Gökmen Çiçek

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has urged the public to avoid xenophobia after allegations surfaced on June 30 that a Syrian national molested a child in the central city of Kayseri.

"One cannot get anywhere with xenophobia in society," Erdoğan stated at a gathering of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the capital Ankara on July 1.

The landscaping works and the construction of walking paths that have been continuing in Soğanlı Valley, known as the gateway to Cappadocia, will be finished soon.

Thanks to the recent works, the number of tourists in the valley has increased as they have the opportunity to view the historic structure from the air with the hot air balloons operated every day.

In an effort to promote an exchange of culinary culture between Moldova and Turkey, members of the UNESCO Turkish National Committee and a Moldovan delegation have come to Turkey's southwestern province of Afyonkarahisar to take delight in the region's world-famous gastronomic heritage.

A hidden gem in the ancient Phrygian Valley has become an alternative tourist destination in western Turkey with many historical places and "fairy chimneys" it boasts.

The Üçlerkayası village in the İhsaniye district of Afyonkarahisar province is a "hidden paradise," according to Tanju Tetik, the head of the Phrygian Culture Foundation.

The "Emre Lake and Phrygian Civilization Garden Project," under construction in the İhsaniye district of the western province of Afyonkarahisar, is expected to revive nature, history and sport tourism in the region when it finishes in 2021.

The Kybele statue, which was smuggled to Israel after being unearthed during a road construction in 1964 in the western province of Afyonkarahisar's Çavdarlı district, has caused great excitement in its hometown after news that it would be brought back to Turkey and be displayed at a museum in the city.