Turkey

22 Mar 2021; MEMO: Deputy General Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, Ibrahim Munir, has said that his group trusts Turkey and accepts its mediation efforts with the regime of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, Anadolu reported yesterday.

Turkey and the Turkish leadership "respect the political refugees" and "we are sure that this will never change as Turkey is credible and does not carry out manoeuvers."

ANKARA (Reuters) - Opposition parties say Turkey is paying a steep price for President Tayyip Erdogan’s wayward economic policies after his shock firing of the central bank governor sent Turkish financial markets reeling.

Erdogan dismissed Naci Agbal on Saturday, two days after the governor raised rates to curb inflation. Erdogan then appointed a critic of tight policy who is expected to reverse recent rate hikes, fuelling fears of political meddling in monetary policy.

22 Mar 2021; MEMO: Turkey's zero waste project, initiated by Turkey's First Lady Emine Erdogan, has won the UN Development Program Turkey's first (UNDP) Global Goals Action Award, Anadolu reports.

Turkey started the zero waste project in 2017 and it is continuing at full speed as the country aims to free its agriculture from waste.

According to a report, the project also aims to reduce the volume of non-recyclable waste.

21 Mar 2021; MEMO: Turkey has deported a total of 2,764 'foreign terrorists fighters' of 67 different nationalities since 2019, the country's Interior Ministry announced on Sunday, reported by Anadolu Agency.

In a statement, the ministry said the militants had left their home countries to join ranks of terror groups such as Daesh or PKK/PYD, the Kurdish paramilitary group that the Turkish government considers to be a terrorist entity.

21 Mar 2021; MEMO: President Tayyip Erdogan pulled Turkey out of an international accord designed to protect women, the government said on Saturday, prompting protests and criticism from those who said it was necessary to tackle rising domestic violence, reported Reuters.

ANKARA, March 21 (Xinhua) -- Turkish forces killed eight members of the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in northern Syria after they opened fire on Turkey's troops in the region, Turkey's Defense Ministry said on Sunday.

Turkish commandos immediately retaliated and killed eight YPG fighters after the group opened fire on Turkish troops positioned in the Operation Peace Spring zone, the ministry tweeted.

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkish police have detained a prominent pro-Kurdish party politician who was staging a days-long protest in parliament.

Omer Faruk Gergerlioglu, from the Peoples’ Democratic Party, or HDP, refused to leave parliament after he was stripped of his status and immunity as lawmaker on Wednesday. The party said around 100 police officers entered parliament to detain him Sunday. Video of his detention showed police officers dragging him away.

ANKARA (Reuters) - President Tayyip Erdogan pulled Turkey out of an international accord designed to protect women, ministers and an official notice said on Saturday, prompting criticism from those who said it was necessary to address rising domestic violence.

The Council of Europe accord, called the Istanbul Convention, pledged to prevent, prosecute and eliminate domestic violence and promote equality. Turkey signed it in 2011 but femicide has surged in the country in recent years.

19 Mar 2021; MEMO: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said today that Joe Biden's comments about Russia's Vladimir Putin, in which he said he thought he was a killer, were "unacceptable" and unfitting of a US president, Reuters reported.

In a TV interview broadcast on Wednesday, Biden said "I do" when asked if he believed Putin was a killer, prompting US-Russia ties to sink to a new low. Putin later responded that "he who said it, did it."

19 Mar 2021; MEMO: At least three people died and one more is missing after the Greek Coast Guard dumped a group of asylum seekers into the Aegean Sea, Turkish authorities said today.

The Turkish Coast Guard rescued two asylum seekers from Bogaz Island, located off the coast of Izmir, and two more from the surrounding waters, according to a statement by the governor's office.

Bodies of two more people were also recovered, the statement said.