Turkey

03 Apr 2021; MEMO: Turkish security teams today rescued at least 59 migrants in the north-western and southwestern provinces, according to security sources, Anadolu Agency reports.

The Turkish Coast Guard rescued at least 54 migrants off the coast of Ayvacik in Canakkale, said a source, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

04 Apr 2021; MEMO: Turkey has so far administered more than 16.6 million coronavirus vaccine jabs across the country, the nation's health minister announced on Saturday, Anadolu Agency reports.

"Among the countries which have yet to produce their own vaccine, Turkey stands as one of the states that conducts the most jabs," Fahrettin Koca said on Twitter.

ANKARA, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Turkey on Saturday reported the highest daily count of 44,756 COVID-19 cases, according to its health ministry.

Among the new cases, 1,483 are symptomatic patients, and the total infections in the country reached 3,445,052.

The death toll from the virus in Turkey rose by 186 to 32,078, while the total recoveries climbed to 3,082,676 after 23,214 more cases recovered in the last 24 hours.

The rate of pneumonia in COVID-19 patients stands at 3.6 percent and the number of seriously ill patients is 2,231 in the country, said the ministry.

ANKARA, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Turkey has recently witnessed a re-spike in daily COVID-19 cases and tightened its restrictive measures.

According to a statement by Health Minister Fahrettin Koca on his Twitter account, the surge in daily cases was mainly due to an increase in infections of the COVID-19 variant.

The Health Ministry said on Friday that it had officially recorded 42,308 new COVID-19 cases in 24 hours, the highest number of daily cases since the outbreak of the COVID-19 in the country more than a year ago.

01 Apr 2021; MEMO: The Turkish Coast Guard rescued 13 asylum seekers stranded on a rubber boat off the country's southwestern coast on Thursday, Anadolu Agency reports.

According to the Coast Guard Command, the group of asylum seekers asked for help when their boat drifted as its engine broke down off the coast of Marmaris district in Mugla province.

Later, the asylum seekers were transferred to the provincial migration office.

01 Apr 2021; MEMO: Turkish tour firms have begun organising vaccination tours to Russia for those who do not want to wait to receive the inoculation, Turkish daily newspaper Hurriyet reports.

According to the paper, tours include a visit to Moscow, accommodation, flights and the vaccination. A certificate is also given to those who received the inoculation

01 Apr 2021; MEMO: Turkey will convert a forgotten plane which skidded off the runway into a restaurant in Trabzon, a city off the Black Sea.

Three years after the Pegasus Airlines Boeing 737 was buried in mud, just 25 metres away from the sea, on the side of a cliff, the plane will be converted into a pide – Turkish flatbread – restaurant.

30 Mar 2021; MEMO: Turkish and Azerbaijani nationals will be able to travel passport-free between the two countries from Thursday, Anadolu Agency reported Turkey's Foreign Ministry said yesterday.

According to the report, citizens of Turkey and Azerbaijan travelling directly between the two countries will be able to do so without needing their passports, using their ID cards instead.

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey is reinstating weekend lockdowns in most of Turkey’s provinces and will also impose restrictions over the Muslim holy month of Ramadan following a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases.

25 Mar 2021; MEMO: Turkish Coast Guards have rescued a total of 468 asylum seekers who were illegally pushed back by the Greek side into Turkish territorial waters in the Aegean Sea, according to official figures.

According to the Turkish Coast Guard Command, between 1 January and 24 March, at least four asylum seekers lost their lives trying to cross the Aegean.