Western Asia

Türkiye is the second cheapest holiday destination for German tourists after Albania, Recep Yavuz, from the Antalya City Council's Tourism Working Group, has said, citing a recent study by Germany's Federal Statistics Office (Destatis).

The study compares holiday destinations based on accommodation costs and daily expenditure.

The Supreme Election Board (YSK) has finalized the results of the runoff presidential polls in which President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan came out to be victorious once again by securing 52.18 percent of the votes.

Erdoğan will take oath on June 3 to start his new five-year term as the 13th president.

As torrential rains continue to make daily life difficult in many parts of the country, especially in the capital Ankara, the Turkish State Meteorological Service has issued a yellow alert for 13 provinces regarding potential unfavorable situations due to the adverse weather.

Five officers from the Didymoteicho Border Guard Department in northeastern Greece were arrested on Monday after a five-month investigation and charged with smuggling migrants from Turkey, authorities announced on Tuesday.

Lebanon's Sursock Museum has reopened to the public, three years after a deadly explosion in Beirut's port, set off by tons of improperly stored chemicals, reduced many of its treasured paintings and collections to ashes.

The reopening on May 26 offered Beirut residents a rare bright spot in a country reeling from a crippling economic crisis.

Türkiye on May 29 has marked the Ottoman conquest of Istanbul on its 570th anniversary with a series of events in the Turkish metropole.

Istanbul was besieged 28 times throughout history before its conquest in 1453 by Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II.

Turkey's lira wobbled near record lows against the dollar as President Tayyip Erdogan secured victory in the country's presidential election on Sunday, extending his increasingly authoritarian rule into a third decade.

The currency was at 20.05 to the dollar during Asian hours, just shy of the 20.06 record low hit on Friday.

The Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) will release the economic growth data for the first quarter on May 31.

The Turkish economy grew 5.6 percent last year with its GDP expanding 3.5 percent in the final quarter of 2022 from a year earlier.

Iraq's prime minister has announced plans for a $17 billion regional transportation project intended to facilitate the flow of goods from Asia to Europe.

The announcement was made at a one-day conference in Baghdad that convened transport ministers and representatives from Iraq, the Gulf countries, Türkiye, Iran, Syria, and Jordan.

The rate of associate degree, bachelor's degree, master's degree and doctorate aged 25 and over in Türkiye's total population was 23.9 percent in 2022, the data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) have shown.