Azerbaijan

Moldova's pro-Russian President Igor Dodon has for a second time since the beginning of the year forbidden his country's military to participate in a NATO exercise in Romania, presidency sources quoted by Moldovan media said on Thursday.

A Saudi novelist has won the International Prize for Arabic Fiction, becoming the third author in 10 years from the kingdom to grab the Arab world's most prestigious literary award.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) reintroduced a monitoring process for Turkey on April 25, citing "serious deterioration of the functioning of democratic institutions."

Some 113 members of the 324-member PACE voted in favor of the report, titled "The Functioning of Democratic Institutions in Turkey," while 45 members voted against it and 12 abstained.

Unfortunately, we are living in a world where journalism is not getting more difficult but more dangerous - to the extent that journalistic associations have launched an award journalists working under difficult circumstances.

 "Peace Envoys" is a documentary that tells the stories of four children who met on Turkey's national Children's Day 20 years ago. It debuted on the 90th anniversary of the April 23 Children's Day in the Aegean province of İzmir on April 22. 

The World Bank Group and the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank said on April 23 they agreed to deepen their cooperation with a framework for knowledge sharing, staff exchanges, analytical work, development financing and country-level coordination.

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has hailed his government's narrow win in the constitutional referendum as the birth of a "new Turkey," as many countries have congratulated President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. 

The 12th edition of the Meetings on the Bridge, organized within the scope of the 36th Istanbul Film Festival, was held between April 7 and 11 with the support of the Istanbul Development Agency.

The projects and films that received the Meetings on the Bridge awards were announced at a reception hosted by l'Institut Français Istanbul on April 11. 

Exhibition of works by artists from Azerbaijan entitled Azerbaijan - magical universe of colors was held at the National Gallery on April 5. It includes 31 works by famous Azerbaijani artists such as Yaver Sultanov, Mir Nadir Zeynalov, Javad Mirdjavadov, Eldar Mammadov and Vugar Muradov.

Efforts to clear mines have been launched on Mount Ararat in the eastern province of Iğdır as part of a project financed by the European Union and Turkey in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).