Istanbul

Cell phone footage of restoration workers drilling down the stone wall of Istanbul's 14th-century Galata Tower created a political firestorm. An officer of the Istanbul Municipality tweeted a clip of two restoration workers taking apart a corner section of the tower's inner wall with jackhammers. A pile of large stones lay at their feet as they worked.

A teenager born without a right arm and left leg started swimming for rehabilitation and succeeded in becoming a national swimmer by overcoming his fear of water.
Having won 50 times already acquiring first place, he is now aiming to achieve new challenges.

Taxi license plate prices in the city decreased by nearly 10 percent following the announcement of a plan to increase the number of taxis operating in Istanbul, the country's largest metropolis with a population of over 16 million.

Contemporary art museums in Istanbul reopened to art lovers on June 16 as Turkey continued to ease restrictions against the novel coronavirus. 

A portrait of Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II, known as Fatih Sultan Mehmet in Turkish, will be put up for auction in London on June 25. 

Thought to be drawn by Italian painter Gentile Bellini in 1480, it is expected to fetch $500,000-$740,000 and will be sold at the world-famous Christie's auction house.

The issue of performing Islamic prayers at the Hagia Sophia next month was discussed at a meeting of the High Advisory Board of the Turkish presidency, as the status of the landmark historical structure is a widely debated subject in local politics.

Excavations at the undersea metro construction sites of Yenikapı and Marmaray in Istanbul that were carried out between 2004 and 2014 in Istanbul unearthed cat remains and skeletons along with many other animals dating back to the Byzantine era. Some of these were given to the Istanbul University Cerrahpaşa Veterinary Faculty of (IUC).

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.

Turkey's justice minister on June 15 announced that all legal proceedings and trials in the country would continue as of June 16 after having been halted due to the novel coronavirus outbreak.

"We've taken all the precautions in the courthouses," Abdulhamit Gül said, speaking during an interview with Anadolu Agency.

In Turkey, 434,757 residential properties were sold in the first five months of 2020, the country's statistical authority announced on June 15.

Housing sales dropped 2.2% or 9,684 units in the five-month period, compared to the same period last year, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) data.