Kocaeli

Emergency teams on Nov. 5 brought blazes under control at a facility of oil refinery Tüpraş in the northwestern province of Kocaeli after an explosion sparked a fire, with 12 workers slighlty injured.

The incident took place around 1:30 a.m. at Tüpraş's İzmit facility during a scheduled drill.

Following the local elections held on March 31, multiple parties have challenged various results, particularly in constituencies where the race was tightly contested, sparking a flurry of demands for recounts and calls for renewed elections.

In Istanbul, both the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) have raised objections.

At least 28 women have lost their lives in two years under suspicious circumstances after falling to the ground from a height, in what many fears could be examples of femicide.

The women have plunged to their deaths from a balcony or window, raising eyebrows of many women's rights groups on whether these were femicide framed as "suicides" or "accidents."

Some 43 people, including five foreigners, drowned in seas, lakes and dams in 22 provinces amid the long Eid al-Adha holiday.

According to data obtained by the state-run Anadolu Agency, 16 of those who died were children.

Istanbul and the Black Sea province of Amasya are two provinces with the highest cases, with five deaths each.

Three Qatari tourists trapped in a snowstorm on Mt. Soğanlı in northeastern Turkey have been rescued, the country's disaster management agency said on Jan. 4. 

More provinces in Turkey have joined other provinces in making it mandatory for people to wear face masks when they go outside.
The local health authorities in İzmir, the country's third largest city by population, and in the western province of Kocaeli have issued orders to this end.

A total of 209 pieces of historical artifacts were seized in an operation in northwestern Turkey, security sources said on Feb. 28.

Provincial gendarmerie forces in Kocaeli, acting on a tip, launched an operation and detained a suspect in Eskihisar district, identified only by the initials O.O.

Turkish security forces on Dec. 14 seized nearly 36 kilograms (78 pounds) of heroin in the country's Kocaeli province.

A crime ring of eight adolescents and young adults in the Marmara province of Kocaeli have been charged with seizing the bank details of 100,000 people by "phishing" method.

Kerpe Bay in the northwestern province of Kocaeli, is a divers' paradise with year-round diving conditions and remains of a Roman-era breakwater, canyons, caverns and caves.