Turkey

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday his country is ready to open a consulate in Shusha, a city that Azerbaijan took from Armenian forces in a war in 2020.

Erdogan made the comment during a visit to Azerbaijan at the start of his third term in office following presidential elections last month.

“We are ready to open our consulate whenever you wish,” Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency quoted Erdogan as telling Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and other officials at the start of bilateral talks.

ANKARA, Jun 12 (NNN-XINHUA) – At least seven members of the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) were killed by Turkish forces, in retaliation for YPG’s harassing fires, Türkiye’s defence ministry said, yesterday.

Among those killed were two senior YPG members, the ministry said in a statement.

Earlier in the day, the YPG launched mortar/rocket harassing fires on Turkish security posts, in the Cibrin Base area in northern Syria, and the Oncupinar area in southern Türkiye, said the statement.

11 June 2023; MEMO: Turkiye has called on the international community to cooperate with it in achieving the voluntary and safe return of Syrian refugees to their country, as Ankara continues to make their return a key policy goal.

A statement issued on Thursday evening by Turkiye's National Security Council emphasised the importance of the international community's cooperation on the matter of Syrian refugees and their voluntary, safe, and dignified return.

11 June 2023; MEMO: Turkish security forces blocked the entry of a group of around 40 migrants who were attempted to be sent to Turkiye by Greece on Thursday, the Turkish National Defense Ministry said, Anadolu reports.

In a statement, the ministry said that Turkish troops detected a group of approximately 40 people advancing toward the Turkish border in the northwestern Edirne province.

10 June 2023; MEMO: Reelected late last month, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will pay his term's first foreign visits to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and Azerbaijan, adhering to a long-held tradition of Turkish leaders, Anadolu reports.

On Monday, Erdogan will travel to the TRNC, where he will meet with President Ersin Tatar and Prime Minister Unal Ustunel.

They are expected to discuss developments in the Eastern Mediterranean and possible future steps on the Cyprus issue.

10 June 2023; MEMO: At least five workers died on Saturday in an explosion at a rocket and explosives factory in Ttrkiye's capital Ankara, according to the country's National Defense Ministry, Anadolu reports.

"An explosion occurred at the MKE Rocket and Explosives Factory in the Elmadag district of Ankara. As a result of the explosion, five of our workers have been martyred," the ministry said in a statement.

ISTANBUL, June 9 (Reuters) - Turkish security forces seized $1 billion of counterfeit money in Istanbul and arrested six people involved in the operation, including one Ghanian and three Swedish nationals, the governor's office said on Friday.

Gendarmerie forces tracked the suspects to a storage space in Istanbul's Kagithane district, where they seized the fake $100 bills meant to be sent to African countries, the office said.

The suspects' homes were searched and their cash and jewellery confiscated. The Swedish and Ghanian consulates were notified.

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — An explosion at a rocket and explosives plant in Turkey caused a building to collapse on Saturday, killing all five workers inside, an official said.

The explosion occurred at around 8:45 a.m. at the compound of the state-owned Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation, on the outskirts of the capital, Ankara, Gov. Vasip Sahin told reporters.

Sahin said the explosion was likely to have been caused by a chemical reaction during the production of dynamite. Prosecutors have launched a formal investigation, he said.

09 June 2023; MEMO: Turkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has appointed a former Wall Street banker, Hafize Gaye Erkan, as the country's new Central Bank Governor – another move that could potentially mark a policy pivot away from economic unorthodoxy, Reuters reports.

According to the report, Erkan, Turkiye's first female Central Bank chief, was a former Managing Director at Goldman Sachs and co-CEO at First Republic Bank.

07 June 2023; MEMO: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed on Tuesday to re-submit a proposal to amend the constitution for parliament to consider, Anadolu has reported.

Erdogan made his comment during a press conference after convening his cabinet for the first time since winning the 28 May presidential election run-off. He stressed that the vision represented by the amendment is based on "stability and trust".