Izmir

Turkey's coastguard has rescued more than 600 people trying to cross the Aegean sea over the last five days, including women and children fleeing war-torn Syria in rubber boats, a provincial governor's office said on May 5.

Turkey?s western province of ?zmir has been preparing to increase its service of free internet in open areas from one to eight locations. 

A new plan put into place by the Environment and Urbanization Ministry and accepted by the ?zmir Metropolitan Municipality will allow buildings in the Konak district of the Aegean province?s largest city to be built 10 meters taller.  

Holy Saturday, or the Great Sabbath, was celebrated in an Orthodox Church in Izmir over the weekend for the first time in 93 years, with the iconic liturgy taking place at the preserved and renovated St. Voukolos (Agia Vukla) Cathedral.

The performance by actors of the "Marin Sorescu" National Theatre of Craiova of Silviu Purcarete's "A Tempest" - an adaptation of William Shakespeare's eponymous play - at the 33rd edition of the Izmir International Theatre Festival was received with great interest by the local public.

Photo credit: "Marin Sorescu" Theatre Facebook page

The chamber of commerce on the eastern Aegean island of Lesvos on Saturday will formally greet a large delegation of 26 travel agencies from Izmir, as well as officials from the union representing Izmir tourism agents (TURSAB).

The emphasis is to expand the ever-growing number of visits by Turkish tourists to the island, especially on a year-round basis.

The town of Selçuk, in the western Turkish province of ?zmir, which hosts around 2.5 million tourists visiting the nearby ancient site of Ephesus every year, is hoping to improve its faith tourism potential and draw more tourists.

A tender will be initiated tomorrow for the restoration of St. John?s Church, which is popular among tourists in the ?irince neighborhood of Selçuk in ?zmir.

Veteran Turkish classical singer Müzeyyen Senar died at the age of 96 at a hospital in the Aegean province of ?zmir on Feb. 8.

Senar had been in the Izmir Ege University Medical School Hospital since Feb. 2, her daughter Feraye I??l said.

Snow dominated Turkey's agenda on the last day of the year, as thousands were stranded on roads that were blocked due to heavy snowfall while schools in some provinces were canceled for the day.