Diyarbakır

The Çermik district in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır, known for thermal tourism, aims to attract tourists looking for an isolated tourism site amid pandemic with its Twin Waterfalls and beautiful walking tracks.

Several artifacts have been unearthed in archaeological excavations carried out in Amida Mound in the historical Sur district, known widely as the heart of the southeastern province of Diyarbakır, becoming the latest trove of finds that will shed light on the history of Mesopotamia.

Located in the middle of a tourism route called the "golden triangle" of Upper Mesopotamia, the southeastern province of Diyarbakır's Çınar district attracts attention with its cultural and natural riches.

A magnitude 5.3 earthquake hit the Turkish eastern province of Elazığ on Dec. 27 morning, said the country's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD).

The quake was also felt in Malatya, Adıyaman, Şanlıurfa, Mardin, Batman and Diyarbakır provinces.

Security units have found a tunnel, which is some 30 meters deep and leads to a church nearby, under a house, which they raided in the Balat neighborhood of Fatih district in Istanbul early Dec. 22.

"The tunnel has two entrances," an official said.

A court on Dec. 21 sentenced Leyla Güven, a former deputy from the opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) to over 22 years in prison for being a member of an armed terrorist group and making propaganda for it twice.

The 9th Heavy Penal Court in southeastern Diyarbakir province handed Güven 22 years and three months in prison and issued an arrest warrant for her.

People could be chopping the paws of cats and dogs for black magic, a veterinarian in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır has suggested after such recent incidents.

Vet Nurhan Kahraman's comments came after news of the paws of a cat, named "Melek" (Angel in Turkish), having been chopped off. The cat died despite medical efforts to bring her back to life.

A 1,800-year-old sewer system was discovered during archaeological excavations in Amida Mound, described as
"heart of the old city", in the historical Sur district in southeastern Turkey.

Excavations in the Amida Mound, which hosted many civilizations, including Urartians, Persians, Romans, Umayyads, Abbasids, Seljuks, Artuqids and Ottomans, were concluded this year.

Security forces detained at least 19 suspects, including the deputy mayor of Istanbul's Şişli district over their alleged links to the PKK/KCK terror group, sources have said.

As part of an investigation, earlier detention warrants were issued for a total of 25 suspects.

An agricultural engineer in the eastern province of Şırnak has advised the unemployed people to breed Californian worms, telling that he produces three tones of worm fertilizer a month by only working an hour a day.

"Breeding worms and making worm fertilizer is an effortless job," said Abdulmutalip Kocaman.