News archive of April 2020

The captain of a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier facing a growing outbreak of the coronavirus on his ship was fired on April 2 by Navy leaders who said he created a panic by sending his memo pleading for help to too many people.

Turkey's foreign trade volume grew 3.6 percent year-on-year to $98.4 billion in the first quarter of 2020, according to a preliminary Trade Ministry data released on April 2.

The country's exports volume was choked off by coronavirus in January-March after seeing 4 percent rise in the first two months, the ministry said in a statement. 

Consumer prices in Turkey went up 11.86 percent in March compared to the same month last year, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) announced on March 3.

The annual inflation rate in March was down from 12.37 percent the previous month, according to TÜİK.

The highest price rise last month was seen in alcoholic beverages and tobacco, surging 40.19 percent on a yearly basis.

Scientific evidence suggests there was a rainforest in Antarctica 90 million years ago.

British and German scientists examined samples from the ocean bottom using a machine drill on a research ship near Pine Island in the Amundsen Sea, according to Science Daily.

Libya's U.N.-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) said ON March 3 that its forces killed 20 militia members loyal to renegade Gen. Khalifa Haftar in Sirte.

The militia members were killed in an airstrike, Mustafa al-Mujie, the spokesman for the GNA-led Burkan Al-Ghadab (Volcano of Rage) Operation, told Anadolu Agency.

Greece may shut down tolls to prevent city dwellers from traveling to their villages for Easter as the country fights to stem the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, government spokesman Stelios Petsas has said.

"We'll see if we need to shut down the tolls… For the time being, we are reiterating the key prohibitions," Petsas told Skai radio on Friday.

Turkey's president on April 2 announced that the first phase of a hospital complex in Istanbul will start operating on April 20.

"We are opening the first phase of İkitelli City Hospital, which has 2,682 beds, on April 20," Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Twitter.

"We will complete our other hospitals quickly and put them into the service of our nation."

Some 124 Turkish citizens living abroad have died due to COVID-19, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has said.

Çavuşoğlu's remarks came after attending a NATO foreign ministers' meeting.

He said more than 20,000 citizens in total have been brought back to Turkey from 50 countries.

Twitter said on April 2 it shut down thousands of accounts linked to Egypt and Saudi Arabia, several of which were involved in a smear campaign critical of Turkey and the Turkish government.

NATO's political dimension should be strengthened, and a group of 10 experts has been formed for this purpose, Turkey's foreign minister said on April 2. 

Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu made the remarks after attending a NATO foreign ministers meeting, noting the group includes Turkey's Ambassador Tacan İldem, who has been working as NATO Assistant Secretary-General for Public Diplomacy.