After two days of blue skies and sunshine, the heavens opened, but the downpour did little to dampen the enthusiasm of those in attendance, some of whom had travelled for hours to see Leo on his first overseas trip as pope.

Istanbul, Turkey - Turkish authorities have banned a Robbie Williams concert scheduled for October 7 in Istanbul over "safety concerns" following several calls for protest, a source from the city governor's office told AFP Sunday. The concert would have occurred on the anniversary of the devastating Hamas-led attacks in Israel...

Tens of thousands of people protested in Ankara ahead of a key court hearing Monday targeting Turkey's main CHP opposition party that could see its leadership upended.

Istanbul's jailed opposition mayor Ekrem Imamoglu went on trial Friday on charges of falsifying his university degree.

Istanbul, Turkey - Turkish authorities Wednesday said they have banned a planned concert Friday in Istanbul by Enrico Macias after calls to protest the French singer's pro-Israeli views. The Istanbul governorate said in a statement that it had wanted to prevent any demonstrations on the sidelines of the concert "against...

Turkey's main opposition CHP party on Tuesday vowed to fight after a court dismissed the leadership of its Istanbul branch over alleged irregularities in its leadership congress, the latest legal blow to hit the group.

From June-Sept, in harvested fields cleared of stubble, merchants bring their cargo to age in the sun, tempering the bright hues of their natural colors and ridding them of undesirable elements.

The Iran-Israel war has opened the way to a "new road" for the Middle East in which Turkey will have a key role to play, Washington's envoy to Turkey said Sunday.

Russian and Ukrainian officials will meet Monday in Istanbul to exchange their plans for how to end the three-year war, Europe's largest conflict since World War II, after Kyiv says it struck dozens of strategic bombers parked at airbases deep in Russia.

Trump also said he would speak to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and NATO officials, expressing hope that a "ceasefire will take place, and this very violent war... will end".

The leader of Turkey's main opposition party on Sunday called for expected elections to be held "at the latest in November" following the country's most widespread unrest in a decade.

The leader of Turkey's main opposition party has called for a boycott on Wednesday to protest the detention of students rallying in support of Istanbul's jailed opposition mayor.

Istanbul, Turkey --  The Turkish opposition on Sunday worked to keep up the momentum of the protest movement triggered by the Istanbul mayor's arrest by pushing for early elections as well as his release, with a Swedish reporter the latest detained in a government crackdown. The arrest on March 19...

The protests erupted on March 19 after the arrest of Istanbul opposition mayor Ekrem Imamoglu as part of a graft and "terror" probe, which his supporters denounced as a "coup". Vast crowds have hit the street daily, defying protest bans in Istanbul and other big cities and the arrests.

Turkey was headed for a fourth straight night of protests late Saturday, as the biggest street unrest the country has seen in over a decade raged on over the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu.

Istanbul, Turkey - Turkey's central bank on Thursday lowered its key interest rate for a third consecutive time as inflation has fallen below 40 percent for the first time since mid-2023. The monetary policy committee "decided to reduce the policy rate from 45 percent" in January to 42.5 percent, the...

Istanbul, Turkey - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited the opposition CHP party headquarters on Tuesday, the first time in 18 years, after his party's dramatic defeat in the March local elections. Erdogan last visited the party in 2006 when he was prime minister. The one-and-a-half-hour meeting between Erdogan and CHP...

CAIRO, Egypt – Air Arabia Egypt on Sunday commenced its first non-stop flight from Cairo International Airport to Sabiha Gökçen International Airport in Istanbul, Turkey. Upon arrival at Sabiha Gökçen International Airport, the flight was greeted with a traditional water cannon salute and a welcome ceremony, a press release said....

Istanbul, Turkey - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet with US counterpart Joe Biden at the White House on May 9, a Turkish official told AFP on Friday. It would be the first White House meeting between the two leaders. The Biden administration in January approved $23 billion in F-16...

Istanbul, Turkey - Turkey's flagship carrier, Turkish Airlines, has resumed flights to Libya's capital, almost 10 years after they were suspended over security concerns in the conflict-torn country. The airlines's chief executive, Bilal Eksi, attended a ceremony at Mitiga International Airport on Thursday to mark its first flight to Libya since...

Istanbul, Turkey--Recapturing Istanbul, the "jewel" of Turkey, in Sunday's local elections has become President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's obsession ever since losing the country's economic capital to the opposition in 2019. Erdogan's route to Turkey's presidency was launched in Istanbul, where he was elected mayor in 1994, and his allies held the...

Erdogan has entrusted his former environment minister Murat Kurum to run for mayor of Istanbul in the March 31 polls as he looks to avenge the worst political defeat of his two-decade rule when CHP arch rival Ekrem Imamoglu took the town hall. The president bounced back last year to...

Istanbul, Turkey - Twenty-two migrants including seven children have drowned after a boat capsized off the Turkish coast, local officials said on Friday. Two people were rescued by the Turkish coastguard and another two managed to make it out of the water on their own, officials said. The victims' nationalities were...

Ankara, Turkey - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday Ankara "firmly backs" Palestinian group Hamas. "No-one can make us qualify Hamas as a terrorist organization," he said in a speech in Istanbul. "Turkey is a country that speaks openly with Hamas leaders and firmly backs them." Erdogan has been...

NATO member Turkey has sought to maintain good relations with Moscow and Kyiv throughout the two-year war, with Erdogan pitching himself as a key go-between and possible peace-maker.

First documented in 1881, Przewalski's horses have narrowly avoided extinction thanks to breeding programs at zoos worldwide.

On a monthly basis, inflation rose 4.5 percent in February, slower than the 6.7 percent rise logged in January. Erdogan said Sunday that anti-inflation policies "will begin to be felt in practice towards the end of the year".

Rotterdam, Netherlands - The world's first chemical tanker ship fitted with massive rigid aluminium "sails" has left Rotterdam, its owner hoping to plot a route to bringing down the shipping industry's huge carbon footprint. The MT Chemical Challenger, a 16,000-ton chemicals transporter set sail from Antwerp for Istanbul on Friday, and...

ISTANBUL, TURKEY - Turkish police on Tuesday shot dead two assailants from a leftist organization, branded "terrorists" by authorities, who attacked a security checkpoint outside Istanbul's main court, killing one person and injuring five, officials said. Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said the assailants were members of the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front...

Istanbul, Turkey - Turkey's annual inflation rate stayed stable in January at nearly 65 percent, but month-on-month consumer price increases jumped sharply following a huge minimum wage hike, official data showed Monday. The year-on-year inflation rate moved to 64.86 percent -- up a notch from 64.77 percent in December, the TUIK...

ISTANBUL, TURKEY - Turkey on Tuesday holds pre-dawn vigils for the loss of more than 50,000 people -- and parts of entire cities -- in the earthquake-prone country's deadliest disaster of modern times. Grieving Turks are still coming to terms with how a 7.8-magnitude tremor could upturn the lives of millions...

ISTANBUL, TURKEY - An assailant on Thursday took a number of people hostage at a plant owned by US cosmetics giant Procter & Gamble near Istanbul in protest at the war in Gaza, a police spokesman said. It was not immediately clear how many people were being held at the plant,...

Raisi will meet Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the capital Ankara, making a visit that was postponed twice -- once in November and once earlier this month -- because of spiraling tensions across the Middle East.

ISTANBUL, TURKEY -  Turkish first division club Basaksekir on Thursday sent Israeli midfielder Eden Karzev on loan to Maccabi Tel Aviv following a probe into his repost of a social media message calling for the release of hostages held by Hamas. The Istanbul side launched disciplinary proceedings against Karzev earlier this week...

"First of all, they are not proportional. All of these constitute disproportionate use of force," Erdogan told journalists after Friday prayers in Istanbul. Oman, a mediator in attempts to end Yemen's long-running civil war, expressed its "worry" at the strikes on Houthi rebel military targets that, according to the Houthis,...

Turkish Airlines said that it would stop flying five Boeing 737 MAX 9 jets in its fleet even as the US air safety regulator said it was grounding some of these jets pending inspections after a panel blew out of one of the planes in midair in the United States,...

The detained people were wanted in the United States, Germany, India, and several former Soviet republics as well as other parts of Asia and the Middle East.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said, "We will never allow espionage activities to be conducted against the national unity and solidarity of our country."

The rally, called by a foundation which counts Bilal Erdogan, the son of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, among its members started after crowds performed morning prayers at Istanbul's iconic mosques, including Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque.

Friday night's Turkish Super Cup between Galatasaray and Fenerbahce had been due to be played in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. But it was postponed before kickoff after Saudi organizers refused to allow players to wear jerseys bearing political slogans.

Istanbul, Turkey - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday denounced the UN Security Council after the United States vetoed a ceasefire resolution for Gaza, describing the international body as the 'Israel protection council'. "Since October 7, the security council has become an Israel protection and defense council," Erdogan said. The United...

Istanbul, Turkey - Saudi and Turkish companies, part of the Saudi-Turkish Business Council, signed eight trade agreements to strengthen trade and investment between the two countries. The Federation of Saudi Chambers, Saudi General Authority of Foreign Trade, and Turkish Foreign Economic Relations Board co-organized the meet between the two. It...

Istanbul, Turkey - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday pushed back against mounting US pressure to cut Ankara's historic ties with Hamas in the wake of the group's unprecedented attacks on Israel. The US Treasury's top terrorism financing official conveyed Washington's "profound" alarm about Ankara's past relations with Hamas during...

Istanbul, Turkey - Turkish Airlines, the country's flag carrier, confirmed on Monday that it was in talks with Airbus to buy up to 355 jets in a huge push to expand its fleet. "Negotiations are held with Airbus regarding the purchase of a total of 355 aircraft -- 240 of which...

Istanbul, Turkey-- The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is keen to enhance economic cooperation with Turkey, according to its Secretary General Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi. The secretary general stressed that the GCC Ministerial Council, which held its 155th session in March this year, resumed the strategic dialogue with Türkiye, and adopted the...

Erdogan said that Turkey was not breaking off diplomatic relations with Israel. "Completely severing ties is not possible, especially in international diplomacy," Erdogan said. He said MIT intelligence agency chief Ibrahim Kalin was spearheading Turkey's efforts to try and mediate an end to the war.

Turkey is suffering the worst bout of inflation of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's two-decade rule. The official annual inflation rate peaked at 85 percent in October last year and climbed back up above 60 percent in September. After winning a May election, Erdogan appointed a new team of market-friendly economists...

A branch of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) -- listed as a terror group by Turkey and its Western allies -- claimed responsibility for the first bombing to hit Ankara since 2016.

Ukrainian officials said the Palau-flagged Resilient Africa vessel was carrying 3,000 tons of wheat when it left Ukraine's Chornomorsk port on Tuesday. It was destined for Israel, according to marine traffic websites, representing the first successful Black Sea voyage since Russia pulled out of a UN-backed deal to export Ukrainian...

"President Erdogan called on Tesla to establish its seventh factory in Turkey," the Turkish leader's office said.