Turkey’s energy minister on Wednesday announced a 10-year deal to receive liquefied natural gas from French firm TotalEnergies as the country, heavily dependent on Russia, seeks to diversify its sources of supply, Agence France-Presse reported. Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said the deal between Turkish state oil and gas company BOTAŞ and TotalEnergies was signed at Gastech,...
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Meta says can’t help with deleted WhatsApp messages to solve girl’s murder in Turkey
A senior official from Meta Platforms has said it is impossible for the company to give Turkish authorities the deleted WhatsApp conversations of people under investigation over the killing of an 8-year-old girl since the chats are not stored, Deutsche Welle Turkish edition reported. Joshua Breckman, head of communications at Meta, which owns WhatApp, denied...
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UN: Western Balkans population to drop by 3 million by 2050
United Nations estimates show the population of the Western Balkan countries will drop by around 3 million people by 2050. A total of 16.977.000 people live in the Western Balkans based on figures from 2023, according to estimates, this number would drop to 13.975.000 by 2050. According to the UN, the population of North Macedonia...
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Amnesty calls on Turkey to release ousted MP, investigate violence in parliament
Amnesty International Secretary-General Agnès Callamard has called on Turkish authorities to release from prison a jailed politician who had been stripped of his parliamentary immunity and seat and to investigate recent turmoil in the Turkish parliament during an extraordinary session that was intended to address the status of the politician. Callamard made the remarks on...
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Turkish court releases social media influencer accused of tax evasion, money laundering
A Turkish court has ordered the release of Dilan Polat, a prominent social media influencer and beauty center owner who was arrested on charges of money laundering and tax evasion. The court decided that Polat could await trial outside of prison, citing the time she has already spent in custody. Polat, who was detained in...
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North Macedonia has the fastest internet in the region
North Macedonia has the fastest internet in the region and is one of the higher-ranked countries in Europe, according to research by Cable.co.uk, published by the statistical portal ‘Landgeist.’ With an internet connection speed of 97.9 Mbps, Macedonia is ahead of Slovenia (97.0 Mbps), Serbia (60.5 Mbps), Kosovo (57.3 Mbps), Greece (53.9 Mbps), Montenegro (49.5...
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Turkey’s inflation falls to 61.78 percent in July
Turkey’s annual rate of inflation slowed sharply in July to 61.78 percent as the country battles a cost-of-living crisis, Agence France-Presse reported on Monday, citing the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat). It is the second consecutive fall after consumer price rises eased to 71.6 percent in June. “Annual inflation is falling,” Finance Minister Mehmet Şimsek said...
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Turkey’s foreign trade deficit rose by 10.8 percent in June
Turkey’s foreign trade deficit rose by 10.8 percent year on year to $5.8 billion in June, with imports decreasing 4.4 percent, according to data produced with the cooperation of the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) and the Trade Ministry. Imports stood at $24.9 billion, while exports declined by 8.3 percent to $19.4 billion. The export-to-import coverage...
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Turkey captures 3 more internationally wanted criminals
Turkish police have captured three more organized crime leaders, two of whom are wanted on INTERPOL Red Notices and one the subject of a diffusion circulated through the INTERPOL system, Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced. The minister tweeted that Polish national Alexander Gustafsson, wanted by Sweden on charges of money laundering, drug trafficking and...
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İstanbul court releases 2 former Zaman daily editors under judicial supervision
An İstanbul court has ruled for the release of two former editors from the now-closed Zaman daily from pre-trial detention under judicial supervision, the independent journalism organization Platform 24 (P24) announced. The decision by the İstanbul 26th High Criminal Court on Thursday concerns Zaman’s former deputy editor-in-chief Mehmet Kamış and former arts and culture editor...