Turkey

Heavy rains have caused flooding and destruction in southwestern Turkey, leaving one person dead and cars submerged.

Residents of Bessarabia have changed their traditional pro-Russian vector to pro-Ukrainian - The Economist explains the reasons.

Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu believes that Russia will not deliberately attack Romania, as there are no grounds for aggression.

NATO authorizes the rapid deployment of military groups to Romania in the event of security threats that threaten the country's independence or sovereignty.

Putin's visit to Turkey, scheduled for February 12, has been postponed. However, the Kremlin has not confirmed the information, as the date of the visit has not been set.

According to Euromonitor International, Istanbul became the most visited city in the world in 2023 with more than 20. 2 million visitors, ahead of London and Dubai.

Viktor Orbán's Fidesz party and its allies boycotted an extraordinary session of the Hungarian parliament, which was to vote on the ratification of Sweden's application for NATO membership, making the vote impossible.

Turkish President Erdogan to discuss with Russian President Putin a new mechanism for exporting Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea.

Georgia claims to have prevented the transit of 14 kg of C-4 plastic explosives, which were allegedly heading from Odesa to Voronezh to carry out terrorist attacks.

Two pilots were killed when their helicopter, which belonged to the Turkish General Directorate of Aviation Security, crashed in the city of Gaziantep, while the technician on board survived but was injured.

The Czech Republic called on its allies to purchase ammunition for Ukraine outside the EU due to the low level of shell production in Europe to meet Ukraine's needs.

Last year, the cargo turnover of Odesa Region's ports more than tripled to over 32 million tons compared to pre-war levels, and the port of Izmail more than doubled to 20. 2 million tons.

Turkish law enforcement detained 7 people suspected of selling information about local facilities to the Mossad.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that Armenia could no longer rely on russia as its main military and defense partner and should establish closer ties with the United States, France, India, and Georgia.

Turkey is in talks with the UK and Spain to buy 40 Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets, despite having recently signed a $23 billion deal with the US to buy F-16s, as its request for F-16s may not be approved by Congress.

Hungary's parliament will meet on Monday at the request of opposition parties to consider ratification of Sweden's NATO membership application.

Turkish police killed a man who took seven employees of a Procter & Gamble factory near Istanbul hostage for eight hours to protest Israel's war in Gaza.

Turkish banks have begun to close the accounts of an increasing number of Russian companies and impose stricter requirements on individuals as they tighten their policies toward Russian clients amid sanctions imposed in connection with the war in Ukraine.

Ukraine is actively developing partnerships in the defense industry, having concluded dozens of agreements on joint arms production with more than two dozen countries.

The United States is ready to sell F-35 fighter jets to Turkey as soon as it gets rid of the Russian S-400 air defense systems in its service.

The Ukrainian government has decided to lease a part of the Sukhoi Estuary in Odesa region for mariculture, allowing entrepreneurs to grow clams, shrimp and other seafood. This will help to provide the domestic market with healthy seafood, drawing on the experience of mariculture leaders such as Norway and Chile.

In 2023, Ukraine was ranked 104th out of 180 countries in the Global Corruption Perceptions Index, improving its position by 3 points and receiving 36 points out of 100. Over the past 10 years since the Revolution of Dignity, Ukraine has added 11 points, the largest increase among the current EU candidate countries.

The Kremlin has announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to visit Turkey in February. According to Putin's aide, Yuri Ushakov, preparations for the visit are underway.

Canada and Turkey have reached an agreement to resume Canadian exports of drone components to Turkey in exchange for greater transparency in their use. This happened after Ankara finalized the ratification of Sweden's accession to NATO.

The US State Department has authorized a potential $23 billion sale of 40 new F-16 fighter jets and modernization kits for Turkey's existing F-16 fleet. This happened shortly after Turkey ratified Sweden's accession to NATO. At the same time, Greece will receive 40 F-35 fighter jets in order to balance relations between the two NATO allies.

Since the invasion, Taiwan has become the largest supplier of metalworking machines to Russia, delivering $29 million worth of equipment through Turkey, despite Taiwan's pro-Ukrainian stance. These machines are vital to Russia's military industry for the production of precision weapons, but sanctions do not restrict the export of most Taiwanese machines.