Turkey

ISTANBUL, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday said the government had to boost the measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 as the daily infected cases in the country have been on the rise for the last month.

Authorities recently limited the number of passengers in public transport and imposed new restrictions on bars, restaurants, and cafes across the country. Weddings and other ceremonies in Istanbul's Bosphorus Strait, as well as open-air concerts and other festivals in the city, were also banned.

18 Sep 2020; MEMO: A group of Syrian programmers who escaped the civil war in Syria in 2011 and moved to Turkey have developed a mobile game which has been downloaded by 45 million users.

17 Sep 2020; MEMO: Turkey’s foreign minister said on Wednesday that the government offered to make a maritime jurisdiction agreement with Egypt, CNN Turk has reported. Mevlut Cavusoglu made his comments in a live interview on CNN Turk.

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish and international lawyers’ groups have voiced concern over the arrest of dozens of lawyers, saying they had been doing their job when representing clients accused of links to the network Turkey blames for an attempted coup in 2016.

The Ankara state prosecutor’s office ordered the detention of 60 people on Friday, including 48 lawyers and others in the legal sector, suspected of operating in support of the network of U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen.

ANKARA (Reuters) - An aid worker from Turkey’s Red Crescent was killed and another was wounded after masked assailants attacked the group’s vehicle near the northern Syrian town of al-Bab, the aid agency said in a statement on Monday.

It said the attack took place between al-Bab and the Turkish border town of Cobanbey, despite the vehicle having a Kizilay, or Red Crescent, logo on its roof.

“With the help of our country, I believe the attackers will be captured soon,” Kizilay Chairman Kerem Kinik said.

ANKARA, Sept 13 (NNN-ANADOLU) – Turkey and Britain conducted joint naval drill in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Turkish defence ministry said yesterday.

“The British destroyer, HMS ARGYLL, and the frigate, TCG GIRESUN, carried out sea training in the Eastern Mediterranean on Sept 11,” the ministry tweeted.

The drill comes as tensions mount, in the Eastern Mediterranean, between Turkey and Greece, over energy exploration.

ISTANBUL, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday warned French counterpart Emmanuel Macron over the latter's opposition to Turkey's maritime activities in the Eastern Mediterranean.

"Don't mess with Turkey and Turkish nation," Erdogan was quoted by the official Anadolu Agency as telling Macron in a speech to a symposium held in Istanbul.

"You cannot lecture us on humanity," Erdogan said, recalling the "massacres" conducted by France in Algeria and Rwanda that killed a large number of people.

13 Sep 2020; MEMO: Recalling France’s massacres in Algeria and Rwanda, the Turkish president said the French president “cannot lecture us on humanity”, Anadolu Agency reported.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s remarks came at a symposium held on Democracy and Freedom Island against coup.

In a direct reference to President Emmanuel Macron, Erdogan said “You [Macron] have no knowledge of history. You do not know the history of France.”

10 Sep 2020; MEMO: The Turkish lira hit a record low of 7.49 against the US dollar yesterday, under the impact of growing risk aversion, which increased selling pressures globally.

The record low brings losses against the US currency this year to nearly 21 per cent, putting it among the world’s worst performers.

Turkey’s Prime Minister has insisted that all of his country’s naval manoeuvres in the Eastern Mediterranean conform to NATO criteria. Mevlut Cavusoglu made his comments during a joint press conference with Congolese Prime Minister John-Claude Gakosso at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Ankara.

Cavusoglu denied the claims of his Greek counterpart, Nikos Dendias, that Turkey has been firing live ammunition during the naval exercises.