Turkey

Turkey's Coast Guard has reported an eleven-fold year-on-year increase in the number of undocumented migrants discovered in the country's Aegean region.

Almost 8,500 refugees were found in Turkish Coast Guard operations in February 2016, 11 times more than the same month in 2015, officials told the state-run Anadolu Agency on March 1.

NATO's mission to monitor refugee flows in the Aegean Sea and combat people smugglers is the brainchild of Turkey, Ankara has stressed, rejecting reports that NATO vessels deployed in the Aegean have not yet started operating in Turkish waters because Turkey has not yet given permission.

Calling it a "fabricated" report, Ankara has denied the accuracy of a report which has suggested that NATO vessels deployed in the Aegean Sea to help stop the flow of migrants to Europe have not yet started operating in Turkish waters because they have not been given permission yet from Turkey.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an has said a call by the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) for a public demonstration in the Sur district of the southeastern province of Diyarbak?r, where a curfew has been imposed for more than three months, is a "call for terror." 

Turkish President Erdo?an has urged prosecutors to take legal action against the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), after it called for a march toward the Sur district in the southeastern city of Diyarbak?r ahead of an entry ban early on March 2.

Office of the governor in Turkey's southeastern Diyarbak?r province has imposed an entry ban on its restive Sur district ahead of a protest march called by Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) co-chair Selahattin Demirta? and Democratic Regions Party (DBP) co-chair Kamuran Yüksek on March 1.

A key advisor for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an has criticized Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmu?'s remarks on the president's comments over the top court ruling that led to the release of daily Cumhuriyet journalists Can Dündar and Erdem Gül, saying the president's statement had not been personal, but rather made as the head of state.

The situation created recently with thousands of refugees and immigrants trapped in Greece becomes a risky one and seems to be out of control, both at Greece’s eastern border with Turkey and Greece’s northern border with FYROM.

The investment banking arm of Qatar's Barwa Bank is looking for investments in Turkey, in sectors ranging from real estate to food, and could spend more than $150 million per deal, its acting chief executive said on March 1.

A Russian warship has traversed Turkey's Bosphorus en route to the Black Sea amid tight security measures. The warship was accompanied by two boats and a ship from the Turkish Coast Guard in addition to a police helicopter.