Ankara

The snowflakes glide gracefully down to the silence of the forests. As we depart from Bolu Mountains, I feel a bit deprived of the alpine spirit, not having been able to hit the slopes. The ski slopes look pathetically unpromising in snow quality; the sun is shining; it is almost spring-like; but they are spraying water up into the air just above the slopes to fall like snow.

Circassians in Turkey are increasingly looking to gain rights from the state amid a process of questioning their identity and their place between Ankara and Moscow, according to a professor of international relations at Kadir Has University.

Turkey’s prime minister has vowed to “cut off the arms” of those who attempt to engage in corruption, yet still describing last year’s graft probes as “coup attempts” during a speech Dec. 21.

More than 100 people were detained Dec. 20 following a police crackdown on a demonstration in central Ankara organized by a teachers’ union.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is known as one of the toughest leaders on earth calls, him a “tough man.”

He boycotts the official United Nations dinner hosted by U.S. President Barack Obama, which had never happened before, and Obama calls him a “strategic partner.”

Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani met with Turkish government figures in Ankara and Istanbul on Dec. 19, amid efforts to boost cooperation against Islamist jihadists in Iraq and Syria.

Qatar and Turkey, whose bilateral and regional cooperation has become remarkably more visible in recent years, have taken yet another assertive step to deepen their bilateral relations, signing a series of agreements in Ankara, including a joint memorandum to found a "Supreme Strategic Committee."

The deputy mayor of Istanbul’s Şişli district, Emir Sarıgül, resigned from his post on Dec. 19 after a row between himself, his father and former Şişli Mayor Mustafa Sarıgül, and current Mayor Hayri İnönü.

Turkey has extended cautious support to a United Nations plan to create "frozen zones" within Syria, while also noting its concerns with the proposals and reiterating its demands that any political recommendations must include the removal of the Bashar al-Assad government.

A number of Turkish-speaking countries came together to discuss how to strengthen cooperation in education at the 5th Turkish National Commission for UNESCO meeting in Azerbaijan's capital, Baku, on Dec. 18.

The meeting's main purpose was to discuss mechanisms that enable the International Organization of Turkic Culture to act together.