Holy cities

The Necmi Asfuroğlu Archaeology Museum, which has the museum-hotel concept and displays artifacts belonging to five different periods, has welcomed 22,500 visitors since its opening last year.

Turkish archeologists have unearthed a seal belonging to ancient Egypt in a Black Sea city called Comana Potica, which dates back thousands of years.

This Christmas was celebrated differently in the Biblical birthplace of Jesus.

There will be no foreign tourists and  pilgrims due to a coronavirus travel ban on foreign nationals.

The decision on Friday by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe's Culture Committee condemning Turkey's move to convert Hagia Sophia in Istanbul from a museum into a mosque was hailed by the Greek delegation head, Dora Bakoyannis, as Europe's response to Turkey's "systematic violations of democratic principles and values."

Heavy rains on June 14 caused some rocks at Istanbul's historical walls to collapse in Fatih district, damaging vehicles passing by them, with no casualties.

Police, firefighters and municipal teams were sent to the area upon notification after the rocks of the 1,600-year-old walls in the city's peninsula collapsed onto two cars.

Greece has no say over what happens to Istanbul's Byzantine-era monument of Hagia Sophia, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said, while accusing Athens of undermining the religious freedoms of its Muslim community.

The Greek Foreign Ministry has denounced a decision by Turkey that verses of the Quran be recited at the Byzantine-era cathedral Hagia Sophia on the anniversary of the fall of Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul) in 1453 as an "unacceptable attempt to alter the site's designation as monument" and as an "affront to the religious sentiment of Christians throughout the world.

Greece denounced on Friday a decision by Turkey to hold a "fiestas" outside Istanbul's Byzantine-era cathedral Hagia Sophia during Friday's prayers on the anniversary of the city's 1453 conquest by Ottoman troops.

Imams will recite verses of the Quran in Istanbul's Byzantine-era cathedral Hagia Sophia during Friday's prayers on the anniversary of the city's 1453 conquest by Ottoman troops, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said according to reports Thursday.

Hundreds of Muslims returning to Turkey from the Umrah pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia were being housed in student dormitories on April 5 as part of quarantine measures against the novel coronavirus.
A total of 362 passengers went through health checks after arriving at Konya Airport.