Derik, Turkey

Sultan Kösen, a Derik district resident of the southeastern province of Mardin, has once again affirmed his position as the world's tallest man, marking his 15th consecutive year holding the title.

Turkey launched an operation early on Feb. 22 against the PKK terrorist organization in southeastern Mardin province.

The city governorate announced that the anti-terror operation will take place in a total of 18 neighborhoods in the towns of Mazıdağı, Derik and Kızıltepe.

A man living in the southeastern province of Mardin’s Derik district made headlines last year for creating artificial legs for animals using his own means. Now he has made a prosthetic hand for his friend.

Security forces on June 6 seized 320 kilograms of hashish hidden in 10 sacks in a vehicle that was stopped in the southeastern province of Mardin, the directorate of security has stated.        

The Mardin Provincial Directorate of Security said anti-narcotics units were conducting a control on the Kızıltepe-Derik highway when they stopped the vehicle in question. 

The Mardin Chief Prosecutor's Office issued a detention warrant on Dec. 13 against senior outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) figures Murat Karayılan and Duran Kalkan, as part of the investigation into the killing of Derik District Governor Muhammet Fatih Safitürk.   

The outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) will "face destruction" after April 2017, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu has predicted .

"Let me be clear, these days are their [PKK] good days. They will face such massive destruction that they can't even imagine," Soylu said in a ruling Justice and Development (AKP) meeting in the eastern province of Van on Dec. 9.

The Turkish Interior Ministry reshuffled 616 local officials with a decree issued on Dec. 1, state-run Anadolu Agency has reported. 

Some 369 district governors and 106 deputy governors were appointed to new posts, while 75 district governors and deputy governors were reassigned as provincial legal advisers, according to the decree.

A district governor who was wounded in an outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) attack in the Derik district of the southeastern province of Mardin died in hospital early on Nov. 11, Gaziantep Gov. Ali Yerlikaya has announced.

Four soldiers were killed and six others were injured on Sept. 26 in an outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) attack in the Derik district of the southeastern province of Mardin, Doğan News Agency has reported.

One soldier was killed and 10 others were wounded on early May 4 in an outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) bomb attack in the southeastern province of Mardin.