All News from Balkans
Central Bank unveils new macroprudential measures
The Central Bank has announced a raft of new macroprudential measures as part of its liraization strategy.
The bank said in a statement on Jan. 7 that local banks in general have reached the 50 percent liraization target in deposits announced for 2022 and that the liraization target in deposits for the first half of 2023 was set at 60 percent.
Female skeleton unearthed in Kadıkalesi
Archaeological excavations in the historical Kadıkalesi Castle in the western province of Aydın have unearthed the skeleton of a woman, which is believed to date back to the 13th century.
The excavation team said that the female skeleton found in a tomb in the church section is believed to belong to the wife of a bureaucrat or someone who donated to the church.
Court rules in favor of Armenian foundations
The Constitutional Court has ruled that the refusal of the request for the return of the properties of two Armenian foundations, which had been taken over by the Treasury, violated their property rights and that a retrial should be held.
‘Black Sea natural gas to meet households’ needs for 33 years’
The natural gas discovered in the Black Sea will meet the consumption of households in Türkiye for 33 years, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Dönmez has said.
The production from the Black Sea field will reach its peak level in four years, which will help the country reduce its natural gas imports, he added.
Nearly 2,000 irregular migrants apprehended
Nearly 2,000 irregular migrants were caught and over 1,000 were deported between Jan. 1 and 5, the Directorate of Migration Management has announced.
1,200-year-old Eirene Tower in Fatih transformed into art gallery
The 1,200-year-old Eirene Tower in Istanbul has been transformed from a weaving atelier into an art gallery, where marbling, miniature and calligraphy arts are made.
Located in the historical Eminönü neighborhood in the Fatih district and built during the Middle Byzantine Period, Eirene Tower was once used as a weaving atelier.
Over 126 tons of bootleg alcohol seized in Istanbul last year
Over 126 tons of bootleg alcohol were seized in 54 operations in Istanbul in 2022.
Istanbul police carried out a total of 54 operations, two of which were against the organized smuggling structure, between Jan. 1, 2022, and Dec. 31, 2022, in an effort to prevent the production and sale of bootleg alcohol.
Government plans new housing campaign
The government is working on a new plan to help people buy existing homes, Environment and Climate Change Murat Kurum has announced.
Kurum recalled that the "My New Home Program" announced last week is designed to provide cheaper loans to middle-income groups but the new project will provide opportunities for people to buy existing houses.
Once in 50,000-year comet may be visible to the eye
A newly discovered comet could be visible to the naked eye as it shoots past Earth and the Sun in the coming weeks for the first time in 50,000 years, astronomers have said.
The comet is called C/2022 E3 (ZTF) after the Zwicky Transient Facility, which first spotted it passing Jupiter in March last year.
Italian pleads guilty to manuscript scam
An Italian man admitted on Jan. 6 to stealing more than 1,000 unpublished manuscripts, including from distinguished authors, solving a mystery that had rocked the literary world for years.
Heavy snowfall blankets country’s eastern provinces
The country's eastern provinces have been battling heavy snowfall that has already blocked roads in remote regions, as snow depth exceeds 20 centimeters in the high-altitude sites of Van and Erzurum.
Turkish Airlines carried some 72 million passengers last year
Turkish Airlines carried a total of 71.8 million passengers in 2022, with the international passenger tally rising nearly 6 percent.
Last year, the carrier served 46.3 million international passengers, and the load factor on the international routes was 80.2 percent, Turkish Airlines said in a filing with Borsa Istanbul.
World food prices hit record high in 2022
World food prices fell for a ninth month in a row in December but hit their highest level on record for the full year in 2022, U.N. data have showed.
Food prices soared to a monthly record high in March after Russia invaded agricultural powerhouse Ukraine, a major supplier of wheat and cooking oil to the world.
Kırklareli celebrates horror festival Koleda
Koleda, 1,000-year-old tradition of the Balkans, has been celebrated in a village of the northwestern province of Kırklareli's Babaeski district, with villagers wearing strange clothes frightening people by knocking on the windows of their houses.
The horror nights are held under different names by people in various settlements of Thrace in the coldest days of winter.
River feeding Keban Dam turns into small stream
Murat River, which feeds the Keban Dam Basin, one of the most important dams meeting the country's water needs, has almost turned into a small stream as the water has receded for meters due to drought.