Turkey

01 Nov 2022; MEMO: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan inaugurated the long-anticipated, massive manufacturing plant that will be building Turkiye's first domestic car brand, TOGG.

On the occasion of the 99th anniversary of the Turkish Republic, Erdogan joined the opening ceremony of Turkiye's first domestic car plant in the north-western province of Bursa.

ANKARA, Nov. 1 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had a phone call with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, aiming to resolve the grain export impasse.

In the phone call, Erdogan told Putin that Türkiye was making efforts with all sides to solve problems about the implementation of the grain export deal, according to a statement from the Turkish presidency.

The Turkish president stressed that he was confident they would establish a "solution-oriented cooperation in this issue, as in many other issues," said the statement.

01 Nov 2022; MEMO: Ukrainian grain ships anchored outside of Istanbul Strait waiting for inspection "pose navigations risks" following Russia's suspension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, Turkiye told UN Security Council on Monday, Anadolu News Agency reports.

There were 97 loaded vessels and 15 inbound vessels registered for inspection around Istanbul as of Monday morning local time, Turkish Ambassador to the UN, Feridun Sinirlioglu, said at a Security Council meeting.

ISTANBUL, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan inaugurated the country's first car manufacturing plant and rolled out the first domestically-produced car on Saturday, as the republic celebrates the 99th anniversary of its founding.

"As the foremost producer of commercial vehicles in Europe and one of the world's leading automobile exporters, not having a domestic car brand had long wrenched our hearts," Erdogan said at the opening ceremony of the factory of Togg, or Türkiye's Automobile Joint Venture Group.

29 October 2022; MEMO: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that Turkiye will distribute natural gas from Russia to Europe through its TurkStream project.

Erdogan noted in a speech in Ankara on Friday that this will take place as a result of talks with Moscow.

28 October 2022; MEMO: Turkiye has ensured the voluntary return of an estimated 530,000 people to the safe zones in Syria, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday, Anadolu News Agency reports.

"We have ensured the voluntary return of approximately 530,000 people to the safe zones we created in Syria," Erdogan said at an event in the capital, Ankara.

27 October 2022; MEMO: Turkiye's competition authority yesterday imposed fines of 346.72 million lira ($18.63 million) on Meta platforms, formerly known as Facebook, for its violation of the country's competition law, news agencies reported.

In a statement, the Turkish Competition Board said it found that Meta obstructed its competitors operating in social network services and online advertising markets as it merged data collected through Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.

ANKARA, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- Turkish prosecutors on Monday issued an arrest warrant for 11 suspects allegedly operating within the ranks of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the umbrella group of the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front, the state-run TRT broadcaster reported.

The Turkish police had detained nine of the suspects and continued to seek the others, the TRT reported.

21 October 2022; MEMO: Social media companies are unlikely to fully abide by Turkiye's new law requiring them to remove "disinformation" content and share user data with authorities, analysts say, raising the spectre of possible platform disruptions before elections next year.

23 October 2022; MEMO: A delegation from Finland will visit Turkiye next Tuesday to hold technical talks on the extradition of accused terrorists sought by Ankara, as stipulated in a recent treaty, reports Anadolu Agency.

Finnish Justice Ministry officials will meet in the capital Ankara with a delegation headed by Kasim Cicek, director general of foreign relations and the European Union at the Turkish Justice Ministry.