Turkey

ANKARA, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan will convene a top tier economy-focused meeting on Friday at which Russian payment system Mir and possible Western sanctions will be discussed, two sources with information on the matter told Reuters.

The meeting with government officials and others will also address agreements with Russia, recent heavy volatility on the Istanbul stock exchange and the general economic situation, the sources said, requesting anonymity.

ANKARA, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Turkish defence firm Baykar has delivered 20 armed drones to the United Arab Emirates this month and could sell more, two Turkish sources said, as a diplomatic detente between the former regional rivals expands into military contracts.

International demand for Baykar's drones soared after their impact on conflicts in Syria, Ukraine and Libya, where their laser-guided armour-piercing bombs helped repel an offensive by UAE-supported forces two years ago.

20 Sep 2022; MEMO: Member of the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkiye (DEIK) and President of the Turkiye-Qatar Business Council Basar Arıoglu said the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) railway link project would link Qatar with Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq and could reach Turkiye. This would connect Doha with Europe, the Middle East and China.

ANKARA, September 19. /TASS/: Private bank Denizbank suspended withdrawal of the Turkish lira from bank cards of the Russian payment system Mir, according to TASS correspondent.

ATMs report a transaction confirmation error and return payment cards.

It was reported earlier that ATMs of the Turkish bank Is bankasi suspended withdrawal of the Turkish lira from bank cards of the Russian payment system Mir.

17 Sep 2022; MEMO: Turkiye has condemned the United States' decision to fully lift its embargo on Cyprus from next year, saying that the move could result in an arms race on the island.

In a statement by the Turkish Foreign Ministry today, it warned that the US' decision will "further strengthen the Greek Cypriot side's intransigence and negatively affect efforts to resettle the Cyprus issue."

ISTANBUL, Sept 17 (Reuters) - President Tayyip Erdogan said he was targeting membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) for NATO-member Turkey, broadcaster NTV and other media said on Saturday.

He was speaking to reporters after attending the SCO summit in Uzbekistan before heading to the United States.

"Our relations with these countries will be moved to a much different position with this step," Erdogan said.

"When asked if he meant membership of the SCO, he said, "Of course, that's the target".

16 Sep 2022; MEMO: The United States has acknowledged that the Istanbul and Black Sea grain deal brokered by Turkiye and the UN has succeeded in decreasing the price of food worldwide, confirming previous expectations that enabling grain shipments from Ukraine would do so.

15 Sep 2022; MEMO: Turkish florists are resorting to cargo planes instead of trucks as they rush to send as many flowers as they can to the United Kingdom to meet a deluge of orders after the death of Queen Elizabeth, Reuters reports.

Orders for cut flowers have soared by 90 per cent since the Queen died, said Selcuk Celebi, a member of the Antalya Commodity Exchange, adding that Turkish florists were only able to meet about 40 per cent of the demand.

15 Sep 2022; MEMO: The Qatari Government has bought a stake in the Eurasia Tunnel Company in Istanbul from the South Korean partner in the venture, SK Group, a statement by the Turkish Competition Board showed, Reuters reports.

According to the report, the Qatar Investment Authority has bought the shares of Turkiye's tunnel via its unit, QH Oil Investment LLC, from SK HoldCo Pte.

16 Sep 2022; MEMO: A new poll has revealed that the majority of Turkish citizens say tensions with Greece are caused by politics and the elections, as disputes between the two neighbours continue to worsen.