Turkey

05 Jan 2019; DW: It's official: An independent Orthodox Church of Ukraine has been born with the blessing of Patriarch Bartholomew I. Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko heralded the split from Russia, but Moscow is less than pleased.

The Orthodox Church of Ukraine was formally granted independence at a ceremony in Istanbul on Saturday, completing a historic split from Russian religious control that had been ongoing since 1868.

ANKARA; 05 Jan 2019; AA: Turkey's aerospace and defense industry exports surged 17 percent year-on-year in 2018.

According to data compiled from Turkish Exporters Assembly by Anadolu Agency, the sector's exports surpassed the target of $2 billion last year, hitting a record high level of $2.035 billion.

The defense and aerospace industry showed the best performance in terms of growing exports, among all sectors in 2018.

HATAY, Turkey; 01 Jan 2019; AA: Over 40,000 Syrians left Turkey over the last year for their hometowns liberated from terrorists in northwestern Syria.

Taking refuge in Turkey due to civil war in Syria, a total of 40,574 Syrians from different parts of Turkey used the Cilvegozu border gate in southern Hatay province to go to Syria’s terror-free areas of Idlib region.

Syrians headed to their homeland after legal procedures at the border.

ANKARA, December 29. /TASS/. The Turkish heavy military equipment is being deployed to the border with Syria, Anadolu Agency reported on Saturday.

Convoys with tanks, howitzers and armored vehicles set off from the republic’s western provinces toward the border, the agency reported.

LEFKOSA, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus; 26 Dec 2018; AA: The ground-breaking ceremony for a Turkish-sponsored irrigation project in Northern Cyprus was held on Wednesday.

The project -- which consist of a 5.7-kilometer (3.5 mile) tunnel for supplying water to farmlands -- is being added to current water supply facilities from Turkey to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).

BEIRUT (AP) — Turkish-backed fighters said Monday they are preparing to move into eastern Syria alongside Turkish troops once American forces withdraw and are already massing on the front line of a town held by Kurdish-led forces.

24 Dec 2018; AFP: 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent more troops to Syria's border on Monday ahead of an imminent US withdrawal, as the White House announced he had invited Donald Trump to Ankara.

Unlike several other allies of the United States, Turkey has praised President Trump's decision to withdraw 2,000 of his ground forces from Syria, a country where it will now have a freer rein to target Kurdish fighters.

ISTANBUL; 24 Dec 2018; AA: In a joint operation with local police in Serbia on Monday, Turkish anti-drug teams seized a half-million illegal drug pills thought to be bound for Turkey, according to police sources.

Acting on a tip, Istanbul police acting with with Serbian and Bulgarian police stopped a tractor trailer along the Serbian-Bulgarian border, said the sources, who asked not to be named, due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

ANKARA; 23 Dec 2018; AA: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday said the Israeli prime minister is heading "state terror", responding to his tweet attacking the Turkish president. 

Speaking at a mass opening ceremony in Istanbul's Arnavutkoy district, Turkish president said: "Erdogan is the voice of oppressed and you [Benjamin Netanyahu] are the voice of oppressors. You are conducting state terror." 

ANKARA, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- Turkey on Friday welcomed a decision of United States for pullout of all its troops from Syria and declared that it postponed an already announced operation into the east of Euphrates River in the war-torn country.

Moreover, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced a recent deal with his U.S. counterpart for eliminating residues of the Islamic State (IS) in Syria by the Turkish army.