Turkey: U.S. backs group that killed its hostages

ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan laid into the United States, accusing it of supporting Kurdish militants on Monday, days after Turkish troops found the bodies of 13 Turkish soldiers, police and civilians abducted by Kurdish insurgents in a cave complex in northern Iraq.

“You are with them and behind them, pure and simple,” Erdogan said, referring to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, as well as Syrian Kurdish groups linked to the PKK, which Turkey considers to be terrorists but which were allied with the United States in the fight against the Islamic State.

“If we are together in NATO, and if we are to continue our (alliance) in NATO, you have to be sincere toward us,” Erdogan said.

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu expressed Turkey’s “unease” over recent U.S. statements during a telephone call with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, his ministry said.

U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said Blinken expressed condolences for the deaths of the hostages and “affirmed our view that PKK terrorists bear responsibility.” Blinken also emphasized their shared interest in countering terrorism.

Earlier Monday, Turkey summoned U.S. Ambassador David Satterfield to the Foreign Ministry over a previous statement.

The victims were discovered in the Gara region, near the Turkish border, during an operation against the PKK that had aimed to free the hostages. Twelve of the victims were shot in the head and one died of a shoulder bullet wound. The 13 were kidnapped inside Turkey in 2015 and 2016.

Erdogan said 51 PKK militants were killed during the latest offensive and vowed to press ahead with cross-border offensives.

“We have the power, capability and determination to come down hard on the terrorists everywhere,” Erdogan said.

In a statement, the PKK said “prisoners of war” were killed as a result of Turkish air strikes.

GENEVA — It’s nearly launch time for COVAX, the United Nations’ unprecedented program to deploy COVID-19 vaccines for hundreds of millions in need around the globe.

More than two months after countries such as the United States and Britain started immunizing their most vulnerable people, the U.N.’s health agency gave its approval Monday to a vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca, which should trigger the release of hundreds of millions of doses by COVAX.

COVAX missed its target of starting vaccinations in poor countries at the same time immunizations were rolled out in rich countries. Numerous developing countries have signed their own deals to buy vaccines, fearing the program won’t deliver.

The World Health Organization and partners hope COVAX can finally start shipping out vaccines later this month.

Here’s a look at the project:

What is COVAX?

It’s a cooperative program aimed to make sure low- and middle-income countries get equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines. Some buy them; others get them for free thanks to donor countries and charities.

COVAX hopes to deploy some 336 million doses by the end of June and around 2 billion by the end of the year.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said last week that over 130 million doses of vaccine have been deployed globally — three-quarters of them in only 10 countries. Almost 130 countries with 2.5 billion people haven’t administered a single dose, he said.

Why is WHO approval vital?

Unlike most wealthy nations, many developing countries don’t have the resources to assess whether vaccines should be approved. They rely on the WHO to determine if vaccines are safe and effective and have been made properly.

The biggest moment for COVAX so far looms with Monday’s approval of the AstraZeneca vaccine; the program has bought hundreds of millions of doses, although there is no guarantee when countries will receive them. The Serum Institute of India, which will produce the majority of them, has said its provision of shots to COVAX would be “calibrated” in line with India’s own domestic and other needs.

But questions have arisen recently about the vaccine’s use, given the increasing spread of a virus variant first identified in South Africa. Early studies suggest the AstraZeneca vaccine is less effective against that variant, and South Africa’s government delayed plans to roll out its own supplies of the vaccine. The WHO said last week that the AstraZeneca shot should still be used in countries that have detected variants, but the head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned the region’s countries to prioritize other vaccines instead.

Who gets the doses first?

COVAX leaders haven’t said. Gian Gandhi, the UNICEF supply coordinator for COVAX, said a confirmation of the doses that the U.N. children’s agency can deploy will come once the WHO has approved the AstraZeneca vaccine.

The WHO takes into account readiness and need and has placed a priority on getting doses to health care workers and vulnerable people such as the elderly.

The deployment “will vary from country to country,” Gandhi said.