Turkey

Islamic lender Bank Asya, which has recently found itself at the center of tension between the government and Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, suffered a sharp downfall in its second quarter profit amid uncertainty over its future.

The Zeugma Mosaic Museum in the southeastern province of Gaziantep received 550,000 visitors in three years. Opened on Sept. 9, 2011, the museum covers a closed area of 25,000 square meters and an open area of 30,000 square meters.

A Turkish military transport plane breached Greek air space over the central Aegean on Wednesday, according to local military officials.

The medium-range twin-engined CN-235 plane was spotted and forced to turn back, according to the National Defense General Staff (GEETHA).

The High Elections Board (YSK) has banned the broadcast of a television ad by presidential hopeful Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s that was released on Aug. 4.

The YSK justified the ban on the grounds that “the footage of a woman who prays on a rug and the sound of the call to prayer in the ad were abusing religious values.”

There are two tendencies.

One sees the continuation of the peace process in Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s political future.

That’s why it deems it important that he gets elected with a strong and definite victory in the first round.

This tendency is being represented by Ä°hsan Arslan.

The Zeyve Bazaar Promenade is in an area connecting the district of Ermenek with Mersin’s Anamur and Gülnar districts.

Turkish-German director Fatih Akın has said he wanted to shoot a film about assassinated Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink but had to freeze the project after Turkish actors refused the role.

Six police officers, including two police chiefs, were removed from duty on July 25 as part of the ongoing wiretapping investigation in Turkey’s southern province of Adana.

Nine police officers, eight of whom are on active duty and one of whom is retired, were arrested as part of the investigation on April 8. All were released five days after their arrests.

Former Chief of General Staff İlker Başbuğ has said he warned the prime minister, while on duty, about suspected activities of certain members of the Police Department and the judiciary who had taken actions against the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and who were apparently linked to the Gülen movement.

As of yesterday, more than 100 suspects, most of whom were former police officers in key positions, were in custody, as part of an investigation into the “parallel state” claims.