Turkey

ANKARA, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Turkey's airport ground service provider Havas told Russian and Belarusian airliners that it may stop providing services to their United States-origin aircraft, in line with Western sanctions against Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.

A Havas letter dated Jan. 31 and seen by Reuters, with the subject line of "potential restrictions on Boeing aircraft", was sent days before U.S. officials met Turkish government and private sector officials to urge cooperation with U.S. curbs on Russia.

04 Feb 2023; MEMO: Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu issued an angry statement on Friday to US Ambassador to Ankara Jeffry Flake, demanding: "Take your dirty hands off Turkiye."

According to Haberturk newspaper, Soylu added: "Every US ambassador who arrives in Turkiye is hurrying to find out how to make a coup possible in Turkiye."

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey for a second day on Friday railed against a group of Western countries that temporarily shut their consulates in Istanbul, accusing them of failing to share information on the security threat that led to the closures and of aiming to cause harm to Turkey.

02 Feb 2023; MEMO: South Korea has conveyed its preliminary proposal to Turkiye for constructing a major nuclear power plant in Turkiye, local Turkish media reports.

According to the report, Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) presented the proposal regarding the construction of four reactors capable of providing 1,400 megawatts (MW) of electricity in the northern province of Sinop.

The project is forecast to be worth about 40 trillion won ($32.55 billion).

03 Feb 2023; MEMO: Turkiye summoned ambassadors of nine Western countries, including the United States and Sweden, on Thursday to criticise their decision to temporarily shut diplomatic missions and issue security alerts following Quran-burning incidents in Europe, Reuters reported.

The envoys of Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Britain were also summoned, according to Foreign Ministry sources in Ankara.

ANKARA, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- Türkiye's Foreign Ministry summoned Norway's ambassador to Ankara on Thursday and urged the Norwegian authorities to prevent a planned Quran protest.

"After learning that there will be an attack against the holy Quran tomorrow (Feb. 3), Norway's ambassador to Ankara has been summoned to our ministry," the semi-official Anadolu Agency quoted anonymous Foreign Ministry sources as saying.

Ankara "strongly condemns Norway's approach not to prevent the provocative act, which is clearly a hate crime," the ministry's officials told the envoy.

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey on Thursday slammed a group of Western countries that temporarily closed down their consulates in Istanbul over security concerns, accusing them of waging “psychological warfare” and attempting to wreck Turkey’s tourism industry.

02 Feb 2023; MEMO: Turkiye, on Saturday, issued a travel warning to its citizens in Europe, citing "possible Islamophobic, xenophobic and racist attacks".

According to the report, the Turkish Foreign Ministry called on citizens in Europe to avoid areas where demonstrations are taking place.

Turkiye said recent anti-Muslim and anti-Turkish acts show the "dangerous level of religious intolerance and hatred" on the continent.

02 Feb 2023; MEMO: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that there is no legal obstacle to his candidacy for the presidency this summer.

In an interview aired on national TV channel TRT yesterday, Erdogan added that his bid for another presidential term is in line with the law and the constitution.

"The people chose me as the first president in the presidential system," he said.

ANKARA, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Turkey looks positively on Finland's application for NATO membership, but does not support Sweden's bid, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday.

"Our position on Finland is positive, but it is not positive on Sweden," Erdogan said of their NATO applications in a speech to his AK Party deputies in parliament.

Sweden and Finland applied last year to join the trans-Atlantic defence pact after Russia invaded Ukraine, but faced unexpected objections from Turkey and have since sought to win its support.