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Liz Cookman

@lizcookman.bsky.social
1.1K followers 543 following 93 posts

🖋️Correspondent: Ukraine, Turkey, Middle East 📍 Kyiv and Istanbul 🏆Best Print & Best Specialist Journalist, Freelance Journalism Awards 2024 🏆Amnesty Gaby Rado award 2023

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Reposted by Liz Cookman
Turkey recap @turkeyrecap.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
"'I live in constant fear': surge in giant sinkholes threatens Turkey’s farmers" by @lizcookman.bsky.social and Emre Çaylak. [2/5]
theguardian.com
‘I live in constant fear’: surge in giant sinkholes threatens Turkey’s farmers
Falling groundwater, extreme heat and water-intensive farming are accelerating land collapse, forcing a rethink in agricultural practices
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Reposted by Liz Cookman
Erica Gies / SlowWater.world @ericagies.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
Turkey's decades of extreme irrigation from rivers and groundwater for ag has also taken water from downstream Iraq. Now Turkey's land is barking back. Similar to subsidence (sinking ground) in California from overpumping groundwater. By @lizcookman.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...
theguardian.com
‘I live in constant fear’: surge in giant sinkholes threatens Turkey’s farmers
Falling groundwater, extreme heat and water-intensive farming are accelerating land collapse, forcing a rethink in agricultural practices
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Reposted by Liz Cookman
European Leadership Network (ELN) @theeln.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
Great to see ELN Senior Associate Fellow @ziyameral.bsky.social speak to @thetimes.com and @lizcookman.bsky.social on Turkey's approach to the Iran war, check it out below ⤵️ www.thetimes.com/world/middle...
thetimes.com
Erdogan desperate to stay neutral as Iran war approaches Turkey’s borders
The Turkish president has urged diplomacy as fears of a refugee wave grow, but a missile targeting his country has changed the dynamic
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Liz Cookman @lizcookman.bsky.social · 27/11/2025
It'a just over 5 years since I started freelancing & went straight to cover a 44-day war in Nagorno-Karabakh. After a ceasefire, Russian soldiers were sent in as peacekeepers(!). I wonder how many went on to die, or kill, in Ukraine. It's mind blowing how much has happened.
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Reposted by Liz Cookman
PubAffairs EU Debates, News & Opinions 🇪🇺 @pubaffairsbruxelles.eu · 25/11/2025
[Featured] #UkraineWar: Europeans rush to foil #Ukraine deal favouring Kremlin, by @lizcookman.bsky.social | The Observer observer.co.uk/news/interna...
observer.co.uk
Europeans rush to foil Ukraine deal favouring Kremlin | The Observer
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Liz Cookman @lizcookman.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
I am a finalist for a British Journalism Award! I am so honoured! For feature journalism from Ukraine, Syria and Somalia for the @theguardian.com and the @telegraphnews.bsky.social. So many brilliant journalists here 👉 pressgazette.co.uk/press-gazett...
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Liz Cookman @lizcookman.bsky.social · 08/10/2025
There is a fundraiser to help George Ivanchenko, the Ukrainian photographer who was badly injured in a drone strike last week in Donbas - the same one that killed Antoni Lallican. Please help if you can: send.monobank.ua/jar/6qRivvU8...
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Liz Cookman @lizcookman.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
10s of 1,000s of Ukrainian veterans have suffered heavy injury resulting in disability. Many are young men, who have to relearn how to live with new bodies, facing a taboo subject in a religious country - how to reclaim their sex lives. For @theobserveruk.bsky.social observer.co.uk/news/interna...
observer.co.uk
Love in a time of war: the new sex therapy for Ukraine’s ...
As thousands of young veterans return home with life-changing injuries, many are wondering if physical intimacy is something they’ll ever know again
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Reposted by Liz Cookman
Mykola Kuleba @mykolakuleba.bsky.social · 29/09/2025
“I understood it wasn’t just play.” @lizcookman.bsky.social for @theguardian.com reveals how 200+ Russian “camps” groom Ukrainian children for war, erasing their identity. 📰 Read & share: www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s... #SaveUkraine
theguardian.com
How Russia is grooming Ukraine’s children to fight for it: ‘I understood it wasn’t just play’
Abducted children and those from occupied territories are turning up in Russia’s military-style training camps, with fears that some are already on the frontline
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Reposted by Liz Cookman
Liz Cookman @lizcookman.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
I’ve been longlisted for Freelance Journalist of the Year at this year’s @rorypecktrust.bsky.social Awards, alongside some incredible journalists with work I really admire. 🎉🎉😎😎 Freelancers are 💪🏽💪🏽 rorypecktrust.org/awards/2025-...
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Liz Cookman @lizcookman.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
I’ve been longlisted for Freelance Journalist of the Year at this year’s @rorypecktrust.bsky.social Awards, alongside some incredible journalists with work I really admire. 🎉🎉😎😎 Freelancers are 💪🏽💪🏽 rorypecktrust.org/awards/2025-...
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Reposted by Liz Cookman
Liz Cookman @lizcookman.bsky.social · 16/09/2025
Russia is running a network of at least 210 camps to re-educate, Russify and militarise Ukrainian children, a Yale report has found. It follows my report last week that outlined how stolen children are being “trained to fight for Russia”. For @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
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Liz Cookman @lizcookman.bsky.social · 16/09/2025
Russia is running a network of at least 210 camps to re-educate, Russify and militarise Ukrainian children, a Yale report has found. It follows my report last week that outlined how stolen children are being “trained to fight for Russia”. For @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
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Reposted by Liz Cookman
Liz Cookman @lizcookman.bsky.social · 11/09/2025
Children from occupied Ukraine are being forcibly taken to miltary camps in Russia, where they train to rig booby traps and load guns. Many fear they are being prepared for the Russian army. Some may already be on the frontline. My story @theguardian.com. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...
theguardian.com
How Russia is grooming Ukraine’s children to fight for it: ‘I understood it wasn’t just play’
Abducted children and those from occupied territories are turning up in Russia’s military-style training camps, with fears that some are already on the frontline
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Liz Cookman @lizcookman.bsky.social · 11/09/2025
Children from occupied Ukraine are being forcibly taken to miltary camps in Russia, where they train to rig booby traps and load guns. Many fear they are being prepared for the Russian army. Some may already be on the frontline. My story @theguardian.com. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...
theguardian.com
How Russia is grooming Ukraine’s children to fight for it: ‘I understood it wasn’t just play’
Abducted children and those from occupied territories are turning up in Russia’s military-style training camps, with fears that some are already on the frontline
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Reposted by Liz Cookman
Liz Cookman @lizcookman.bsky.social · 07/09/2025
This summer, Ukraine was hit with record nos of Russian drones - the deadliest run for civilians in over 3 years. The drones are getting faster, better, with attacks set to grow in autumn. But air defences are evolving quickly to catch up. For @observeruk.bsky.social observer.co.uk/news/interna...
observer.co.uk
As Russian drones rain down on Ukraine, this unit has one...
Citizens fall asleep every night to the constant hum of killing machines that turn buildings to dust and snuff out lives. In a sunflower field near Kyiv,...
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Reposted by Liz Cookman
WarTranslated (Dmitri) @wartranslated.bsky.social · 07/09/2025
In Kyiv, the Cabinet of Ministers building caught fire, likely after drone debris fell on it. PM Svyrydenko wrote: “For the first time, a government building — its roof and upper floors — has been damaged by an enemy attack. Firefighters are battling the blaze. Thank you for your work.”
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Liz Cookman @lizcookman.bsky.social · 07/09/2025
This summer, Ukraine was hit with record nos of Russian drones - the deadliest run for civilians in over 3 years. The drones are getting faster, better, with attacks set to grow in autumn. But air defences are evolving quickly to catch up. For @observeruk.bsky.social observer.co.uk/news/interna...
observer.co.uk
As Russian drones rain down on Ukraine, this unit has one...
Citizens fall asleep every night to the constant hum of killing machines that turn buildings to dust and snuff out lives. In a sunflower field near Kyiv,...
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Liz Cookman @lizcookman.bsky.social · 26/08/2025
A woman has been arrested by Russia’s FSB for attempting to attack its HQ in Sevastapol, Crimea, with a religious icon rigged with explosives on behalf of Ukraine’s SBU. Me for @thetimes www.thetimes.com/world/russia...
thetimes.com
Woman ‘recruited by Ukraine to blow up Russian security building’
The 54-year-old was arrested after allegedly taking a religious icon rigged with explosives to the FSB headquarters in Crimea, Russian media claims
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Reposted by Liz Cookman
Liz Cookman @lizcookman.bsky.social · 25/08/2025
An interview with former Ukrainian president Poroshenko, and the view from Kyiv, amid the push for peace for @observeruk.bsky.social. “We don't need anything from Russia. Stop the war, stop the killing, stop grabbing territory, stop blackmailing us and get out.” observer.co.uk/news/interna...
observer.co.uk
We want peace – but not on Putin’s terms, Ukrainians say
Weary of Russia’s war, the citizens of Ukraine are nevertheless wary of a settlement that might give away too much or that doesn’t carry a security guara...
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Liz Cookman @lizcookman.bsky.social · 25/08/2025
An interview with former Ukrainian president Poroshenko, and the view from Kyiv, amid the push for peace for @observeruk.bsky.social. “We don't need anything from Russia. Stop the war, stop the killing, stop grabbing territory, stop blackmailing us and get out.” observer.co.uk/news/interna...
observer.co.uk
We want peace – but not on Putin’s terms, Ukrainians say
Weary of Russia’s war, the citizens of Ukraine are nevertheless wary of a settlement that might give away too much or that doesn’t carry a security guara...
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Reposted by Liz Cookman
Annie Kelly @anniekelly.bsky.social · 22/08/2025
Powerful reporting and incredible stories here from @lizcookman.bsky.social , edited by @tomlevitt.bsky.social for our new in-depth reporting series on the war in Ukraine www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...
theguardian.com
‘Russia is targeting us deliberately’: how attacks on maternity hospitals fuelled a birth-rate crisis in Ukraine
The Guardian has visited three frontline hospitals to hear from women who say they have been left fearful of childbirth after more than 80 attacks on maternity units since Russia’s full-scale invasion
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Reposted by Liz Cookman
María Ramírez @mariaramirez.bsky.social · 21/08/2025
"In the three years since then, maternity care in Ukraine has remained under constant attack, with more than 2,000 strikes on medical facilities, including 81 affecting maternal care and delivery rooms." By @lizcookman.bsky.social from Kharkiv, Kherson, Sloviansk www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...
theguardian.com
‘Russia is targeting us deliberately’: how attacks on maternity hospitals fuelled a birth-rate crisis in Ukraine
Women have been left fearful of childbirth after more than 80 attacks on maternity units since the invasion, leading to the world’s lowest birth rate and the highest mortality rate
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Liz Cookman @lizcookman.bsky.social · 22/08/2025
I travelled to three frontline cities to show what new mothers face in Ukraine - attacks on maternity hospitals, circling drones, power cuts and constant air raid sirens. Ukraine had the lowest birth rate in the world last year - and highest death rate. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...
theguardian.com
‘Russia is targeting us deliberately’: how attacks on maternity hospitals fuelled a birth-rate crisis in Ukraine
The Guardian has visited three frontline hospitals to hear from women who say they have been left fearful of childbirth after more than 80 attacks on maternity units since Russia’s full-scale invasion
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Liz Cookman @lizcookman.bsky.social · 15/08/2025
From Lavrov’s jumper choices to whether Putin will be given the red carpet treatment, follow our live updates from today’s “HIGH STAKES” Trump-Putin summit in Alaska. @thetimes.com www.thetimes.com/us/american-...
thetimes.com
Trump-Putin Alaska meeting: Russia ‘wants a piece’ of US wealth — live
Trump-Putin Alaska meeting: time, schedule and latest news on summit
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Liz Cookman @lizcookman.bsky.social · 13/08/2025
How Europe can hit Russia where it hurts — and why it probably won’t. The Continent is home to €260bn of frozen Kremlin assets. Ukraine wants it all seized like a sanctioned oligarch’s yacht. Me for @thetimes.com www.thetimes.com/world/russia...
thetimes.com
How Europe can hit Russia where it hurts — and why it probably won’t
The Continent is home to €260bn of frozen Kremlin assets. Ukraine wants it all seized like a sanctioned oligarch’s yacht
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Liz Cookman @lizcookman.bsky.social · 07/08/2025
Russia is attempting a “digital occupation” of Ukraine using a vast network of pro-Kremlin bots that flood people’s mobile phones in the occupied east with subtle and locally-targeted disinformation. My story for @thetimes.com www.thetimes.com/world/russia...
thetimes.com
How Russia targets Ukrainians’ hearts and minds through their phones
Pro-Kremlin fake accounts have flooded Telegram with thousands of targeted messages to create a ‘digital occupation’ and sow dissent
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Reposted by Liz Cookman
Save the Children UK @savechildrenuk.bsky.social · 01/08/2025
Over 120 health facilities across Somalia are at risk due of closing due to cuts in international aid, with children paying the heaviest price. Our CEO Moazzam Malik visited Baidoa, the epicentre of the crisis, with @lizcookman.bsky.social. This is what they saw 👇
bit.ly
Sickness and starvation stalk Somalia’s children in the ‘City of Death’
Baidoa is the epicentre of a humanitarian crisis. Vital lifelines keeping infants alive may soon be forced to close, thanks to aid cuts
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Liz Cookman @lizcookman.bsky.social · 04/08/2025
Her name was Diana Koshyk and she was 23. She liked to write poetry and paint, and was seven months pregnant with a son she named Damir. She was killed in a Russian missile strike last week. My first story for @observeruk.bsky.social observer.co.uk/news/interna...
observer.co.uk
Pregnant, panicking… then the bomb struck | The Observer
Her name was Diana Koshyk and she was 23 years old. She liked to write poetry and paint, and she was the “love of my life”, says her husband Oleksandr Ko...
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Liz Cookman @lizcookman.bsky.social · 23/07/2025
Thousand are on the streets in Kyiv for a second night, incl. wounded veterans, to protest Zelenskyy’s signing of a controversial bill on the independence of Ukraine’s anti-corruption institutions. Some compared him to Yanukovych, who was ousted during the Maidan Revolution.
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Reposted by Liz Cookman
Liz Cookman @lizcookman.bsky.social · 05/07/2025
I went out with firefighting teams on the frontline of Turkey’s battle with devastating wildfires at their epicentre - Izmir province. Blazes are tearing through homes and farms. They have killed at least three, including one firefighter. @thetimes.com www.thetimes.com/world/europe...
thetimes.com
On the ground with the crew battling Turkey’s blazing wildfires
Residents in Izmir whose homes and land have been destroyed spoke of birds catching alight, wild horses ‘screaming’, devastation and loss
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Liz Cookman @lizcookman.bsky.social · 05/07/2025
I went out with firefighting teams on the frontline of Turkey’s battle with devastating wildfires at their epicentre - Izmir province. Blazes are tearing through homes and farms. They have killed at least three, including one firefighter. @thetimes.com www.thetimes.com/world/europe...
thetimes.com
On the ground with the crew battling Turkey’s blazing wildfires
Residents in Izmir whose homes and land have been destroyed spoke of birds catching alight, wild horses ‘screaming’, devastation and loss
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Reposted by Liz Cookman
The Times and Sunday Times @thetimes.com · 28/05/2025
Four people died and several more were injured on Wednesday after hundreds of Palestinians stormed a United Nations food warehouse in Gaza
thetimes.com
Netanyahu says only 20 hostages alive as hundreds storm Gaza aid warehouse
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Reposted by Liz Cookman
The Times and Sunday Times @thetimes.com · 27/05/2025
Gaza’s youngest influencer, Yaqeen Hammad, was reportedly killed in an Israeli airstrike on May 23rd. She was 11-years-old and documented life in the Gaza Strip. Her death is one of more than 15,000 children reported killed in Gaza since the war began in October 2023
thetimes.com
Gaza’s youngest influencer, 11, killed in Israeli airstrike
Yaqeen Hammad, who posted videos on social media to share humanitarian updates and survival tips from Gaza, was killed by an Israeli airstrike on May 23
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Liz Cookman @lizcookman.bsky.social · 28/05/2025
Turkey’s four-decade conflict with the PKK is ending, and its diplomatic rise is reshaping global power dynamics. I discuss why Turkey is a force to watch on @thetimes.com World in 10 podcast. Listen here: podfollow.com/world-in-10/...
podfollow.com
World in 10: How Turkey plays an outsize role in global diplomacy
As Turkey’s four-decade-long conflict with the PKK draws to a close, the nation achieves major foreign policy victories, solidifying its role as a vital bridge between the West, the Middle East, ...
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Liz Cookman @lizcookman.bsky.social · 28/05/2025
“Is there anything more beautiful than the smile of children in Gaza?,” the Strip’s youngest influencer, Yaqeen Hammad, posted to her Instagram. Days later she was killed in an Israeli air strike at just 11. My story for @thetimes.com: www.thetimes.com/world/middle...
thetimes.com
Gaza’s youngest influencer, 11, killed in Israeli airstrike
Yaqeen Hammad, who posted videos on social media to share humanitarian updates and survival tips from Gaza, was killed by an Israeli airstrike on May 23
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Liz Cookman @lizcookman.bsky.social · 16/05/2025
All eyes are on Turkey for the first direct Russia-Ukraine negotiations in years. So far, though, there is only one winner: President Erdogan. Once viewed by the West as a difficult partner, he's emerging as a key diplomatic bridge. My story @thetimes.com: www.thetimes.com/world/middle...
thetimes.com
How Erdogan went from pariah to peacemaker
The Turkish president has made himself a fulcrum between East and West, playing both sides as he boosts his international profile to counter domestic unrest
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Liz Cookman @lizcookman.bsky.social · 15/05/2025
The only VIP to turn up in Istanbul today for the Russia-Ukraine peace talks.
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Liz Cookman @lizcookman.bsky.social · 15/05/2025
Turkish state TV may have just accidentally settled the debate over whether Erdogan is on Russia's side or Ukraine's.
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Liz Cookman @lizcookman.bsky.social · 15/05/2025
US officials have arrived in Istanbul, while Zelensky and Erdogan are speaking now in Ankara. Uncertainty still looms over the possibility of the first direct Russia-Ukraine peace talks since 2022, follow our live updates here: www.thetimes.com/world/russia...
thetimes.com
Ukraine-Russia war latest: Trump dismisses peace talks in Turkey
US president undermines Kyiv’s first direct negotiations with Moscow in three years as the Ukrainian leader holds talks with his Turkish counterpart
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Liz Cookman @lizcookman.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
An end to one of the world’s longest-running and deadliest insurgencies is in sight after the PKK announced this morning it will disband and formally end its armed struggle against the Turkish state. Me for @thetimes.com: www.thetimes.com/world/middle...
thetimes.com
Kurdish PKK group to disband after deadly 40-year Turkish conflict
The group announced a formal end to its struggle after an insurgency that has left some 40,000 people dead
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Reposted by Liz Cookman
Liz Cookman @lizcookman.bsky.social · 11/05/2025
The world’s most expensive honey went in sale at Harrods last month for £1,250 a jar. It’s produced in a secret valley in the Kaçkar mountains, north-east Turkey. I travelled there for @thetimes.com to meet the beekeeper & ask why it costs almost as much as UK rent. www.thetimes.com/world/europe...
thetimes.com
The honey from a hidden Turkish valley that costs £1,000 a vial
Untouched geography, high-altitude flora and Caucasian bees combine to produce honey that has become one of the most expensive in the world
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Liz Cookman @lizcookman.bsky.social · 11/05/2025
The world’s most expensive honey went in sale at Harrods last month for £1,250 a jar. It’s produced in a secret valley in the Kaçkar mountains, north-east Turkey. I travelled there for @thetimes.com to meet the beekeeper & ask why it costs almost as much as UK rent. www.thetimes.com/world/europe...
thetimes.com
The honey from a hidden Turkish valley that costs £1,000 a vial
Untouched geography, high-altitude flora and Caucasian bees combine to produce honey that has become one of the most expensive in the world
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Liz Cookman @lizcookman.bsky.social · 23/04/2025
Istanbul just suffered a 6.0 earthquake. Everyone is out in the street worried a bigger one is coming - a devastatingly huge one is predicted at some point in soon. Or that buildings might collapse.
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Liz Cookman @lizcookman.bsky.social · 11/04/2025
Late posting my interview with Turkey’s main opposition leader, Ozgur Özel, for @thetimes.com last week. He vowed to push for an early election, and warned UK PM Keir Starmer: “We will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” www.thetimes.com/world/europe...
thetimes.com
Turkish opposition: We will protest until Erdogan calls election
Ozgur Ozel, leader of the Republican People’s Party, has called on Sir Keir Starmer to ‘stand up for democracy’ after hundreds of protesters were jailed
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Liz Cookman @lizcookman.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
I had an amazing weekend in Paris studying childhood, migration, trauma and ethical reporting with @columbiajournalism.bsky.social’s @dartcenter.bsky.social. I learned a lot, met great people and it felt really poignant amid aid cuts and an increasingly inhumane migration debate.
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Liz Cookman @lizcookman.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
I’m with protesting students who are marching over Istanbul’s historic Galata Bridge now, as taxis honk in solidarity. It’s the sixth night of protests tonight in Turkey after the jailing of Ekrem Imamoglu and the first time this has happened.
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Liz Cookman @lizcookman.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
The most iconic photo of Turkey’s protest so far. Ümit Bektaş for Reuters.
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Liz Cookman @lizcookman.bsky.social · 23/03/2025
A fifth night of protests kicked off in Turkey after Istanbul mayor @ekrem-imamoglu.bsky.social was formally jailed on corruption charges and suspended from office. It was the biggest march yet, with protestors clashing with police amid plumes of tear gas. My story: www.thetimes.com/world/middle...
thetimes.com
Protests swell as Istanbul mayor is removed from office
Ekrem Imamoglu was set to be named as a presidential candidate but has been jailed pending trial on charges that critics say are politically motivated
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