Turkey

Around 400,000 out of the total 2.2 million Syrian migrants currently living in Turkey are working as unregistered and undocumented workers, according to fresh research from Hacettepe University's Center for Migration and Political Studies (HUGO).

Hard Rock Cafe Istanbul, located near the iconic ?stiklal Avenue at the heart of Istanbul, promises that their guests will live the spirit of Christmas throughout the month of December.

If your Christmas wishes are ready, come and experience the special spirit of Hard Rock Cafe Istanbul with the Christmas menu, music and an authentic Christmas atmosphere. 

Turkey is not involved in any plans to revise the Montreux Convention that regulates international access to the Bosphorus and the Dardenelles Straits, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Tanju Bilgiç said on Dec. 8, refuting reports that the convention could be renewed amid ongoing tension between Ankara and Moscow.

One police officer was killed and another wounded in clashes between police and the outlawed Patriotic Revolutionary Youth Movement (YDG-H) in the southeastern province of Mardin on Dec. 8. 

A "reform action group" will be convened on Dec. 11 in a bid to coordinate future moves to harmonize Turkey's legislation with EU standards, amid the recent energization of Ankara's EU accession process. 

The Turkish government has decided on the urgent expropriation of some 30 villages and neighborhoods in two Turkish provinces in the northwestern Marmara region as part of the ongoing road project to construct a new route connecting Istanbul and the Aegean city of ?zmir. 

The plan also includes a giant suspension bridge to bypass ?zmit Bay. 

In an article published at the website of Human Rights Watch on Monday, a researcher for Eastern Europe and Western Balkans, described the harsh conditions asylum seekers are faced with in Dimitrovgrad, a town in southeastern Serbia, at the border with Bulgaria.

Sevil Erku?sevil.erkus@hurriyet.com.trAnkara has moved to secure a higher level of coordination with Baghdad after the latter condemned the recent deployment of Turkish troops at the Bashiqa camp in Iraq's Mosul province, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Tanju Bilgiç said on Dec. 8.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu has attempted to justify the shooting down of a Russian military aircraft by addressing a hypothetical question to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

While bidding to impose a presidential system in Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an actually aims to govern the country "like a family business," Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli has said.