Turkey

12 August 2022; MEMO: Two more ships carrying wheat and corn departed from Ukrainian ports today under a deal to unblock Ukrainian grain exports, Turkiye's National Defence Ministry said.

The Belize-flagged ship Sormovsky carrying 3,050 tonnes of wheat left the Chornomorsk port destined for Tekirdag, northwestern Türkiye.

The other ship, Marshal Islands-flagged Star Laura, sailed from the Yuzhny port with 60,000 tonnes of corn for Iran.

12 August 2022; MEMO: Turkiye's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said that his country has started the process of normalising relations with Israel and Egypt, but that this process does not mean that Ankara has dispensed with its principles, Anadolu has reported.

Cavusoglu made his comment to journalists yesterday at the conclusion of the 13th conference of Turkish ambassadors in the capital.

11 August 2022; MEMO: Turkiye is expecting Saudi Arabia to deposit up to $20 billion into Turkish treasury bonds and accounts in an effort to boost the economically-struggling country's foreign currency reserves, media reports have stated.

09 August 2022; MEMO: Turkey resumed its hydrocarbon drilling operations in the eastern Mediterranean on Tuesday after a two year hiatus, though President Tayyip Erdogan said its new drill ship would operate outside waters also claimed by Cyprus, reports Reuters.

The Abdulhamid Han, Turkey's fourth drill ship, will operate 55 kilometres off the Gazipasa region in the southern coastal province of Antalya, Erdogan said.

ISTANBUL, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Turkey resumed its hydrocarbon drilling operations in the eastern Mediterranean on Tuesday after a two year hiatus, though President Tayyip Erdogan said its new drill ship would operate outside waters also claimed by Cyprus.

The Abdulhamid Han, Turkey's fourth drill ship, will operate 55 kilometres off the Gazipasa region in the southern coastal province of Antalya, Erdogan said.

09 August 2022; MEMO: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has slammed Israel for targeting and killing Palestinian children and infants during Tel Aviv's latest aggression on the besieged Gaza Strip during which 44 Palestinians were killed including 15 children.

ANKARA, August 8. /TASS/: Turkey will not support the membership of Finland and Sweden in NATO until both countries fulfill their obligations to fight terrorist organizations, the country’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday.

06 August 2022; MEMO: Turkiye and Pakistan have strongly condemned Israel's airstrikes on the Gaza Strip yesterday which killed over a dozen Palestinians.

Israel yesterday launched a series of airstrikes against the Palestinian resistance movement Islamic Jihad and one of its key commanders Taysir al-Jabari, causing the group and its allies in the Gaza Strip to retaliate by firing rockets into Israel against the occupation forces.

05 August 2022; MEMO: Three more ships loaded with grain sailed from Ukraine on Friday under an UN-backed deal lifting Russia's blockade of the Black Sea, Turkiye's Defence Ministry said, Anadolu News Agency reports.

According to the report, the departure of grain ships came as Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Russian President, Vladimir Putin, are set to meet in Sochi for talks on ending the war in Ukraine and starting a new one in Syria.

ISTANBUL, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said he would discuss developments in Syria with Russian leader Vladimir Putin during his visit to Russia on Friday.

Sitting opposite Putin ahead of their talks in the Black Sea city of Sochi, Erdogan said earlier meetings between Turkish and Russian delegations on politics, economic and trade issues had been fruitful.

Their meeting, less than three weeks since they held talks in Tehran, comes after Turkey helped broker a deal to resume Ukraine's Black Sea grain exports which were blocked by Russia's invasion.