World Press: Workers die in Turkey, proposal to counter Russian misinformation campaigns

NEWS DESK

International newspapers and agencies touched upon the campaigns of Russian disinformation on social media, as well as Iran continues targeting the Kurdish workers and unfair working conditions in Turkey.

Iran continues to kill Kurds

Voice of America Agency (VOA) highlighted Iran's targeting of the Kurdish people there, titled "Activists: Iranian forces kill another Kurdish man transferring goods from Iraq."

The agency quoted from human rights activists in the latest report on porters who were killed with bullets this year that the Iranian Security Forces had shot and killed an Iranian Kurdish man who used to work in importing goods from Iraq.

Reports from the Democracy and Human Rights Center in Kurdistan and Golbar News stated that Ghaleb Kwik was killed on Sunday near Marivan town north-west of Rojhilat Kurdistan, adjacent to Iraq.

A member of Kwik's family confirmed his killing in a letter sent to Voice of America Agency on Monday. "The Iranian authorities have asked the family to collect his body," said one of the family's member who attached a picture of Kwik to the letter.

The agency noted, "Kurdish porters, known locally as Golbar, have been moving goods through the mountainous footpaths from Iraq to Iran since years, and this is one of the only sources of income in the north-west predominately Kurdish areas which are considered among the poorest areas in Iran."

Ghaleb Kwik's relatives reported several other deadly shooting operations launched by the Iranian Security Forces this year, including two killing operation in June. VOA obscured the identity of the family's members after they said that the Security Forces had warned them not to talk about the shooting.

Workers die in Turkey

We read on bianet Turkish website a news under the title "Another worker lost his life in the construction of the third airport." The site said, "The Occupational Health and Safety Workers Association (İSİG) announced that Sivan Kaya who has been working in building the third airport in Istanbul for about six months lost his life falling on the slope of a height of 15 meters."

According to the Occupational Health and Safety Workers Association, with the death of Kaya who was married and the father of two children, the number of workers who lost their lives in constructing the airport has risen to 39.

The Turkish website said that the member of the Parliamentary of the Democratic Peoples Party Cyril Kimalbay presented on 26 October a parliamentary investigation on the conditions of bad work and professional murders in the construction of the third airport.

In the parliamentary inquiry, Serbil Kimalbay directed a series of questions to the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Insurance, and the questions included,

* Did your ministry conduct an investigation about the worker's death which was reported in the news on October 20, 2018?

* Was this occupational incident reported to the Social Security Institution? If not, Was an administrative fine imposed?

* Is it true that the body of the worker has stayed in the well for days? What is the reason for his death? "

Proposal to establish a squad to counter Russian disinformation campaigns

Washington Times newspaper titled "A chief member of the European Union seeks to escalate the battle against the Russian propaganda."

The newspaper said, "One of the main lawmakers of the European Union proposed on Monday the establishment of a funded task force to address the disinformation campaigns in the Kremlin and the hostile propaganda."

According to the newspaper, "In recent years, the Russian propaganda teams have been contradicting the EU with clearly biased news stories and false news that aim at prompting the public opinion against the political bloc."

The newspaper assured that the details of a draft report were announced on Monday. Anna Fotiga, one of the drafters who is the chairperson of the Security and Defense Sub-Committee of the European Parliament, focuses on financing a task force concerned to propaganda in addition to confronting the publicity of misinformation via social media, what was reported to be the most common tool to transfer the hostile propaganda.  

The report noted that it is possible to organize the social media companies to insure their transparency and responsibility.

D.H