Turkey

31 August 2022; MEMO: Turkiye's annual inflation is expected to exceed 81per cent in August after the central bank delivered an unexpected rate cut despite continuing price pressures, a Reuters poll showed today, and it was seen declining to just below 71 per cent by end-2022.

Inflation has surged since last autumn when the lira slumped after the central bank gradually cut its policy rate by 500 basis points to 14 per cent in an easing cycle sought by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

ISTANBUL, Aug 29 (NNN-ANADOLU) – A tour bus, rolling off a cliff in Türkiye’s north-western province of Bursa, left at least three dead and 37 wounded yesterday, Demiroren News Agency (DHA) reported.

The tour bus was driven off the cliff, and rolled downwards until it hit a tree, and initial reports indicated that, the bus had brake failure, according to the report.

Emergency response teams, medical units, and rescue teams have arrived at the scene, and all the wounded have been transferred to various hospitals, said Bursa Governor, Yakup Canbolat.

27 August 2022; AA: Teknofest, Türkiye’s premier aerospace and technology festival, will start next week in the city of Samsun, on the Turkish Black Sea. 

Starting on Tuesday at Samsun Carsamba Airport, the six-day event will feature activities such as air shows with warplanes, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and helicopters, as well as seminars, summits, and competitions.

27 August 2022; AA: French President Macron's remarks on Türkiye during his current visit to Algeria were "unacceptable," said Türkiye’s Foreign Ministry on Saturday.

"It is extremely unfortunate that French President Emmanuel Macron made statements targeting our country, along with some other countries, during his visit to Algeria," ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgic said in a written response to questions by reporters.

ISTANBUL, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Turkey's military and intelligence unit "neutralised" nine members of the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in operations in northern Iraq, the Defence Ministry and state-run media said on Saturday.

Turkey regularly carries out air strikes in neighbouring Iraq as part of its offensive against PKK militants based there.

"Our operations will continue until the last terrorist is neutralised," the ministry said on Twitter, adding that the military targeted seven PKK members. It typically uses the word "neutralised" to mean killed.

26 August 2022; MEMO: Officials from Turkiye, Finland and Sweden agreed on Friday to continue talks in the coming months to discuss security concerns raised by Turkiye as a pre-condition of allowing the two Nordic countries to join NATO.

Officials from the three countries held the first of these meetings on Friday in the Finnish city, Vantaa.

ANKARA, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- Concerns over the U.S. Treasury's warning about Turkish companies facing sanctions risk if they deal with sanctioned Russians was "meaningless," said Türkiye's finance and treasury minister on Friday.

Nureddin Nebati tweeted that "it is meaningless that the letter sent to Turkish business organizations causes concern in our business circles."

26 August 2022; MEMO: Officials from Turkiye, Finland and Sweden are expected to meet at an undisclosed location in Finland today to discuss security concerns which Ankara raised as a precondition for allowing the two Nordic countries to join the NATO military alliance, Reuters reported.

ANKARA, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- At least 13 foreign Islamic State (IS) suspects were detained in police raids in the Turkish capital of Ankara on Thursday, the state-run TRT TV reported.

Ankara police launched an operation against 15 foreign suspects, some of whom were allegedly in contact with IS members in the conflict zones, the report said.

Thirteen suspects were detained in the operation, while the police continue to search for the remaining two, it added.

24 August 2022; MEMO: Turkiye's Foreign Minister, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, said Turkiye will not buy F-16 warplanes from the US if restrictions are imposed on their use, Haber Global TV reports.

According to the report, the US House of Representatives, in July, proposed allowing President Joe Biden to sell Turkiye upgraded F-16s on condition that Ankara will not deploy them for unauthorised territorial over-flights of Greece.