Turkey

12 Sep 2021; AA: An Orthodox monastery in Turkey’s Black Sea province of Trabzon has reopened to visitors after restorations.

Panagia Keramesta, also known as Kizlar (Girls) Monastery in Turkey, is believed to be constructed during the reign of then-Byzantine Emperor Alexios III (1349–1390), and took its final shape in the 19th century after several renovations over the centuries.

12 Sep 2021; AA: Archaeological excavations will be carried out to unearth one of the most important temples of the Hittites in Kayalipinar, a 3,800-year-old ancient city in Turkey’s central Sivas province.

"There are many monumental structures and administrative buildings here. Those structures show us the importance of this place in both the Old Assyrian and Hittite periods. So there is a lot for a visitor to see here," Cigdem Maner, an archeologist at Koc University in Istanbul, told Anadolu Agency.

12 Sep 2021; AA: Turkey has administered over 101.45 million coronavirus vaccine jabs since the country launched an immunization campaign in January, indicated official figures released on Saturday.

Over 51.41 million people have gotten their first COVID-19 vaccine dose, while more than 40.15 million are fully vaccinated, the Health Ministry said.

The data showed that 82.83% of the country's adult population has received at least one dose of a two-shot vaccine.

12 Sep 2021; AA: Turkey’s Communications Directorate on Saturday organized a training program on Turkish media law for foreign journalists.

Held in the capital Ankara, the training aimed at informing members of the foreign press, accredited in Turkey, on issues such as Turkish media law, freedom of communication in Turkey, and its regulation and limitations.

During the program, the participants were informed about Turkey's regimes and regulations of press, radio, television, and internet.

ISTANBUL, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- Turkey has so far administered 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines as part of the nationwide vaccination campaign launched in mid-January, the Health Ministry announced on Thursday.

According to the latest data of the ministry, 47.6 percent of the population has received two doses of vaccine in the country of 83 million.

10 Sep 2021; MEMO: Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu today met with Syrian opposition figures in the capital Ankara, Anadolu reports.

Cavusoglu met with Salem Al-Meslet, head of the National Coalition of Syrian Opposition; Anas Abdeh, president of the Syrian Negotiation Commission; and head of the Syrian Interim Government Abdurrahman Mustafa.

"Fully supporting Coalition and Interim government, legitimate representatives of Syrian people," Cavusoglu wrote on Twitter after the meeting.

08 Sep 2021; MEMO: Turkey can give the mission of protecting Afghanistan's Kabul Hamid Karzai International Airport to a private security company, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said yesterday.

Speaking to Turkish broadcaster NTV, Cavusoglu said the Taliban or Afghan forces can ensure security outside the airport and the international community needs a structure it can trust for the airport to operate.

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkish prosecutors have issued detention warrants for 214 serving and former military personnel over alleged ties to a 2016 coup attempt, the state-run news agency said Tuesday.

The investigation, led by prosecutors in the western city of Izmir, had led to 137 arrests across 41 provinces so far, Anadolu Agency reported.

Most of the suspects were dismissed from the armed forces in the wake of the failed coup, but 44 were serving members. The highest-ranking suspect was a colonel.

06 Sep 2021; MEMO: Turkey's data protection authority has fined WhatsApp nearly $235,000 for violating privacy rules, local media reports.

According to reports, the Turkish Personal Data Protection Authority (KVKK) announced that it had fined WhatsApp 1,950,000 Turkish lira and ordered the app to bring its privacy policy in line with Turkish laws.

WhatsApp has to take "the necessary measures to avoid processing personal data contrary to the law", the KVKK said.

ISTANBUL, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Turkey will tighten controls on non-documented refugees in big cities to ease the rising anti-immigrant sentiment among Turkish people, the Milliyet daily reported on Saturday.

Turkish authorities plan to identify migrants living in cities such as Ankara, Istanbul, and Izmir but are registered elsewhere in the country and send them back to their places of registration, Milliyet said.