Çatalca

President and Justice and Development Party (AKP) leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has unveiled his ruling party's list of mayoral candidates for Istanbul's districts in the upcoming local elections scheduled for March 31.

The announcement came during a meeting at the Haliç Congress Center on Jan. 20, where the candidates representing the AKP-led People's Alliance were introduced.

With temperatures dropping sharply due to the new cold wave coming from Iceland, citizens in Istanbul are witnessing the season's first snowfall, as chilly weather will continue in the coming days.

As part of efforts to curb the increases in rent and home prices, the government plans to sell public lands in large cities to people who want to build houses, Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Minister Murat Kurum has said.

Turkey's largest festival for camping trailer enthusiasts will take place in Istanbul's district of Kilyos on the Black Sea coast this weekend.

"İstanbul Karavan Festivali" will bring together hundreds of trail owners, outdoor sports experts and nature lovers on an area of 40 hectares between May 13 and 15.

The camping sites in Istanbul, which offer an alternative vacation in tents with "fair prices," have become a new trend in the metropolis, with people flocking to the sites in the districts of Şile, Çatalca and Sarıyer.

"The occupancy rate of the camping sites in Istanbul has reached 80 percent for the Eid holiday next week," Demirören News Agency reported on April 29.

As severe storms pummel different parts of Turkey, the southern province of Antalya has been the worst-hit province over the last two days out of the 35 cities for which the Turkish State Meteorological Service had issued "yellow" and "orange" warnings.

Storm heavily battered several provinces in Turkey on Nov. 29 particularly in the Aegean and Marmara regions, killing at least four people in Istanbul and another one in the northern province of Zonguldak, disrupting daily life as well as ferry and sea traffic.

A strong thunderstorm hit Istanbul and surrounding areas in Turkey's Marmara region late on Sept. 18, bringing heavy rain and gusty winds following a 'yellow warning' issued by the Turkish State Meteorological Service.

Istanbul's western and northern outskirts were partly covered in snow on Feb. 12 following warnings from both meteorological and local authorities.

Snowfall was partially effective in districts located in the far west of the metropolis such as Beylikdüzü, Büyükçekmece, Çatalca and Silivri.

After three days of almost incessant rainfall and occasional strong winds, Istanbul awoke to a surprise snowfall on a weekend that coincided with a curfew imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.