Turkey

18 July 2021; MEMO: Turkey on Sunday slammed a ruling by a top European Union court allowing the banning of headscarves under certain conditions as a "clear violation of religious freedoms", adding the move would exacerbate prejudices against Muslim women in Europe, reports Reuters.

15 July 2021; MEMO: Turkey and Israel have agreed to work towards improving their strained relations after a rare phone call between their presidents, a spokesman for Turkey's ruling AK Party said on Wednesday, Reuters reports.

14 July 2021; MEMO: The Turkish Foreign Ministry yesterday summoned Greek Ambassador in Ankara, Michael-Christos Diamessis, to "firmly" protest his country's ill- treatment of Turkey's football club Galatasaray at Athens airport on Monday, Anadolu reported.

12 July 2021; MEMO: Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said Greece is maintaining its provocative stances that exacerbate tensions by ignoring the law and not respecting agreements it has signed.

This came in a statement issued to Anadolu Agency yesterday in response to allegations made by his Greek counterpart Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos, who accused Turkey of violating international law and threatening the stability of the region.

12 July 2021; MEMO: Energy giant BP, which has invested more than $500 million in Turkey in the last three years, is looking to focus on renewable energy in the country, local newspaper Sabah reports.

According to the report, BP Turkey Vice President Tumkan Isiltan said: "We have new investments on our radar in Turkey especially in terms of renewables in the age of COVID."

ISTANBUL, July 12 (Xinhua) -- Turkish prosecutors Monday issued detention warrants for 229 suspects over their alleged links to a network believed to be behind a coup attempt in 2016.

Acting upon the order of the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office in Izmir, police launched large-scale simultaneous operations in 47 provinces to catch the suspects, the state-run Anadolu agency said.

Anadolu said on-duty soldiers, military personnel and former military school students are among those targeted in the ongoing operations.

ISTANBUL, Jul 11 (NNN-ANADOLU) – Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, met yesterday, with his Palestinian counterpart, Mahmoud Abbas, in Istanbul, to discuss regional and bilateral issues, Turkey’s presidential office said in a statement.

During the meeting, Erdogan emphasised that, as long as Israel’s “occupation and annexation policies” continue, it will not be possible to establish lasting peace and stability in the region.

The Turkish leader reiterated that, Turkey did not and will not remain silent, about Israel’s “atrocities” in Palestine.

ISTANBUL (AP) — A minibus carrying migrants overturned and caught fire in eastern Turkey, killing 12 people and injuring 20 others, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported Sunday.

The vehicle tumbled into a ditch while traveling overnight near Yumakli in Van province, which borders Iran.

Television broadcasts showed groaning survivors being treated by the roadside as emergency workers sifted through the burnt-out wreckage.

10 July 2021; MEMO: Between 1 and 8 July, 644 flights from Russia have landed in the Turkish city of Antalya carrying 174,808 Russian tourists, Anadolu Agency reported on Friday.

Since the start of the year, more than two million tourists have arrived in Antalya, according to Fraport TAV Antalya Airport General Manager Deniz Varol.

09 July 2021; MEMO: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has invited his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas to visit Turkey where the two are expected to discuss mutual relations. The meeting will be held in the capital, Ankara.