Turkey

Plans to build a container city for around 27,000 Syrian refugees near predominantly-Alevi populated villages in Turkey's southern province of Kahramanmara? has led to uneasiness among villagers.

Turkish Culture and Tourism Minister Mahir Ünal has said that travelers' bookings for summer holidays in Turkey will start again by the end of April, Ünal said in a speech at parliament amid rising security concerns and a significant decline in the number of Russian tourists visiting Turkey.

The first group of 202 immigrants, who had crossed illegally to the Greek islands after March 20, were sent back to Turkey on April 4, as scheduled in the agreement reached on March 18 between Ankara and the European Union. 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an's visit to the United States was a tense one from the beginning. The question of whether he would meet U.S. President Barack Obama or not was a topic of discussion in Turkey.

It is not possible to consider President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an's visit to Washington as a success by any count. The "strategic partnership" between the two countries continues but it is clear that relations are currently very tense. 

This is not the first time we have see U.S. press have a huge discrepancy with reality. Still, they could not have got it more wrong.

A rustic, three story-Arabic bookstore in old Istanbul has become an anchor for many Syrians who have stayed put in Turkey but crave a taste of home.

The founder and owner of Pages Bookstore Café, Samer al-Kadri, a refugee himself, says the store strives to be a bridge between Syrians, Turks and the myriad of foreigners who visit the city.

A total of 169,846 migrants and refugees have entered Europe by sea in the first three months of 2016 - more than eight times the number recorded in the same period of 2015, according to calculations of the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

A record one million migrants and refugees crossed the Mediterranean, mostly to Greece and Italy, last year.

The first Syrians arrived in Germany from Turkey and the first group of migrants arrived in Turkey from Greece as a EU-Turkey deal on migration entered into force on Monday, Turkish and Greek media outlets have reported.

Militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) have no option other than laying down their arms or surrendering to Turkey's security forces, President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an has said, dismissing any prospect of further "negotiations" with the group.