FRANKIE VETCH

Freelance journalist & writer

Prospect •

Tommy Robinson finds God

When Tommy Robinson walked out of prison on 27th May, his hair was unkempt and his beard was scraggly. The far-right activist, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, used his first speech since he was sent to prison seven months earlier to accuse the state of silencing him. In some ways, this was business as usual: presenting an image of martyrdom is central to Yaxley-Lennon’s brand. But what caught my eye was the Christian cross hanging on a rosary around his neck.In response to the image, D...
New Lines Magazine •

Tracing My Grandfather’s Past Took Me to the Violent Heart of the British Empire

A small gathering of family members stood around an open grave in the English countryside, my father’s mother lying in a casket beside us. It was a summer’s day in the village of Oaksey, near the Cotswolds, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. There was a biblical atmosphere as the skies opened and, with a flash of light, the rain came flooding down. Before the priest gave a eulogy, I read a letter my grandfather had written to my grandmother just before he died.The letter paints a picture of...
euronews •

A year on, Turkey's earthquake victims grapple with poor mental health

It's a year since two earthquakes rocked Hatay province in Turkey. In the ruins and camps, survivors are grappling with a mental health crisis alone.
During the birth of one of her daughters in Syria, Amina says she could hear government forces bombing the hospital. This is when she first started having psychological issues.When Amina arrived in Turkey from Idlib in 2013, her mental health deteriorated further as she watched videos of the war back home. But slowly, she began showing signs of...
Coda Story •

How the global anti-LGBTQ movement found a home in Turkey

Kursat Mican scrolled through pictures on his phone as I sat across from him at a large wooden desk. He showed me one photo: a painting of a man in a blue dress. He scrolled on, then paused and held up the phone again. This one is of two lesbians, he told me.
We were meeting at offices owned by the Yesevi Alperenler Association, a nationalist Islamist organization run by Mican, who also leads a coalition of conservative Turkish nongovernmental organizations. Dressed in a blue suit and shirt, Mic...
Coda Story •

In Turkey, anger at Syrians reaches boiling point as elections loom

Antakya, the capital of the Hatay province, deep in the south of Turkey, was once the cosmopolitan center of ancient Syria. But for the many Syrians who live here now — refugees from a devastating civil war — the city feels unwelcoming, alien.
After the February earthquakes that destroyed so much of the region, Syrian refugees became the targets of resentment, hate speech and violence. Politicians were quick to seize upon the public mood. Exploiting the anger directed at refugees became a key ta...

In Istanbul, the last Uyghur bookshops struggle to survive

This story was originally published by CodaLocated a few feet below street level in the busy Sefakoy district of Istanbul, the Kutadgu Bilik bookshop is a trove of Uyghur culture. If you visit late on a weekday afternoon, you’ll find children whizzing down the aisles, occasionally stopping to flick through the glossy Uyghur-language books that line the walls. It is close to an idyllic scene. As a people subject to ongoing repression in China—or genocide, as a US congressional committee heard in...
Coda Story •

Sovereign borders lose meaning as Turkey’s violent campaign to intimidate Kurds reaches deep inside Sweden

Turkish journalist Ahmet Donmez’s home, about 12 miles out from the center of Stockholm, looks like it was made by Ikea. Leafy, green, and eerily quiet, the neighborhood is too dull to be dangerous. A good, safe place, Donmez thought, to bring up his kids.
Then one day in March, when Donmez was driving his six-year-old daughter home from school, he was violently attacked. His car was bumped from behind, at a crossroads before the strip of houses ringed by security cameras where his home is. He g...
Coda Story •

For Arab dissidents, the walls are closing in

The Arab League is relying on the little-known Arab Interior Ministers Council to target critics abroad. Now, a former detainee is taking them to court in the U.S.

In November 2022, Sherif Osman was having lunch with his fiancee, his sister and other family members at a glittering upscale restaurant in Dubai. A former military officer in Egypt and now a U.S. citizen, Osman had traveled to Dubai with his fiancee, Virta, so his family could meet her for the first time.

Toward the end of the meal
Coda Story •

Echoing its battles in Florida, Disney circles a Turkish maelstrom

Turkey’s broadcasting regulation agency announced last week that it was opening an investigation into Disney after the beleaguered company decided to pull a TV series about the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, from its streaming platform Disney+.

The series was set to air on the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Turkish Republic, October 29, when Ataturk became president. Instead, Disney said that the show will be released as two films: one to be shown on the Turkish free
Coda Story •

Turkey uses journalists to silence critics in exile

Early in the morning on May 17, the German police raided the homes of two Turkish journalists and took them into custody. Ismail Erel and Cemil Albay — who work for Sabah, a pro-government Turkish daily headquartered in Istanbul — were released after a few hours, but their arrests provoked strong condemnation in Turkey. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in the midst of a tight presidential race, told an interviewer that “what was done in Germany was a violation of the freedom of the press.
Coda Story •

As elections near, Turkey weaponizes the law to suppress speech

On February 17, Mir Ali Kocer, a Kurdish journalist, was summoned to a police station in the Turkish city of Diyarbakir. Kocer had been covering the aftermath of the earthquakes that had devastated so much of the city, along with a huge swath of the wider region, earlier that month. The police accused him of spreading disinformation, based on his reporting.

Almost two months later, Kocer is still being investigated and does not know if he will be sent to trial under a controversial law, the so-
openDemocracy •

Revealed: UK aid cash still invested in fossil fuel firms

A fund set up using British overseas aid cash still holds at least 20 investments in fossil fuel companies, two years after it pledged to stop backing dirty energy.

Records analysed by openDemocracy reveal the investments by British International Investment (BII) – which is wholly owned by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office – are worth tens of millions of pounds.

BII was set up to channel aid money and its own assets into development projects in emerging economies around the
The Times •

Taxpayer cash tied up in firm linked to Chinese soft power

British taxpayer cash remains invested in a Chinese company linked to the country’s Belt and Road initiative.

British International Investment (BII), a government-owned development finance company, remains invested in China National Investment & Guaranty Corporation (CNIGC), a credit guarantee firm controlled by the country’s largest state-owned investment holding company.

This company, State Development & Investment Corporation (SDIC), is a major vehicle for China’s Belt and Road Initiative,
The Times •

Minister met Chinese nuclear officials with no minutes on file

A cabinet minister held three meetings with a Chinese state-owned nuclear power company for which no minutes have been retained, The Times can reveal.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan met representatives of China General Nuclear (CGN) in April, June and July last year while serving as energy minister. Two of the sensitive meetings took place after the United States sanctioned the company for its links to the Chinese military.

Liz Truss, who promoted Trevelyan to transport secretary on becoming prime minis
Byline Times •

‘Addicted to Exploiting Migrant Labour’: The Hidden Hostile Environment in the Fishing Industry –

Post-Brexit immigration rules are pushing more and more foreign fishermen to the margins of an already exploitative system, reports Frankie Vetch

When Emmanuel* came to work in the UK, the conditions on the boat were the worst he had ever seen. Having grown up around fishing in Ghana, for him it was a way of life. But when he came to Northern Ireland in 2018, his positive perception of the industry was shattered. Emmanuel has since been registered as a victim of modern slavery. Now he can tell