Turkey

ANKARA, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said late Wednesday that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin may travel to Türkiye on April 27 to attend the inauguration ceremony of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant.

Erdogan told news channel ATV-A Haber in an interview that Putin may either travel to Mersin in person or attend the ceremony via teleconference.

Ankara denounced the desecration of the Quran and the Turkish flag in Denmark, the second such instance in the country this year.

The incident, late Friday, was a hate crime, the Foreign Ministry said, stressing that Turkiye will never accept such "vile actions being allowed under the guise of freedom of expression".

24 Mar 2023; MEMO: The Turkish parliament's Foreign Affairs Commission yesterday approved a bill that ratifies Finland's bid to join NATO.

Deputy Foreign Minister Burak Akcapar briefed parliamentarians on the proposed bill.

23 Mar 2023; MEMO: Increasing trade between Turkiye and Africa to $4.5 billion is the objective set by the new initiative, Global Forum for Intersectoral Cooperation, African News reports.

According to the report, the initiative aims to increase the notoriety of Turkish SMEs on the continent. Its approach is innovative.

23 Mar 2023; MEMO: Turkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that his government will lay the foundation stone today for homes to be built for those affected by the double earthquake that struck the south of the country on 6 February. He made the announcement in a television interview yesterday.

23 Mar 2023; MEMO: Container homes from Qatar are being set up for the afflicted in Turkiye's Adiyaman province that was hit hard by the 6 February twin earthquakes, Anadolu News Agency reports.

According to sources, officials in Adiyaman have been handed over 1,000 living containers, and as many as 600 of them have, so far, been placed near the city's main bus terminal.

22 Mar 2023; MEMO: Turks overwhelmingly favour a ban on home sales to foreigners, a view that straddles the country's political divide and echoes the backlash against a deluge of buyers in countries from Canada to Portugal, Bloomberg reports.

According to the report, about 79 per cent of Turkish citizens think home sales to foreign nationals should be banned, according to a survey by Metropoll.

23 Mar 2023; MEMO: In a sign of solidarity, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will today break his fast with the survivors of the double earthquakes that devastated the country in February.

Erdogan will visit the governorate of Kahramanmaras, the epicentre of the devastating earthquakes, to inspect the progress of the reconstruction process there, according to the Anadolu Agency.

21 Mar 2023; MEMO: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan talked with his Israeli counterpart, Isaac Herzog, on the phone on Monday evening about the Al Aqsa status, Turkish media outlets reported Tuesday.

According to the report, the two leaders exchanged greetings on the upcoming Islamic holy month of Ramadan and Israel's Passover. Erdogan stressed the importance of prevention of "provocation and threats towards Al-Aqsa mosque", especially during Ramadan.

22 Mar 2023; MEMO: Russian investors established more than 1,300 companies in Turkiye in 2022, a significant increase from the previous year, a new report has revealed.

Issued by the Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkiye (TEPAV) the report indicated that the increase in Russian companies was a 670 per cent increase compared to 2021.