Turkey

(Reuters) --- President Tayyip Erdogan inaugurated an imposing new mosque in Istanbul on Friday, fulfilling a decades-old goal and stamping a religious identity on the landmark Taksim Square in the heart of Turkey's largest city.

The Taksim mosque and its 30-metre high dome loom symbolically over a monument to the foundation of the Turkish republic by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, whose staunchly secular legacy has been eroded by nearly two decades of Erdogan's rule.

27 May 2021; MEMO: The Turkish Second Criminal Court will on 17 June start the trial of a Jordanian citizen accused of spying for the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Anadolu Agency reported.

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday said a series of severe allegations made against members of his entourage by a fugitive mafia boss were a plot against Turkey, and vowed to fight criminal gangs.

In a stream of videos posted on social media in recent weeks, convicted mob leader Sedat Peker has made stunning claims against ruling party figures that include alleged corruption, drug trafficking and a murder cover-up — maintaining there were close ties between senior officials and the underworld.

23 May 2021; MEMO: Poland will buy 24 armed drones from Turkey, the Polish defence minister said on Saturday, becoming the first NATO member to buy Turkish-made unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), reports Reuters.

The Bayraktar TB2 drones, the first of which are due to be delivered next year, will be armed with anti-tank projectiles. Poland will also buy a logistics and training package, said Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak.

21 May 2021; MEMO: Greenpeace welcomed a ban by Ankara on imports of most plastic waste after the environmental group said it uncovered exports, some possibly illegal, from Britain and Germany that created "mountains" of trash in southern Turkey, Reuters reported.

The environmental group said its teams visited ten sites in Adana province and found plastic waste – most either burned or on fire – mainly from the United Kingdom, Germany, Poland and other EU countries.

20 May 2021; MEMO: The head of media and communications in the Turkish presidency, Fahrettin Altun, yesterday condemned the United States for claiming that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's criticism of Israel ignites "anti-Semitism".

Earlier on Tuesday, the State Department criticised what it called Erdogan's "anti-Semitic" remarks amid his denunciation of Israel's air strikes on Gaza.

19 May 2021; MEMO: Israel's terror could trigger a global or regional war, the leader of Turkey's Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), Devlet Bahceli, warned yesterday as he called on the United Nations to place peacekeepers in the occupied city of Jerusalem.

ANKARA (Turkey) May 18 (APP): Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Tuesday reaffirmed that the international community had a collective responsibility in ensuring necessary steps to help address the dire situation in Palestine, restore peace, and facilitate a just solution.

Foreign minister Qureshi is currently visiting Turkey to exchange views on the worsening situation in the Israeli Occupied Palestinian territories.

18 May 2021; MEMO: Turkish President Recep Tayyib Erdogan yesterday proposed the establishment of a commission with Jewish, Muslim, Christian representatives to govern Jerusalem, Anadolu Agency reports.

Erdogan also called on the UN, UN Security Council (UNSC), Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and other international bodies to unite against the oppression of civilians in Palestine.

16 May 2021; MEMO: Turkey will start easing its strict coronavirus lockdown on Monday by allowing movement during the day while keeping overnight and weekend curfews in place, the Interior Ministry said in a directive on Sunday, reports Reuters.

President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday Turkey would gradually ease out of a full lockdown imposed 2-1/2 weeks ago, and lift restrictions more significantly in June.