Rize

The restoration and protection efforts for the picturesque Ayder Plateau in the northeastern province of Rize have been completed, successfully returning this lush green paradise to its former glory, the Environment, Urbanization, and Climate Change Ministry has announced.

A video showing Turkish President Erdoğan slapping a young boy for not kissing his hand has caused an uproar on social media.

The incident took place during a ceremony inaugurating homes that were rebuilt as part of urban transformation in the northern province of Rize.

After his speech, Erdoğan handed over the keys of the homes to the owners.

Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar has announced that there will be further hydrocarbon explorations in the western Black Sea this year.

One of the exploration sites is off the coast of the province of Rize, Bayraktar told private broadcaster A Haber, adding that they also identified a site to carry out exploration activity off Sinop.

In the northern province of Rize, the  traditional Turkish "serender," once used primarily for food storage, is being repurposed into hotel rooms by a local family.

The wooden structures, elevated on four poles and featuring a round base to deter rodents, were symbols of wealth in the past.

Its fans swear it can cure heart palpitations, dodgy stomachs and even impotence. Yet every year hundreds of people end up in hospital after gorging themselves on Türkiye's "mad honey."

But beekeeper Bayram Demirciler is adamant the honey his bees make high in the mountains above the Black Sea "has never caused any problems."

The municipal teams in the northeastern province of Rize have reached a geothermal water source at a depth of 253 meters in Ayder Plateau, one of the famous tourism centers in the region.

Illegal constructions in the highlands of the eastern Black Sea region pose a threat to the environment, as an expert warns that the primary cause of pollution in the sea is the waste dumped around these areas, which reaches the Black Sea coast.

With heavy rainfall lashing the northeastern province of Rize's Çayeli district, residents are struggling to strive through a series of challenges due to landslides and floodings, amid evacuations and road closures that are adding to their troubles.

A group of researchers, led by Head of the Department of History at Ondokuz Mayıs University Okay Pekşen, discovered rock paintings of about 3,000 years old during their research in the Northern province of Rize's İkizdere district. The paintings are thought to belong to the Bozkurt tribes.

Workers from African countries, who filled the void to pick tea in the northern province of Rize last year after the border was sealed for Georgian workers due to the coronavirus pandemic, have lent a hand to Turkish tea plantation owners this year too.

Workers from Gambia, Senegal, Sudan and Zambia, residing in Turkey with work permits, flocked to Rize to pick tea.