Turkey

Riot police in the Armenian capital early June 23 used water cannon to disperse several hundred demonstrators protesting a government hike in electricity prices, an AFP journalist reported.

Hundreds of Syrian refugees have been living outdoors in Turkey?s southern resort town of Bodrum, while locals have expressed both their sympathy and their concerns, fearing the situation could negatively impact tourism. 

As Syrians who fled the clashes between the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and Kurdish forces have started returning to Tal Abyad after the jihadists' defeat, Kurdish militia have discovered a torture center and prison cells in the Syrian town. 

It will soon be clear, perhaps within weeks, whether a coalition government will be formed in Turkey, preventing the country from being dragged to another election this year.

Hatay is one of the cities most affected by the civil war in Syria. When I had visited in December 2011, relations with Syria had started to deteriorate and the city?s economy was feeling the consequences.

The two year-long honeymoon that came with the lifting of visa requirements following 40 years of cool weather was making everyone smile.

Analysis about what the June 7 election represented, and expectations as to what should happen now, vary depending on whether you are looking from the west or the east. The view from the west is easy to figure out. 

Turkmens, who have fled from Syria to Turkey due to the Syria?s ongoing war, have established a political party in Turkey?s southern province of Osmaniye. 

The Syria Turkmen Development Party was established in Osmaniye by a group of Syrian Turkmens, party leader Ömer ?sa and party spokesman Hasan Musullu said during a press meeting at their party?s headquarters. 

Pakistan?s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has issued a notice to the country?s former Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani to return a necklace donated by the Turkish president?s wife after the 2010 floods in the country, Pakistan Today reported on its website on June 21. 

New members of the 550-seat Turkish parliament will take their oaths at the first session of the national assembly on June 23.

One of world?s richest businessmen, Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska, anchored two of his yachts off the idyllic coasts of Turkey?s Bodrum province on June 22. 

Deripaska headed to his yacht ?Sputnik? (R) after landing at the Milas-Bodrum Airport in his private jet. He then went aboard his other 75-meter yacht ?Queen K,? joining his wife Polina and their two children.