Turkish Kurdistan

The outcry of "Diyarbakır mothers," several mothers carrying out sit-in protests claiming that their children were abducted by the PKK, has been recognized by the global public opinion as terror actions have been stated in many international reports, according to a workshop carried out in Istanbul.

Mehmet Kuşman, who has been a volunteer guard at a Urartian castle in the eastern province of Van and is one of the few people in the world who speaks the Urartian language, has said that he will quit his voluntary job in November.

The number of deaths due to drugs in Türkiye has been declining regularly in the last five years, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu has said.

"We will not let our kids, youth to fall in this quicksand [of drugs] with our determination in our fight against the drugs," Soylu said on Twitter on June 25.

Türkiye has conducted its most extensive anti-drug operations with the participation of some 4,200 police officers in 11 of the 81 provinces, the country's interior minister has said, adding that some drug barons and baronesses were caught.

Making a press conference at 7 a.m. on June 21, the minister said the police units started the raids, named "Eradication Operations," at 4 a.m.

A report presented to the Turkish parliament subcommission on migration has shown that Turkey has so far constructed a 1,079-kilometer-long wall along its borders with Iran to prevent the illegal entry of migrants and that the entire construction is almost complete.

Mostly Afghans and Pakistanis travel on foot along the borders with Iran and enter Turkey.

Turkey's internationally acclaimed pianist Fazıl Say gave a free concert on the banks of Munzur River in the eastern province of Tunceli, formerly known as Dersim, to raise awareness about Munzur River and environmental pollution.

Thousands of people from various parts of Turkey viewed the concert, accompanied by mezzo-soprano Serenad Bağcan.

Following seven years of renovation work, St. Giragos Church in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır is now open to offer religious services once again.

The church, heavily damaged by PKK terrorists in 2015, was reopened with a ceremony attended by Turkish Culture Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy.

The three-day Eid holiday has started with rainfall in all seven regions of the country, with wind speed reaching up to 50 kilometres per hour in the western provinces.

"There will be pelting rain and thundery showers across all the country's coastal and eastern provinces," the Turkish State Meteorological Service said.

With the pandemic weakening, tourism professionals in Turkey's southeastern region are hopeful of witnessing a tourism boom this year, expecting an influx of both local and international tourists.

According to a feature story in daily Milliyet on April 21, the occupancy rate in region's hotels is around 90 percent as of April.

A 25-year-old Afghan citizen has started working as a shepherd in the eastern province of Tunceli to raise enough bride price to marry his beloved he left behind in his home country.

"I will save money and marry the woman I love until the end of summer in Afghanistan," Abdullah Muhammedi told Demirören News Agency on April 20.