Western Asia

The Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), which has been the source of a rift between Turkey and the United States over its designation as a terrorist organization by the former, was not aiming to establish a Kurdish state in Syria, the party's head has said.

There has been no change in U.S. companies' investment plans in Turkey since the failed July 15 coup attempt, said the head of the Turkish-American Business Association-U.S. Chamber of Commerce (TABA-AmCham), adding that the companies were now working on completing procedures to realize $350 million worth of investments. 

A white stork, which was freed in Slovakia after a GPS tracker was attached to it, has died in the southern province of Mersin. 

Turkish officials said the animal was shot with a gun by hunters.

The shock to Turkey's economy from the failed July 15 coup has largely dissipated, ratings agency Moody's said on Sept. 21, adding it expected to conclude its rating review of the country within the next month.

SOCAR is interested in entering the Bulgarian oil products market, the head of the Azerbaijani state-owned oil company has said.

"Talks are underway" with Bulgarian officials, Trend News Agency quotes Murad Heydarov, the head of SOCAR Balkan, as telling reporters.

Heydarov has also described the possibility as a "long-term project".

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Sept. 20 the EU has let down his country in terms of its commitments under a refugee deal.

Turkish troops have entered their fourth week in Syria. Most security and intelligence analysts believe Turkey has managed the process successfully so far. But there are dark clouds on the horizon that may force a policy change.

The United Nations suspended all humanitarian convoys in Syria on Sept. 20 following a deadly air strike on aid trucks, as fighting intensified after the regime declared an end to a week-long truce, even as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the "cease-fire was not dead."

Turkish construction companies' projects in foreign countries plummeted dramatically in the first half of 2016 due to problems in the country's main markets, according to a new report by the Contractors' Association of Turkey (TMB), daily Dünya reported on Sept. 20. 

A delegation from Turkey's Kurdish-issued focused Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) will travel to northern Iraq to hold talks with prominent Iraqi Kurdish leaders, including Massoud Barzani, between Sept. 21 and 24, the party has stated. 

The delegation will be led by HDP co-leader Selahattin Demirtaş and will include a number of lawmakers and other party officials, it added.