Turkey

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Afghanistan’s chief peace envoy Abdullah Abdullah said Saturday that the U.S. decision to begin withdrawing troops from Afghanistan has come too soon, as his country is still struggling to attain peace and security amid an ongoing conflict.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Abdullah also described as “shocking” an Australian military report that found evidence that elite Australian troops unlawfully killed 39 Afghan prisoners. He welcomed a decision by Australian authorities to pursue the perpetrators.

About 20,000 volunteers applied for the Chinese coronavirus vaccine Friday in Turkey.

Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said the vaccine has been initially tested on health workers since Sept. 15 but citizen volunteers are needed for tests to continue.

“We announced that we seek volunteers among citizens and received 20,000 applications before the end of the day. Thank you on behalf of 83 million (citizens),” he said on Twitter.

21 Nov 2020; AA: Turkey's kitchenware sector has gained advantages against Chinese rivals and became a significant competitor during the pandemic, the head of the Turkish Houseware Association (Zucder) said Friday.

The kitchenware sector has $3.61 billion in exports during the first 10 months of 2020 throughout the pandemic, according to Mesut Oksuz.

21 Nov 2020; AA: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Saudi King Salman bin Abdelaziz discussed relations between their countries in a telephone conversation late Friday.

Erdogan and Salman agreed to improve ties and keep a dialogue channel open to resolve issues, according to a statement by the Turkish Presidential Communications Directorate.

They also discussed the G20 Leaders Summit which is currently chaired by Saudi Arabia.

ISTANBUL, Nov 19 (AA/APP): The World Health Organization’s regional director for Africa said Wednesday that the international health body was planning to vaccinate at least 20% of the continent’s population for COVID-19.

Dr. Matshidiso Moeti said in a teleconference that all African countries should prepare themselves for the COVID-19 vaccinations, adding the WHO planned to carry them out as soon as possible.

Moeti further noted that the WHO was coordinating with African countries regarding the vaccinations and was currently assessing the nations’ logistic capabilities.

18 Nov 2020; AA: Kuyucuk Lake in eastern Turkey, known as a major ecotourism spot and bird paradise, is hosting up to 110 bird species this year.

The lake, located in Arpacay district in Kars province, is protected by the Ramsar Convention but completely dried up last year. However, thanks to specialized drilling work in the area carried out by the provincial governorship, its condition has been restored.

18 Nov 2020; AA: An operation conducted by the Turkish Coast Guard to rescue 25 asylum seekers who were pushed back by Greece to die in the Aegean Sea was captured by drones.

A boat, carrying dozens of irregular immigrants, including children, that the Greek military elements pushed into Turkish territorial waters in the Aegean Sea, was detected by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) on Nov. 9.

18 Nov 2020; MEMO: Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that the government will impose tighter measures to respond to surging numbers of coronavirus patients and impose partial lockdowns at weekends across the country.

"A lockdown restriction will be imposed outside the hours of 1000-2000 over the weekends in a way that will not disrupt supply and production chains," Erdogan said.

18 Nov 2020; MEMO: Turkey's parliament on Tuesday approved the deployment of troops to join Russian forces at an observation post in Nagorno-Karabakh after Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a Russian-brokered ceasefire deal to end fighting over the enclave.

ISTANBUL (AP) — U.S. State Secretary Mike Pompeo met Tuesday with the Istanbul-based spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians during a short trip to Turkey that has raised the ire of Turkish officials and includes no meetings with any of them.