Venice

Turkey has summoned the top U.S. diplomat in order to protest Washington's latest statement that refused to call the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union (PYD) a "terrorist" organization.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has fined Turkey for dismissing lawsuits filed by victims of a 1999 earthquake against contractors of buildings that collapsed in the quake that killed tens of thousands of people in northwestern Turkey. 

A man set himself on fire in the early hours of Feb. 9 outside Kensington Palace, the central London home of Prince William and his wife Kate, and later died of his injuries, British police said.

The United States welcomes a Saudi offer to deploy special forces to support a coalition ground operation against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) inside Syria, the kingdom's foreign minister said Feb. 8.

A Turkish donkey milk producer in the Aegean province of Manisa has taken her search for supplies to the country's other provinces with local donkeys now being sold for excessive prices due to its popularity. 

Turkish lingerie firms are turning their gaze to the Iranian market to make up for shrinkages in the European market, Istanbul Readymade Clothing and Confection Exporters' Association (?HK?B) head Hikmet Tanr?verdi has said.

Turkish police have detained one person suspected of organizing a smuggling operation that left 27 refugees dead on Feb. 8.

At least 27 foreign nationals, including 11 children, died after a boat carrying refugees sank in the Aegean Sea off Turkey's western Bal?kesir province.

Canadian pianist Angela Hewitt will be performing at Istanbul's Sak?p Sabanc? Museum's Seed on Feb. 12. 

The 58-year-old pianist will play for Turkish music-lovers as part of the "Istanbul Recitals" concert series. 

Apart from Bach, Hewitt will be playing works by Schubert, Haydn and Beethoven at the concert.

A stone on the wall of a historical mosque in the eastern province of Bitlis has been removed and stolen by treasure hunters, one of whom has since been caught by police.

Turkey's banking sector grew by 18 percent last year, with lenders' overall balance sheet size reaching 2.3 trillion Turkish Liras, according to the Banks Association of Turkey (TBB).

Adjusted for exchange rate differences, growth stood at 11 percent. 

However, the sector's total assets decreased by 6 percent in dollar terms, falling to $808 billion.