Turkey

ISTANBUL, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- Discussions about the construction of an artificial waterway, which would divide Turkey's most populous city Istanbul, have lately polarized the Turkish society over its environmental and financial impacts.

Canal Istanbul was first brought out by then Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2011 as a "crazy project" with a view to easing the heavy traffic of the 30-km-long Bosphorus Strait, one of the world's busiest waterways that divides the Asian and European parts of Istanbul.

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - A mayor from Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) was arrested over suspected links to the network that Ankara says orchestrated a failed coup in 2016, a party official said early on Tuesday.

Ankara has cracked down on suspected followers of Fethullah Gulen, a U.S.-based Muslim cleric, since the July 2016 coup attempt in which some 250 people were killed. Operations against the network are still routine.

15 Dec 2019; MEMO: Turkey criticised a European Council decision rejecting last month’s Turkish-Libyan maritime pact, Anadolu Agency reports.

“The European Union has no authority to decide maritime jurisdiction and the EU is not an international court, they cannot give a verdict on the legality of the Libyan agreement,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy said in a statement.

15 Dec 2019; MEMO: A recent agreement between Turkey and Libya on military cooperation came to the Turkish parliament to be ratified on Saturday, Anadolu Agency reports.

Seeking to “provide a ground for relations and develop cooperation” between Turkey and Libya’s UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA), the agreement  includes increased cooperation in the exchange of personnel, materials, equipment, consultancy and experience between the two sides.

ISTANBUL, Dec 15 (NNN-ANADOLU) – Turkey called on the European Union, to increase funding for Syrian refugees being sheltered on Turkish land.

“As long as the migration crisis is there, we have to continue to cooperate, and we have to work together,” said Faruk Kaymakci, deputy minister of foreign affairs and director for EU affairs.

ISTANBUL, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- Turkey on Saturday called on the European Union to increase the funding for Syrian refugees being sheltered on Turkish land.

"As long as the migration crisis is there, we have to continue to cooperate, and we have to work together," said Faruk Kaymakci, deputy minister of foreign affairs and director for EU affairs.

ANKARA, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- Turkey's former Prime Minister and Chairman of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Ahmet Davutoglu announced the establishment of his Future Party on Friday.

"The future is our nation's, the future is Turkey. Despite all the pressures and the climate of fear, we came together to draw a prosperous future for our country," he said at a ceremony marking the launch of the new party.

Served as foreign minister and then Prime Minister until 2016, he was once a close adviser to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

14 Dec 2019; MEMO: A top Turkish official on Friday urged “reasonable statesmen” to push back lobbying groups in Washington which damage Turkish-US ties for the sake of “narrow domestic political interests”, reports Anadolu Agency.

“US foreign policy must find a way to escape sacrificing US national interests for narrow domestic political interests,” Fahrettin Altun, Turkish communications director, said on Twitter.

13 Dec 2019; MEMO: Turkey does not accept and strongly condemns the US Senate resolution on Armenian events that “poisons the climate of Turkish-American relations,” the ruling party spokesman said Friday, Anadolu reports.

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey is very close to striking a deal to buy a second S-400 system from Russia, and the deal could be signed before April when the first batch of missile defenses will be ready to use, Ankara’s defense industry said on Friday.

Turkey’s talks with Russia over technology transfer and joint production on the second batch of S-400 defenses has continued, the head of the Turkish Defense Industry Directorate, Ismail Demir, told a small group of journalists.