Turkey

07 Oct 2020; MEMO: The coastline of the abandoned town of Maras in the Turkish Cypriot city of Gazimagusa will reopen on Thursday, the prime minister of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) announced Tuesday, reports Anadolu Agency.

The coastline of Maras will be open for public use as of Thursday morning, Ersin Tatar said in a joint news conference with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the capital Ankara.

06 Oct 2020; MEMO: Turkey on Monday accused French President Emmanuel Macron of “encouraging Islamophobia” with his recent remarks claiming that “Islam is in crisis”.

“The claim by President Macron that ‘Islam is in crisis’ is a dangerous and provocative statement, encouraging Islamophobia and anti-Muslim demagoguery,” presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin wrote on Twitter.

ANKARA, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday asked NATO members to demonstrate "concrete solidarity" with his country, the presidential communications directorate said.

During his meeting with visiting NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, Erdogan "stressed that NATO allies should demonstrate concrete solidarity with Turkey" as "NATO has a very important role and responsibility to prevent attempts that risk the functionality of the Alliance," said the directorate in a statement released after the meeting.

04 Oct 2020; MEMO: Turkey rejected “superficial” demands for a ceasefire on Saturday in the South Caucasus, where it backs Azerbaijan, after a week of fierce fighting with ethnic Armenian forces in the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh enclave, reports Reuters.

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey rejected “superficial” demands for a ceasefire on Saturday in the South Caucasus, where it backs Azerbaijan, after a week of fierce fighting with ethnic Armenian forces in the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh enclave.

While Russia, the United States and France have called for an end to hostilities, regional power Turkey has staunchly supported the Azeris and has repeated that what it called Armenian “occupiers” must withdraw.

03 Oct 2020; MEMO: The Turkish Ministry of Defence announced that Ankara will continue to provide training, assistance and advisory support to the United Nations (UN)-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA).

The Defence Ministry posted on Twitter on Friday that the maritime demarcation agreement signed by Turkey and the GNA had been registered by the UN on Thursday.

ANKARA, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Nearly 2,500 people, including those who violated COVID-19 isolation rules and who were not able to properly self-isolate, are under mandatory quarantine across Turkey, a Turkish official said on Friday.

"As of Oct. 1, a total of 2,474 people are under mandatory self-isolation in dormitories and hostels across the country," Turkish Interior Ministry Spokesperson Ismail Catakli told reporters at a press conference.

Turkey's COVID-19 patients increased by 1,442 on Friday to a total of 321,512, the Turkish Health Ministry announced.

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey's Wealth Fund is in talks to provide emergency funding to flag carrier Turkish Airlines THYAO.IS, one of the country's hardest-hit companies when the coronavirus pandemic halted nearly all flights, four sources told Reuters.

The sources close to the matter said the company, which flies to more destinations worldwide than any other airline, could receive capital or financing support as part of the programme, though nothing had yet been finalised.

30 Sep 2020; MEMO: Armenia has been transporting hundreds of militants from the Kurdish terror group the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and what Turkey believes is the group’s Syrian branch, the Peoples’ Protection Units (YPG), in its renewed fight against Azerbaijan over the Armenia-occupied region of Nagorno-Karabakh, Turkish security sources claim.

30 Sep 2020; MEMO: China’s practices and policies toward Uyghurs and Muslims in Xinjiang has always been part of Ankara’s agenda, Turkey’s ruling party spokesman Omer Celik said yesterday.

According to Anadolu, Celik said Turkey has been closely monitoring human rights and freedom of belief and that China’s anti-extremism regulation adopted in 2017 contains negative and arbitrary practices against Uyghurs.