Turkey

14 Nov 2020; MEMO: Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Dönmez has revealed that the third Turkish drillship Kanuni has set sail from Istanbul on Friday en route to the Black Sea, Turkish media reported.

Dönmez noted that the ship is to have some maintenance work at the Port of Filyos on the sea's coast, before starting its mission at the Sakarya gas field.

14 Nov 2020; MEMO: Turkey and Cuba have signed an agreement to bolster cooperation and reduce bureaucracy in the maritime field, Turkish authorities revealed on Friday.

The agreement was signed by Selim Dursun, the Turkish deputy transport and infrastructure minister, and Luis Alberto Amoros Nunez, the Cuban ambassador to Ankara.

14 Nov 2020; MEMO: The Turkish Coast Guard rescued 29 asylum seekers Saturday who were stranded in the Aegean Sea, Anadolu Agency reports.

A Coast Guard vessel in northwestern Balikesir province was sent to the coast of Altinova district when a sailing boat was stranded at sea and called for help, according to an official statement.

Turkey has been a key transit point for migrants wanting to reach Europe to start new lives, especially those fleeing war and persecution.

13 Nov 2020; MEMO: Russian President Vladimir Putin declared on Tuesday that Azerbaijan and Armenia had signed a peace agreement, ending six weeks of fierce fighting between the two countries over Nagorno-Karabakh. The mountainous region is internationally-recognised as part of Azerbaijan but has been occupied and run by ethnic Armenians since 1994.

12 Nov 2020; MEMO: The head of the Syrian Interim Government, Abdul-Rahman Mustafa, has criticised the refugee conference organised by the regime in Damascus and described it as a new "trick", Anadolu news agency reported.

12 Nov 2020; MEMO: Turkey yesterday extended the gas exploration mission of Oruç Reis seismic research vessel and two other ships in the Eastern Mediterranean until 23 November.

The Turkish navy said in a message on the international maritime alert system NAVTEX that Oruç Reis' mission along with two other vessels, the Ataman and Cengiz Han, in the Eastern Mediterranean region has been extended from 14 to 23 November.

11 Nov 2020; MEMO: Turkey is interested in producing Russia's first coronavirus vaccine, Sputnik V, at domestic facilities, Russia's health ministry said on Wednesday after a phone call between the countries' health ministers.

Russia is already testing two vaccines against the virus and is on the cusp of registering a third. It is rolling out its Sputnik V vaccine for domestic use despite the fact that late-stage trials have not yet finished.

11 Nov 2020; MEMO: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday congratulated US President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on their victory in the 2020 presidential election, after years of rising tension between the NATO allies.

Bilateral ties have become strained over a host of issues, including Turkey's purchase of Russian S-400 missile defence systems, differences in policy on Syria and the detention of US consulate employees and citizens in Turkey.

10 Nov 2020; MEMO: Turkish security services have recently arrested dozens of people suspected of communicating with members of Daesh in Syria, Anadolu news agency reported.

The agency said the first operation involved raids on 11 areas in Istanbul and resulted in the arrest of 17 people "suspected of carrying out activities in the name of ISIS [Daesh] and communicating with members of the organisation in Syria."

09 Nov 2020; MEMO: Turkey shared in-depth information about the Daesh terrorist responsible for the recent gun attack in Vienna with Austrian authorities in 2019, security officials said on Sunday, Anadolu reports.

The terrorist, Austrian national Kujtim Fejzulai, was monitored via security surveillance on Sept 1, 2018, when he arrived at the Istanbul Ataturk Airport from Vienna, Turkey’s General Directorate of Security said in a statement.