Middle East & North Africa

Tehran, Sept 1, IRNA – President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday that the government makes every effort to thwart impacts of shocks to the national economy caused by sanctions and global shutdown due to the spread of the COVID-19, on economic development of the country.

He made the remarks in a meeting of the government’s economic coordination headquarters.

The president said that government has tried to develop and implement detailed plans in the areas of macroeconomics and household economy.

31 Aug 2020; AA: Turkey will not tolerate illegal actions in the Aegean and Mediterranean regions, said the nation’s president on Monday.

"Turkey won't allow piracy or banditry in the Mediterranean or Aegean regions," Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in the Black Sea province of Giresun at an event marking the start of the fishing season.

01 Sep 2020; AA: Turkey has again extended its energy exploration in the Eastern Mediterranean through its ship the Oruc Reis, this time by 11 days, until Sept. 12.

Turkey Monday night issued a Navtex (navigational alert) announcing an extension of the Oruc Reis's research activities accompanied by the Cengiz Han and Ataman vessels.

Earlier, Turkey had announced the ship's mission would continue through Sept. 1.

01 Sep 2020; AA: The Turkish Coast Guard rescued on Tuesday 41 asylum seekers who were pushed back by Greek coastal authorities into Turkish waters off the Aegean coast, according to security sources.

The coast guard team was dispatched to the area off the coast of Datca district in southwestern Mugla province after receiving information that the asylum seekers were stranded on a dinghy.

They were brought to the port and transferred to the provincial migration office.

01 Sep 2020; AA: Turkey is in favor of negotiations for fair share of resource in the Eastern Mediterranean, the country’s foreign minister said on Tuesday.

Addressing a joint news conference with his Algerian counterpart Sabri Boukadoum in the capital Ankara, Mevlut Cavusoglu said if armaments on the Meis island exceed limits determined by agreements, Greece will be loser.

01 Sep 2020; MEMO: Turkey’s economy contracted 9.9% year-on-year in the second quarter of this year, the country’s statistical authority announced Monday, reported Anadolu Agency.

Gross domestic product (GDP) at current prices amounted to 1.04 trillion Turkish liras ($153.18 billion) in the April-June period, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat).

The US ambassador to Iraq, Matthew H. Tueller, said yesterday that his country does not intend to maintain a permanent military presence in Iraq, adding that there are a lot of misunderstandings concerning the relationship between the international coalition against Daesh led by the United States and the Iraqi government.

Tueller told reporters in Baghdad that the international coalition and Iraq have achieved a lot in the war against Daesh over the past five years, saying: “We always hear from the Iraqi partners that the partnership with America must continue.”

01 Sep 2020; MEMO: A separatist official has accused Saudi Arabia of hindering the implementation of a power-sharing deal, known as the Riyadh Agreement, for southern Yemen, reported Anadolu Agency.

“The denial of return for southern leaders to Aden by Saudi Arabia is an obstruction of the implementation of the Riyadh Agreement,” Rami Muthana al-Sumaidi, a leader of the UAE-backed separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC), said on Monday.

BEIRUT, Sept 1 (NNN-NNA) – Lebanon named, on Monday, Lebanese Ambassador to Germany, Mustapha Adib, as premier.

Adib succeeded in securing 90 out of 128 parliamentary votes, which will allow him to form a government.

Adib said that, this is the time for work and for all parties to cooperate for the country to heal and restore hope in Lebanon.

01 Sep 2020; MEMO: Egypt has signed its first $2 billion conventional and Islamic financing loan to support the local economy, the Egyptian Ministry of Finance announced yesterday.

In an official statement, the ministry said that the loan aimed at “financing the state’s general budget and supporting the Egyptian economy, to contribute to maintain its strong path in the face of prevailing fluctuations in global markets.”