Turkey

24 June 2021; MEMO: Turkey's foreign minister yesterday reiterated his country's support for Libya following the Libya conference in Berlin, Anadolu Agency reported.

"Attended Second Berlin Conference on #Libya … Emphasized that we will continue to support peace, security, stability and sovereignty of Libya," Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Twitter.

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish and U.S. military officials met in Turkey’s capital on Thursday to discuss plans for Turkish troops to continue securing Kabul’s airport after the withdrawal of the U.S. and other NATO troops from Afghanistan.

Turkey, NATO’s only majority-Muslim member, has offered to protect and run the Hamid Karzai International airport — the main gateway into Afghanistan — after the alliance pulls out of the country. The country, which has around 500 non-combat troops in Afghanistan, is however, seeking U.S. and other allies’ support for the mission.

ANKARA, Jun 23 (NNN-ANADOLU) – Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, yesterday announced the phase III trials, of its indigenous COVID-19 vaccine, named Turkovac.

The vaccine, which is made with inactivated coronaviruses, is expected to be available for use by the end of this year, Erdogan said, at an event for the inoculation of the first phase III volunteers with the vaccine.

Turkey yesterday confirmed 6,143 new COVID-19 cases, including 565 symptomatic patients, raising the total number of cases in the country to 5,381,736, according to the health ministry.

ISTANBUL, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Turkish police on Wednesday detained 32 suspects for their suspected ties to the Islamic State, the state-run Anadolu agency reported.

Simultaneous operations were carried out at 39 addresses across the country to capture those allegedly linked to group members in conflict zones, said the report.

According to the agency, operations backed by special operation forces were mainly carried out in Istanbul, the western province of Aydin, and the central Anatolian province of Sivas.

ANKARA, June 17. /TASS/: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan plans contacts with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, Erdogan told journalists Thursday after returning from Azerbaijan.

Commenting on the situation around Nagorno-Karabakh, Erdogan noted that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev plans to negotiate with Putin shortly.

"Soon, I will meet with Putin, too," the Turkish leader said, according to NTV. 

The Kremlin has not announced plans for the meeting yet.

17 June 2021; MEMO: A Japanese national, identified by the initials D.M., is set to be deported after the police in Istanbul fined him for killing and eating kittens, Daily Sabah reports.

The newspaper reported that D.M. has been a resident of the city's Kucukcekmece district for about three years. Adding that a local noticed him snatching kittens as they roamed the streets.

17 June 2021; MEMO: Turkey's strategic position on the Southern Gas Corridor could help it become an exporter of green hydrogen to Europe, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) says, SP Global reports.

13 June 2021; MEMO: The Turkish president on Sunday stressed the importance of alliance ahead of Monday's NATO summit, reports Anadolu Agency.

"We will participate in an important summit where decisions will be taken regarding the NATO 2030 process, which will determine the alliance's roadmap for the next ten years," Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters before his departure for Brussels.

ISTANBUL, June 14 (Xinhua) -- Turkish police on Monday detained 47 police officers over their alleged links to a network accused of orchestrating a coup attempt in 2016, the state-run Anadolu agency reported.

Police launched simultaneous operations in 32 provinces to arrest the suspects upon the order of prosecutors in northwestern Balikesir province, the agency said.

(Reuters) --- Turkey's military hit targets in the northern Syrian town of Tel Rifat in response to artillery attacks that killed 14 people and wounded several others in nearby Afrin, state-run Anadolu agency said on Sunday.

Ankara blamed Saturday's attacks, including on a hospital, on the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the U.S.-backed militia force spearheaded by the Kurdish YPG, has said it was not responsible.