ISTANBUL — Millions of people across Turkey on Tuesday mourned the loss of more than 53,000 friends, loved ones and neighbors in the country’s catastrophic earthquake a year ago. To mark what it calls the “Disaster of the Century,” the government arranged a series of events to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the disaster in … Read more
Newly appointed Governor of Turkish Central Bank, Fatih Karahan is seen in Ankara, Turkey on February 04, 2024. Emin Sansar | Anadolu | Getty Images Turkey’s newly appointed central bank governor, Fatih Karahan, has his work cut out for him, after being named to the job by presidential decree over the weekend following the sudden … Read more
ISTANBUL — A year ago, a devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck southern Turkey and northwestern Syria, causing widespread destruction and the loss of over 59,000 lives. A massive rebuilding effort is still trudging along a year later but many questions remain about the future of the devastated areas. The Feb. 6, 2023, quake struck shortly … Read more
From a mountainside rising above Antakya, in southern Turkey, there is a sweeping panorama of the ancient city at sunrise, revealing a place that is a shell of its former self. Gaping holes where hundreds of buildings previously stood now dominate the landscape. The remaining buildings, empty and cracked, jut out of the ground, awaiting … Read more
ISTANBUL — Turkey has seen its fifth central bank leader depart in as many years as Hafize Gaye Erkan, the first woman in the top role, stepped down after just eight months in the job. She announced her resignation late Friday after recent claims of nepotism emerged in local media, allegations that Erkan, a former … Read more
A tram passes shoppers as it travels along Istiklal Street in the Beyoglu district of Istanbul, Turkey, on Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2023. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images In January, Turkish inflation logged its biggest monthly jump since August with a 6.7% rise from December, while year-on-year inflation hit nearly 65%, according to the Turkish … Read more
ISTANBUL — Turkish police arrested seven people on Friday on suspicion of selling information to the Israeli intelligence service Mossad, the state-run Anadolu news agency said. The suspects, who allegedly passed details to Mossad via private detectives, were detained in a joint operation with Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization, or MIT. Acting on warrants issued by … Read more
ISTANBUL — Two gunmen took seven hostages at a factory owned by U.S. company Procter & Gamble in northwest Turkey on Thursday, according to media reports, apparently in protest of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Turkish media published an image of one of the purported suspects inside the factory, a man wearing what appeared to … Read more
ISTANBUL (AP) — The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for an attack on a Roman Catholic church in Istanbul during a Sunday Mass that killed one person, in a statement issued late Sunday. The extremist group said that it “attacked a gathering of Christian unbelievers during their polytheistic ceremony” inside the Santa Maria Church in the Buyukdere … Read more
The State Department has notified Congress that it has approved a $23 billion sale of F-16 aircraft and related equipment to Turkey, after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, following months of delays, signed off on Sweden’s membership bid to join NATO. The notification occurred Friday. It came after a vote by Turkey’s parliament Tuesday in … Read more