Anadolu Agency

Turkey plans to start vaccinating nearly 90,000 residents and workers at care and nursing homes and disabled care facilities against COVID-19 this week, according to the state-run Anadolu Agency.

Authorities are also hoping to complete administering the first dose of the virus jab to the country's more than 1 million health care professionals this week.

Turkish communication and messaging app, BiP jumped to the top of the users' list in Bangladesh in the wake of concerns about privacy protection on WhatsApp.

BiP currently holds the top position in Bangladesh among the top messaging apps for Android, according to one of the world's leading app store optimization and mobile app intelligence platforms, MobileAction.

As Turkey and China are all set to mark 50 years of their diplomatic ties, both countries' relations are going to deepen further in the coming period, the Turkish ambassador in Beijing said on Jan. 16.

Turkey's Consul General in Jerusalem welcomed a decision late on Jan. 15 to hold national elections in Palestine. 

"Turkey had long been waiting for a reconciliation between Palestinian parties through elections," Ahmet Rıza Demirer told Anadolu Agency.

Last month was the sixth warmest December in the last 50 years in Turkey, Turkish scientists said on June. 14. 

Data compiled by Anadolu Agency from the Turkish State Meteorological Service showed the historical average temperature for the month was 4.6 °C (40 °F).

Turkish citizen Safiya Kocaağa was honored by French authorities on Jan. 13 with the National Order of Merit for her efforts at a hospital during the early stages of the spread of the novel coronavirus in France. 

Over 800,000 people visited Turkey's Lake Salda dubbed as the Turkish Maldives due to its crystal clear water in the southwestern province.

In a statement, the governorship of Burdur said that despite the novel coronavirus epidemic over 800,000 people visited the site.

Turkey's calendar-adjusted industrial production surged 11% year-on-year last November, the country's statistical authority said on Jan. 13. 

The figure, which beat market expectations, indicates strong growth for the third quarter of 2020.

Istanbul's residents have consumed anchovies, known more widely in Turkish as "hamsi," bonito and haddock the most in 2020, according to Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality data compiled by state-run Anadolu Agency.

Some 97 different fish species were brought to the main fish market in the Gürpınar neighborhood of the Beylikdüzü district, said municipality officials.

Turkey's Personal Data Protection Authority (KVKK) on Jan. 12 launched an investigation into WhatsApp over its new data-sharing rules.

The American messenger application recently forced users to agree to new service and privacy terms that allow sharing of more personal data with Facebook, which owns WhatsApp.