Continents

Turkey's central government gross debt stock was 1.21 trillion Turkish liras ($217 billion) as of July this year, the Treasury and Finance Ministry announced on Aug 20.

Charred forestland on Turkey's Aegean coastline will not be opened up for construction, the country's environment and urbanization minister said on Aug. 20.

Cypriot government spokesman Prodromos Prodromou has welcomed calls by the US State Department late Monday for Turkey's Yavuz drillship to cease its activities off Cyprus' northeastern coast and its removal from the island's territorial waters.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has funded the construction in a central Tirana park of a memorial commemorating "the martyrs of July 15," a reference to the Turkish citizens who lost their lives in the failed coup of 2016.

Cyprus authorities say a marine police patrol vessel has safely brought to port 33 migrants packed aboard a small boat that was sailing off the east Mediterranean island's southeastern coast.

Amid heightened regional tensions, a fourth Turkish ship, the Oruc Reis research vessel, is on its way to the Eastern Mediterranean, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced Monday via his Twitter account.

Prime Minister Boyko Borissov meets with Foreign Minister of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan Ayman Al-Safadi. During their talks, Prime Minister Borissov noted that Jordan is an important partner for Bulgaria in the Middle East and North Africa region.

More than half of the 81 provinces in Turkey — 56 percent — breathed "polluted air" last year, according to a report prepared by the Right to Clean Air Platform.

Those who expect Turkey to tolerate the presence of terrorism are very mistaken, the country's interior minister said on Aug. 20.         

The US State Department on Tuesday called on Turkish authorities to cease immediately any "unlawful activities" in Cyprus' territorial sea and remove its drillship, Yavuz.
Turkey has already established a presence in the region with its Yavuz and Fatih drillships and the Barbaros research vessel.