Supporters gather outside the residence of Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to celebrate his birthday, in Istanbul, Sunday, Feb. 26, 2017. Turkey will hold a national referendum in April 16 on expanding Erdogan’s powers.

Turkish Chief of General Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar could set foot on the Kardak islets in the Aegean Sea if necessary, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said, responding to his Greek counterpart Nicos Kotzias’ remarks on the Turkish top brass’ visit to the long-disputed islets.

Reacting to anti-Iran remarks by the Turkish foreign minister in the Munich Security Conference, Iran advised Ankara not to test Iran’s patience. “Turkey is our strong neighbor but Iran’s patience is not infinite,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Barham Qassemi told a press conference in Tehran on Monday.

By Annie Charalambous As a crisis over a controversial vote in parliament jeopardises the future of the UN-brokered Cyprus talks, Opposition Akel warns of possible startling developments after April’s referendum in Turkey. Left-wing Akel leader Andros Kyprianou also called on President Nicos Anastasiades and ruling right-wing Disy to keep their eyes on the fragile peace process rather than on the 2018 presidential election.

An image of a Turkish gunman assassinating the Russian ambassador to Turkey has won the World Press Photo of the Year award. Associated Press photographer Burhan Ozbilici was at the launch of a new art exhibition in Ankara on December 19 when Mevlut Mert Alt?ntas, an off-duty police officer, opened fire and killed Andrey Karlov.

Turkish troops and allied Syrian opposition forces have managed to capture just one-tenth of a north Syrian town from Islamic State militants, a conflict monitoring group said Saturday, despite reaching its outskirts seven weeks ago. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group told the AP that nine-tenths of al-Bab remains under IS control.

Turkey’s state-run news agency says police have detained four Islamic State suspects who were allegedly planning to carry out a “sensational” attack. Anadolu Agency said Thursday the suspects were detained in an operation in Gaziantep, near the border with Syria.

Turkish-backed Syrian rebel forces have taken control of the outer districts of the Islamic State-held city of al-Bab in northern Syria, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Wednesday. “Currently the town is besieged from every side.

A series of earthquakes continued to rock the western Turkish province of Canakkale for a second day on Feb. 7, with more than 300 aftershocks affecting worried locals in the region, Dogan News Agency has reported. The first quake with a magnitude of 5.3 was recorded at 6:51 a.m. in the Ayvac k district on Feb. 6. It was followed by another with the same magnitude at 13.58 p.m., according to figures by the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority .

Syrians walk past destroyed buildings in Al-Bab in the northern province of Aleppo on 1 September 2012. Daesh militants are now encircled in the city of al-Bab after Syrian regime forces advanced Monday in the north of Syria towards the south of the city while the Turkish army and Free Syrian Army factions tightened the lose on the militant organization from the city’s three other sides.

Syrians walk past destroyed buildings in Al-Bab in the northern province of Aleppo on 1 September 2012. Daesh militants are now encircled in the city of al-Bab after Syrian regime forces advanced Monday in the north of Syria towards the south of the city while the Turkish army and Free Syrian Army factions tightened the lose on the militant organization from the city’s three other sides.

Two earthquakes with preliminary magnitudes of 5.3 jolted Turkey’s northern Aegean Sea coast on Monday, damaging dozens of homes in 11 villages and injuring at least five people, officials said. The first quake, which was centered beneath the Aegean off the coast of the town of Ayvacik in Turkey’s northwestern Canakkale province, struck at 6:51 a.m. , according to the government’s crisis management agency.

Turkish anti-terrorism police stand by their armoured vehicle during an operation to arrest people over alleged links to the Islamic State group, in Adiyaman, southeastern Turkey, early Sunday, Feb. 5, 2017. Turkey’s state-run agency says anti-terrorism police has detained more than 400 people in simultaneous police operations that spanned several cities, including Istanbul and Gaziantep near the border with Syria, according to the report.

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Turkey’s anti-terrorism police have detained over 440 people for alleged links to the Islamic State group, the state-run news agency reported Sunday. The Anadolu Agency said 60 suspects, the vast majority of them foreigners, were taken into custody early Sunday in the capital, Ankara.

News selected on topics and regions – oil and gas, business, politics, IT, the South Caucasus, the Caspian Sea region, Central Asia Ranking of the Azerbaijani banking sector After last year’s slow economic expansion the Turkish economy is set to continue recovering in 2017, the country’s finance minister said on Friday. Speaking to Anadolu Agency’s Editors’ Desk in Ankara, Naci Agbal said the recovery would come on the back of government incentives, ongoing structural reforms, increasing consumer spending and increased political stability.