Middle East & North Africa

By Mustafa Hatipoglu and Basak Akbulut Yazar

ISTANBUL; 17 Aug 2018; AA: An Istanbul court has given life sentences to 102 Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) convicts including high-ranking former Turkish military officers, a judicial source said on Friday.

The group was charged over incidents that took place at the War Colleges Command in Istanbul during the defeated coup of July 2016, said the source, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on talking to the media.

By Deniz Cicek Palabiyik

ANKARA; 17 Aug 2018; AA: The Turkish finance minister and his French counterpart on Friday agreed over the phone to conduct a joint action against U.S. sanctions targeting Turkey, according to the ministerial sources.

Turkish Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak and French Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire discussed economic cooperation, the Turkish Treasury and Finance Ministry said in a statement.

JERUSALEM, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian Presidency warned Israel on Friday of "dangerous consequences" of closing the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem.

Israeli authorities earlier on Friday evening reopened the mosque for Palestinian worshipers after closing it for a few hours following a stabbing attack near the mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem.

ANKARA; 16 Aug 2018; (AP) — The Turkish lira continued to rebound from record losses on Thursday a day after Qatar pledged $15 billion in investments to help Turkey’s economy.

The currency strengthened some 2 percent against the dollar, trading at around 5.85 per dollar, hours before Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak was scheduled to update international investors about the economy.

MOSCOW, August 15. /TASS/. About 11 mln Syrians are currently considered forcibly displaced persons, 6 mln of those have become refugees within the country, Russian Foreign Ministry representative Nikolai Burtsev informed on Wednesday.

"According to the data we received, currently 11 mln Syrians are "forcibly displaced persons". Out of them, 6 mln are internally displaced," Burtsev said.

The representative added that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees provided this data.

RAMALLAH, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas reaffirmed on Wednesday that the Palestinians reject the new peace plan proposed by the United States, known as "Deal of the Century."

Abbas made the remarks at the opening session of the Palestinian Central Council held in Ramallah.

"We tell those who claim that we accepted the Deal of the Century that we were the first who rejected and fought it," Abbas said, adding that the Palestinians will fight the deal until it is "toppled."

JERUSALEM, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- Israel reopens Gaza's main cargo crossing on Wednesday morning, a week after it was closed amidst a flare-up of violence.

The opening of the Kerem Shalom crossing after nearly two weeks was decided by Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman and the Chief of General Staff Gadi Eisenkot, the military said in a statement.

"The Kerem Shalom crossing will be re-opened this morning for full activity," the statement read, adding that the fishing zone off the Gaza Strip will also be expanded to nine nautical miles (16.6 km).

ANKARA, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan signed a decree to raise the tariffs on some U.S. imports including cars, alcohol and tobacco, an official report said on Wednesday.

According to the decree published in the official gazette, Turkey has imposed an extra 60-percent of tariffs on passenger cars, 70 percent on alcohol and 30 percent on tobacco. Tariffs on cosmetics, rice and coal were also increased.

The move was a response to Washington's "economic attack" on Turkey, the country's Vice President Fuat Oktay tweeted.

By Qais Abu Samra

RAMALLAH, Palestine; 14 Aug 2018; AA: Israeli forces have rounded up 16 Palestinians in raids carried out across the occupied West Bank, according to local residents on Tuesday.

An Israeli force raided a number of homes in the West Bank city of Hebron and arrested two women, including the wife of Hamas lawmaker Mohamed Maher Badr, local residents said.

Four Palestinians were also arrested by Israeli forces in northern Hebron late Monday, according to the official Wafa news agency.

By Cansu Dikme and Merve Aydogan

ANKARA, 14 Aug 2018; AA: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday announced Turkey will boycott American electronic products.

The announcement came in his address to a symposium organized by the Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA) on the 17th foundation anniversary of the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party.

“We will boycott America's electronic products,” Erdogan said mentioning that Turkey would produce the better of every product bought with foreign currencies and export them.