Freelance Reporter in Turkey

GUARDIAN - Feminism in pictures: illustrated stories of women’s rights around the world. Three female artists, from Kenya, Brazil and Turkey, describe how their creative vision helped them draw attention to the fight for equality.

AP — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won reelection in a runoff Sunday, following a nail-biter first round two weeks earlier. Having secured another five years, Erdogan now faces a host of domestic challenges in a deeply divided country, from a battered economy to pressure for the repatriation of Syrian refugees to the need to rebuild after a devastating earthquake. Here’s a look at the challenges ahead.

AP — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won reelection Sunday, extending his increasingly authoritarian rule into a third decade as the country reels from high inflation and the aftermath of an earthquake that leveled entire cities.

AP — Turkish voters will head back to the polls in two weeks for a runoff election to decide if conservative President Recep Tayyip Erdogan or his main rival will lead a country struggling with sky-high inflation as it plays a key role in NATO expansion and in the Middle East.

AP — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan came to power 20 years ago riding a wave of public outrage toward the previous government’s handling of a deadly earthquake. Now, three months away from an election, Erdogan’s political future could hinge on how the public perceives his government’s response to a similarly devastating natural disaster.

AP — Turkey has for years tempted fate by not enforcing modern construction codes while allowing — and in some cases, encouraging — a real estate boom in earthquake-prone areas, experts say. The lax enforcement, which experts in geology and engineering have long warned about, is gaining renewed scrutiny in the aftermath of this week’s devastating earthquakes.

AP — Turkey’s president has suggested his country might approve Finland’s application for NATO membership before taking any action on Sweden’s, while the Turkish government issued a travel warning for European countries due to anti-Turkish demonstrations and what it described as Islamophobia.

AP — Turkey’s president cast serious doubt on NATO’s expansion Monday after warning Sweden not to expect support for its bid for membership into the military alliance following weekend protests in Stockholm by an anti-Islam activist and pro-Kurdish groups.

AP — The attack on a central avenue in Istanbul is a stark reminder of the bombings in Turkish cities between 2015 and 2017 that crushed the public’s sense of security and heralded a new phase in Turkey’s decades-long fight against outlawed Kurdish groups. Here’s a look at the militant groups, the nearly four-decade conflict and its political implications.

AP — A bomb rocked a bustling pedestrian avenue in the heart of Istanbul on Sunday, killing six people, wounding several dozen and leaving panicked people to flee the fiery blast or huddle in cafes and shops.

AP — Funerals for miners killed in a coal mine explosion in northern Turkey began Saturday as officials raised the death toll to at least 41 people. There were 110 miners working several hundred meters below ground at the time of the explosion on Friday evening.

AP — Turkey’s parliament passed a contentious bill Thursday that amends press and social media laws with the stated aim of combatting fake news and disinformation. Critics fear that as elections loom, the measure will be used to further crack down on social media and independent reporting.

AP — Panic and anxiety gripped members of Turkey's lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer communities when several thousand demonstrators marched in Istanbul last weekend to demand a ban on what they consider gay propaganda and to outlaw LGBTQ organizations.

AP — Three more ships carrying thousands of tons of corn left Ukrainian ports Friday and traveled mined waters toward inspection of their delayed cargo, a sign that an international deal to export grain held up since Russia invaded Ukraine was slowly progressing. But major hurdles lie ahead to get food to the countries that need it most.

AP — Turkey’s media watchdog has banned access to the Turkish services of U.S. public service broadcaster Voice of America and German broadcaster Deutsche Welle, prompting complaints of censorship.

AP — Just two days after agreeing to lift deal-breaking objections to Sweden and Finland’s NATO accession, Turkey’s leader warned Thursday that Ankara could still block the process if the two countries fail to fully meet his expectations.

AP — When the leaders of Finland, Sweden and Turkey met with NATO’s chief Tuesday, the potential for progress was hard to predict. Some remained pessimistic the meeting would lessen Turkey’s objections to the Nordic pair’s historic request to join NATO. Nearly three hours into Tuesday’s talks and with no word of an agreement, journalists were invited to witness the nations’ foreign ministers sign a joint memorandum.

AP — In northern Syria, residents are bracing for a new fight. With the world’s attention focused on the war in Ukraine, Turkey’s leader says he’s planning a major military operation to push back Syrian Kurdish fighters and create a long sought-after buffer zone in the border area.

AP — Turkey’s wildfires have left little behind, turning green forests into ashen, barren hills. The destruction is being intensely felt by Turkey’s beekeepers, who have lost thousands of hives as well as the pine trees and the insects their bees depend on.

AP — A coal-fueled power plant in southwest Turkey and nearby residential areas were being evacuated Wednesday evening as flames from a wildfire reached the plant, a mayor and local reporters said as sirens from the plant could be heard blaring.

AP — Wildfires raged near Turkey’s holiday beach destinations of Antalya and Mugla and in the surrounding countryside for a fifth day Sunday as the discovery of more bodies raised the death toll to eight while villagers lost their homes and animals.

AP — A video promoting tourism in Turkey amid the pandemic has caused an uproar on social media for showing tourism employees wearing masks that read “Enjoy, I’m vaccinated.”

AP — As cases and deaths soar, Turkey’s president has instructed people to stay home for nearly three weeks and shut down many businesses as part of the country’s strictest COVID-19 measures yet. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan did not announce a stimulus package to offset the economic impact of the new restrictions, which opposition parties decried Tuesday.

AP — The systematic killing and deportation of more than a million Armenians by Ottoman Empire forces in the early 20th century was “genocide,” the United States formally declared on Saturday, as President Joe Biden used that precise word after the White House had avoided it for decades for fear of alienating ally Turkey.

AP — U.S. President Joe Biden has called Turkey’s abandonment of an international agreement aimed at preventing violence against women “deeply disappointing.”

AP — Turkey withdrew early Saturday from a landmark European treaty protecting women from violence that it was the first country to sign 10 years ago and that bears the name of its largest city.

AP — Two students have been arrested in Turkey on charges of inciting hatred and insulting religious values for a poster depicting Islam’s most sacred site with LGBT flags. Their arrest late Saturday came after top Turkish officials slammed the poster, displayed at an exhibition in Turkey’s most prestigious Bogazici University.

AP — Turkey’s president on Monday announced the country’s most widespread lockdown so far amid a surge in COVID-19 infections, extending curfews to weeknights and putting a full lockdown in place over the weekends.

AP — Rescue workers in western Turkey extricated a 70-year-old man from a collapsed building Sunday, some 34 hours after a strong earthquake in the Aegean Sea struck Turkey and Greece, killing at least 75 people and injuring close to 1,000.

AP — Three young children and their mother were rescued alive from the rubble of a collapsed building in western Turkey on Saturday, some 23 hours after a powerful earthquake in the Aegean Sea killed at least 39 people and injured more than 800 others. One of the children died soon after being rescued, while a fourth child was still trapped.

AP — A strong earthquake struck Friday in the Aegean Sea between the Turkish coast and the Greek island of Samos, killing at least 19 people and injuring over 700 amid collapsed buildings and flooding, officials said.

AP — Shortly after reaching the Greek island of Lesbos, a group of Afghan migrants say, their hopes for a new life in Europe were cut short when Greek authorities rounded them up, mistreated them, shoved them into life rafts and abandoned them at sea.

AP — Turkey’s parliament approved a law early Wednesday that gives authorities greater power to regulate social media despite concerns of growing censorship in a country where critical voices are already muted.

AP — Instead of global coronavirus testing, Turkey has based its pandemic response on partial lockdowns and work by armies of contact tracers, who identify people possibly infected by a COVID-19 patient and seek to stamp out the fire before it consumes a neighborhood, town or region. Officials from both the Turkish government and the local World Health Organization say the tactic has paid off.

AP — Turkish prosecutors detained a prominent philanthropist for alleged ties to a 2016 coup attempt Tuesday night, just hours after a court acquitted him on terrorism-related charges and ordered his release from jail after 840 days.

AP — A court in Istanbul on Tuesday acquitted nine leading Turkish civil society activists of terrorism-related charges related to anti-government protests, including a renowned philanthropist who has been jailed for more than two years.

AP — Sixteen civil society figures, among them jailed Turkish philanthropist Osman Kavala, will return to court on Tuesday as a verdict nears in a case that has been widely criticized as a crackdown on opposition voices.

AP — As their flight abruptly descended into Istanbul and hit the ground with a rumble, a Turkish couple tensed up. seconds later, the Pegasus Airlines plane plunged off the asphalt into a ditch and smashed apart, killing three people and injured the remaining 180 passengers and crew members.

AP — Turkey’s parliament approved a security and military deal with Libya’s U.N.-supported government Saturday on the heels of a controversial maritime agreement earlier this month that has drawn international ire.

AP — Turkey’s president, in his strongest warning yet, threatened Saturday to launch a military operation into northeastern Syria, where U.S. troops are deployed and have been trying to defuse tensions between Washington’s two allies — Turkey and the Syrian Kurds.

AP — Turkey’s combative president is threatening to launch a military operation in northeastern Syria that is designed to push back U.S.-allied Syrian Kurdish forces — an invasion that carries major risks for a highly combustible region in war-devastated Syria.

AP — Voters in Istanbul delivered a stunning victory to Turkey’s secular opposition in a repeat election for mayor Sunday. The opposition candidate, Ekrem Imamoglu, finished way ahead, breaking the grip of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s party on Turkey’s most important city.

AP — Prominent philanthropist Osman Kavala and 15 others went on trial in Turkey Monday accused of organizing anti-government protests in 2013, with defendants and rights groups calling the charges baseless and aimed at silencing civil society activities.

AP — The opposition candidate for mayor of Istanbul celebrated a landmark win Sunday in a closely watched repeat election that ended weeks of political tension and broke the long hold President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s party had on leading Turkey’s largest city.

AP — Voters in Istanbul return to the polls Sunday for a rerun of the Turkish city’s mayoral election. Turkey’s top election authority voided the first vote, which an opposition candidate narrowly won.

AP — Ankara and Moscow are again facing an escalation of violence in Syria’s last rebel-held territory, a development that puts their cooperation to the test even as they support opposing sides in the eight-year war that has devastated Syria.

AP — Turkey’s ruling party on Tuesday asked that a recent municipal election it lost in Istanbul be invalidated, as partial vote recounts in the city and the fight for the country’s commercial hub continued.

AP — Turkey’s opposition looked poised to win control of the country’s two biggest cities Monday as it dealt President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s conservative party one of its most serious electoral setbacks in years. The opposition won Ankara, a ruling party stronghold for decades, and was leading a tight race for mayor in Istanbul, according to unofficial figures Monday.

AP — A Turkish employee of the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul appeared in court Tuesday charged with espionage and attempting to overthrow the Turkish government in a case that further frayed ties between the two NATO allies.

AP — Millions of Kurdish votes will be crucial in determining the fate of Turkey’s March 31 local elections, as a pro-Kurdish party has made the strategic decision to send votes to an opposition rival to challenge the ruling party in key races in Istanbul and Ankara.

AP — New Zealand’s deputy prime minister said the gunman accused of killing 50 people in two mosques in the South Pacific nation would spend the rest of his life in isolation in prison and called for solidarity to eradicate “hate-filled ideologies.”

SBS — A Turkish court has convicted Melbourne-born Neil Prakash of being a member of terrorist organisation, sentencing him to nearly eight years in prison but his lawyer said he could be out much sooner.

SBS — A Turkish court is set to deliver its verdict on Friday in the trial against Melbourne-born IS member Neil Christopher Prakash. The Australian government has closely followed the case, asserting that Prakash was a top recruiter for the extremist group.

AP — In a middle class Istanbul neighborhood shoppers form a long line to an immense tent carrying a sign that reads “Total combat against inflation.” The weapons in that battle: spinach, tomatoes and peppers that the Turkish government is selling in a makeshift stall at almost half the price of the regular markets.

AP — Turkish prosecutors are seeking a life sentence for a local employee of the United States consulate in Istanbul accused of attempting to overthrow the government and espionage.

AP — The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople on Sunday presented a decree of independence to the head of the nascent Orthodox Church of Ukraine, formally severing it from the Russian Orthodox Church.