Tahir

A powerful explosion occurred at the Tupras refineries in Nicomedia (Izmit), Turkey, approximately 95 kilometers east of Istanbul. According to a statement from the company, 12 people were injured in the explosion.

Emergency teams on Nov. 5 brought blazes under control at a facility of oil refinery Tüpraş in the northwestern province of Kocaeli after an explosion sparked a fire, with 12 workers slighlty injured.

The incident took place around 1:30 a.m. at Tüpraş's İzmit facility during a scheduled drill.

Within the scope of an urban transformation project, the target to renew around 600,000 houses in Istanbul that urgently need reconstruction has been set to five years.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has officially declared that Murat Kurum, the former environment, urbanization and climate change minister, will be his Justice and Development Party's (AKP) candidate for the mayoral seat in Istanbul.

The Trade Ministry has vowed to take necessary measures to prevent price increases and ease supply problems in the cement market.

The ministry said in a statement that it is monitoring developments in the construction sector, which has a considerable weight for the Turkish economy, adding that it is looking into the foreign trade angle.

A protocol has been signed between the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Kocaeli Municipality for this year's Kartepe Summit, an annual international gathering held since 2017 that brings cities together to brainstorm solutions to the biggest urban challenges.

Italy has denied entry to three Turkish citizens due to COVID-19-related travel restrictions.

The Turkish nationals, who traveled from Istanbul to Rome, on Dec. 2 were briefly detained at the airport and eventually sent back to Turkey later in the day.

Works have stopped at nearly 60,000 construction sites across Turkey as contractors staged a two-week protest against soaring cement prices.

Many contractors across Turkey have suspended all works for two weeks to protest soaring costs, particularly cement prices.

Representatives of the Building Contractors Confederation (İmkon) had announced on Sept. 2 that they would stop working unless measures are taken to limit input costs.

Lake Akşehir, a tectonic freshwater endorheic lake in Turkey's southwestern province of Konya, has almost dried up due to years of low rainfall and misusage of its water for agricultural purposes.

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The 54-square-kilometer lake considerably shrank this year, with a swamp and reeds taking over its coast, along with weeds outgrowing on the shores.