Diyarbakır

An Italian archaeologist, who has spent half a century at excavation sites in Turkey, has been working as a site director at Yumuktepe Tumulus in the southern province of Mersin for 28 years.

"I travelled all around Turkey for work. From now on, I want to tour it as a tourist," Isabella Caneva, a 76-year-old professor in love with the country, told state-run Anadolu Agency.

Turkey's Justice Minister on Oct. 8 underlined the freedom of religion in the country, saying that everyone lives as they wish, regardless of their beliefs.

A badge found in Turkey's southeastern province of Diyarbakır during the excavations at the 3,000-year-old Zerzevan Fortress that was used as a "military settlement" during the Roman Empire, aroused curiosity.

A farmer who grew a watermelon weighing 45.5 kilograms has won the 11th Watermelon Festival organized in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır, famous for its big and juicy watermelons.

"Due to drought, unfortunately, this year farmers could not grow bigger watermelons," Münir Karaloğlu, the governor of the province, said at the prize-giving ceremony on Sept. 22.

Tombstones with inverted triangle ornaments that have been found in the historical Hasankeyf district of the southeastern province of Batman are believed to be unique to the district.

Archaeological teams in Turkey continue excavations in the Çayönü mound, a Neolithic settlement where traces of settled life and production are observed.

The excavations in Çayönü, in the southeastern Diyarbakır province, began in 1964, but they were halted in 1991 due to security reasons. The work has resumed in 2017 with a team led by Aslı Erim Özdoğan.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Sept. 4 accused the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) of failing to back families whose children have been abducted or forcibly recruited by the illegal PKK group.

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A wanted PKK terrorist and two collaborators were arrested in an anti-terror operation in southeastern Turkey, the country's Interior Ministry said on Aug. 27. 

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Turkey administered nearly 1.3 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines in a single day, in a sign that the country's inoculation drive remains on fast track.

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A total of 782 hand grenades dating back to the World War I era were found during archaeological excavations at the historical site in southeastern Turkey.

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They were found in Amida Mound, or Amida Höyük - known as the heart of Diyarbakır province - which is located in the historical Sur district.