Turkey

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that Turkey violated freedom of expression due to a local court ruling in 2002 that fined former Turkish deputy Yücel Erdener for remarks criticizing the medical care given to late Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit.

An Istanbul prosecutor has demanded that daily Cumhuriyet columnist Özgür Mumcu be sentenced to four years and eight months in jail for "insulting" Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an. 

Turkey broke its all-time natural gas usage record on Jan. 25-26, as 235 million cubic meters were used across the country due to cold weather.

More than 1.1 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas was consumed during the period of Jan. 25-29, hitting another record on a weekly basis, according to data compiled by Anadolu Agency from the Energy Ministry. 

Fatalities among migrants and refugees in the Mediterranean in January topped 360 due to a particularly deadly final weekend of the month, when over 100 men, women in and children died in the waters off Greece, Turkey and Italy, the International Organization for Migrations said on Tuesday.

Turkey's transport trips for export reasons regressed by 4 percent in 2015 compared to the previous year due to a declining trend in exports, with a further deterioration expected amid the refugee crisis and geopolitical risks, an Istanbul-based transport association said Feb. 2. 

Russian gas giant Gazprom said on Feb. 2 its gas exports to Turkey increased by 3.4 percent in January from the same month a year earlier to 2.82 billion cubic meters (bcm), said Chairman of the company's management committee Alexey Miller on Feb. 2, adding that the country is still Gazprom's second-biggest customer now.

A total of 30 people, including 16 foreigners and nine children, have been detained in the border provinces of Kilis and Gaziantep for suspected links with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Turkish General Staff announced on Feb. 2.

During the press briefing government’s spokesperson Olga Gerovasili was asked about the possibility of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras granting a TV channel license to a Turkish channel.

Police detained two suspected suicide bombers in the Aegean province of Ayd?n at a bus terminal on Feb. 2.

The suspects were caught while they were about to head to the neighboring ?zmir province from the Söke bus terminal.

A kalashnikov rifle, a hand grenade, bombing material, and ammunition were also seized in the luggage of the two suspects.

The sharp fall in oil prices is unlikely to benefit Turkey's sovereign rating in the coming year, Standard and Poor's said on Feb. 2, as it pointed to other pressures on the country.