Manavgat

Dozens of Turkish couples flocked to marriage offices across the country on Feb. 2 to tie the knot as some couples consider it lucky to marry on a palindrome date.

Since the date of Feb. 2 can be shortened as 2-2-22, which is just too much synchronicity for pattern-lovers, some couples were hoping the day would turn out to be memorable.

A woman, the founder of a women-only caravan club, has been travelling across Turkey with her caravan she named "Free Pole Star" for the last eight years, and by herself for the past two years.

While riding their all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), two men have killed some 16 Caretta caretta hatchlings on a beach in the southern province of Antalya, through which the endangered baby sea creatures reach the Mediterranean Sea.

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The disturbing incident happened at the Mendirek beach in the Manavgat district's Sorgun neighborhood late on Sept. 1.

The very first plants that have pullulated at the 50,000 hectares of forestland burnt in the wildfires in the southern province of Antalya's Manavgat district belong to the "agnus castus" plant species, a bird watcher wandering the region has said.

"I monitored some blue and purple plants in the Beydiğin area," Gökçe Coşkun told the Demirören News Agency on Aug. 19.

Turkey has brought under control all forest fires, except blazes in Milas and Köyceğiz in the country's south, said the minister of agriculture and forestry on Aug. 9. 

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"#ForestHeroes continue their work with great devotion from land and air in Milas and Köyceğiz," Bekir Pakdemirli said on Twitter.

Battling wildfires for over a week, Turkey said on Aug. 5 that it aims to bring all of them under control on Friday.

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"We managed to prevent the blazes from advancing further despite strong winds today," said Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu. "We aim to bring them totally under control tomorrow."

A puppy that was rescued from a fire in Manavgat district in Turkey's southern province of Antalya has become the mascot of disaster teams working to save lives from massive blazes that erupted last week in parts of the country's south.

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Göktürk 1 and 2, two Earth observation satellites of the Turkish Defense Ministry, have photographed the wildfires in the Mediterranean province of Antalya's Manavgat district and the Aegean province of Muğla's Marmaris district and the damage they have caused from space.

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A baby goat that was born in massive flames in Turkey's southern Antalya province has been named "Miracle."

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Sercan Bayat returned to his farm hours after he was evacuated because of forest fires to find a baby goat among perished farm animals in the burned woodland in Manavgat district.

He said fires reached his village right after they began.

Authorities have found the bodies of two people killed during firefighting operations in Turkey's southern Antalya province, sources said on July 31, raising the overall death toll to six.

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