Turkey

9 July 2019; MEMO: At least 55 human traffickers were arrested Monday in operations based in Turkey’s Aegean Izmir province, according to security officials, reports Anadolu Agency.

The 55 were among 80 suspected human traffickers targeted in today’s operations, Huseyin Askin, Izmir’s police chief, told a press conference.

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Russia’s S-400 air defense missiles are currently being prepared to be flown to Turkey.

Speaking to reporters before leaving for Bosnia on Monday, Erdogan wouldn’t say, however, when the Russian missile defense system would reach Turkey or where they will be deployed.

The delivery of the systems could bring Turkey closer to U.S. sanctions. U.S. officials have warned that Turkey would face economic sanctions as well as being expelled from a program to produce the F-35 fighter jets.

8 July 2019; AA: Turkey’s president will attend the two-day South East European Countries Cooperation Process (SEECP) Summit starting Monday in Bosnia, according to the presidential communications director. 

“President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will visit Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, on 8-9 July 2019 to attend the Southeast European Cooperation Process Summit,” Fahrettin Altun wrote on Twitter on Sunday.

ISTANBUL (AP) — A decade after deadly riots tore through his hometown, Kamilane Abudushalamu still vividly recalls the violence that left him an exile.

On July 5, 2009, Abudushalamu was hiding with his father on the 10th floor of an office tower in Urumqi, the capital of China’s Xinjiang region that is home to the Turkic Uighur ethnic minority. By a park, he spotted a bus on fire. Then he heard a crack as a motorcycle nearby exploded.

BINGOL, 3 July 2019; AA: A construction truck working for building a road in the eastern Turkish province of Bingol was taken off service after a bird set up a nest in the engine of the vehicle.

Officials of the construction company decided that the truck would not be used in the ongoing construction of the road on the Bingol-Erzurum highway after they were informed that a bird built a nest inside the truck.

ANKARA, June 27 (Xinhua) -- Turkey and its allies are participating in the Anatolian Eagle air drills in central Konya province in order to increase cooperation on joint tasks and exercise mission types, local media reported Thursday.

The training program between June 17 and June 28 is carried out with the participation of Turkey, Italy, Jordan, Pakistan, Qatar and the United States, while Azerbaijan attends as an observer.

ISTANBUL (AP) — The opposition candidate for mayor of Istanbul celebrated a landmark win Sunday in a closely watched repeat election that ended weeks of political tension and broke the long hold President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s party had on leading Turkey’s largest city.

“Thank you, Istanbul,” Ekrem Imamoglu, 49, said to the tens of thousands of people who gathered to mark his victory after unofficial results showed he won a clear majority of the vote.

23 June 2019; DW: Polling stations closed in Istanbul on Sunday evening, in an election that saw voters casting their ballots for a second time to select a new mayor for Turkey's largest city.

Election officials decided to cancel the results of the first vote in March after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development party (AKP) alleged that there had been cases of vote rigging and corruption.

ISTANBUL (AP) — Polls have opened in a repeat election in Turkey’s largest city where President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his political allies could lose control of Istanbul’s administration for the first time in 25 years.

Opposition candidate Ekrem Imamoglu narrowly inflicted a shock defeat on a pro-government candidate in March 31 local government elections and briefly served as mayor for nearly three weeks. But the election was canceled following government complaints of procedural irregularities and a spat between the two sides over recounts.

21 June 2019; MEMO: The Egyptian authorities have blocked Turkey’s TRT Arabi and Anadolu Agency websites, the Ankara-based International Association for Media and Communication (IAMCR) announced yesterday.

“As part of the ongoing censorship on media in Egypt, TRT Arabi and Anadolu Agency were blocked by the Egyptian regime,” IAMCR said, condemning what it described as “a coup attempt against media freedom.”