Süleyman Soylu

Another act of terror hit Istanbul on Dec. 10, the officially designated U.N. Human Rights Day. Some 38 people, including 30 being police officers, were killed and 160 people were injured.

When this article was written, the death toll of twin blasts in Istanbul was at 38 and the entire country was praying it would rise no higher.

At least 38 people, most of them police, died in the two blasts near a stadium in central Istanbul, Turkish authorities say.

The number of injured is more than 160, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu explained at a news conference. 

Eight of the victims were civilians. It is not clear how many of those wounded were police.

A total of 29 people were killed and another 166 were wounded on Dec. 10 when two bombings hit central Istanbul near Beşiktaş's Vodafone Arena Stadium, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu has announced.

Turkey seized drugs worth 4 billion Turkish Liras in operations targeting the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and drugs worth 75 million liras in operations against the Gülen movement, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu said on Nov. 23 in a budget commission meeting in parliament.   

Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu has criticized a group of foreign diplomats for attending a People's Democratic Party (HDP) parliamentary group meeting on Nov. 8 after its two co-leaders and eight other deputies were arrested on terrorism charges.

Turkey is set to officially mark the 93th anniversary of its republic's founding day on Oct. 29, with celebrations for the day being excluded from a security-motivated ban on public events that the government imposed on the capital Ankara. 

Politicians assigned to the southeastern and eastern regions of Turkey may be provided with weapons licenses, Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu has said, commenting on the recent murders of politicians from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

The Turkish cabinet has pledged to not decrease the minimum wage due to the increasing cuts in incomes, said a leading official on Sept. 19. 

Turkey raised the minimum wage by 30 percent to 1,300 Turkish Liras ($436) for over 8 million workers at the beginning of the year.

A cabinet revision is reportedly underway in Turkey, where the country's interior minister recently resigned, as at least five or six ministers could be changed with the start of the new legislative year, daily Cumhuriyet reported on Sept. 19.