Turkey

20 Feb 2022; MEMO: Over 193,000 Syrian refugees have become Turkish citizens until this year, Turkey's Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu has announced.

Speaking to reporters in the capital Ankara on Thursday, Soylu stated that "So far until December 2021, a total of 193,293 Syrians, including 84,152 children, have become Turkish citizens. This figure includes those who were granted citizenship before 2021."

18 Feb 2022; AA: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday discussed over the phone NATO-Turkiye relations and regional issues with Jens Stoltenberg, the military alliance's secretary-general.

Stoltenberg congratulated Erdogan on the 70th anniversary of Turkiye's accession to NATO, according to a statement by Turkey's Communications Directorate.

The Turkish leader thanked the NATO chief for always emphasizing Turkey's indispensable position within the alliance on various platforms.

ANKARA, Feb 18 (NNN-ANADOLU) – Turkey said yesterday that, it had granted citizenship to 194,000 Syrians, including 84,000 children, by the end of 2021.

There are around 3.7 million Syrians under temporary protection in Turkey, and have been registered by the authorities, the state-run broadcaster, TRT, quoted Turkish Interior Minister, Suleyman Soylu, as telling reporters.

“In some regions, the Syrian population accounts for over 25 percent of the total,” he said, adding that, the government has put a limit on residence for immigrants in these regions.

18 Feb 2022; MEMO: Turkiye has become an attractive destination for Muslims fleeing France due to Islamophobia, according to a report by French newspaper, Le Journal du Dimanche, on Wednesday, and reported by Anadolu News Agency.

It said that many qualified young French of North African origin are also settled in Gulf countries, but the modern, yet traditional, Turkiye has now become an increasingly popular migration destination for them.

16 Feb 2022; MEMO: Turkey's 'Fatih' vessel started drilling its third exploration in the Sakarya gas field in the Black Sea region amid the global energy crisis, the country's Energy and Natural Resources Minister said Wednesday, local media reports.

According to the report, the vessel will carry out its exploration for natural gas for 2-1/2 months, at a depth of 5,000 meters (16,404 feet) below sea level, at the Karasu-1 well, Fatih Donmez said on Twitter.

16 Feb 2022; MEMO: Turkiye's International Antalya Sand Sculpture Festival will take place for the 17th time in 2022, with the theme of outer space, Anadolu News Agency reports.

As preparations are in full swing for the festival in the resort city of Antalya which attracts many local and foreign visitors, festival Director, Cem Karaca, told Anadolu Agency that this year it will focus on space-human interaction and sand sculptures will reflect humanity's effort to reach space.

16 Feb 2022; MEMO: Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, is in favour of a trilateral meeting with Russian President, Vladimir Putin and Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday, Turkish media reports.

According to the report, the President said such a meeting would take place either in Istanbul or Ankara.

"In our meeting with Zelensky, he expressed that he is open to a trilateral meeting between Putin, Zelensky and Erdoğan," the President said.

Ankara has offered to mediate talks between two countries.

ANKARA, Feb 15 (NNN-ANADOLU) – Turkish security forces killed at least four members of Syria’s Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) in northern Syria, Turkey’s Defence Ministry said, yesterday.

Turkish military “neutralised” the YPG fighters when they attempted to “attack” Turkey’s Peace Spring zone, the ministry tweeted.

Turkish authorities often use the term “neutralised” to imply “terrorists” killed, wounded, or captured in security operations.

ISTANBUL, Feb 14 (NNN-ANADOLU) – A Russian Navy Kilo-class submarine, passed through Turkey’s Bosphorus strait yesterday, en route to the Black Sea, local media reported.

The Kilo-class Rostov-Na-Donu submarine, entered the 30-km-long strait from Turkey’s inland Sea of Marmara, and headed to the Black Sea, according to the Sozcu daily.

Pictures believed taken in the morning, show that a Turkish coast guard vessel escorted the diesel-electric attack submarine, during its passage.

ISTANBUL (AP) — The leaders of six opposition parties in Turkey met Saturday to strategize about the future of the country’s governing system — a move that aims to unseat the country’s longtime ruler.

In a statement following the working dinner, the party leaders said Turkey was experiencing “the deepest political and economic crisis” of its history and blamed it on the executive presidential system. They said their joint goal was to transform Turkey’s governance to a “strengthened parliamentary system.”