Turkey

21 Dec 2021; MEMO: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledged on Sunday that he will not allow Syrian refugees to be expelled from the country as long as he is president.

21 Dec 2021; MEMO: Turkish and Qatari companies have signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly operate five airports in Afghanistan, Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced yesterday.

"A delegation of experts will travel first to Doha and then to Kabul to discuss ways to operate Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport," Cavusoglu said during a meeting with his Malaysian counterpart on the sidelines of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit in the Pakistani capital Islamabad.

ISTANBUL (AP) — The Turkish lira was making significant gains Tuesday after the country’s president announced new measures to safeguard deposits in the national currency against currency fluctuations.

The lira hit an all-time low of 18.36 against the U.S. dollar Monday but rebounded to a high of 11.09 Tuesday morning. It was trading at 13.75 at 0820 GMT Tuesday.

The currency has been on a rollercoaster ride since the central bank began lowering interest rates in September and saw extreme volatility in the past weeks when the lira kept hitting record lows.

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — The beleaguered Turkish currency reached another record low against the U.S. dollar Monday, a day after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stood firm on his policy to lower interest rates despite rising consumer prices and slammed business groups that called for a change of course.

The lira tumbled to an all-time low of 17.97 against the dollar — some 9% weaker from Friday’s close. The Turkish currency has depreciated by more than 55% against the dollar since the start of the year.

ISTANBUL, Dec 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has called on the Turkey-Africa Partnership Summit to provide concrete support to defeat terrorism and insurgency in Africa.

Buhari was speaking on Saturday in Istanbul at the third edition of the Turkey-Africa Partnership Summit.

This is according to a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, titled, ‘Turkey-Africa Summit: President Buhari calls for concrete support to defeat terrorism in Africa.’

18 Dec 2021; MEMO: Ankara stated on Friday that the US State Department's Country Report on Terrorism for 2020 "reflects an incomplete and biased approach" regarding Turkish efforts to fight terrorist groups.

17 Dec 2021; MEMO: Turkey's minimum wage has been increased by a massive 50% for 2022, Anadolu News Agency reports.

According to the news wire, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday announced that by 2022 the minimum wage will rise from 2,826 lira ($172.90) to 4,250 ($274).

Following the decision, the Turkish lira hit a record low plunging as much as 5.2 per cent to 15.595 against the US dollar.

ISTANBUL, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- Turkey aims to carry its cooperation with African nations to a higher level, the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Friday.

Speaking at the Third Turkey-Africa Partnership Summit in Istanbul, Cavusoglu pointed out that the three-day event focuses on the fields of healthcare, agriculture, and education, which are defined as the fundamental components of the summit, and the ministers of the relevant areas have been holding meetings.

ISTANBUL, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- Turkish security forces detained Thursday 14 suspected members of the Islamic State (IS) in Turkey's financial and cultural hub Istanbul.

The Ihlas news agency said police units carried out simultaneous operations in nine districts and captured 14 suspects, including 13 foreigners whose identities were not immediately clear.

The suspects have been allegedly active in Istanbul, recruiting members for the group in Istanbul, spreading propaganda through social media, and providing financial and logistical support.

15 Dec 2021; MEMO: Questions persist over which air defence system is more capable of fulfilling a country's national security objectives, with the Russian S-400, US Patriot, and Israeli Iron Dome systems the focus of the ongoing debates.

Although several countries trust these systems, especially those located in conflict zones, some conditions bring their reliability up for discussion, Anadolu News Agency reports.