Turkey

13 Mar 2023; MEMO: A new report from Turkiye says the death toll in the earthquake has now risen to 48,448 and that of those around 6,660 are believed to be foreign nationals, Anadolu News Agency reports.

"6,660 of the dead were foreign nationals," Turkish Interior Minister, Suleyman Soylu, said at a news conference, according to the report. This statement was made "in quake-hit Malatya province, along with Culture and Tourism Minister, Mehmet Nuri Ersoy," the report said.

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is seeking a third consecutive term in office in elections in May, marks 20 years in power on Tuesday.

The 69-year-old, who served as prime minister from 2003-2014 and as president thereafter, started as a reformist who expanded rights and freedoms, allowing his majority-Muslim country to start European Union membership negotiations.

He later reversed course, cracking down on dissent, stifling the media and passing measures that eroded democracy.

ANKARA, March 12. /TASS/: The February devastating earthquakes in Turkey have claimed the lives of at least 48,000 people, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday while visiting the Hatay Province that was hit the most by the earthquakes.

"The death toll has amounted to 48,000, more than 115,000 were injured. Some 50,000 buildings were ruined. And no country could have reacted that swiftly to such a large-scale calamity," the TRT television channel quoted him as saying.

10 Mar 2023; MEMO: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on Friday, officially set Turkiye's presidential and parliamentary elections for 14 May, local media reports.

According to the report, Erdogan is expected to formally nominate himself on behalf of the People's Alliance.

ISTANBUL (AP) — Women braved an official ban on an International Women’s Day march in Istanbul, Turkey, demonstrating for about two hours before police used tear gas to disperse remaining protesters and detained people.

Thousands converged on a central neighborhood Wednesday for a protest that combined women’s rights with the staggering toll of the deadly quake that hit Turkey and Syria a month ago.

9 Mar 2023; MEMO: The United States continues to support the YPG "terror organisation" in Syria, Turkish diplomatic sources said yesterday.

Commenting on recent reports about a visit by the US chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to regions under the YPG's control in northeastern Syria, the sources told Anadolu Agency that the Turkish authorities had summoned the US Ambassador to Ankara Jeff Flake to express the "necessary warnings and messages."

ANKARA, March 8. /TASS/: Turkey is working hard for the extension of the grain deal for Russian demands about its implementation to be met, a diplomatic source in Ankara told TASS on Wednesday.

"Talks to extend the grain deal aren’t over yet. They are still going on. Turkey is working very hard for the Black Sea initiative to be extended and the demands of all sides, including Russia’s, to be met," the source said.

7 Mar 2023; MEMO: Turkiye's Competition Board has announced its decision to fine American business magnate and Twitter CEO, Elon Musk, over his takeover of the prominent social media platform without prior permission.

ANKARA, March 6 (Reuters) - Turkey's opposition neared a deal on Monday in which the right-wing IYI Party could return to an alliance that it quit three days ago, opening the way to mounting a united challenge to President Tayyip Erdogan in elections set for May.

Under a new proposal following a weekend of political intrigue, two popular mayors would serve as vice presidents should the opposition win in the presidential and parliamentary elections on May 14.

With polls showing a close race, the vote is the biggest challenge Erdogan has faced in two decades in power.

ANKARA, March 4. /TASS/: The death toll from the devastating earthquakes in Turkey has approached 46,000, Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said on TRT televisions on Saturday.

"The death toll has risen to 45,968. Of these, 4,267 are citizens of Syria," the minister said adding that more than 13,000 aftershocks had been recorded since the first earthquake.

"A total of 26,300 buildings have collapsed. Search and rescue operations have been carried out on the rubble of 26,032 of them," he said.