Turkey

12 Jan 2021; MEMO: A Turkish court on Monday sentenced 'Islamic' television preacher and author Adnan Oktar to more than 1,000 years in jail for crimes including forming and leading a criminal gang, fraud, and sexual abuse, state media said, reports Reuters.

12 Jan 2021; MEMO: Turkey and Greece said on Monday they wanted to resume suspended exploratory talks over territorial claims in the Mediterranean Sea which brought them close to conflict last year, reports Reuters.

Plans for talks last year foundered after a disagreement over a Turkish seismic exploration vessel deployed to disputed waters, but the ship has since returned.

The Turkish Presidency and military have moved their messaging systems away from WhatsApp and onto a local Turkish messaging app due to new private data concerns, Anadolu Agency reports.

Officials said that the media office will update journalists via BiP, a unit of Turkish communication company Turkcell, from today.

ANKARA, January 11. /TASS/: Head of Turkey's Presidency of Defense Industries Ismail Demir said on Monday that Russian S-400 missile defense systems are ready to be commissioned in Turkey, the 24TV channel informs.

"The S-400 are ready for use, the armed forces will decide when such a need arises," the TV channel quotes Demir as saying.

The Presidency of Defense Industries confirmed this report to TASS. "Yes, [Ismail Demir] did state this in Ankara today," the presidency said.

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - The Turkish Competition Board said on Monday it launched an investigation into WhatsApp and its owner Facebook after the messaging app asked users to agree to let Facebook collect user data including phone numbers and locations.

In a written statement, the Competition Board said it ruled that the requirement to allow the collection of that data should be suspended until the probe is complete.

08 Jan 2021; MEMO: American Aerospace Manufacturer SpaceX yesterday launched a Turkish communication satellite called as TURKSAT 5A, state agency Anadolu reports.

According to the news site, the technology company's Falcon 9 Rocket blasted off Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in the US state of Florida, carrying the TURKSAT 5A satellite.

The brief delay was due to a downrange tracking issue, SpaceX said during its live launch broadcast.

09 Jan 2021; MEMO: Greek media reports about Riyadh's intention to send F-15 aircraft to the Souda military base on the Greek island of Crete has raised concerns in Turkey, as reflected in the reactions of local media.

09 Jan 2021; MEMO: Turkey is working to turn new chapters in its relations with the EU, the country's foreign minister said Friday, Anadolu Agency reported.

"In 2020, because of some of the problems that we experienced with some member countries, there have been occasional tensions in our relations with the EU, which is not a situation that we wish," Mevlut Cavusoglu said in a press conference with his Spanish counterpart Arancha Gonzalez Laya in the Spanish capital Madrid.

08 Jan 2021; MEMO: Turkey's Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu on Thursday accused Greece of pushing innocent asylum seekers to death under Europe's watch.

"Greece is still pushing innocent people to death and Europe is just watching," he posted on Twitter, adding that the Turkish Coast Command are rescuing lives.

08 Jan 2021; MEMO: Turkey and France are working on a roadmap to normalise ties and talks are going well, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday, adding Ankara was ready to improve ties with its NATO ally if Paris showed the same willingness, Reuters reports.