Turkish government

Twenty-one people survived being buried under heavy debris when a two-storey building collapsed in eastern Turkey, the government said, with no fatalities reported as search operations ended early on Nov. 10.

The incident occurred Tuesday afternoon on a busy street in the city of Malatya, as residents filled shops on their way home from work.

The European Union is not paying money to the Turkish government, it is supporting the refugees in the country, a top EU official said on Nov. 9.

The Turkish government has decided to remove two fees from consumers' electricity bills that will help millions of households spend less on power annually.

Two fixed payments, one is the TRT (state-run broadcaster) share and the other Energy Fund, will be eliminated from the bills, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced on Nov. 8, following a cabinet meeting.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul, December 2019 Photo: EPA-EFE/ERDEM SAHIN.

"With the new statement made by the same embassies today, a step back was taken from this slander against our country and our nation. I believe these ambassadors … will be more careful in their statements regarding Turkey's sovereign rights," Erdogan said.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has given up his announced intention to declare the ambassadors of 10 Western countries, including the United States and Germany, persona non grata.

The ambassadors of the United States, Canada, France, Finland, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, and Sweden were arrived at the Turkish Foreign Ministry on Tuesday morning after issuing a joint statement calling for the release of philanthropist and human rights activist Osman Kavala.

The U.S. remains in active consultations with Turkey over resolving an ongoing row concerning Ankara's expulsion from the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, the State Department said on Oct. 18.

Spokesman Ned Price said the Biden administration is engaged with Turkey over "an F-35 dispute resolution," but said he would not "prejudge the outcome of" those discussions.

The Turkish government aims to add $80 billion to the volume of its exports with its "faraway countries strategy," Trade Minister Mehmet Muş said in an interview on Oct. 7. 
"Turkey carries out 65 percent of its exports within an area of 2,000 kilometers. We often don't go further away," Muş told private broadcaster NTV.

Some of the refugees fleeing the Taliban's brutality in Afghanistanare taking an arduous route across neighboring Iran to try and cross into Turkey. We met a family in the Turkish border city of Van who made it out of Afghanistan the night before the capital fell to the Taliban. 

Turkey and Montenegro have agreed to make additional efforts to increase bilateral trade volume to $250 million by 2022, Perisa Kastratovic, Montenegro's ambassador to Ankara, said yesterday.

He called on Turkish investors to grab opportunities in the southern Balkan country in an online meeting with a group of Turkish journalists.