Turkey

25 Oct 2020; MEMO: Turkey has issued another navigational telex, or Navtex, for the area in the Eastern Mediterranean where it will conduct seismic research activities until November 4, Reuters reports.

According to the announcement late on Saturday, the mission, which will be carried out by the Oruc Reis seismic research vessel, will continue for 10 days starting Sunday.

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan confirmed on Friday that Turkey had been testing the S-400 air defence systems that it bought from Russia and said U.S. objections on the issue did not matter.

Washington says Ankara’s purchase of the Russian systems compromises NATO defences, and has threatened sanctions. An apparent firing test of S-400s test last week prompted a furious response from the U.S. State Department and the Pentagon.

21 Oct 2020; MEMO: Turkey will send around 110,000 tons of flour and legumes as aid to needy countries, the country’s Official Gazette announced early Wednesday, reports Anadolu Agency.

According to a presidential decree published in the gazette, the Turkish Grain Board (TMO) will supply up to 100,000 tons of flour and 10,000 tons of vegetables to the Turkish Red Crescent (Kizilay), which will distribute it to civilians in need, especially in Syria.

21 Oct 2020; MEMO: Defence Minister Hulusi Akar has said that Turkey will continue to stand by the people of Azerbaijan in their “righteous cause” and struggle to free their “occupied land” of Nagorno-Karabakh. The minister made his comment during a meeting with senior army officers on Tuesday.

19 Oct 2020; MEMO: The Turkish intelligence services have arrested a Palestinian man suspected of spying on behalf of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Arab nationals living in Turkey.

A senior Turkish security official, who asked not to be named, on Friday disclosed that the man confessed to spying on Arab citizens and provided a set of documents that prove his association with the UAE intelligence service.

ANKARA, October 18. /TASS/: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has claimed Russia, the United States, and France are supplying weapons to Armenia.

"What are they saying about our support to our Azerbaijani brothers? What are the Minsk three - the United States, Russia, France - saying? They support Armenia. They offer all possible support in terms of weapons," he said on Sunday.

18 Oct 2020; MEMO: The Turkish president on Saturday announced the discovery of an additional 85 billion cubic meters of natural gas in the Black Sea, following a historic find this summer, reports Anadolu Agency. 

“Total amount of natural gas reserves in the TUNA-1 well in Sakarya Gas Field reached 405 billion cubic meters,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan said after his inspections at the drill ship Fatih.

18 Oct 2020; MEMO: A total of 79 patients, including infants and children, were brought to Turkey on Saturday for treatment upon the request of Iraqi authorities, Anadolu Agency reports.

The patients will be treated for heart, eye, plastic reconstructive and general surgery diseases.

The project that Medicana Hospitals have been conducting with the Iraqi Health Ministry for the last 10 years had been paused due to the novel coronavirus outbreak.

ISTANBUL, Oct 17 (NNN-Xinhua) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky pledged to enhance cooperation in a wide range of areas amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Ukraine and Turkey are ready to develop their strategic partnership in every field in which they have mutual benefits,” Erdogan told reporters at a Friday joint press conference in Istanbul.

17 Oct 2020; AA: Turkey wastes 19 million tons of food, which is one-fifth of the country's food production, annually, the forestry and agriculture minister said on Friday.

"If we can prevent the food waste by only 2% in our country, we can meet the one-year living expenses of approximately 360,000 families," Bekir Pakdemirli said in an online meeting related to the World Food Day, organized by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).