Recep Altepe

A funeral was held on Feb. 14 for Kadir Topbaş, former mayor of the Turkish metropolis Istanbul. He died on Feb. 13 at the age of 76.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also attended the ceremony at the Fatih Mosque in Istanbul.

"We are facing a great calamity. Coronavirus has separated from us many of our companions," Erdoğan said.

Kadir Topbaş, the former mayor of Istanbul, passed away on Feb. 13 at the age of 76.

He was hospitalized last November after he contracted COVID-19.

Topbaş was elected mayor of Istanbul in 2004 as the candidate of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and maintained his position until 2017 when he resigned.

Istanbul Mayor Kadir Topbaş announced his resignation from his post on Sept. 22.

A 2,000-year-old ancient Roman theater in the northwestern province of Bursa's İznik district is regaining its unique identity during excavation and reorganization works. 

A new project that introduced female-priority carriages on intra-city trains in the northwestern Turkish province of Bursa has drawn criticism from some locals.  

"You cannot end sexual harassment by putting women in separate carriages. Women and men come together in other environments too. You cannot avert it this way," passenger Irmak Aslan said. 

Bursa Metropolitan Municipality has launched a project to designate separate railway carriages for women on intra-city trains to make women "comfortable" during their rides, the local mayor said June 15 at a municipal meeting, state-run Anadolu Agency has reported.

Restoration work has been initiated in the 2,000-year-old Gate of Istanbul, the most magnificent part of the city walls in the northwestern city of Bursa's İznik district. 

Underwater archaeological work began on Dec. 4 in an ancient Roman-era basilica discovered at the beginning of last year under Lake ?znik in the northwestern province of Bursa.