Turkey

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish private aircraft operator MNG Jet said on Friday that its planes were used illegally in the escape from Japan of ex-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn, adding it had filed a criminal complaint.

Ghosn has become an international fugitive after he revealed on Tuesday he had fled to Lebanon to escape what he called a “rigged” justice system in Japan, where he faces charges relating to alleged financial crimes.

ANKARA, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- Turkish parliament passed a motion on Thursday authorizing the government to deploy troops to Libya in support of the UN-backed government.

The lawmakers voted on the motion in an emergency session. The motion was approved with 325 votes in favor and 184 against.

The bill was supported by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and Felicity Party.

ANKARA (Reuters) - President Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday that up to 250,000 migrants were fleeing from the northwestern Syrian region of Idlib towards Turkey, adding that Ankara was trying to prevent them from crossing its border.

Turkey hosts some 3.7 million Syrian refugees, the largest refugee population in the world. It fears a new wave from Idlib, where up to 3 million Syrians live in the last rebel-held swathe of territory, after Russian and Syrian government forces last month intensified their bombardment of targets in the region.

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish police detained seven people including four pilots on Thursday in an investigation of how ousted Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn touched down in Istanbul as he fled Japan en route to Lebanon, according to broadcaster NTV.

Turkey’s interior ministry has launched a probe into the transit of Ghosn, who has become Japan’s most famous fugitive after revealing on Tuesday he fled to Beirut to escape what he called a “rigged” justice system.

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish Airlines (THYAO.IS) has agreed a compensation deal with planemaker Boeing Co (BA.N) over the grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX following two fatal crashes, the carrier said on Tuesday.

It did not specify the size of the payment but Turkey’s Hurriyet newspaper reported that it was worth $225 million including $150 million in compensation and $75 million covering things such as spare parts and training.

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey’s main opposition party said on Monday it opposes a bill to allow a troop deployment to Libya, arguing such a move would exacerbate the country’s conflict and cause it to spread across the region.

Last week, President Tayyip Erdogan said his government would seek parliamentary consent to deploy troops to Libya after Fayez al-Serraj’s Government of National Accord (GNA) requested support. The GNA is fending off an offensive by Khalifa Haftar’s forces in the east of the North African country.

29 Dec 2019; MEMO: Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu warned Saturday against attempts to create a situation in Libya similar to that in civil war-torn Syria, Anadolu reports.

“They want to turn [the situation in] Libya to [the one in] Syria. If today Libya would be like Syria, then the turn came to the other countries in the region,” Cavusoglu told the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party’s consultation meeting in Antalya, on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast.

29 Dec 2019; MEMO: Turkey’s Foreign Ministry Saturday condemned the US parole granted for the murderer of a Turkish diplomat.

A California court Friday ruled for the conditional release of Armenian-origin convict, Hampig Sassounian, who killed Turkish Consul General Kemal Arikan in Los Angeles on January 28, 1982.

“We strongly condemn and reject the decision, which can be appealed and is subject to the approval of the California governor,” the ministry said in a statement.

29 December 2019; AFP: A Turkish military plane arrived in Mogadishu on Sunday to evacuate those gravely wounded in a devastating bombing that killed 79 people and overwhelmed local health services, in the latest attack on a city dogged by insecurity.

The aircraft also brought doctors to help treat the some 125 people injured in Saturday's blast, which happened when a vehicle packed with explosives detonated at a busy security checkpoint.

28 Dec 2019; AA: Turkey will launch TurkStream natural gas pipeline next month, energy and natural resources minister said on Friday.

"We will launch TurkStream on Jan. 8. We will be indispensable in international markets with natural gas pipelines coming from both the east and north," said Fatih Donmez in a meeting in the northwestern Bilecik province.