Aegean İzmir

Between July 17 and July 22, Turkish Coast Guard units in the Aegean Izmir province rescued 388 asylum seekers illegally pushed back to Turkey's territorial waters by Greek forces, authorities said on July 26. 

Two European bee-eaters (Merops apiaster) were spotted on a security wire as they share and eat their prey in the Çiğli district of Turkey's Aegean İzmir province. (AA Photo)

Turkey rescued at least 109 asylum seekers aboard a faulty boat set to sail from a bay in Turkey's Aegean Izmir province.

Local gendarmerie teams learned that migrant smugglers were preparing to take asylum seekers to Italy by boat attached to a fishing port in the Karaburun district of Izmir.

Security forces in Turkey arrested 114 people across the country on Feb. 15 over their alleged links to the PKK terror group.

The arrests come in the wake of the PKK execution in northern Iraq of 13 Turkish citizens held captive for six years, an incident that shocked the nation.

Turkey denounced Greece's parliament on May 19 for its "baseless and delirious statements" under the pretext of marking the anniversary of the start of the Turkish War of Independence on May 19, 1919.

More than 60,000 Turkish citizens have been brought back home from around the world during the novel coronavirus pandemic, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has said.

"Until today, we have brought more than 60,000 of our citizens home," Çavuşoğlu said in a tweet on late April 25.

Turkish security forces on Feb. 25 detained at least 55 suspected human traffickers in operations based in Turkey's Aegean İzmir province, according to state-run Anadolu Agency said.

China has put in orders for a total of 200 million protective face masks from Turkish medical firms over the past 10 days, as the country wrestles an outbreak of the novel coronavirus.