The public agenda in Türkiye last week had three main subjects.
Entire nation was struck when it was reported that a mineshaft explosion killed 41 miners in the northern province of Bartin.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent statements on making Türkiye a regional energy hub were welcomed by many Turkish officials including President Erdogan.
The National Amputee Football Team has won the 2022 World Cup, as being the host team in Istanbul Vodaphone Park. 444 01 60
Mine accident in Bartin took 41 lives
On Friday evening, an explosion took place in a coal mine located in the northern Turkish province of Bartin, between the depths of 300 and 350 meters.
The state institution Turkish Hard Coal Enterprise (TTK) ran the mine. Methane gas accumulation in the mineshaft is believed to have caused the explosion.
Rescue and firefighting operations continued over the last 48 hours, and 69 miners were successfully rescued, with 11 injured. Unfortunately, the final death toll was determined to be 41 by the Interior Minister.
Desperate relatives have waited all night in the cold outside the mine in the town of Amasra, hoping for good news.
Their wait turned to devastation by Saturday noon. Wives and mothers cried at the funeral of the miners, whose coffins were wrapped in Turkish flags. Some of them held their newborn babies just days ago.
They mostly came from working-class families and went underground to the coal mines to make a living.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived at the scene and said the body of the final missing miner had been reached, confirming the 41 were dead. Erdogan was flanked by officials, miners and rescuers, as he vowed to bring an end to mining disasters, while saying he believes in “fate.”
“We do not want to see deficiencies or unnecessary risks,” Erdogan said, and added that an investigation would reveal if anyone is responsible for the blast.
He then joined funeral prayers for a 22 year old miner, at a village where the media reported three other miners were also being mourned.
Eleven were injured and hospitalized, with five in serious condition, while 58 others managed to get out of the mine on their own or were rescued unharmed.
Energy Minister Fatih Donmez said rescue efforts were complete. Earlier, he had said that a fire was burning in an area where more than a dozen miners had been trapped.
Ambulances were ready at the site. Rescue teams were dispatched to the area, including from neighboring provinces, Turkish disaster management agency AFAD said. Dark smoke rose from the entrance of the mine, which is surrounded by forests.
Azerbaijan, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Russia and many other countries across the world offered their condolences to Turkiye.
Turkish police said in a statement that legal action would be taken against 12 people who allegedly shared provocative content about the mine explosion to incite hate on social media.
This was the first enforcement example of the newly passed “law against disinformation”, which also sparked criticisms across the country.
The deadliest mining disaster in the country took place in 2014, when 301 miners died after a fire erupted inside a lignite mine in the town of Soma, in Western Turkiye.
The ongoing bilateral dialog over the TurkStream and making Türkiye an energy hub
On Friday, the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkiye and Russia have instructed their respective energy authorities to immediately begin technical work on a Russian proposal that would turn Turkiye into a gas hub for Europe.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has floated the idea of exporting more gas through the TurkStream gas pipeline running beneath the Black Sea to Türkiye after gas deliveries to Germany through the Baltic Sea’s Nord Stream pipeline were halted.
Erdogan said Russian and Turkish energy authorities would work together to designate the best location for a gas distribution center, adding that Türkiye’s Thrace region, bordering Greece and Bulgaria, appeared to be the best spot.
“Together with Mr. Putin, we have instructed our Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources and the relevant institution on the Russian side to work together,” Erdogan was quoted as saying. “They will conduct this study. Wherever the most appropriate place is, we will hopefully establish this distribution center there.”
“There will be no waiting,” Erdogan said in his first statement on the Russian proposal.
The Turkish leader made the comments on Thursday on his return from a regional summit in Kazakhstan where he had met with Putin. His words were reported by Hurriyet newspaper and other media.
Energy analysts have, however, questioned the likelihood of the proposal to ship gas to Europe via Türkiye getting off the ground, with European leaders criticizing Russia’s reliability as an energy supplier and calling Russia’s cuts in natural gas a political bid to divide them over their support for Ukraine.
Germany this week rejected another proposal by Putin to step up gas flows to Europe via a link of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline under the Baltic Sea, which is a pipeline that has never been operational. Moscow cut off the parallel Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline over what it claimed were technical problems.
Asked to comment on an assertion by Putin that Russia had foiled an attack on the TurkStream gas pipeline, Erdogan said Türkiye was taking every step necessary to secure the pipeline.
Türkiye has the capacity already to be an energy hub for natural gas headed to Europe, as proposed by Russia’s president earlier this week, said the Turkish foreign minister on Friday.
Türkiye is ready to become “an energy hub for determining gas prices,” Mevlut Cavusoglu told a press conference in Istanbul alongside his Qatari counterpart Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani.
A project to make Türkiye an energy hub would require additional investments that need to be worked out, he added.
Cavusoglu also said Putin “says that gas deliveries from Russia to European countries that want to buy (gas) can be done via Türkiye. He wants Türkiye to be a hub along these lines.”
On the Ukraine war in the wake of last week’s attack on Russia’s Kerch Bridge and subsequent Russian airstrikes in Ukraine, Cavusoglu said a meeting between the countries’ leaders in the near future does not seem possible.
Turkish National Amputee Football Team’s Championship in 2022 World Cup
Türkiye has won the 2022 Amputee Football World Cup on Sunday, beating finalist team Angola 4-1 in Istanbul.
At the last Amputee Football World Cup in Mexico in 2018, Turkiye finished a runner-up after losing to Angola 5-4 in penalty shootouts.
The Turkish team had been in Group A during the qualification games, together with Haiti, France, and Liberia, as host of the tournament.
Coming up as first in the group, the hosts put in a dominant play to lift their maiden World Cup title, by beating France, Uzbekistan Liberia and Angola in the finals.
After the first period ended 1-1 with goals by Omer Guleryuz and Angola’s Adao, Rahmi Ozcan scored from the penalty spot to put Turkiye ahead and then netted the third to put them firmly in control.
Serkan Dereli added the finishing touch as Türkiye exacted revenge for the penalty shootout defeat to Angola in the 2018 final.