Edirne

Only hours before the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, mahyas were hung in significant mosques of Turkey's northwest cities such as Istanbul, Edirne and Bursa, which once served as Ottoman capitals.

Turkey's General Directorate of Foundations continued the hundreds of year old tradition of hanging mahyas to significant mosques this year as well.

With Turkey battling drought stemming from climate change, official data reveals that about three-quarters of the total water consumed in the country is used for irrigation and that there is a water loss of 35-60 percent due to the surface irrigation method.

Abdulharis Pasha of Strandzha, a mountainous region that straddles modern-day Turkey and Bulgaria, was the son of an Ottoman lord.

He joined the Ottoman army as a commander during the 16th Century siege of Vienna, and was made a pasha to combat Balkan bandits - although later he went on to become a bandit himself.

"The number of visitors and tourism revenue in Turkey decreased during the first quarter because of the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, officials statistics showed on April 30. 

The number of visitors declined 67.83% to 718,097 in March, compared to a year ago, according to Turkey's Culture and Tourism Ministry.

The demolition of a statue located on the busiest street in the northwestern province of Edirne has sparked a debate among the residents of the city, which borders Greece and Bulgaria.
Saraçlar Street, which is the busiest street of the city, was closed to traffic in 2008 and a statue called Sevda Çeşmesi (Love Fountain) was erected in the middle of the street a year later.

Turkish authorities have evacuated thousands of migrants who had been waiting at the border with Greece hoping to make their way into Europe, as a precaution amid the coronavirus pandemic, Turkey's interior minister said on March 27.

When Sawsan al-Musawa heard last week that President Tayyip Erdogan had opened Turkey's borders for migrants to cross into Europe,the Syrian mother of four left a refugee camp in eastern Turkey and headed west to the Greek border.

Turkey's Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu claims, in a Twitter post, that 76,358 migrants had passed through the border city of Edirne by Sunday morning on their way to the border crossing with Greece.

"As of 09.55 hours, the number of immigrants leaving our country via Edirne is 76 thousand 358," said Soylu, according to the Demiroren News Agency.

11 people were injured in a shootout at a cafe in the Turkish city of Edirne. 11 people who were sitting in the front were injured, the Sabah newspaper reported. They were taken to hospital.

Eyewitnesses say that a car with four people stopped in front of the cafe and fired at it. 

Bulgaria have the third largest number of tourists who have visited Turkey in the first half of this year, according to new statistics from the Ministry of Tourism and Culture. The number of Bulgarians is 1 236 280, which is an increase 25% compared to the same period of 2018.