Turkey

26 Mar 2020; MEMO: Istanbul’s Public Prosecutor’s Office has prepared an indictment against 20 Saudis in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate 17 months ago in Istanbul.

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey can resort to the “highest measure” of adopting a complete curfew if coronavirus infections continue to spread, the government said on Thursday as it clamped down further on medical tools leaving the country.

Turkey had announced a partial curfew for senior citizens older than 65 over the weekend, but not for the general public as some other hard-hit countries have done.

The highly contagious respiratory disease has killed 59 in Turkey after cases surged in two weeks to 2,433, the world's nineteenth highest here count.

25 March 2020; AFP: Turkish prosecutors have charged 20 suspects including two former top aides to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over the 2018 murder of Riyadh critic Jamal Khashoggi.

Prosecutors accuse Saudi Arabia's deputy intelligence chief Ahmed al-Assiri and the royal court's media czar Saud al-Qahtani of leading the operation against Khashoggi and giving orders to a Saudi hit team.

25 Mar 2020; MEMO: Turkish coastguards have rescued 31 asylum seekers stranded at sea off the coast of Muğla Province after Greek authorities forced them to return to Turkish territorial waters, Anadolu News Agency reported.

The Turkish coastguards said in a statement that their teams responded to a distress call issued by the boat which had 11 children and four women on board.

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish authorities will seize factories of mask-producing firms unless they agree to sell products to the government by Monday night, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu was quoted as saying, as Ankara seeks to contain the local coronavirus outbreak.

Turkey’s death toll from the virus increased by nine to 30 on Sunday, with 1,256 confirmed cases after a surge in the last two weeks.

ISTANBUL, Mar 22 (NNN-ANADOLU) – Turkey stepped up COVID-19 testing as the number of infected cases increased exponentially in recent days.

Turkey carried out more than 10,000 tests for COVID-19 so far, the country’s Health Minister, Fahrettin Koca, announced, voicing hope to increase the number of tests per day.

So far, Turkey announced 21 dead and 947 cases.

Turkey’s efforts to step up tests came, amid World Health Organisation Head, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus’ call for all countries to be able to test all suspected cases, earlier this week.

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Two Turkish soldiers were killed Thursday in a rocket attack in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province, Turkey’s Defense Ministry said.

A ministry statement said a third soldier was wounded in the attack, which it said was carried out by “radical groups.”

Turkey’s artillery units immediately mounted a powerful retaliation, the ministry said, but did not provide further details.

19 Mar 2020; MEMO: A court in Turkey sentenced three men to 125 years in prison each over the 2015 drowning of Syrian toddler Aylan Kurdi whose death became a tragic symbol of the refugee crisis in Europe as a result of conflicts in Syria and the wider region after a harrowing image of the baby face-down on a Turkish beach went viral online.

18 Mar 2020; MEMO: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday held a video conference call with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, local media reported.

The summit discussed the developments in Syria, especially in Idlib, Turkish-European relations, Libyan developments, the refugee crisis as well as cooperation efforts to confront the coronavirus pandemic.

ISTANBUL, March 17 (Xinhua) -- The leaders of Turkey, Germany, France, and Britain discussed issues, including the latest situation in Syria's northern province of Idlib and the COVID-19 outbreak, at a televised meeting on Tuesday.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson discussed the humanitarian aid to Idlib, the last rebel-held stronghold in Syria, said the state-run Anadolu agency.