Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

PATIENT

Nineteen Swedish kids taken to Turkish hospital

A diarrhoea epidemic at a hotel in Turkey has swept with it 19 Swedish children, as an as yet unidentified ailment has made more than 30 children ill at the resort.

Published: 30 July 2013 09:55 CEST
Nineteen Swedish kids taken to Turkish hospital

Residents at the Pascha Bay hotel in Alanya fell ill on Sunday evening and into Monday morning, with several ambulances turning up to take the ill to hospital.

The Swedish tourist staying at the hotel travelled with charter trip company Fritidsresor. A representative told the TT news agency that the youngest child is one year old, but that the children suffering from diarrhoea and vomiting are all ages.

“Twenty-one children are still in hospital,” Fritidssresor spokesman Mathias Bergendahl said.

The young patients are on drips and receiving anti-biotics.

While the Turkish health authorities run tests to determine the cause of the outbreak, sources said they had already ruled out salmonella.

TT/The Local/at

Follow The Local on Twitter

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

ISLAM

Erdogan calls French separatism bill ‘guillotine’ of democracy

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday denounced a planned French law designed to counter "Islamist separatism" as a "guillotine" of democracy.

Published: 13 May 2021 15:01 CEST
Erdogan calls French separatism bill 'guillotine' of democracy
Erdogan has already denounced the proposed measures as "anti-Muslim". Photo: Adem ALTAN/AFP

The draft legislation has been criticised both inside France and abroad for stigmatising Muslims and giving the state new powers to limit speech and religious groups.

“The adoption of this law, which is openly in contradiction of human rights, freedom of religion and European values, will be a guillotine blow inflicted on French democracy,” said Erdogan in a speech in Ankara.

The current version of the planned law would only serve the cause of extremism, putting NGOs under pressure and “forcing young people to choose between their beliefs and their education”, he added.

READ ALSO: What’s in France’s new law to crack down on Islamist extremism?

“We call on the French authorities, and first of all President (Emmanuel) Macron, to act sensibly,” he continued. “We expect a rapid withdrawal of this bill.”

Erdogan also said he was ready to work with France on security issues and integration, but relations between the two leaders have been strained for some time.

France’s government is in the process of passing new legislation to crack down on what it has termed “Islamist separatism”, which would give the state more power to vet and disband religious groups judged to be threats to the nation.

Erdogan has already denounced the proposed measures as “anti-Muslim”.

READ ALSO: Has Macron succeeded in creating an ‘Islam for France’?

Last October, Erdogan questioned Macron’s “mental health”, accusing him of waging a “campaign of hatred” against Islam, after the French president defended the right of cartoonists to caricature the prophet Mohammed.

The two countries are also at odds on a number of other issues, including Libya, Syria and the eastern Mediterranean.

SHOW COMMENTS