Turkey

7 Mar 2023; MEMO: Turkiye's Competition Board has announced its decision to fine American business magnate and Twitter CEO, Elon Musk, over his takeover of the prominent social media platform without prior permission.

ANKARA, March 6 (Reuters) - Turkey's opposition neared a deal on Monday in which the right-wing IYI Party could return to an alliance that it quit three days ago, opening the way to mounting a united challenge to President Tayyip Erdogan in elections set for May.

Under a new proposal following a weekend of political intrigue, two popular mayors would serve as vice presidents should the opposition win in the presidential and parliamentary elections on May 14.

With polls showing a close race, the vote is the biggest challenge Erdogan has faced in two decades in power.

ANKARA, March 4. /TASS/: The death toll from the devastating earthquakes in Turkey has approached 46,000, Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said on TRT televisions on Saturday.

"The death toll has risen to 45,968. Of these, 4,267 are citizens of Syria," the minister said adding that more than 13,000 aftershocks had been recorded since the first earthquake.

"A total of 26,300 buildings have collapsed. Search and rescue operations have been carried out on the rubble of 26,032 of them," he said.

4 Mar 2023; MEMO: The selection of a candidate to face Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the elections scheduled for 14 May has led to a divide in the ranks of the main opposition alliance consisting of six parties on Friday.

3 Mar 2023; MEMO: A volunteer graffiti artist at a tent city in Turkiye's quake-hit Gaziantep province is healing the traumas of children through art and other activities, Anadolu News Agency reports.

Senol Karakaya spends time daily with about 50 children at the tent city in Islahiye after the 6 February earthquakes in Turkiye.

ANKARA, March 3 (Reuters) - A Turkish opposition leader threw an opposition alliance against President Tayyip Erdogan into turmoil on Friday when she withdrew her party from the bloc due to disagreement over who should run for president in elections scheduled in two months.

The public split, following months of simmering discord, came after Erdogan said this week the elections would be held on May 14, despite criticism of his government's response to last month's devastating earthquakes in southeast Turkey.

2 Mar 2023; MEMO: After the deadliest earthquake in its modern history, Turkiye faces the daunting task of disposing of hundreds of millions of tonnes of rubble, some of it potentially harmful, Reuters reports.

The 6 February earthquake and aftershocks left at least 156,000 buildings either completely collapsed, or damaged to the point where they require demolition, Turkish authorities said, with whole areas of cities reduced to shattered concrete and steel.

2 Mar 2023; MEMO: Over 1,500 pets have been rescued, so far, since the twin earthquakes hit southern Turkiye, a non-profit organisation said Thursday, Anadolu News Agency reports.

"More than three weeks after the deadly earthquake in Turkiye, the animal rescue team from Humane Society International is still finding dogs and cats alive in abandoned apartments, damaged buildings or wandering the streets," the Humane Society International (HSI) said in a statement.

2 Mar 2023; MEMO: Lawmakers from Turkiye's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its ally, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), have prevented the approval of a draft resolution proposed by two opposition parties which sought to deport Syrian refugees from the country immediately.

1 Mar 2023; MEMO: Turkish authorities have fined TikTok 1.75 million liras ($93,000) for not taking sufficient measures to protect users from unlawful processing of their data, the Personal Data Protection Board (KVKK) said on Wednesday, Reuters reports.