World News

Turkish foreign visitor arrivals surge to 2.05 mln in June

ISTANBUL, July 30 (Reuters) - The number of foreign visitors arriving in Turkey jumped to 2.048 million in June, data showed on Friday, nearly 10 times the level a year…

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Death toll in Turkish wildfires rises to four, blazes rage on

The death toll from wildfires on Turkey's southern coast has risen to four and firefighters were battling blazes for a third day on Friday after the evacuation of dozens of…

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UPDATED: Three dead as wildfire in south Turkey rages on

Three people were found dead as a massive forest fire burned for a second day in southern Turkey on Thursday, the country's AFAD disaster agency and agriculture minister said, with…

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Turkey’s daily COVID-19 cases surge above 20,000

Turkey's new coronavirus cases jumped to 22,291 on Wednesday, the highest since early May, according to health ministry data that also showed the daily death toll reached a six-week high…

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Turkey detains 200 Afghan migrants en route to Italy

Turkish authorities detained a boat carrying more than 200 Afghan migrants in the Aegean sea heading for Europe, Turkey’s coastguard and the International Organisation for Migration said on Wednesday. The…

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Turkey’s COVID-19 cases surge above 14,000, triple early July level

Turkey's new coronavirus cases jumped to 14,230 on Sunday, more than triple the amount three weeks earlier and reaching levels last seen in the first half of May, according to…

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Turkey’s daily coronavirus cases jump to 11,094, highest since May

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey's new coronavirus cases climbed above 10,000 for the first time since mid-May on Friday and hit a level of 11,094, according to health ministry data which…

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Turkey’s coronavirus cases back up to mid-May levels

Turkey's new coronavirus cases have doubled in just over two weeks to 9,586, its highest since May 19, with 52 related deaths according to an official tally that prompted a…

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Migrant boat carrying 45 people sinks south of Turkey

A migrant boat carrying 45 people has sunk to the south of Turkey, and Turkish naval ships and an aircraft are carrying out search and rescue operations, the defence ministry…

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Cyprus talks can resume only on two-state basis, Erdogan says

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday peace talks on the future of ethnically divided Cyprus can take place only between "the two states" on the Mediterranean island. In a…

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Turkey condemns EU court ruling on headscarf ban as violation of freedoms

Turkey slammed a ruling by a top European Union court allowing the banning of headscarves under certain conditions as a "clear violation of religious freedoms", adding the move would exacerbate…

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Turkish company applies to explore for oil in east Mediterranean

Turkey's state-owned energy company TPAO has applied for a licence to explore for crude oil in the eastern Mediterranean, the Turkish Energy Ministry said in a statement in the country's…

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Turkey to carry on searching for gas in Mediterranean

Turkey will carry on exploring for oil and gas in the eastern Mediterranean, President Tayyip Erdogan said in comments that may revive tensions with the European Union and Greece amid…

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Photo Story – Women protest against Turkey’s withdrawal from Istanbul Convention

Turkish police block women as they demonstrate against Turkey's decision to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention, in Istanbul, Turkey, 01 July 2021. The Turkish President pulled Turkey out of the…

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U.S. adds Turkey to list of countries implicated in use of child soldiers

The United States added Turkey to a list of countries that are implicated in the use of child soldiers over the past year, placing a NATO ally for the first…

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Supports for Turkish workers expire as COVID-19 measures lifted

Turkey's pandemic-era ban on layoffs and a government wage support system, both adopted in early 2020, expired on Thursday as most remaining coronavirus restrictions were also lifted, setting the stage…

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UPDATED: Erdogan defends Turkey’s withdrawal from violence against women treaty

Turkey's withdrawal on Thursday from an international treaty to prevent violence against women is not a step backwards, President Tayyip Erdogan said, defending a move which has drawn condemnation from…

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Turkey to keep fixed tax on alcohol, tobacco until year-end to ease inflation

Turkey will keep a tax on alcohol and tobacco products unchanged until the end of the year, under a decree published in the Official Gazette on Friday, extending a practice…

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Russians’ return boosts Turkish tourism prospects

Thousands of Russian tourists began arriving in Turkey on Tuesday, boosting hopes for its tourism sector after a two-month suspension in flights imposed by Moscow due to concerns about a…

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Turkey steps up COVID-19 vaccinations

Turkey has sharply accelerated COVID-19 vaccinations this week, delivering more than 1 million a day since Monday, raising hopes of a strong economic performance in the second half of the…

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Turkey says differences with France eased after new Libyan government

Differences between Turkey and France over the conflict in Libya have eased since the new Libyan government was sworn in, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said, adding that ties between…

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Photo Story: Marmara Sea covered by sea snot in Istanbul

Fishing boats on the Marmara Sea covered by sea snot in Istanbul, Turkey. Because of global warming, the blanket of mucus-like substance in Marmara Sea increasing day by day threatens…

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Turkey discovers 135 bcm of additional natural gas in Black Sea

Turkey has discovered 135 billion cubic metres of additional natural gas in the southern Black Sea, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday, raising the total discovery in the region to…

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Turkey’s Erdogan expected to announce new gas find in Black Sea

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan is expected to announce a new gas discovery in the Black Sea on Friday, state-owned Anadolu news agency reported late on Thursday. In an interview with…

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Turkey’s Erdogan woos Egypt, Gulf states in push to repair ties

key hopes to maximize its cooperation with Egypt and Gulf nations "on a win-win basis", President Tayyip Erdogan said, as Ankara works to repair its strained ties with Cairo and…

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Turkish mobster’s videos targeting top politicians draw millions of views

When Sedat Peker, a convicted Turkish mob boss, began posting videos on social media earlier this month in which he made uncorroborated claims of corruption, murder and drug running against…

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Diplomats say Turkey pushed NATO allies into softening outrage over Belarus plane

Turkey pushed NATO allies into watering down an official reaction to the forced landing by Belarus of a passenger plane and the detention of a dissident journalist on Sunday, two…

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Turkey’s tourists a quarter of pre-pandemic levels in April

Turkey welcomed 790,687 foreign visitors in April, down from a month earlier and only a quarter of the arrivals in 2019 before the pandemic hit, according to official data on…

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Turkish mafia scandal threatens Erdogan government

A gang leader's video allegations of corruption among top officials has gripped millions of Turks, threatening to tarnish the image of a government already struggling with economic woes and the…

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Turkey bans most plastic waste imports

Greenpeace welcomed a ban by Ankara on imports of most plastic waste after the environmental group said it uncovered exports, some possibly illegal, from Britain and Germany that created “mountains”…

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Pfizer, BioNTech to deliver 60 mln more COVID-19 vaccine doses to Turkey

U.S. drugmaker Pfizer Inc and its German partner BioNTech SE said on Thursday they would supply Turkey with 60 million additional doses of their COVID-19 vaccine. The latest agreement includes…

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Photo Story – Besiktas fans celebrations

Besiktas fans clash with Turkish riot police as they try to cross the barricades before Besiktas’s Turkish Super League trophy ceremony in Istanbul, Turkey, 19 May 2021. Istanbul city government…

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Turkey to ease daytime lockdown measures from today

Turkey will start easing its strict coronavirus lockdown on Monday by allowing movement during the day while keeping overnight and weekend curfews in place, the Interior Ministry said in a…

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Turkey to ease daytime lockdown measures from Monday but curfews to stay

Turkey will start easing its strict coronavirus lockdown on Monday by allowing movement during the day while keeping overnight and weekend curfews in place, the Interior Ministry said in a…

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Full light not shed on assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II – Ali Agca

Full light has not been shed on the May 13 1981 assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II, assailant Ali Agca told ANSA as the world remembers the 40th anniversary…

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Turkey calls on Muslims to take clear stance over Gaza

Muslim countries must show a united and clear stance over Israel's conflict with the Islamist Hamas movement in Gaza, Turkey's vice president, Fuat Oktay, said on Thursday, criticising world powers…

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Egypt and Turkey seek to overhaul tense ties with frank talks on Libya

Egypt and Turkey on Thursday held talks on the conflict in Libya, where they back competing factions,on Syria and the security situation in the eastern Mediterranean, in a push to…

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Turkey still sees 30 million tourists in 2021 if lockdown succeeds

Turkey will still expect to welcome 30 million arrivals this year, twice the number last year, if daily coronavirus cases fall below 5,000 after a lockdown ends on May 17,…

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Turkey’s COVID-19 death toll 340 as lockdown sets in

Turkey logged 340 coronavirus-related deaths and 25,980 new cases in the last 24 hours, Health Ministry data showed on Sunday, the third day of a nationwide lockdown, including curfews, closed…

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Turkey adds crypto firms to money laundering, terror financing rules

ISTANBUL, May 1 (Reuters) - Turkey added cryptocurrency trading platforms to the list of firms covered by anti-money laundering and terrorism financing regulation, it said in a presidential decree published…

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Photo Story – Super full moon seen from Istanbul

Gulls fly over the Bosphorus as the super full moon rises, in Istanbul, Turkey, 26 April 2021. The super full moon is named this way because it is at its…

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Turkey to enter nationwide lockdown until May

Turkey will enter a nationwide "full closure" lockdown on Thursday until 17 May, President Tayyip Erdogan has announced. The nation will go into including a continuous lockdown, with school closures…

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Erdogan calls on Biden to reverse ‘wrong step’ on Armenian declaration

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan called on U.S. counterpart Joe Biden to immediately reverse his declaration that 1915 massacres of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire constituted genocide, a move he said was upsetting and diminished bilateral ties.…

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Turkey’s EU candidacy must be suspended if no change, EU lawmakers say

BRUSSELS, April 23 (Reuters) - Turkey's membership negotiations to join the European Union should be formally suspended if Ankara continues on its autocratic track, EU lawmakers said on Friday, saying…

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Turkey says it “entirely rejects” U.S. recognition of Armenian genocide

ANKARA, April 24 (Reuters) - Turkey "entirely rejects" U.S. President Joe Biden's recognition of the 1915 massacres of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as a genocide, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said, minutes after Biden's declaration. Biden on Saturday…

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