Rize

Skiers from many nations will soon flock to Kaçkar Mountains in Turkey's northeastern province of Rize as the new heli-skiing season begins in two weeks.

Bookings for this season far exceeded the reservations placed last year, according to local officials.

Turkey has made it mandatory for people to wear face masks in public in five more provinces as part of measures to curb the spread of COVID-19, the country's health minister said early on June 16. 

Fahrettin Koca said on Twitter that wearing masks is mandatory in Diyarbakır, Erzurum, Kayseri, Rize and Şanlıurfa provinces. The mask rule is applied in 42 provinces.

Tea producers in Turkey have begun making their way to the country's northeastern Rize province to collect this year's harvest since they have been exempt from far-reaching lockdown measures against the novel coronavirus.

As restrictions due to the novel coronavirus prevent seasonal workers especially from Georgia from traveling to Turkey, this year tea producers in the region may well have to turn to their neighbors to help haul in the leaves.

Tea growers in the eastern Black Sea region are desperately looking for workers to harvest tea on their land plants after authorities have introduced curbs on travel and limited entrance to and exit from the cities.

Potential tea plantation workers are offered a salary of 6,900 Turkish Liras (around $1000) and all social security benefits.

Feridun Altaş is on a trail to find the family of a French mountaineer who died while climbing the Kaçkar Mountains in the Black Sea region 32 years ago.

Altaş, a resident of the Çamlıhemşin district of Rize province, believes bones that he buried in 2000 belong to Philippe Tardieu, whose whereabouts remained unknown for many years after he disappeared.

In fresh comments, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has emphasized Turkey's determination to continue illegal activities in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Four apartment buildings in the northern Turkish province of Rize have started to lean amid growing worries in the wake of a deadly collapse in Istanbul. Click through for the story in photos...

The heli-skiing season has begun in Turkey's northeastern province of Rize's Kaçkar Mountains.

Three floating islets on a lake in the northern Turkish province of Rize are being used by villagers to predict the weather. Click through for the story in photos...