Turkey

The number of property sales increased by 42.7 percent in April to 119,317 from the same period of the previous year, according to data released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜ?K) on May 25.

Additionally, mortgaged house sales throughout Turkey reached 46,063, an increase of 96.5 percent compared to the same month of the previous year.

With only three weeks left before the general elections, the resistance launched by metal workers in major automobile factories in Bursa, one of Turkey's centers of industry, has shifted the focus to the "class struggle." It looks as if the changing world and national economic climate will reflect on wage fights.

We in Turkey compare ourselves to Europe. It is too often a heartbreaking exercise, which is why our persistence in the practice is so telling. I think that, deep down in our hearts, we know that Turkey belongs to the West in general, and to Europe in particular.

For a new project begun within the scope of Museums' Week, the Bilkent Cultural Initiative (BKG), the largest museum store chain in Turkey, has brought 3-D printing technology to the Topkap? Palace Museum Store, displaying a 3-D printed reproduction of a sculpture of Hittite King Suppiluliuma for visitors. 

The Blue Tunnel Project began transferring water to the Konya Plain in Central Anatolia on May 21, an official from the State Water Works Department has confirmed. 

As Asian migrants attempt to cross the Aegean Sea to reach Europe, the Turkish Coast Guard tries to keep them from risking their lives on overcrowded dinghies and brings them back to Turkey. Here is series of dramatic photos by Anadolu Agency showing the on-sea struggle seen almost every night on the Aegean.

The outlawed Kurdistan Workers? Party (PKK) released two people who they kidnapped a few days prior, in Turkey?s southeastern province of Mu? on May 22. 

In a statement issued on their website, the Mu? Governorate said the PKK had released the two people, a soldier and a technician, early May 22.

By Simon Kennedy

The Greek economy risks being more a submerging market than an emerging market.

I am grateful to the Central Bank for banning me from their regular meetings with economists. If it weren?t for that, I would have missed, like most market economists, the unveiling of Turkey?s new megaproject, which coincided with the bank?s latest meeting on May 21.

Turkey has pledged to add $1 million to efforts by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to provide humanitarian aid for Rohingya and Bengalese refugees stranded at sea, Anadolu Agency has reported, citing presidency sources.