6/JUL/2021


Five years since parts of the military staged a coup against Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government, the state is still cracking down on potential opposition.

Many politicians, writers, academics and artists have lost their jobs, have been imprisoned, or have fled into exile. Those who continue to voice critical opinions of the status quo are routinely targeted by the Turkish state.

Levent Uzumcu is one of them. One of Turkey’s best-known actors has long been a thorn in the government’s side. Back in 2013, he was at the forefront of demonstrations against a construction project in Istanbul’s Gezi Park that sparked nationwide protests for more freedom and democratic rights. As a result, Uzumcu lost his job at the Istanbul State Theater after almost ten years.

Rising censorship and polarisation

But he did not fall silent, even after the coup attempt of 2016 when anyone who expressed the slightest criticism of the regime was declared a traitor.

“After the coup attempt, more and more people were gradually declared witches, as in Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible,” said Uzumcu. “Actors were not hired, artists were prevented from doing their work.” Censorship was particularly harsh in Anatolia, where Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) has the strongest support.

The polarisation that has been sweeping through society and the art scene since then was already apparent on the night of the coup: At that time, President Erdogan called on the civilian population to oppose the armed military who wanted to overthrow the government.

Immediately, several well-known singers and actors tweeted that they would heed his call and take to the streets to protect democracy. Fingers were soon pointed at artists who did not comment on the coup, while only a few dared to publicly voice their criticism of the government response, such as the venerable master of Turkish theater, Genco Erkal.

“I thought Taksim Square was not a gathering place,” he said of the fact that critics of Erdogan had often been driven out of the square in the heart of the city, but that his cheering supporters were now free to gather there. “Where are your water cannons, your tear gas bombs?”

Riot police clearing Gezi Park on 15 June, 2013. Photo: Mstyslav Chernov, CC BY-SA 3.0/Wikimedia Commons

Artists react on social media

In the tense atmosphere of the last few years, the COVID-19 pandemic has also served to consolidate government efforts to neuter the culture sector, says Uzumcu.

“They said there was a pandemic, and all of a sudden theaters, cinemas, exhibitions and film shoots were shut down,” he explained.

However, many did not believe that the shutdown was solely a means to contain the pandemic. At the end of June, President Erdogan declared that the curfews would be lifted as of July 1, but that the nightly ban on music after midnight would remain in place.

The reactions on the social media were fast and furious. Under the hashtag #KusuraBakıyoruz, or #WirNehmenEsÜbel (We Resent It), thousands of people expressed their anger, including many artists and politicians.

Situation exacerbated by the pandemic

The repression of those working in the cultural field in Turkey has been exacerbated by the pandemic, according to independent researcher and curator Eda Yigit.

“For the cultural scene, the pandemic means a profound break and severe losses,” she said. “A great many artists have slipped into a life below the poverty line; they are heavily in debt and dependent on financial help from their families and partners. Some have even taken their own lives out of despair.”

Many have not even tried to apply for the minimal state aid that is available because they see it as a charity handout.

“The fact that these people in the arts field are treated so worthlessly, that they have so little security, and that no solutions are found to this problem means that they are being denied their basic rights as citizens,” Yigit said.

Country ‘needs art’

Artists receiving little or no state aid have initiated solidarity campaigns through which they reach out to help each other financially and more generally through support networks.

“If a country wants to become more beautiful and develop, it needs art,” said actor Levent Uzumcu, who is annoyed when his colleagues shy away from taking a public stand. Yet he remains optimistic about the future of his country, which he says is poised to one day take big steps toward democracy and the rule of law.

The journalist and writer Barbaros Altug is less hopeful, however. Also active during the Gezi protests when they were brutally suppressed by the police, he then moved to Berlin and wrote his first novel. But he was drawn back to Turkey.

But then the AKP used the 2016 coup attempt as a tool of repression against intellectuals and opposition figures. The writer turned his back on his country for good. Since then, he has been living in Paris.

Exile is the theme in much of his writing. “This coup was basically a coup against us — that is, all those who demand freedom and equality,” he said. “Some were thrown in jail, others fled to all parts of the Earth, still others couldn’t leave the country even though they wanted to.”

A community in exile

From exile, he closely follows the situation in his homeland. “There are artists who are strongly resisting, despite everything. Turkey has a power of resistance that amazes everyone — and especially the fascist politicians. And it is strongest among artists and intellectuals,” he said.

Altug explains that those in exile have established their own community — from Zagreb to Berlin to Toronto.

“The homeland we belong to is a land that lies in the past.” The writer doesn’t believe that, in his lifetime, it will become the place he wants it to be.

But the millions of people in Turkey, and especially younger generations, must not lose hope, he says. The struggle for democracy and artistic freedom is still worth fighting for.


This article has been adapted from German by Louisa Schaefer.

This article was originally published on DW.

Pulitzer-Winning Indian Photojournalist Danish Siddique Killed in Kandahar

The Reuters journalist was embedded with the Afghan Special Forces, and had been reporting on their operations against the Taliban in the region.


Reuters journalist Danish Siddiqui poses for a photo in Kabul, Afghanistan, July 8, 2021. Photo: Reuters/Mohammad Ismail

The Wire Staff
MEDIA16/JUL/2021

New Delhi: Danish Siddique, a Pulitzer Prize-winning Indian photojournalist working with news agency Reuters, was killed while reporting in the Kandahar region of Afghanistan on Thursday night. Siddique was embedded with the Afghan Special Forces, and had been reporting on their operations against the Taliban in the region.

Afghanistan’s ambassador to India Farid Mamundzay tweeted about Siddiqui’s death, saying he was “Deeply disturbed by the sad news of the killing of a friend”.

Chairman of Afghanistan’s High Council for National Reconciliation, Abdullah Abdullah, too expressed his grief and condolences.

Sources in the Indian embassy in Afghanistan also confirmed the news of Siddiqui’s death to The Wire. “Our Ambassador in Kabul is in touch with Afghan authorities. We are keeping his family informed of the developments,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.

According to Reuters, Siddiqui was covering a clash between Afghan security forces and Taliban fighters near a border crossing with Pakistan when he was killed. A senior Afghan officer too was killed then.

Siddiqui’s latest report from Kandahar was published just three days ago, where he described how the forces he was embedded with had come under attack from the Taliban.

“We are urgently seeking more information, working with authorities in the region,” Reuters president Michael Friedenberg and editor-in-chief Alessandra Galloni said in a statement. “Danish was an outstanding journalist, a devoted husband and father, and a much-loved colleague. Our thoughts are with his family at this terrible time.”

Siddiqui had reportedly told Reuters he had been wounded in the arm by shrapnel earlier on Friday while reporting on the clash. He was treated and had been recovering when Taliban fighters retreated from the fighting in Spin Boldak.

The photojournalist headed Reuters’ multimedia team in India. His work during the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests and devastating coronavirus second wave, most recently, had been used widely used across media publications. His drone images of burning funeral pyres during the pandemic had drawn global attention to how bad things were in India at the time.

Siddiqui won the Pulitzer Prize in 2018, for his work on the Rohingya refugee crisis along with others on his team. “A photo should draw people and tell them the whole story without being loud,” Siddiqui told Scroll.in then. “You can see the helplessness and the exhaustion of the woman, paired with the action that is happening in the background with the smoke. This was the frame I wanted to show the world.”

During his time at Reuters and before, Siddiqui’s work had been carried by a host of Indian and international publications, including The Guardian, New York Times, Washington Post, Al Jazeera and countless others.

Violence and attacks by the Taliban in the Kandahar region have increased now that the US has withdrawn its troops from the area. The Indian government had evacuated its diplomats and security personnel from the Kandahar consulate earlier this week given the uptick in Talibani control over the area.