Istanbul

The early morning prayers of several thousand of devout Muslims outside the Hagia Sophia Museum Saturday (May 31) sent multiple messages to everybody who is trying to decipher the complexity of present Turkish politics.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has slammed the Gezi Park protesters on the eve of the anniversary of last year's massive demonstrations, while criticizing Twitter and Facebook on May 30.

The 42nd Istanbul Music Festival, organized by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV) under the sponsorship of Borusan Holding, will meet music lovers between May 31 and June 27. This year’s festival will be held with the theme “The Song of Nature.”

The water levels in Istanbul’s dams are lowest of the past decades with threatening the city with a water cuts in the summer. Waterworks minister calls on people to be careful using water at home Istanbul faces a drought and lack of tap water during the summer of 2014, as precipitation was not as high as previous years and only 27 percent of the dams in Istanbul are full.

Some 25,000 police officers and 50 water cannon trucks (TOMAs) have been assigned to prevent demonstrations marking the anniversary of the Gezi Park protests this weekend in Istanbul, with the city’s governor warning that no gathering will be allowed in the Taksim area.

A Turkish man who was shot in the head on Thursday during a police crackdown on protesters, has died of his injuries, the Istanbul governor said.

"Unfortunately we have not been able to save Ugur Kurt," Huseyin Avni Mutlu wrote on Twitter, several hours after the 30-year-old victim was brought to hospital.

Police in Turkey have arrested 18 people in connection with last week's coal mine disaster in Soma.

Those detained on Sunday included two senior mining company executives.

The rescue operation at the mine ended on Saturday after the last two dead bodies were taken out.

The death toll in Turkey's worst mining disaster reached 301.

The highest spiritual leader of Orthodox Christians, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I (l), is received by German President Joachim Gauck at Bellevue Palace in Berlin.

More than 20 people have been injured and tens have been detained in Istanbul during May Day protests.

Episodes of unrest began after police used tear gas and water cannon to warn citizens against staging a banned demonstration on Taksim Square, which saw a wave of anti-government action last year.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has attended the inauguration ceremony for the Eurasia Tunnel Project in Istanbul.

The Eurasia tunnel is to connect the Asian and European sides of Istanbul via a road tunnel going under the Marmara Sea.