Hailstorm and flash flooding in Istanbul, Turkey

Severe hailstorm, downburst and flash flooding in Istanbul, Turkey – July 27, 2017

Severe Weather Europe,

28 July, 2017

An intense severe supercell thunderstorm hit Istanbul, Turkey late on July 27, producing an intense severe hailstorm with very large hail, severe straight line winds and intense flash flooding. Widespread damage has been reported.

Very large hail in Istanbul. Photo: Severe Weather Turkey.

A number of intense thunderstorms hit the wider region around Istanbul in the afternoon, with a number of severe hailstorms. Hail reached diameters up to 8-9 cm in Istanbul.

Very large hailstone, 8-9 cm in diameter (Istanbul). Photo: Hava Forum – Meteoroloji.

Radar presentation of the storm and photographs indicate it was a supercell.

Wall cloud on the supercell over Istanbul. Photo: Severe Weather Turkey.

Widespread major damage was reported, including hail damage to cars, buildings and airliners (!!), flooding damage and severe wind damage.

Hail damage. Photo: Severe Weather Turkey.

Hail damage. Photo: Kai Diekmann.

Fourth attack in Turkey this year

New CCTV Footage Shows Moment Of Deadly Istanbul Suicide Attack

Zero Hedge,

10 March, 2016

Update: Here is the latest CCTV footage of the attack. Caution: graphic.

For the fourth time this year and the second time in seven days, one of Turkey’s major cities has been hit with a deadly suicide bombing.

Just six days after an explosion ripped through a transit hub in Ankara’s Kizilay neighborhood killing 34 people and wounding more than 100, a bustling shopping street in Istanbul was shaken by a powerful blast on Saturday.

The death toll now stands at 5 and frankly, it probably would have been much, much worse had the blast come later in the day. “The attack took place on Istiklal Caddesi, a pedestrian street that was relatively quiet Saturday morning but is usually thronged with shoppers, strollers and buskers later in the day,” AFP reports. “The street, which adjoins Taksim Square in the European part of the city, was evacuated after the attack.”

The area is extremely popular with tourists. The TAK - the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons - have warned foreigners about supporting the country's tourism industry which the group says feeds the Erdogan regime. 

"Tourism is one of the important sources feeding the dirty and special war, so it is a major target we aim to destroy," the group said flatly, after last weekend's bombing which was carried out by a 24-year-old female student and apparent TAK sympathizer named by the group as Seher Cagla Demir. "We warn the foreign and native tourists not to go to the tourist ... areas in Turkey.

It wasn't just the TAK warning tourists. The US embassy in Ankara cautioned American citizens that more attacks could be forthcoming ahead of Kurdish Nevruz.

Authorities say at least three dozen people were injured, seven of which are in critical condition. 

1. Michael Horowitz ‏@michaelh992  12h12 hours ago

   12 Foreign citizens wounded in #Istanbul are: 6 Israelis, an Icelander, a German, an Iranian, two Irish citizens and a citizen from Dubai

   129 retweets27 likes

   
   

   
   

   
   

 

Michael Horowitz‏@michaelh992

Source via @ValkryV

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1:36 AM - 20 Mar 2016

The Kurdish New Year (March 21) is expected to be a dangerous time in Turkey. Erdogan has stepped up the military siege on Kurdish enclaves in the southeast and the PKK and TAK have responded in kind. Cities like Cizre have been reduced nearly to rubble and look more like Aleppo than they do like Turkish urban centers. Erdogan is also irate about Syrian Kurds' move to declare federalism on Turkey's southern border. Here are images from the aftermath of today's attack:

Expect either the PKK or the TAK to be blamed/claim the attack in fairly short order. This is a self-fulfilling prophecy and it was set in motion intentionally by Erdogan in the wake of last June's elections. The more Kurdish-linked attacks there are, the more excuses Ankara has to crack down on the Kurds. 

The President will use this as still more evidence of why the definition of "terrorist" needs to be expanded, why Kurdish strongholds in the southeast must be kept under curfew, why HDP lawmakers should be stripped of their immunity, and, ultimately, why the powers of the presidency need to be expanded. 

It's all very simple, you see. Don't you get it now?...

Gezi Park - out of MSM headlines

Police fire tear gas, water cannon to push back Gezi Park protesters in Istanbul

Turkish police used water cannon and tear gas to disperse protesters who tried to defy a closure order and enter Istanbul’s Gezi Park. The park was the focal point of nationwide protests against Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan in June.

RT,

8 July, 2013

Istanbul’s Gezi Park, which has been the focus of several weeks of tensions in the country, was briefly opened to the public on Monday.

Three hours later the access to the park was once again blocked by police. Reuters reports that a water cannon was also used to disperse the crowd.

A protestor take cover from water cannon during clashes with police officers on Istiklal avenue, in Istanbul on July 8, 2013. (AFP Photo / Bulent Kilic)

Protesters take cover from a water cannon during clashes with police on Istiklal Avenue in Istanbul on July 8, 2013. (AFP Photo / Bulent Kilic)

According to AP, the law enforcement officers push the people out of the park with their shields and fired tear gas at a few protesters, who tried kicking the police shields.

Trinity/Revolution @chloey001

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Police intervention on Taksim's with tear gas. People flee into side streets. #Turkey #Istanbul #Taksim #occupygezi pic.twitter.com/zAeJNUeegP

5:21 утра - 9 июля 2013

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The news agency said that at least a dozen people were detained by the police. No casualties were immediately reported.

The decision to block access to the park came amid a call from the Taksim Solidarity Platform, a group which opposes the construction of a replica Ottoman-era barracks in the park, to stage a new protest on Monday evening.

Protesters clash with police officers on Istiklal Avenue in Istanbul on July 8, 2013. (AFP Photo / Bulent Kilic)

Istanbul governor, Huseyin Avni Mutlu, said on his Twitter account that the park was shut down again because there were “many calls to turn Gezi Park into an area of unlawful demonstrations and occupation.”

Turkish riot policemen arrest a protestor during clashes with police on Taksim square in Istanbul on July 8, 2013. (AFP Photo / Bulent Kilic)

The wave of unrest at Gezi Park started on May 31 after a police crackdown on a small demonstration against plans to redevelop the area, grew into a larger action of those unhappy with Erdogan’s “authoritarian style of rule.”

The protests, which went on throughout most of June, resulted in the death of four people and around 7,500 injured.

Gezi Park, located on the edge of Taksim Square, is one of the few remaining green spaces in the center of Istanbul

Turkish riot policemen arrest a protestor during clashes with police on Taksim sqaure in Istanbul on July 8, 2013. (AFP Photo / Bulent Kilic)