News archive of July 2017

A forest fire that broke out on July 1 in the Menderes district of the Aegean province of İzmir has raged for a second day, with authorities struggling to get the flames under control amid shifting winds. Over 500 hectares of forest land have been damaged, according to the head of the forestry general directorate İsmail Üzmez.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, 71, was released on parole on July 2 from a prison in Ramle, near Tel Aviv, after serving 16 months in jail for corruption.

Olmert was found guilty in 2014 of accepting bribes from real estate developers when he was Jerusalem's mayor, before his 2006-09 term as prime minister and head of a centrist political party.

U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres held "highly constructive" talks on Cyprus with key parties, enabling a clear vision of what could lead to a settlement, the U.N. has said.

Guterres met on on June 30 with Turkish-Cypriot President Mustafa Akıncı and Greek Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades. He also met with the so-called guarantor powers Greece, Turkey and Britain.  

The number of Russian tourists visiting the Mediterranean resort of Antalya rose to 1.1 million in the first six months of the year, up from only 25,000 in the same period of 2016, data from Antalya Airport has showed. 

The Sivas Massacre, an arson attack staged by radical Islamists on mostly Alevi intellectuals inside the Madımak Hotel that killed 33 intellectuals and two hotel personnel, was commemorated on its 24th anniversary on July 2 in the Central Anatolian province of Sivas.

Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has said the party is "walking against the wall" with the ongoing "justice march" from Ankara to Istanbul, kicked off after the arrest of CHP deputy Enis Berberoğlu.

“Yassou” (Hello) wrote Aussie Hollywood superstar Hugh Jack Jackman in a selfie he shared with his 13.3 million Instagram followers. The 49-year-old family oriented actor, is on holidays enjoying the sun and culture of Greece with his wife Deborra-Lee Furness and their two children, Oscar, 17, and Ava, 11.

Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Şimşek has said Turkey can escape from the "middle-income trap," in which a country's growth slows after reaching middle-income levels, by following a pattern of growth based on exports.        

Iran plans to sign a new contract to develop its giant South Pars gas field with France's Total and China's CNPC on July 3, the first major Western energy investment since sanctions against Tehran were lifted, an Iranian oil ministry official told Reuters on July 2.

The government has agreed on labor conditions with nearly 200,000 public workers and a respective collective bargaining deal will be signed on July 3 in an ceremony with the attendance of Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım, Labor and Social Security Minister Mehmet Müezzinoğlu said late on July 1.