Turkey: police storm the headquarters of the main opposition party in Ankara. Clashes broke out on Sunday in Ankara between the police and members of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), the main opposition party in Turkey, after the police stormed the headquarters of the party to dislodge its leaders. “These unrest followed a decision rendered on May 21 by an Ankara courtâ€invalidant l’élection en 2023 d’Özgür Özel à la tête du CHP pour “presumed irregularities†, and ordering his replacement by his predecessor Kemal Kiliédaroglu, considered close to power, specifies the English edition of Hürriyet. Since Sunday morning, supporters of Mr. Özel had gathered in front of the party headquarters to prevent the new leadership from chasing out Mr. Özel and his team, who were walled in there. But despite their protests, hundreds of anti-riot police stormed the building in the afternoon and succeeded in dislodging the CHP leaders, who denounced acts of violence.
Senegal: resignation of the President of Parliament, Ousmane Sonko behind the scenes. The President of the Senegalese Assembly, El Malick Ndiaye, announced his resignation on Sunday, a probable prelude to his replacement by Ousmane Sonko, dismissed from his post as Prime Minister on Friday. Following this announcement, the deputies were called to a plenary session on Tuesday May 26 to vote “the reinstatement of the former Prime Ministerâ€reports Seneweb. “Libéré de ses charges [lorsqu'il était] at the head of the government…Mr. Sonko will therefore “find your parliamentary sash and your deputy seatâ€specifies the site. The agenda also provides for the election of the new president of the National Assembly, a position which seems promised to the former Prime Minister, also head of Pastef, the majority party in Parliament. Ousmane Sonko, a very popular figure among Senegalese youth, was dismissed on Friday by President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, after months of tension. The two men were nevertheless close: prevented from running in the 2024 presidential election, Mr. Sonko had designated Bassirou Diomaye Faye to replace him in the race.
Despite the war in Iran, a record number of pilgrims expected for the hajj in Mecca. “As airspace restrictions, rising costs and geopolitical tensions spread across the Middle East, hundreds of thousands of people†have still chosen to make the trip to Mecca for the annual pilgrimage, which begins Monday, observes Middle East Eye. Saudi authorities said this weekend that around 1.5 million foreign pilgrims had already arrived in the kingdom, “passing the total of the last yearâ€notes the site. The hajj takes place almost three months after the United States and Israel launched their war against Iran. A fragile ceasefire has been in force since April 8, but Washington and Tehran are struggling to agree on a longer-term agreement and regularly threaten to resume hostilities. The hajj constitutes one of the five pillars of Islam and must be undertaken by every Muslim at least once in their life, if their health allows it and if they have the means.
