ANKARA / Four wounded Palestinians were flown into Ankara for medical treatment on Monday, the first sign of Turkey’s promised plan to evacuate thousands from the Gaza Strip.
Turkey said last week it was seeking Israeli and Egyptian agreement for an air corridor to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza after a month of bloodshed that has killed 1,910 Palestinians and 67 Israelis.
“Our wounded from Gaza have started to come,” Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu told reporters meeting the flight from Israel’s commercial hub Tel Aviv.
Medics carried three Palestinian women and a male youth on stretchers into waiting ambulances at Ankara’s Esenboga airport.
Eager to re-establish itself as a powerhouse in a rapidly changing Middle East, Turkey is already sheltering more than a million refugees from the war in Syria and is playing a major role in the development of Iraqi Kurdistan.
Despite crumbling relations with Israel, it also hopes through its ties with the Palestinian authorities to play a part in brokering a long-term settlement in the Gaza Strip.
Pro-Palestinian sentiment runs high in mostly Sunni Muslim Turkey, and protesters have repeatedly taken to the streets in recent weeks to demonstrate against Israel’s offensive in Gaza.
The first four wounded arrived a day after Israel and the Palestinians agreed a fresh 72-hour ceasefire.
Osama Al Najar, spokesman of the ministry of health in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, said another 60 wounded people would be flown into Turkey later on Monday.
The Palestinian Authority had helped organise the transfer of the wounded people from Gaza to Israel and then to Turkey, he added.
Mr Davutoglu said Turkey planned to bring in around 200 wounded in the first stage of the plan and would hold further talks with Israel and Egypt — which has acted as a mediator in the conflict — to agree more flights.
Turkey’s prime minister Tayyip Erdogan announced the launch of the air corridor in his first speech after winning Sunday’s presidential election.
He described his victory as a triumph for Gaza. In campaigning ahead of the election, Mr Erdogan had likened Israel’s actions in Gaza to those of Hitler and warned it would “drown in the blood it sheds”.
Israel, which denounced Erdogan’s comments, says its offensive is intended to stop rocket fire from Gaza and to destroy tunnels some of which have been used by gunmen to infiltrate Israel.
* Reuters
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
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Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
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South and West: From a Notebook
Joan Didion
Fourth Estate
SHAITTAN
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Where to buy art books in the UAE
There are a number of speciality art bookshops in the UAE.
In Dubai, The Lighthouse at Dubai Design District has a wonderfully curated selection of art and design books. Alserkal Avenue runs a pop-up shop at their A4 space, and host the art-book fair Fully Booked during Art Week in March. The Third Line, also in Alserkal Avenue, has a strong book-publishing arm and sells copies at its gallery. Kinokuniya, at Dubai Mall, has some good offerings within its broad selection, and you never know what you will find at the House of Prose in Jumeirah. Finally, all of Gulf Photo Plus’s photo books are available for sale at their show.
In Abu Dhabi, Louvre Abu Dhabi has a beautiful selection of catalogues and art books, and Magrudy’s – across the Emirates, but particularly at their NYU Abu Dhabi site – has a great selection in art, fiction and cultural theory.
In Sharjah, the Sharjah Art Museum sells catalogues and art books at its museum shop, and the Sharjah Art Foundation has a bookshop that offers reads on art, theory and cultural history.
Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
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The biog
Family: He is the youngest of five brothers, of whom two are dentists.
Celebrities he worked on: Fabio Canavaro, Lojain Omran, RedOne, Saber Al Rabai.
Where he works: Liberty Dental Clinic
