ANKARA -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday declared "a new page" in history for Türkiye, as the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) begins the disarmament process.
"As of yesterday, the 47-year-long terror scourge has entered a phase of ending. Türkiye has begun closing a long, painful chapter filled with anguish and tears," Erdogan said while addressing members of his ruling Justice and Development Party in Kizilcahamam district, Ankara Province.
On Friday, a group of PKK militants burned their weapons in a symbolic ceremony in Iraq's northern Sulaymaniyah province. (Türkiye-PKK-Disarmament)
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BEIRUT -- A member of Lebanon's Hezbollah was killed Saturday in an Israeli drone strike on southeastern Lebanon, according to Lebanese sources.
The strike on a house in the town of Khiam resulted in the death of one person, the Public Health Emergency Operations Center of the Ministry of Health said in a press release.
A source from the Lebanese Civil Defense and the Lebanese Red Cross told Xinhua that the body was transported to the Marjayoun Governmental Hospital, whereas a Lebanese security source told Xinhua the dead was a Hezbollah member identified as Wissam Abu Abbas. (Lebanon-Israel-Airstrike)
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GAZA -- At least 46 Palestinians were killed in Israeli gunfire and shelling across the Gaza Strip on Saturday, including 27 near an aid distribution center, said the civil defense in Gaza.
Gaza Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Basal told Xinhua that 27 Palestinians were killed, and 180 others were injured by Israeli army fire while waiting for food near a U.S.- and Israeli-backed aid distribution center north of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip.
The Israel Defense Forces denied the claims, saying in a statement that a review found no known injured individuals from IDF fire adjacent to the aid distribution site. (Israel-Gaza-Attacks)
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TEHRAN -- Iran has always been, and will be, "ready for talks" on its nuclear program, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said here Saturday.
"However, it should naturally be guaranteed that in case the negotiation starts again, it will not lead to a war to be waged by the United States or other parties," Araghchi said at a meeting with foreign ambassadors and representatives. (Iran-US-Nuclear Negotiations) ■
