ISTANBUL

As many as 129 suspects have been detained in police raids as part of an operation to ensure public order in Istanbul.

Kurdish forces attacked the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in northern Iraq on Sept.30 in the latest of several offensives aimed at driving the militants away from the oil-rich city of Kirkuk. 

The assault began in the early morning to capture the al-Gurra heights to the west of Kirkuk in the direction of the ISIL bastion of Hawijah, Kurdish military sources said. 

U.S. aircraft and about 300 Air Force troops have begun arriving at a military base in Turkey to provide search and rescue capabilities for the fighting in Iraq and Syria.
     
Pentagon officials said there will be a number of Pave Hawk helicopters and search-and-rescue versions of the C-130 transport plane stationed at Diyarbak?r Air Base in southeast Turkey.
     

The Russian parliament on Sept.30 unanimously granted President Vladimir Putin the right to deploy the country's military in Syria, a move a top Kremlin aide said related only to the air force. 

Daylight Saving Time in Turkey will end on Nov. 8, instead of Oct. 25, because of the upcoming snap election on Nov. 1.

Clocks across the country will be switched back by one hour at 4 a.m., which will then become 3 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 8.

The clocks across Turkey were last put forward to Daylight Saving Time for an hour on March 29 to save electricity.

NATO special forces have reached Kunduz to support Afghan troops after the Taliban seized the strategic northern city, the military coalition said on Sept.30.

Two soldiers, a police officer and a civilian were killed on Sept. 29 in separate attacks by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers? Party (PKK) in the southeastern provinces of Hakkari and Batman.

The Turkish army was conducting an operation to defuse an improvised explosion device placed on Hakkari?s Tuhi Bridge located on the Yüksekova-?emdinli highway at around 4:45 p.m. on Sept. 29.

Sixteen Turkish workers abducted four weeks ago by armed militants in Iraq have been released and are with embassy officials, Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu said on his Twitter account on Sept. 30. 

Turkey's economic confidence index took a record plunge in September, data showed on Sept. 29, in the starkest evidence yet of the damage political uncertainty and escalating violence have done to its long-term outlook.

Istanbul and Antalya have featured in a list of the world?s top shopping destinations for Muslim tourists in a report which provides detailed insights into their spending behavior while travelling. 

The MasterCard-CrescentRating Muslim Shopping Travel Index 2015 (MTSI 2015) has revealed Muslim travelers spent a total of $62 billion globally in shopping and dining.