By , , ISTANBUL (Reuters) - President Tayyip Erdogan’s AK Party is considering whether to pull Turkey out of an international accord designed to protect women, party officials said, alarming campaigners who see the pact as key to combating rising domestic violence.The officials said the AKP is set to decide by next week whether to withdraw from the deal, just weeks after the vicious murder of a woman by an ex-boyfriend reignited a row over how to curb violence against women.Despite signing the Council of Europe accord in 2011, pledging to prevent, prosecute and eliminate domestic violence...…By , , ISTANBUL (Reuters) - President Tayyip Erdogan’s AK Party is considering whether to pull Turkey out of an international accord designed to protect women, party officials said, alarming campaigners who see the pact as key to combating rising domestic violence.The officials said the AKP is set to decide by next week whether to withdraw from the deal, just weeks after the vicious murder of a woman by an ex-boyfriend reignited a row over how to curb violence against women.Despite signing the Council of Europe accord in 2011, pledging to prevent, prosecute and eliminate domestic violence...WW…

By , ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish Finance Minister Berat Albayrak said on Sunday he was resigning for health reasons, the second surprise departure of a top economic policymaker in two days after the central bank chief was ousted.The upheaval follows a 30% slide in the lira to record lows this year amid the coronavirus pandemic as investors worried about falling forex reserves and the central bank’s ability to tackle double-digit inflation.Albayrak’s resignation, announced in an Instagram statement confirmed by an official, came a day after father-in-law President Tayyip Erdogan replaced the...…By , ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish Finance Minister Berat Albayrak said on Sunday he was resigning for health reasons, the second surprise departure of a top economic policymaker in two days after the central bank chief was ousted.The upheaval follows a 30% slide in the lira to record lows this year amid the coronavirus pandemic as investors worried about falling forex reserves and the central bank’s ability to tackle double-digit inflation.Albayrak’s resignation, announced in an Instagram statement confirmed by an official, came a day after father-in-law President Tayyip Erdogan replaced the...WW…

By ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey and Greece signalled a willingness on Wednesday to resolve a dispute over energy exploration in the Mediterranean, while vowing to defend their interests in the region.Turkey and Greece, NATO allies, vehemently disagree over overlapping claims to hydrocarbon resources in the region based on conflicting views on the extent of their continental shelves in waters dotted with mostly Greek islands.Tensions rose when Ankara sent an exploration vessel on Monday to a disputed area of the Mediterranean, accompanied by warships, days after Greece signed a maritime deal...…By ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey and Greece signalled a willingness on Wednesday to resolve a dispute over energy exploration in the Mediterranean, while vowing to defend their interests in the region.Turkey and Greece, NATO allies, vehemently disagree over overlapping claims to hydrocarbon resources in the region based on conflicting views on the extent of their continental shelves in waters dotted with mostly Greek islands.Tensions rose when Ankara sent an exploration vessel on Monday to a disputed area of the Mediterranean, accompanied by warships, days after Greece signed a maritime deal...WW…

By ANKARA (Reuters) - A senior Turkish military official said on Wednesday it was “completely untrue” that the Turkish navy had harassed a French warship, denying an assertion by a French official.Earlier on Wednesday, the French defence ministry official accused the Turkish navy of harassing a French warship on a NATO mission.He said the French ship had wanted to check whether the Turkish vessel Cirkin was smuggling arms to Libya. In response, French officials said the Cirkin had switched off its tracking system, masked its ID number, and refused to say where it was going.The Turkish...…By ANKARA (Reuters) - A senior Turkish military official said on Wednesday it was “completely untrue” that the Turkish navy had harassed a French warship, denying an assertion by a French official.Earlier on Wednesday, the French defence ministry official accused the Turkish navy of harassing a French warship on a NATO mission.He said the French ship had wanted to check whether the Turkish vessel Cirkin was smuggling arms to Libya. In response, French officials said the Cirkin had switched off its tracking system, masked its ID number, and refused to say where it was going.The Turkish...WW…

By , ANKARA/AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian government forces entered parts of a strategic rebel-held town on Monday, and Turkey said it would keep hitting President Bashar al-Assad’s troops after ramping up operations in its biggest intervention yet into the Syrian civil war.Turkey and Russia, which have come closer than ever to direct confrontation in Syria in recent days, traded threats over air space after Turkish forces shot down two Syrian government warplanes and struck a military airport.Fighting has escalated dramatically in recent days in northwest Syria, where Turkey has sent thousands...…By , ANKARA/AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian government forces entered parts of a strategic rebel-held town on Monday, and Turkey said it would keep hitting President Bashar al-Assad’s troops after ramping up operations in its biggest intervention yet into the Syrian civil war.Turkey and Russia, which have come closer than ever to direct confrontation in Syria in recent days, traded threats over air space after Turkish forces shot down two Syrian government warplanes and struck a military airport.Fighting has escalated dramatically in recent days in northwest Syria, where Turkey has sent thousands...WW…