Izmir

Catamarans owned by the ferry company of Turkey's İzmir Metropolitan Municipality will start regular trips between the Alsancak Port and the Greek island of Lesbos in a bid to boost tourism in the Aegean Sea, Northern Aegean Islands Economic Development Agency (EOAEN) head Thrasos Kalogridis has said. 

Travelers from French scientific missions to Anatolia brought back a sober and non-exoticized vision of the Orient during the 19th century. Now, the Arkas Art Center in İzmir is providing a glimpse at how sojourners saw the later Ottoman Empire.

Scientists conducting research off the Turkish resort town of Çeşme have come across a giant thornback sting ray, reportedly the biggest of its kind ever recorded, with a wingspan of 2.2 meters.

The number of visitors to museums and ancient sites in the western Turkish province of İzmir, operated by the İzmir Provincial Culture and Tourism Directorate, decreased by 36.6 percent in the first seven months of 2016 compared to the same period last year. 

Revenues in the same term also fell to 6.4 million Turkish Liras, marking a 29.5 percent decrease.

Even a total newcomer driving through the coastal road that runs through the heart of the İzmir to the resort town of Çeşme would be able to guess that sails were one of the symbols of the city. Right before the city's main square stands a modern, linear statue that symbolizes a sailboat.

Two ferries left Greece for Turkey on Tuesday with 18 migrants on board and a government spokesman said Athens was doing all it could to process returnees under a deal with Turkey intended to stem a huge refugee influx into Europe.

Greece deported a second batch of migrants to Turkey on April 8 under an EU-Turkey deal to stem mass migration to the bloc, as Germany announced a sharp drop in asylum claims.

Greek officials said two boats carrying 124 migrants - most of them Pakistani men - had been sent back across the Aegean Sea where hundreds have lost their lives in a quest to reach Europe.  

A group of 45 Pakistani migrants arrived in the Turkish coastal town of Dikili on April 8 after being expelled from Greece under a Turkey-EU deal to halt mass migration to Europe, a local official said.

"The migrants are busy getting off the boat for identity and health checks," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The Foreign Ministry in Sofia has again warned Bulgarian citizens visiting Turkey to exercise high vigilance and caution in view of increased risk of terror attacks.

Bulgarian citizens are also being advised to avoid travel to southeastern Turkey.

In a bid to boost the success of local administrations, the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) held a conference and awards ceremony over the weekend in the Aegean province of ?zmir.