Author: Turkiye Scoop

The Monetary Policy Committee of the Turkish Central Bank will convene on July 21 to review the interest rates. This will mark the committee’s seventh rate-decision meeting this year. Analysts expect the Central Bank to keep its policy rate – the one-week repo rate – unchanged at 14 percent this week. The monetary authority delivered its last interest rate change in December 2021, when it cut the policy rate by 100 basis points from 15 percent to 14 percent. The committee said in a statement released after last month’s meeting that it expects the disinflation process to start on the back of…

Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska kicked off a series of high-profile Washington appearances, starting with meeting U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday and later plans of a session with her U.S. counterpart Jill Biden. Blue and yellow Ukrainian flags flew alongside American ones on Pennsylvania Avenue as Zelenska headed for her first announced event in the United States, the meeting with Blinken. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said the secretary of state assured Zelenska of the United States’ commitment to Ukraine. Blinken also commended her for her work with civilians dealing with trauma and other damage from the…

Ukraine’s security service and the prosecutor general are ready for a revamp after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sacked two senior officials over claims that they have failed to clear their agencies of “collaborators and traitors” as the new interim intelligence boss took office on Monday. Ivan Bakanov lost his job on Sunday, officially because of reports that so many members of the intelligence community have defected to work for Russian invaders and separatists in the country’s south and east amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova also lost her job for the same reason on Sunday. But a lot of…

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has instructed the military to prioritize destroying Ukraine’s long-range missile and artillery weapons, the Defense Ministry said Monday. Kyiv says it has carried out a string of successful strikes on 30 Russian logistics and ammunition hubs, using several multiple launch rocket systems recently supplied by the West. After failing to capture the capital Kyiv early in the invasion, Russian forces using a campaign of devastating bombing now control large swaths of Ukraine’s south and east, where pro-Russian separatists already control territory. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia had used more than 3,000 cruise missiles to…

Croatia has banned the entry of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, who was planning to visit the country’s largest World War II concentration camp, local media reported on Sunday. Citing sources close to the Croatian government, the Zagreb-based daily Jutarnji Iist reported that Aleksandar Vucic sought to visit the Jasenovac camp and the Pokrac area without informing Croatian authorities but was barred from doing so by Croatian authorities. Croatian authorities argued that Vucic’s aim, which they claimed violated diplomatic protocols, was to provoke Zagreb, said the report. Vucic reacted to the move on Instagram, posting a photo of the concentration camp,…

At least 20 people, mostly women, died and another 30 were missing after an overcrowded boat hosting a wedding party capsized in the Indus River in Pakistan on Monday. The boat was ferrying about 100 members of one family across the river in a marriage procession between the villages of Machka and Kharor in the Sadiqabad subdistrict of Punjab province, according to police and local authorities. Nearly 90 people were rescued by divers, the statement said, adding that the passengers were mostly women and children. All those on board belonged to one clan, and they were on their way to…

Sri Lanka’s acting president on Monday renewed the country’s state of emergency giving him broad authority amid growing protests demanding his resignation two days before the lawmakers are set to elect a new president. Ranil Wickremesinghe became acting president on Friday after his predecessor, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, fled abroad on Wednesday and resigned after monthslong mass protests over the country’s economic collapse. Wickremesinghe’s move to impose a state of emergency comes as protests demanding his resignation too have continued in most parts of the country, with some protesters burning his effigy. Lawmakers who met on Saturday began the process of electing a new…

Citizens plead to authorities to address the pollution problem as water from a sewage pipeline mixed with seawater in Florya, a crowded beach on Istanbul’s European side. The seawater turned brown in one spot across the long beach as a drain cover leaked untreated water into the sea, emitting a strong stench. Municipality crews partially shut down the beach but media outlets reported the dirty water was still flowing into the sea. “This is dangerous for everyone. There are swimmers of all ages here but I wonder if they would take measures against this,” Hamdullah Öter, a swimmer, told Anadolu…

The Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) reported a 4.3 magnitude earthquake on Sunday in Soma, a district of the western province of Manisa. No casualties or damage was reported after the tremors around 14.55 p.m. local time. The earthquake occurred at a depth of 10.8 kilometers (6.71 miles). The earthquake was followed with aftershocks, the biggest at a magnitude of 3.8. Two other aftershocks within 10 minutes of the earthquake took place. Soma is a mining town that was struck by tragedy in 2014 when a fire in a coal mine claimed 301 lives. It is also some 150 kilometers away…

Officials are investigating a bizarre incident in the southern Turkish province of Mersin after a lone tree at a square was found dried up. The initial findings showed someone drilled the trunk of the rubber tree and poured a substance, most likely a harmful acid, through the holes. The blossomed tree, planted at Özgecan Aslan Peace Square in the Mediterranean province’s Yenişehir district some 50 years ago, was the symbol of the area. In a few days, it lost its leaves and branches, and started crumbling. The local forestry service investigated and discovered nine holes on the trunk of the…