Yenişehir

The eastern province of Erzurum, which does not have a coastline, is on its way to becoming the world's top swimming base thanks to its high-altitude Olympic pool, as the national teams of many countries train in the city.

Though the drought experienced throughout the country since last October has started to threaten agricultural production by "exceeding critical limits one by one," the possibility of compensation will continue if it rains in a week, sector representatives say.

Veteran Turkish journalist Tufan Türenç, who was called "the man who knows everything" by his colleagues in the daily Hürriyet, where he worked for over three decades, has died at the age of 77 in the capital Ankara on April 23.

He was being treated in a hospital for some time for a heart condition.

A 14-meter-long fin whale, which has washed up on the shore of the southern province of Mersin, was moved on to the shore after a four-hour operation on May 13.

The dead body of the whale was transferred to Mersin University. Its skeleton will be exhibited in the city's Sea Museum.

Various historical artifacts have been seized in anti-smuggling operations across Turkey, security sources said on March 1.

Five mosaic paintings believed to be historical artifacts were seized in the southern province of Mersin, and a suspect was arrested, according to the local gendarmerie command.

Two civilians were killed on Aug. 29 in an attack staged by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the Çınar district of the southeastern province of Diyarbakır, Doğan News Agency has reported.

The militants detonated a hand-made explosive placed on the Diyarbakır-Batman highway during the passing of two armored military vehicles at around 12.30 p.m.