Four soldiers killed in helicopter crash in Istanbul
ANKARA (Reuters) - Four soldiers were killed when a military helicopter crashed in a residential neighborhood on the Asian side of Istanbul on Monday, the governor of Turkey’s biggest city said.
The helicopter went down in an area of apartment buildings, Istanbul Governor Ali Yerlikaya said. Television images showed smoke rising from the area and ambulances rushing to the scene.
There were no civilian injuries or casualties, Yerlikaya told reporters, adding that the cause of the crash was not yet known.
Crowds queued outside municipality tents to buy tomatoes, onions and peppers in Istanbul’s Bayrampasa district of Turkey, waiting for an hour for items selling at half the regular shop prices.
The move to set up state markets follows a 31 percent year-on-year surge in food prices in January and precedes local elections next month in which President Tayyip Erdogan’s AK Party faces a tough challenge to maintain support.
Traders blamed storms in southern Turkey’s farming region for food price inflation, as well as rising costs of labor and transport. Authorities called it “food terror” and said they would punish anyone trying to keep prices artificially high.
It is pertinent to mention here that battling a sharp rise in food costs, Turkey opened their own markets on Monday to sell cheap vegetables directly to shoppers, cutting out retailers who the government has accused of jacking up prices.
