Venice

The Pavilion of Turkey at the 15th International Architecture Exhibition, la Biennale di Venezia, which will be held between May 28 and Nov. 27, will feature the project Darzanà. The Pavilion of Turkey, coordinated by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (?KSV) is located at the Sale d'Armi, in the Venetian Arsenal.

A special unit of Italian Carabinieri have arrested a Macedonian citizen near Venice, on suspicion that he recruited Islamic State fighters.

Italian agency ANSA is reporting that the person detained was "introduced to radical Islam by an unnamed Bosnian imam."

The !f Istanbul Independent Film Festival celebrates its 15th anniversary this year. The festival launches today and will come to Ankara and ?zmir on March 3 and 6 The !f Istanbul Independent Film Festival will take place from Feb. 18-28 in Istanbul, and on March 3 and 6 in Ankara and ?zmir.

The 11-day Berlinale, one of the top three cinema showcases in Europe along with Cannes and Venice, kicks off with a screening of "Hail, Caesar!"George Clooney opened the Berlin film festival Feb. 11 with Europe's refugee influx in the spotlight, saying he would meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel about lending star power to help with the crisis.

The first international step of the Mosaic Road project, initiated by the ONE Association, which has been formed to develop national and international projects promoting Anatolian heritage, was taken in Swiss village of Gstaad. An exhibition, featuring mosaic works by jewelry artist Sevan B?çakç?, opened in the village as part of the project. 

As many as 40,000 refugees have settled in camps at the Turkish border inside Syria in the latest wave of migration, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Yalç?n Akdo?an said on Feb. 12, adding it was important to create a civilian settlement area there.

Turkey has welcomed an agreement between major powers to cease hostilities in Syria to provide humanitarian aid as "an important step" toward resolving the crisis, calling for the opportunity to be seized to pave the way for a political solution to the conflict.

An Istanbul court has ruled to block access to the website of U.S.-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, accused by the Turkish government of "leading a terrorist organization."

Turkey has spent 100 million Turkish Liras ($34.2 million) on repairs for schools affected by the state's fight against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) last year, Education Minister Nabi Avc? said on Feb. 11.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) to Turkey rose 32 percent last year on the previous year to $16.6 billion, the largest sum since the 2008 financial crisis, according to the Investment Support and Promotion Agency.