Turkey

06 Jan 2022; MEMO: Russia's Gazprom Export and Turkish state energy company BOTAS signed a four-year natural gas supply deal, Gazprom Export announced today.

The Russian company will send 5.75 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas a year to BOTAS via the TurkStream pipeline effective on 1 January.

Various agreements were signed between Gazprom Export and BOTAS for natural gas shipments on 30 December, according to Gazprom Export.

03 Jan 2022; MEMO: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday he will make a visit next month to Saudi Arabia, whose ties with Ankara have been strained in recent years, reports Reuters.

Asked about resolving issues in exports to Saudi Arabia as he left a trade event, Erdogan said he would travel to the Gulf state in February.

"He is expecting me in February. He made a promise and I will make my visit to Saudi Arabia in February," he said in a video posted on social media, without giving a name.

ISTANBUL, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Turkey's annual inflation rate surged to 36.1% last month, its highest in the 19 years Tayyip Erdogan has ruled, laying bare the depths of a currency crisis engineered by the president's unorthodox interest rate-cutting policies.

In December alone, consumer prices took a rare step into double-digits, rising 13.58%, Turkish Statistical Institute data showed on Monday, eating deeper into the earnings and savings of Turks rattled by the economic turmoil.

02 Jan 2022; MEMO: The Armenian government has announced that it is lifting its embargo on Turkish goods from the beginning of 2022, marking a new step in the thawing of relations between the two countries.

Armenia's economy ministry made the announcement in a Facebook post on Thursday, stating that "as a result of interdepartmental discussions, a decision was made not to extend the embargo on Turkish goods."

31 Dec 2021; MEMO: President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that Turks should keep all their savings in lira in 2022 amid recent exchange rate volatility, Reuters reports.

According to the report, Erdogan called on Turks to keep their savings in local currency, Turkish liras, and to bring their gold savings into the banking system.

"I want all my citizens to keep their savings in our own money, to run all their business with our own money, and I recommend this," Erdogan said.

31 Dec 2021; MEMO: A group of Iranian doctors received training in heart valve replacement surgery at a hospital in southern Turkey, Anadolu News Agency reports.

In a statement, the City Training and Research Hospital in the province of Adana said that eight well-known cardiology specialists working in public, university and private hospitals in Iran, as well as two health institution managers from the country, received training on heart valve replacement by entering through the groin.

31 Dec 2021; MEMO: Turkey's Treasury and Finance Minister has claimed that the United States' Federal Reserve does not belong to the American public but is, instead, owned by five wealthy families, sparking criticism by economists.

ISTANBUL (AP) — A Turkish court accepted an indictment against suspects from a religious association Thursday in a case that could have political and legal repercussions on the opposition-held Istanbul municipality.

The trial against 23 people involved with DIAYDER, which stands for Religious Scholars Mutual Aid and Solidarity Association, for purported links to outlawed Kurdish militants will begin on Feb. 18. Nine of the defendants are in pre-trial detention and some are said to work for the Istanbul municipality.

ISTANBUL, Dec 29 (Reuters) - The Turkish lira weakened for the third consecutive day on Wednesday, tumbling 5.6% and eating further into the huge gains made the previous week, as worries persisted over soaring inflation and unorthodox monetary policy.

The losses gathered pace after little initial reaction to the central bank's (CBRT) 2022 policy document, in which it said it will monitor risks related to the foreign exchange market and do what is necessary to ensure it runs smoothly.

ANKARA, Dec 26 (NNN-ANADOLU) – The COVID-19 Omicron variant started to spread in Turkey, especially in crowded provinces, and it accounts for over 10 percent of the new cases in these cities, the Turkish health minister said yesterday.

“More than 10 percent of new cases in our crowded provinces are caused by Omicron,” Health Minister, Fahrettin Koca, tweeted.

“Nothing to worry about. We have the necessary knowledge and pandemic experience,” the minister said, and underlined the need for booster doses of the vaccine.