Doha

Turkish butcher-turned-celebrity restauranteur Nusret Gökçe, internationally known as Salt Bae for his meat-cutting and salt-drizzling skills has been hit with a $5 million copyright infringement lawsuit by a New York artist, who alleges the social media star used his artwork all over the world without permission.

Turkey announced on April 13 that a keenly awaited international conference on the Afghan peace process will be held in Istanbul from April 24 to May 4.

The high-level and inclusive conference between representatives of the Afghan government and the Taliban is being co-convened by Turkey, Qatar, and the U.N., according to a joint statement issued by the Turkish Foreign Ministry.

The Turkish foreign minister on March 30 welcomed peace negotiations between the representatives of the Afghan government and the Taliban in Doha, Qatar.

"Intra-Afghan negotiations have raised hopes to achieve lasting peace," said Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu at the 9th Ministerial Meeting of Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process, in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan.

Turkey's presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin on March 27 received U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad and his accompanying delegation at Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul.

During the meeting, recent developments in Afghanistan and the details of Afghan peace talks that Turkey plans to host in Istanbul were discussed.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov met on March 10 in Qatar's capital Doha.

"Discussed w/FM Sergey #Lavrov of #RF [Russian Federation] our relations and recent developments in #NagornoKarabakh, #Libya & #Syria," Çavuşoğlu said on Twitter following the meeting.

The foreign ministers of Turkey, Russia and Qatar have expressed their determination in combatting terrorism and separatist moves in Syria in their first trilateral meeting devoted to the security, political and humanitarian problems of the war-torn country.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu arrived evening on Feb. 9 in the Omani capital Muscat as part of his official visit to the Gulf country.

"In friendly and brotherly Oman for the second stop of our visits to the Gulf," Çavuşoğlu tweeted.

The Turkish foreign minister will embark on a three-day Gulf tour on Feb. 9 for official visits to Kuwait, Oman and Qatar.

According to a statement by the Turkish Foreign Ministry on Feb. 8, Çavuşoğlu will pay official visits to Kuwait, Oman and Qatar on Feb. 9-11 and "will hold talks with his counterparts and other high-level authorities" on the occasion of these visits.

Çağla Büyükakçay, one of the three Turkish players competing in the 2021 Australian Open's qualifying stage, won her first game on Jan. 10 to advance to the second round.

Büyükakçay, world number 178, beat 15-year-old Andorran Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva 6,4-6,4 in Dubai.

She will next play Ana Konjuh of Croatia, who won 6-2,-67-6-4 against Anna-Lena Friedsam of Germany.

Three Turkish tennis players will compete in the 2021 Australian Open's qualifying stage with drawings for the first round in the men's and women's category held on Jan. 9.

Çağla Büyükakçay and Pemra Özgen will be on court to play in the first round in the women's competition.

Cem İlkel will appear in the men's qualifiers.

The qualifying phase will be held Jan. 10-13.