Ankara

Turkey’s Constitutional Court has dismissed several appeals claiming the illegality of the new presidential palace construction in Ankara, prompting one of the applicants, the head of the Ankara branch of the Chamber of Architects, to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

The Federation of the Caucasian Associations in Turkey (KAF-FED) will hold a conference on the 150th anniversary of the Circassian exile in Ankara on Dec. 13-14, within the scope of Human Rights week.

Expectations for a quick fix to the crisis in the Cyprus talks process appear to have come to a dead end. Turkey is reiterating that under no condition will it agree to abandon support for the equal partnership rights of the Turkish Cypriot people on - as well as off - the island, with the Greek Cypriots.

It’s less than two months since the third sequel to the “headlines” series was published in this column, but apparently it is time for a fourth sequel. So, here we go again with more headlines from the Istanbul press in the year 2023:

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday pledged to protect the rights of Turkish Cypriots to have a share of the gains from any hydrocarbon discoveries made inside Cyprus’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) as he announced plans to set up a drilling platform off the island’s coast.

The European Parliament's new rapporteur for Turkey has urged the country to intensify cooperation on foreign policy coordination and cooperation, calling on it to support the European Union's sanctions on Russia.

Turkey's defense exports for the first 11 months of 2014 increased by 20 percent compared to the same period last year, hitting $1.5 billion, according to figures from the Turkish Exporters' Assembly released on Dec. 11.
     

The recent internal agreement between Baghdad and Arbil should set an example for sharing potential energy resources off Cyprus, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said, vowing that Turkey will never abandon the rights of Turkish Cypriots in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Egypt has imposed restrictions on male citizens traveling to Turkey and war-torn Libya to stop them joining jihadist organizations like the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a security official said Dec. 10.

‘Midnight at the Pera Palace: The Birth of Modern Istanbul' by Charles King (W.W. Norton, 476 pages, $28)