By , ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Around 1,000 women gathered near Istanbul’s main Taksim Square on Monday, protesting what they see as a lack of action by authorities to prevent and punish violence against women, in a country where femicide rates have surged in recent years.Slideshow The protesters, mostly women carrying purple flags with women and LGBTI+ signs and wearing purple masks reading “We will win our freedom,” gathered on a main street after police closed off the entrances to Taksim Square on International Women’s Day.Women police stood with their arms linked at the end of the street,...…By , ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Around 1,000 women gathered near Istanbul’s main Taksim Square on Monday, protesting what they see as a lack of action by authorities to prevent and punish violence against women, in a country where femicide rates have surged in recent years.Slideshow The protesters, mostly women carrying purple flags with women and LGBTI+ signs and wearing purple masks reading “We will win our freedom,” gathered on a main street after police closed off the entrances to Taksim Square on International Women’s Day.Women police stood with their arms linked at the end of the street,...WW…

By , ANKARA (Reuters) -A COVID-19 vaccine developed by China’s Sinovac Biotech is 91.25% effective, according to interim data from a late-stage trial in Turkey, a potentially much better result than reported from a separate trial of the vaccine in Brazil.Researchers in Brazil, which is also running a final Phase III trial of the vaccine, said on Wednesday the shot was more than 50% effective, but withheld full results at the company’s request, raising questions about transparency.Turkish researchers said on Thursday no major side-effects were seen during their trial, apart from one person...…By , ANKARA (Reuters) -A COVID-19 vaccine developed by China’s Sinovac Biotech is 91.25% effective, according to interim data from a late-stage trial in Turkey, a potentially much better result than reported from a separate trial of the vaccine in Brazil.Researchers in Brazil, which is also running a final Phase III trial of the vaccine, said on Wednesday the shot was more than 50% effective, but withheld full results at the company’s request, raising questions about transparency.Turkish researchers said on Thursday no major side-effects were seen during their trial, apart from one person...WW…

By ISTANBUL (Reuters) - A proposed law that Turkey says will make social media companies more accountable to local regulations will rather increase censorship and accelerate a trend of authorities silencing dissent, critics including a U.N. body said this week.The Turkish parliament was to begin debate on Tuesday on the bill that is backed by President Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling AK Party, which has a majority with an allied nationalist party. It is expected to pass this week.As an overwhelming majority of the country’s mainstream media has come under government control over the last decade,...…By ISTANBUL (Reuters) - A proposed law that Turkey says will make social media companies more accountable to local regulations will rather increase censorship and accelerate a trend of authorities silencing dissent, critics including a U.N. body said this week.The Turkish parliament was to begin debate on Tuesday on the bill that is backed by President Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling AK Party, which has a majority with an allied nationalist party. It is expected to pass this week.As an overwhelming majority of the country’s mainstream media has come under government control over the last decade,...WW…

By , ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan joined huge crowds on Friday for the first prayers at Hagia Sophia in nine decades, sealing his ambition to restore Muslim worship at an ancient site long revered in both Christianity and Islam.After the call to prayer rang out from four minarets surrounding the mosque, whose rose-pink walls and huge grey dome have dominated Istanbul since Christian Byzantine times, hundreds knelt in prayer inside the building.Outside, tens of thousands more prayed in a public square and on sidewalks, squeezing into spaces between cars or in cafes,...…By , ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan joined huge crowds on Friday for the first prayers at Hagia Sophia in nine decades, sealing his ambition to restore Muslim worship at an ancient site long revered in both Christianity and Islam.After the call to prayer rang out from four minarets surrounding the mosque, whose rose-pink walls and huge grey dome have dominated Istanbul since Christian Byzantine times, hundreds knelt in prayer inside the building.Outside, tens of thousands more prayed in a public square and on sidewalks, squeezing into spaces between cars or in cafes,...WW…

By ISTANBUL (Reuters) - A Turkish court sentenced German-Turkish journalist Deniz Yucel in absentia on Thursday to jail for 2 years and 9 months for terrorism propaganda, his lawyer said, in a case that has strained ties between Ankara and Berlin.Yucel, who denied the charges against him, returned to Berlin in February 2018 when he was released from custody after being kept in jail for a year without indictment.The court convicted Yucel on Thursday for spreading propaganda for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party, lawyer Veysel Ok said.The court ruled that he was not guilty of sedition or...…By ISTANBUL (Reuters) - A Turkish court sentenced German-Turkish journalist Deniz Yucel in absentia on Thursday to jail for 2 years and 9 months for terrorism propaganda, his lawyer said, in a case that has strained ties between Ankara and Berlin.Yucel, who denied the charges against him, returned to Berlin in February 2018 when he was released from custody after being kept in jail for a year without indictment.The court convicted Yucel on Thursday for spreading propaganda for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party, lawyer Veysel Ok said.The court ruled that he was not guilty of sedition or...WW…