Middle East & North Africa

By Muhammet Emin Avundukluoglu

ANKARA; 2 Aug 2018; AA; The head of Turkish parliament's constitutional committee has described the U.S. decision to impose sanctions on two Turkish ministers as an "abdication of reason".

"The U.S. administration's decision is far from good sense, an abdication of reason, a lack of foresight," Bekir Bozdag said on his official Twitter account on Thursday.

"The U.S. cannot take what it wants from Turkey with a method that is against international law, unlawful and presuming," Bozdag, a lawmaker from Yozgat province, added.

2 Aug 2018; AFP; Israel reimposed a blockade on fuel deliveries to Gaza on Thursday citing a resurgence in kites carrying firebombs over the border and signalling a brief pause in tensions may be ending.

After two deadly military flare-ups in the Gaza Strip and a ceasefire brokered by Egypt and UN officials last month, the number of firebombs being launched over the border to burn Israeli farmland had diminished.

ISTANBUL; 31 July 2018; AA; The new building at Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen Airport’s domestic terminal -- representing a €26 million ($30.5 million) investment -- will boost the airport's annual passenger capacity to over 40 million, Istanbul’s governor said on Tuesday.

"It started with a capacity of 25 million people, reached 31 million, and now is being raised to 41 million," Vasip Sahin said at the building’s opening ceremony.

Looking ahead, he added: "With the second runway, this capacity will reach 63 million."

By Murat Paksoy and Hanife Sevinc

ISTANBUL

31 July 2018; AA; Representatives of minority communities on Tuesday said they were free to follow their faith in Turkey, denying allegations that they were being victimized.

In a joint declaration, Turkey's minority community representatives -- including followers of the Greek Orthodox and Armenian churches -- said that people of different faiths live "freely".

By Yilmaz Kazandioglu

31 July 2018; AA; HAKKARI, Turkey

A roadside bombing by the PKK terrorist organization killed the wife and baby of a Turkish soldier in the southeastern province of Hakkari, the local governor’s office said Tuesday. 

The bomb exploded when a car carrying the civilians passed through the Yuksekova district.

The mother died on the spot, while the 11-month-old child succumbed to his wounds at the Yuksekova Public Hospital. 

An operation to nab the terrorists is under way in the region.

31 July 2018; AFP; A Turkish court on Tuesday rejected an appeal to release from house arrest a US pastor whose detention on terror-related charges has strained relations between NATO allies Ankara and Washington, state media reported.

The court in the Aegean region of Izmir rejected an appeal by the lawyer for Andrew Brunson, who ran a Protestant church, to have him released from house arrest and have his travel ban removed, state-run Anadolu news agency said.

SANAA, July 31 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's top Houthi rebel official on Tuesday offered a unilateral initiative to his group's foe Saudi-led coalition forces to halt war in the Red Sea.

"We declare our initiative to halt naval military operations for a specific period and it could be extended and include all battle fronts on the ground if this move is reciprocated by the leadership of the coalition," chief of Houthi Supreme Political Committee, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi said in a statement carried by Saba news agency.

Tehran , July 30, IRNA - India’s Ministry of Petroleum has claimed that crude imports from sanctions-hit Iran witnessed a massive jump this June in comparison to last year; disproving reports published by global research agencies that India had heavily cut down crude purchases from Iran due to American sanctions.

JERUSALEM, July 30 (NNN-XINHUA) - Israel said, it intercepted on Sunday, a Gaza-bound European ship, in the latest attempt by international activists, to break the 11-year Israeli blockade on the Palestinian enclave.

The motor vessel, named "Al Awda," or "The Return" in Arabic, was contacted by the Israeli military in international waters, some 49 nautical miles from the port of Gaza, the flotilla's organisers said.

TEHRAN, July 28 (Xinhua) -- Iran will file a lawsuit with international tribunals against U.S. fresh sanctions on importing handwoven Iranian rugs, Press TV reported Saturday.

U.S. President Donald Trump "has wrongly sanctioned the art industry, which is a symbol of culture and intellectual property of the Iranian people," said Fereshteh Dastpak, head of Iran National Carpet Center.

"According to international protocols, what belongs to a nation could not be sanctioned," Dastpak noted.