Algeria

More than 1,500 passengers, mostly from Algeria, Tunisia and Jordan, who have been stranded at Istanbul Airport, have been transferred to an emptied student dormitory in the northern province of Karabük.

Those passengers have been stuck at the airport for days after their countries closed airspace and flights were canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Turkish Airlines will ground all international flights except five routes from March 27 to April 17, the national flag carrier announced on March 22.

"As of March 27, we will suspend all our international flights except Hong Kong, Moscow, Addis Ababa, New York, and Washington, until April 17," the company's CEO Bilal Ekşi said on Twitter.

Militias loyal to East Libya-based commander Khalifa Haftar launched rocket attacks to Tripoli on March 18, killing four civilians, including three children, according to Anadolu Agency.

Over 48,000 cars were produced in Romania in February this year, showing an increase of 7.71 pct, compared to the same period of 2019, reveal the statistics published by the Association of Automobile Manufacturers of Romania (ACAROM).

The Public Supervisory Authority (Ombudsman) has said that most of the refugees rushing to the Turkish-Greek border are non-Syrians living in Turkey.

The authority conducted a field research on the refugee crisis on the border between Turkey and Greece, two weeks after Ankara announced that it will no longer prevent migrants from trying to reach Europe.

Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias is visiting Algeria on Thursday to meet with counterpart Sabri Boukadoum, the ministry said in a press release.

Talks are expected to focus on bilateral relations as well as on issues of regional and international interest including the situation in Libya.

The meeting will be followed by statements to the press and a working lunch. 

Washington is reportedly examining ways of making further use of the military air base in Greece's northern port city of Alexandroupoli, while sources say American officials will arrive in the country over the next few days to explore areas that could be used by US military aviation helicopters.

A group of migrants, some of whom were reportedly beaten and pushed back by the Greek police, took shelter at a tea house in a northwestern Turkish province, Demirören News Agency has reported.

Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias says Greece is not trying to drum up opposition against Turkey but rather support for what is reasonable and would enable more cooperation in the Mediterranean.

Turkey and Algeria are seeking to forge closer business ties to boost bilateral trade volume to $5 billion while agreeing to jointly build a petrochemicals plant in the Turkish province of Adana.