Istanbul

An Istanbul court revoked an amendment on June 11 for the construction plans of the access roads to Istanbul?s third bridge, which is being built in the northern part of the city. The court?s move may halt the bridge?s progress, as the construction of link roads will lose their legal ground.

There has been a dramatic rise in luxury housing production and stock in Istanbul, but the opposite is the case for lower-income housing due to skyrocketing land prices in the city, according to a new sector report. 

All prominent economy figures from each of Turkey's four largest political parties have managed to enter parliament in the June 7 election. 

Turkey?s Christian minority will be represented in the Turkish parliament in greater number after a long absence as four members of the community will become deputies after the June 7 elections. 

A retired colonel, who was shot in Istanbul's central Be?ikta? district with his wife on June 7, was reportedly using a fake ID and was the commander who led a military operation in which 10 student members of an illegal revolutionary group were killed in 1972.

The 6th International Istanbul Opera Festival, organized by the General Directorate of State Opera and Ballet, will open on June 8 with the famous "Abduction from Seraglio," which has become a symbol of the festival.

The opera will also be staged on June 9 by the Istanbul State Opera and Ballet at the Istanbul Archaeological Museum Garden. 

Developing Borsa Istanbul is an important component of building the Istanbul financial hub, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Director for Turkey Jean-Patrick Marquet told Anadolu Agency in an interview on June 5.

The first Turk to sail around the world, Sadun Boro, has died at the age of 87. 

Boro died in hospital in the Marmaris district of the Aegean province of Mu?la, where he was being treated for cancer, on June 5. 

Özgür Mumcu, a journalist for Turkish daily newspaper Cumhuriyet, faces up to four years eight months in prison for ?defaming? President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an in an opinion piece published on March 18.

The op-ed penned by Mumcu had the title ?Tyrant and a coward,? and criticized Erdo?an?s complaint against Hatice Cömert, the mother of Gezi protest victim Abdullah Cömert. 

A tiny peninsula (140, 000 square meters) will be constructed in Istanbul's luxury coastal neighborhood Atakoy. The purpose of the project is for more space to be available for luxury residence and business buildings.