Dr. Metin Çorabatır explains the legal context of the ongoing refugee crisis in relation to Turkey, Iran, EU and Afghanistan. Meanwhile, flames have engulfed much of Turkey’s southern provinces with 21 reporting major fires. Fires that began in rural areas have devastated both crops and livestock and have even made their way into city centers.
In other news, residents of İkizköy, in the Muğla province have been keeping a forest watch since April, in an attempt to stop the local authorities and an energy company from cutting down the Akbelen forest. The locals have filed a suit to prevent the company from cutting down the forest to make way for a coal mine, while arguing unlawful activity on the part of the company and local authorities as alleged attempts are made to begin logging while the lawsuit is yet to conclude. Finally, a Turkish religious figure was met with severe backlash after just a tweet. İhsan Şenocak, a well known and controversial cleric invited the Turkish national womens volleyball theme to follow the tenants of Islam, while condmening female athleticism and revealing clothing. Twitter users were quick to come to the aid of the national team who is competing in the Tokyo Olympics at 4th place; a matter of great national pride.
