A powerful storm has pounded Istanbul and other parts of Turkey, killing at least four people and wreaking havoc in the city of 15 million, reports said.
The victims included a woman who died in Istanbul’s Esenyurt district, where strong gusts tore off part of a roof that landed on her and her child, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. The child was injured but survived.
The Istanbul governor’s office said three other people were killed in the city, including a foreign visitor. Nineteen people were injured, including three who are in serious condition, it said.
The gusts also knocked down a clock tower, television images showed. The winds blew away 33 roofs, uprooted 192 trees, knocked down 52 traffic lights and road signs and damaged 12 cars, the Istanbul municipality reported.
The Bosporus, the narrow waterway that bisects the city, was closed to maritime traffic and ferry services were cancelled.
At least six Turkish Airlines flights scheduled to land in Istanbul were diverted to the cities of Ankara and Izmir, an airline spokesman said.
The strong winds also forced authorities to cancel ferry services between the coastal resorts of Bodrum and Datca, the DHA news agency reported.
The language of diplomacy in 1853
Treaty of Peace in Perpetuity Agreed Upon by the Chiefs of the Arabian Coast on Behalf of Themselves, Their Heirs and Successors Under the Mediation of the Resident of the Persian Gulf, 1853
(This treaty gave the region the name “Trucial States”.)
We, whose seals are hereunto affixed, Sheikh Sultan bin Suggar, Chief of Rassool-Kheimah, Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon, Chief of Aboo Dhebbee, Sheikh Saeed bin Buyte, Chief of Debay, Sheikh Hamid bin Rashed, Chief of Ejman, Sheikh Abdoola bin Rashed, Chief of Umm-ool-Keiweyn, having experienced for a series of years the benefits and advantages resulting from a maritime truce contracted amongst ourselves under the mediation of the Resident in the Persian Gulf and renewed from time to time up to the present period, and being fully impressed, therefore, with a sense of evil consequence formerly arising, from the prosecution of our feuds at sea, whereby our subjects and dependants were prevented from carrying on the pearl fishery in security, and were exposed to interruption and molestation when passing on their lawful occasions, accordingly, we, as aforesaid have determined, for ourselves, our heirs and successors, to conclude together a lasting and inviolable peace from this time forth in perpetuity.
Taken from Britain and Saudi Arabia, 1925-1939: the Imperial Oasis, by Clive Leatherdale
GIANT REVIEW
Starring: Amir El-Masry, Pierce Brosnan
Director: Athale
Rating: 4/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
