At the ‘Lebbeytum Award Ceremony’ organized by the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Hajj and Umrah in Mecca, the Presidency of Religious Affairs was awarded the first prize in the ‘Most Successful Hajj Organization’ category. President of Religious Affairs Prof. Dr. Safi Arpaguş made a statement.

WE ARE GREATLY PROUD:
We were very happy and proud that our Presidency of Religious Affairs was deemed worthy of first place in the ‘Most Successful Hajj Organization’ category at the 2026 Hajj Organizations Award Ceremony. In addition, our Hajj and Umrah Services General Manager Hüseyin Demirhan was deemed worthy of the ‘Most Successful Communication and Coordination Award’, which made our joy even more meaningful.

This success achieved; It is the result of the devoted efforts of all our teammates who strive to serve our pilgrims in the best possible way, the sincere prayers of our pilgrims and the support of our beloved nation. On this occasion, I would like to sincerely thank and congratulate all our staff who contributed to these valuable achievements. I pray to our Almighty Lord to make our pilgrims’ prayers honorable and acceptable. Thank God, we can achieve such good results in serving our pilgrims. Hopefully, from now on, we will continue to work with the same excitement, responsibility and dedication and serve our nation and pilgrims in the best way possible.

Mehmet Barlas, who stood out with his intellectual struggle against the tutelage centers throughout his career, was from time to time removed from the newspapers he worked for, became the target of various circles, but despite all the pressure, he continued to express his thoughts openly. A funeral ceremony was held at the Barbaros Hayreddin Pasha Mosque in Istanbul for Barlas, who gained a unique place in the Turkish press with his support for democracy and national will and died at the age of 81. Many figures from the state, politics, media and business world, especially President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, attended the ceremony. Barlas, whose coffin was supported by President Erdoğan, was sent off to his final journey at Yeniköy Cemetery with prayers after the funeral prayer.

A LIFE DEDICATED TO THE TRUTH
Mehmet Barlas, who was born in Ankara in 1942 as a child of a family from Gaziantep, graduated from Istanbul University Faculty of Law. Barlas, who started journalism at a young age, served as domestic and foreign news consultant at TRT. In 1968, he won the first prize in the review category in the competition organized by the Turkish Journalists Association. Barlas, who worked as a columnist in Türkiye’s leading newspapers for many years, also took part in television screens. Barlas, who once presented the ATV Main News Bulletin, was followed by large audiences with his comments on politics, democracy and social issues throughout his journalism career.

HE ALSO LEFT HIS MARK WITH HIS BOOKS
In addition to his journalism, Mehmet Barlas also contributed to Turkish intellectual life with the works he wrote. His books titled “The Period of Coups and Quarrels”, “Turgut Özal’s Memories”, “Negotiations on Turkey”, “Latife Hanım’s Secrets and Turkish Society” and “Yesterday is Yesterday Mehmet Barlas” met with the readers.

HE NEVER GIVE UP WHAT HE KNOWS IS RIGHT
In an interview with SABAH, his wife Canan Barlas stated that the late journalist was excluded from time to time because of his ideas, but he never backed down. “He was excluded many times because of his ideas, but he never deviated from what he thought was right. He was a versatile intellectual. He followed the agenda of both Türkiye and the world closely. He fought an important fight for democracy, especially with the stance he put forward during the February 28 period. He received heavy criticism for his support to President Erdoğan, but he never gave up. The strong relationship between Erdoğan and my wife is strong.” “There was a spirit of solidarity,” he said.

In the post made on the social media account of the Ministry of Commerce, “The news in some media outlets that an administrative fine of 863 million liras was imposed on an automotive company by the Advertising Board of the Ministry of Commerce does not reflect the truth. At the meeting of the Advertising Board dated April 9, 2026, after it was determined that some technical equipment information in the promotions of a vehicle model did not reflect the truth, an administrative fine of 863 thousand 580 liras and the sanction of stopping advertisements were imposed on the relevant company. Therefore; today, The claims made in some media organs with unknown sources that an administrative fine of 863 million lira has been imposed on the company in question do not reflect the truth. On the other hand, the administrative fines that can be imposed by the Advertising Board vary according to the medium in which the advertisement is published, with the maximum limit for 2026 being 31 million 808 thousand 530 lira for television advertisements and 8 million 635 thousand 800 lira for internet advertisements. “Administrative fines of up to 863 thousand 580 liras can be imposed on air advertisements and similar media. Additionally, if the suspension decision is not complied with, the fines may be repeated.”

BLUEVISION, the new generation situational awareness system developed by HAVELSAN, one of the leading companies of the Turkish defense industry, transforms the maritime world with artificial intelligence and computer vision technologies. BLUEVISION aims to provide a wide range of services, from large commercial ships to luxury yachts, from unmanned marine vehicles to military platforms, and to maximize maritime safety. BLUEVISION was developed as a modular decision support and navigation aid product to increase situational awareness in maritime traffic. Unlike traditional methods, it not only uses camera data, but also creates a “safe sea picture” by matching AIS (Automatic Identification System) sensor data with information obtained from the camera. The most striking feature of the system is its ability to locate in real time elements such as small boats, buoys and people on the water that the radar is blind to or has difficulty detecting.

THE SEA IS SAFE
The system, which enables easy integration with its modular structure, is built on advanced computer vision and smart fusion technologies. On the hardware side, it includes thermal and daytime cameras, an artificial intelligence processing unit with high processing power and a touch imaging panel. BLUEVISION provides instant information to the operator by superimposing digital data on the live video stream.

The Ombudsman Institution (KDK), which has been preparing reports on the “Gaza Genocide” for years and has carried out studies that attracted the world’s attention, has completed its thematic report titled “Torture and Inhumane Treatment in Gaza”, which includes Israel’s latest massacres and attacks on the global SUMUD fleet. The thematic report prepared under the instructions of the Chief Ombudsman Mehmet Akarca said, “The aim is to protect the rights of Palestinian children, women, the elderly, the disabled and all innocent civilians who are victims of genocide, torture and inhumane treatment, and to record this report in history to prevent Palestinians from being subjected to torture and inhumane treatment.”

RAPE AND SEXUAL ASSAULT
In the thematic report, where hundreds of concrete events, visuals and documents describing Israeli torture were included one by one, the following determinations were made regarding the torture methods: “Ghost method (tying the prisoner to a high place and hanging him in the air), attempting to drown him with toilet water for long hours, being dragged on his knees on broken glass, performing surgical surgery without anesthesia or with insufficient painkillers, amputating the limbs of the prisoners as a result of constant binding, rape and sexual assaults at various levels, mass starvation leading to weight loss of ten to thirty kilos.” “The existence of torture and ill-treatment practices has been proven.” “Despite the videos of sexual torture, no significant investigation has been carried out against those responsible for acts of torture and ill-treatment that constitute crimes against humanity, as well as genocide and war crimes committed by the Israeli government in the most severe manner, and those responsible have not been punished,” the report said.

MUST BE ENDED
The report also criticized the legal regulation regarding the “execution of Palestinians by hanging, lethal injection, and the electric chair” and called for “This torture and inhumane treatment must end.” The report addressed the world as follows:

Israel has a terrible history of impunity for human rights violations. There is an urgent need for independent and effective investigation of cases of genocide, rape, torture and other ill-treatment, and for those responsible to be punished.

The practice of “administrative detention”, which causes Palestinians to be tortured in custody for months without trial or charge, must be ended. All Palestinians arbitrarily detained in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories must be released immediately.

Israel should allow the conditions of Palestinian detainees to be monitored by human rights organizations.

While CHP Chairman Kılıçdaroğlu said yesterday, “I could not notice the FETO agents among us,” the video of FETO confessor Enes Uludemir, circulated on social media, hit the agenda like a bombshell. Stating that Özgür Özel was a “FETO project”, confessor Uludemir said, “We organized studies in Manisa in 2008. We identified the politically competent names within the opposition wing here. We sent them to the USA. At the beginning of these was Özgür Özel. Özgür Özel had already reached a certain level of rise since 2008 and was polished by FETO. He also reached his current position.” Uludemir said, “FETO prepared a conspiracy in Manisa to get him elected mayor in 2010. The name of this conspiracy is the Sümerbank Case. Many people can look at it on the internet, but they cannot see the names, because it is actually a subject for which a publication ban has been imposed by the court. This is also very interesting. But in this FETO conspiracy, something like this happened: The Sümerbank Case was put forward and the boards of trustees of tradesmen in Manisa went door to door and published a statement. This “In the declaration, it was explained that the so-called AK Party executives in Manisa collapsed on Sümerbank’s land, and AK Party’s victory would be prevented and Özel’s victory would be ensured,” he said.

‘THEY PREPARED ME FOR MEMBERSHIP’
Stating that, despite this, Özgür Özel could not win the elections in question, Uludemir said, “When Özel could not become mayor, this time they prepared Özgür Özel for the seat of parliament.” Claiming that Özel’s family was also designed by FETO, Uludemir said, “At the same time, such a process began, such as his daughter suddenly becoming the smartest girl in Türkiye, their schools giving them awards, his family being enriched in different ways, his brother and his family, his wife’s side, and his entire family being polished under this influence while Özgür Özel was enriched. So, as I said, the process most likely happened in 2010. We realized this too late.”