Latest News from Turkey

Int'l actors reaffirm commitment to cease-fire in Libya

World powers and regional actors have launched on Feb. 16 an international committee to oversee pledges made for an arms embargo and cease-fire in Libya.

Turkish Red Crescent provides tents for Idlib refugees

The Turkish Red Crescent on Feb. 16 distributed tents and heaters to Syrians fleeing clashes in and around Idlib, northwestern Syria.

The aid agency also distributed beds, blankets and food to people in the Mashhad Ruhin area, close to the Turkish border.

UN to post EEZ maps of Libya, Turkey deal

Athens is bracing for the United Nations' Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea to post the geographical coordinates outlined in the maritime border agreement signed by Turkey and the Tripoli-based government in Libya on November 29, 2019.

Turkish jets neutralize 8 PKK terrorists in northern Iraq

Turkish jets have neutralized eight PKK militants in an operation in northern Iraq, the country's Defense Ministry announced on Feb. 15.
The militants were neutralized in the Hakurk region, with a senior member of the terror group among them, the ministry said on Twitter.

CHP vows to bring peace to the Middle East if elected

Turkey's main opposition leader has vowed to bring peace and stability to the Middle East by establishing a regional organization with the participation of Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria and to end years-long armed conflict in the area.

Libyan crisis needs political solution: Sarraj

Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj reiterated on Feb. 15 that the Libyan problem could be solved through negotiations.

Turkey to push back Assad forces from observation posts, Erdoğan says

Turkey is determined to push back Syrian regime forces from Turkey's observation posts in Idlib, northwestern Syria, by the end of February, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Feb. 15.

Top Turkish, Russian diplomats hold 'positive' talks in Munich

Turkish and Russian delegations are set to meet in Moscow on February 17 amid escalated tension in the Syrian province of Idlib where the Turkish and Syrian military forces pit against each other with concerns of fresh armed conflicts between the two.

Antarctica: Turkish scholar collects 10,000 meteoroids

A Turkish scientist has collected over 10,000 micrometeoroids in Antarctica for astronomical research.

Working from the Belgian Antarctica base, Mehmet Yeşiltaş said that he focused on micrometeoroids with his Belgian and Japanese counterparts.

Yeşiltaş said researchers first began to collect micrometeoroids this year, with samples from mountains in the continent's east.

Ankara discusses reopening ghost town in Cyprus

The people of Turkey and the Turkish Cyprus will not accept deadlock as the fate of the long-divided Mediterranean island of Cyprus, said Turkey's vice president on Feb. 15.
Fuat Oktay's remarks came during a meeting on the legal, political and economic aspects of reopening the abandoned town of Varosha (Maraş) -- empty for decades -- in the Turkish Cypriot city of Gazimağusa.

Asylum process sped up, Mitarakis says

Greek authorities have managed to slash the time needed to process asylum applications down to 24 days, Migration Minister Notis Mitarakis said on Saturday, adding that easing the pressure on the Aegean islands hosting camps was the government's top priority.

Lesvos residents, local officials protest new camp

Municipal officials and residents on the island of Lesvos dumped thousands of life jackets and rubber boats - discarded by refugees and migrants who made the crossing from Turkey - as an act of protest on the plot of land where the government plans to build a new closed migrant center, on Saturday.