Middle East

Turkey’s Grand Bazaar, cafes reopen; flights resume

Jim Stein June 1, 2020

ISTANBUL (Middle East) – Flights and car travel resumed between Turkey’s big cities on Monday while cafes, restaurants and Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar reopened in the country’s biggest step to ease restrictions taken to contain the coronavirus pandemic. Traffic levels jumped

Middle East

Coronavirus measures in Turkey eased with restaurants, parks reopened

Nia N June 1, 2020

ANKARA (Middle East) – Restaurants, cafes and parks had been reopened in Turkey on Monday. Inter-city travel curbs have also been lifted as Turkey eases its coronavirus restrictions. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s government has been easing the restrictions at a gradual pace over the past few weeks. Authorities in the country claim that the coronavirus […]

Middle East

Turkey’s intercity train services resumed with easing of curbs

Jim Stein May 28, 2020

ANKARA (Middle East) – Turkey begun operating intercity trains on Thursday after a two-month gap, as it gradually eases coronavirus curbs in a bid to restore normal life and reopen an economy facing the threat of recession. To fight the virus, Turkey had imposed weekend stay-at-home orders, halted most travel between large cities, shut restaurants […]

Middle East

Turkey attempts to heal damaged relations using medical diplomacy

Jim Stein May 11, 2020

ANKARA (Middle East) – Emblazoned with Turkish flags and presidential seals, crates packed with medical equipment are loaded onto planes, part of a major aid campaign by Ankara which has dispatched supplies to dozens of countries since the new coronavirus pandemic erupted. “There is hope after despair and many suns after darkness,” says a message […]

Middle East

Seven people charged by Turkey over Ghosn escape

Nia N May 8, 2020

ISTANBUL (Middle East) – Turkish prosecutors have prepared an indictment charging seven people, including four pilots, over former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn’s escape via Istanbul to Lebanon after fleeing Japan, a lawyer for one of the suspects said on Friday. The lawyer said the indictment, accepted by an Istanbul court late on Thursday, formally charged […]

Middle East

Turkey, Italy claim that shells hit near their Libyan embassies

Nia N May 8, 2020

TUNIS (Middle East) – Shells landed near the Turkish and Italian embassies in central Tripoli late on Thursday, they said, in an apparent expansion of bombardment by eastern-based forces to a central district of the Libyan capital. The eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA) of Khalifa Haftar has been bombarding Tripoli for months as part of […]

Middle East

Turkey’s contact tracers race to contain coronavirus

Nia N May 1, 2020

ANKARA/ISTANBUL (Middle East) – Two medics in protective suits jumped out of a car in a deserted street in central Ankara and hurried inside a building – one carrying medical equipment and the other, paperwork. Some 15 minutes later, they sped off to their next appointment, one of nearly 6,000 teams deployed across Turkey to […]

Middle East

Turkey’s Erdogan urges better U.S. understanding in his letter to Trump

Nia N April 29, 2020

ISTANBUL (Middle East) – Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said in a letter to President Donald Trump he hoped the U.S. Congress would better understand the strategic importance of their relations, given solidarity and supplies shared during the coronavirus pandemic. Erdogan’s letter arrived on Tuesday with a delivery of Turkish medical gear, including

Middle East

Mosque lights in Turkey instruct the faithful to remain home during Ramadan

Nia N April 28, 2020

ISTANBUL (Middle East) – The traditional lighting that hangs between the minarets of Turkish mosques, usually packed for evening prayers in the holy month of Ramadan, is urging Turks to stay at home this year as the country battles the coronavirus pandemic. Known as “mahya”, the tradition of stringing up devotional messages in lights from […]

Middle East

Ruling party, lawyers clash over cleric comments on homosexuality in Turkey

Nia N April 27, 2020

ISTANBUL (Middle East) – A suggestion by Turkey’s leading Muslim cleric that homosexuality causes illness has prompted a clash between President Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling Islamist-rooted AK Party and the country’s lawyer assocations over freedom of expression. The lawyers condemned the cleric’s comment as harmful to human dignity, but an AKP