Istanbul

Turkey recorded 59,166 house sales in May, up 16.2% year-on-year, the country's statistical authority announced June 14. 

"Istanbul had the highest share with 19.2% and 11,356 house sales," TÜİK said in a statement.

The capital Ankara and the Aegean province of Izmir followed Istanbul with 5,653 and 3,298 house sales, respectively.

Details emerged on June 13 of the first bridge to be built over Turkey's Canal Istanbul, a planned mega-project connecting the Sea of Marmara to the Black Sea, aiming to take pressure off the crowded Bosphorus Strait.

With a mission to promote the traditional art of handmade İznik tiles, which disappeared 400 years ago without a trace, the İznik Foundation has been making efforts to keep the art alive by producing these exceptional pieces of work in its workshop in İznik.

These tiles are produced with original recipes from 600 years ago with traditional production methods.

Within the scope of a research project that lasted three years, a Turkish historian toured the historical peninsula of Istanbul and explored underwater cisterns, aqueducts, wells and fountains.

"We scanned the mysterious remains under the Topkapı Palace, the Hagia Sophia and the Hagia Irene as we toured around the places with a boat," Arzu Ulaş told Demirören News Agency on June 12.

A historic Turkish bath built in Istanbul in 1562 during the reign of the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent has been put up for sale for 29 million Turkish Liras ($3.45 million).

The Horhor Bath, which was built by Behruz Ağa, the sultan's private chambermaid, was put up for sale by the shareholder family.

A parliamentary decision on the establishment of a commission to investigate the causes of the mucilage problem in Turkish seas and to determine measures to be taken has been published in the Official Gazette.

Turkish teams collected over 1,197 cubic meters (42,271 cubic feet) of mucilage from the Sea of Marmara over the past four days, said the environment and urbanization minister on June 12.

In a statement, Murat Kurum said operations to clear the sea of the substance, also known as "sea snot," are ongoing at 77 locations, adding that the collected mucilage had been sent for disposal.

Turkey's parliament has agreed to set up an all-party committee to investigate a slimy, floating mass of yellowish-white sea mucilage that is threatening marine life in the Marmara Sea.

The so-called sea snot, a thick and slimy substance made up of compounds released by marine organisms, has surfaced in waters south of Istanbul, alarming marine biologists and environmentalists.

Turkey on June 8 will start a huge cleanup campaign to save the Sea of Marmara from excessive algae, according to the Environment and Urbanization Ministry.

As an artist, Taner Ceylan is renewing himself. That's why he loves working with different artists, and that's why he has brought to light a new way of depicting his interest in art history.