Antalya

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had a telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Oct. 19 and discussed the latest developments in the Russia-Ukraine war, the Presidential Communications Directorate has said.

The 29th Aspendos International Opera and Ballet Festival, organized by the General Directorate of State Opera and Ballet, will start with the famous opera "AIDA" on Sept. 10.

The festival will bring opera and ballet lovers together once again at the historical Aspendos Theater in the southern province of Antalya.

A fast-spreading forest wildfire broke out in Gülnar district of the Mediterranean Turkish province of Mersin on Sept. 7 and continued on the second day. 

Authorities evacuated over 300 houses as a main road connecting Mersin with the resort city of Antalya has been closed. 

Occupancy rates and room fares at the country's hotels increased in July, driven by the rebound in tourism activity, the Hotel Association of Türkiye (TÜROB) has stated.

Investments in the tourism sector have gathered momentum after the industry saw a strong rebound in activity, according to a report by the Hotel Association of Türkiye (TÜROB)

In the first six months of 2022, applications filed for incentives worth a total of 7.55 billion Turkish Liras, up 640 percent from a year ago, for 75 projects with 14,400 beds capacity.

Türkiye and Israel have decided to start works for upgrading the level of mutual diplomatic representation by appointing ambassadors in a most concrete step of the joint efforts to normalize the bilateral ties.

A couple has set sail for a five-year round-the-world tour on their yacht with a special ceremony in the southern province of Antalya.

"This was my childhood dream," Sezgin Tekin, a 63-year-old lawyer, told İhlas News Agency on June 16, just before the departure.

His wife, Betül Tekin, a 59-year-old retired teacher, will accompany him on this journey.

Saudi Airlines is expected to resume its flights to Istanbul this week after two years of hiatus.

The first scheduled flight will be held from Riyadh and Jeddah to Istanbul Airport on May 7. Moreover, on May 11, the carrier will launch its flights from Medina to Istanbul Airport.

Turkey on April 20 accused some of its NATO allies of wanting the war in Ukraine to last longer in order to weaken Russia.

"There are countries within NATO who want the war to continue," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu told CNN Turk in an interview.

Residential property sales in Turkey surged 20.6 percent on an annual basis in March, according to data released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) on April 15.

A total of 134,170 houses were sold last month, up from 111,241 in March 2021, TÜİK said in its monthly report.