Syria

Current and future operations across Turkey's southern borders are necessary for the country's national security, the Turkish National Security Council said on May 26. 

Kosovo-born New Yorker Mirsad Kandic, 40, faces up to life imprisonment for becoming an ISIS fighter, recruiting other ISIS fighters, and providing weapons, equipment, and battlefield intelligence to ISIS, the US Justice Department announced on Wednesday.

Dust clouds have covered the skies of southeastern provinces, while the visibility range has decreased due to the dust transportation from Syria.

Layers of dust coated vehicles and apartment balconies in the provinces of Şırnak, Bingöl, Mardin and Tunceli late on May 23.

Four Turkish soldiers have been killed and three wounded in clashes with PKK terrorists in the Operation Claw-Lock zone, the Turkish defense minister has said.

Naming the soldiers "brothers in arms," the Defense Ministry highlighted that four were "martyred" and three were "hospitalized" on May 24.

While the Turkish government is working on preparations to ensure safe and voluntary return of 1 million Syrians who are under temporary protection in Turkey, an expert has warned the prevailing problems regarding security, the judiciary and the education system could make the process difficult.

The total number of asylum seekers in Turkey is 4,082,693, and of them, 3,762,686 comprise Syrians under temporary protection, Deputy Interior Minister İsmail Çataklı has said.

"About 122,000 of this number have been passive registrations for two years. In other words, there is no sign that they are in Turkey," daily Hürriyet quoted Çataklı as saying on May 8.

Umm Khaled hardly leaves the tent where she lives in northwest Syria, and she says she doesn't pay attention to the news. But she knows one reason why it is getting harder and harder to feed herself and her children: Ukraine.

While referring to the Istanbul governor's statement that there were 1,305,000 migrants in Istanbul, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu on May 5 said that 500,000 Syrians are currently registered in the metropolitan city alone and that the others were residing foreigners, such as students and employees in foreign companies.

Turkey is working on a new major construction project in Idlib province of Syria for the return of 1 million Syrians, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has announced, informing that it will be held with the participation of national and international non-governmental organizations.

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar has indicated that the cross-border Operation Claw-Lock that started on April 18 against the PKK targets in northern Iraq became a harsh blow to the terrorist organization.

"There are signs of downfall in terrorist organizations. There is fear and panic in terrorists," Akar said, speaking in the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa on May 2.