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Turkey detains prominent journalist for allegedly threatening Erdogan

Turkey detains prominent journalist for allegedly threatening Erdogan

Deccan Herald7 hours ago

Altayli, who has more than 1.51 million subscribers on his YouTube channel, posted a video on Friday referencing an unnamed poll showing 70 per cent of Turks opposed Erdogan ruling for life.

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US bombs Iran's nuclear sites: Was failure to reach Khamenei the key factor in collapse of proposed America-Iran talks?

Donald Trump; Ayatollah Khamenei; Recep Tayyip Erdogan US President Donald Trump held backchannel talks for dialogue with Iran, according to a report, which added that the plan, however, did not materialise as Iranian officials failed to get approval for it by their country's Supreme Leader who is in hiding due to fears of assassination. Also Read: Which nuclear sites did US strike in Iran? Why it matters As per the Axios report, Turkey had contacted the United States offering to host the talks between senior American and Iranian officials amid the war between Iran and US ally Israel. Turkey's efforts began with a June 16 phone call by its leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Trump while the latter was in Canada for the G7 Summit. Also Read: Trump abruptly leaves G-7 amid speculation US will bust Iranian bomb-making facility with bunker-buster "Erdogan proposed to host a meeting in Istanbul the next day between American and Iranian officials to explore a diplomatic solution to the war," people with direct knowledge of the developments told the website. "Trump agreed and told Erdogan he was willing to send vice president JD Vance and White House's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff. He even agreed to travel himself to meet with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian — if that's what was necessary to get a deal," they added. A White House official also confirmed that in the hours before the Trump-Erdogan call, the US president had received "signals" from the Iranians through other backchannels that they wanted to meet. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Giao dịch CFD với công nghệ và tốc độ tốt hơn IC Markets Đăng ký Undo Meanwhile, Erdogan and his foreign minister Hakan Fidan conveyed the offer to their respective Iranian counterparts -Pezeshkian and Abbas Araghchi. The latter duo tried to communicate with Khamenei but failed to contact him. Iran subsequently informed Turkey that Tehran could not communicate the proposal to Khamenei. Turkey then told the US that the meeting was off.

‘It's taking a gamble': As US vets social media posts for student visas, anxiety grips applicants
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Scroll.in

time2 hours ago

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‘It's taking a gamble': As US vets social media posts for student visas, anxiety grips applicants

When Chennai-based engineer, Ganesh* found out earlier this year that he had gained admission to a graduate programme in California, he was thrilled. 'It was the school I always wanted,' he said. He began planning out his finances and getting all his documents together. By the time he had to apply for his US student visa in early May, he had almost all his information ready. All he had to do then was to get an appointment at the US consulate. So he began the tedious process of filling out his DS-160, the online application form for a nonimmigrant visa to the US. He added his personal and family information, education and work background and affirmed that he had no criminal history. The form also asked if he had a 'social media presence'. A drop-down listed about 20 options, including Facebook and YouTube, Pinterest and Reddit. Though Ganesh, 24, did have some personal social media accounts, he was not particularly active on any of them. They were all private and he used them just to engage with people he knew. So when asked to provide links on the visa form, he only gave that of his LinkedIn profile. Just over a month since, that decision makes him nervous. If given a chance to re-submit the application form, Ganesh said that would list all his accounts to ensure that he is not 'flagged'. The anxiety that has gripped Ganesh and many other foreign students at various stages of their visa application process is a result of an announcement by US authorities on June 18 of new requirements to be eligible to study in the country. Each applicant now has to pass a check of their social media platforms, which must all be set to 'public' to allow anyone to access them. The US authorities will screen and vet these accounts to ensure that foreign students do not 'harm Americans' or its national interests, and intend to only participate in 'activities consistent with the terms for their admission'. Until May, an estimated, 4,700 foreign students in the US had their visas revoked, the Associated Press reported, many as a seeming consequence for having participated in pro-Palestine protests in the wake of Israel's war on Gaza. A study by a US lawyers association of 327 visa cancellations in April found that 50% of the students involved were Indian. US resumes student visa interviews, applicants told to make social media profiles public — (@scroll_in) June 19, 2025 The new US guidelines came just over three weeks after the authorities had abruptly halted visa appointments for student and exchange visas around the world. Students who are yet to file their visa applications are scrambling to understand what this announcement means for them since it did not explain how the vetting process will be conducted. Others like Ganesh, who had filed their immigration forms and already been allotted interview slots, are unclear how these new instructions apply to them. They fear that their applications could be viewed with scepticism because they did not list all their social media accounts, no matter that they are not active on them. Such fears have been fuelled by messages on WhatsApp groups formed by visa applicants from around the world to share immigration-related information. For example, one purported summary of the latest US State Department announcement listed factors US student visa applicants should now keep in mind, especially in regards to their online presence. Having 'no social media presence', this message claimed, could also be a red flag for visa officials. While the latest State Department brief does not explicitly mention this, some points made in the WhatsApp message echo other recent US advisories. In April, for example, the US Department of Homeland Security said it would be screening 'antisemitic activity on social media' while deciding on the immigration status and benefits of non-Americans, including foreign students. With new announcements every other week and little information on what such vetting looks like, students coming to the US have begun relying on online lawyers, media articles and even hearsay to try to get a sense of the process, applicants said. 'There are rumours everywhere,' Ganesh said. 'So everyone is just taking a gamble'. New Data: There were nearly 1.6 million foreign students in the US in 2024. - 422,335 Indian students - 329,541 Chinese students — Center for Immigration Studies (@CIS_org) June 12, 2025 For some other applicants with social media accounts, though, the State Department announcement is not just an annoyance – it impinges on their safety. One female student in the process of getting her US visa explained why she does not want to make their Instagrams public: 'I don't want people I don't know following me and leaving comments on my photos.' In 2024, Indians made up the largest group of international students in the US. The 422,335 students from India comprised about 30% of the total 1.6 million international students in the US. Their number had jumped 11.8% from 2023. But the process of applying for an American student visa is painstaking and long. Just getting an appointment at a US embassy or consulate in India can take weeks, if not months. As per the most recent estimates, the average wait time to get a F, M or J visa appointment across India's five US consular offices – Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and New Delhi – is two months. This is the second-highest wait time in South Asia. In Dhaka, it could take nine months. On the other hand, in cities like Paris and Johannesburg, this could take up to a month. In London or Tel Aviv, a visa appointment could be secured in days. It is unclear how the new social media vetting process will affect this waiting period. Those who already got appointments, such as Akshay*, a Delhi-based journalist admitted to a university in New York, consider it sheer luck. Akshay, 27, filed his forms just a few days before the halt on visa appointments. Asked for his social media details, he gave his Instagram and X accounts. They were both public. But he felt compelled to do some 'cleaning' before that: He archived a few posts on his Instagram and deleted some from X. None of them were related to the US or its policies. They did, however, show him protesting against a local official when he was in college. He just didn't want to be 'flagged'. 'Everyone's as confused as the other,' said Akshay, who has taken a hefty student loan to pursue his studies. Even though he has now got his student visa, he has been maintaining a key social media practice: 'Actively avoiding liking or interacting' with any pro-Palestine posts. As a foreign student, he says he will have to keep doing that – not just before entering the US, but also while he is there for graduate school. 'I did all the things right. I was compliant. They asked me to leave. I left the country,' said the PhD student. In doing so, 'I became a statistic to their self-deportation [initiative].' — Brooke Hauser (@brookehauser) June 19, 2025 Many international students who have been admitted to American universities have adopted the same strategy, at least a dozen students told Scroll. According to one of them, their social media is now meant to appear as 'ignorant' as possible. This has become even more critical for students like Karan* who has been admitted to a law school in the US, but is yet to get his visa appointment. A lawyer from Jaipur, he has been particularly active on X for the past few years, expressing his views on global politics from time to time. He has been advised to clean up his online presence as he seeks an interview. For Karan, like most foreign students admitted to US programmes, there is only one aim: to get a visa and continue his higher education, no matter the hassle. He is now making his Instagram account public. Even though he thinks it's almost impossible to review and sanitise his history on X, Karan plans to set aside two full days to do it. After all, he said a day after the advisory, 'my views don't matter right now'.

Turkish journalist Fatih Altayli detained over alleged threats to President Erdogan
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India Today

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Turkish journalist Fatih Altayli detained over alleged threats to President Erdogan

Turkish authorities detained prominent independent journalist Fatih Altayli on Saturday over social media comments allegedly threatening President Tayyip Erdogan, the Istanbul prosecutor's office who has more than 1.51 million subscribers on his YouTube channel, posted a video on Friday referencing an unnamed poll showing 70% of Turks opposed Erdogan ruling for life, saying this would "never be allowed" by the Turkish also referenced past Ottoman rulers in his comments, saying people had "drowned", "killed", or "assassinated them in the past." His comments drew backlash from an Erdogan aide, Oktay Saral, who said on X that Altayli's "water was boiling". In a statement, the Istanbul prosecutor's office said the comments from Altayli "contained threats" against Erdogan, and said an investigation has been launched against him. Legal representation for Altayli could not immediately be reached for detention comes amid a series of detentions of opposition figures in recent months, including the arrest in March of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu who is Erdogan's main political main opposition CHP says the detentions and arrests of its members, along with other opposition members and journalists or media personalities, is a politicised move by the government to muzzle dissent and eliminate electoral challenges to government denies these claims, saying the judiciary and Turkey's courts are authorities have in the past carried out widespread detentions and arrests against opposition politicians, namely pro-Kurdish local authorities. More than 150 people jailed so far over what Erdogan's government says is a ring of corruption that the CHP denies.

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