Mehmet Akif

The Beyoğlu Cultural Road Festival will be held between Oct. 29 and Nov. 14. At a recent meeting held at Galataport, Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy has said that the festival will be held twice a year in the spring and the fall seasons.

An elephant tusk dating back 17 million years has been found in southwestern Turkey, scientists announced on Sept. 18.

The prehistoric tusk was discovered in Buldan in the Denizli province, along with fossils from an estimated 38 different species, said the excavation team.

A new divan of Yunus Emre, one of the most important figures of Turkish-Islamic folk thought, has come to light in the digital inscriptions shared by the Vatican Library over the internet.

It has been 84 years since the passing of Mehmet Akif Ersoy, a Turkish poet, author, academic, member of parliament, and the writer of the Turkish National Anthem, in 1936, leaving behind an immortal piece sung by generations of citizens of modern Turkey.

Turkey marked the 99th anniversary of the İstiklal Marşı, Turkey's national anthem.

Mehmet Akif Ersoy's poem was enshrined as the national anthem by the Turkish Grand National Assembly or parliament on March 12, 1921.

Mehmet Besimoğlu

Mehmet Besimoğlu

Mehmet Besimoğlu (R)

Local officials in Prizren, in western Kosovo, have demanded the closure of a school allegedly linked to Turkish exiled cleric Fetullah Gulen - although city officials insist the alleged Gulen link has nothing do with the dispute.

Kosovo's Prime Minister denied knowing about the rapid deportation to Turkey of several employees of Turkish colleges in Kosovo, allegedly linked to the exiled cleric Fetullah Gulen.

Police in Kosovo arrested them on Thursday, and they were deported to Turkey almost immediately - in a move criticised by senior officials, including the speaker of parliament.