Newsletter: City Pulse Istanbul Nisantasi beyond the shop windows Also this week: Hopdaddy burgers, Ara Guler’s photographs and Istanbul’s apartment stories. By Nazlan Ertan In Izmir and Istanbul, reporting on culture
Costa Rica's Grynspan extends lead in UNSG poll as Nusseibeh places fourth The Costa Rican candidate received 12 encourage votes in Thursday's UN Security Council straw poll. United Arab Emirates
Turkey’s parliament ratifies Mecca pact in boost to Saudi Arabia Turkey will now decide the scope of military support for Saudi Arabia amid ongoing Iran-backed Houthi attacks on the kingdom. Turkey
Can Erdogan’s Baku visit fix Turkey-Azerbaijan rift? A dispute over religious dress in schools has exposed deeper tensions between the two allies, with energy, arms sales, Israel and financial interests adding to the strain. Turkey
Flooding in Turkey kills at least eight in bitter reminder of climate chaos The government has pledged to rebuild areas hard hit by a weekend flood, but activists warn the construction of roads, dams and buildings in flood zones means more disasters are likely to follow. Turkey
Turkey starves Syria’s northeast of water as virus death toll mounts Turkey has once again cut water supplies to the Hasakeh region of northeast Syria, and the autonomous administration says Ankara is risking hundreds of thousands of lives in the midst of the pandemic and soaring temperatures to placate Syrians living under Turkish occupation. Syria
Turkey says it is institution-building through military training in Libya A new military training agreement between Ankara, Doha and Tripoli demonstrates Turkey’s institution-building efforts in Libya, but the success of these efforts will mainly depend on the support of Western powers. Turkey
Is Turkey’s opposition losing Istanbul to Erdogan? President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is employing a panoply of unfathomable methods to peremptorily take over city municipalities he lost in the last election. Turkey
Erdogan converts another historic church into a mosque The centuries-old Chora church, which has served as a museum since 1945, will soon be open to Muslim worship. Turkey
UAE to send F-16s to Crete for training with Greek military amid tensions with Turkey The UAE is the latest country to show support for Greece amid a tense maritime dispute with Turkey United Arab Emirates
Turkey announces major natural gas discovery in Black Sea President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the discovery of 320 billion cubic meters of natural gas will help Turkey reduce its reliance on foreign energy supplies. Turkey
Family silver next in line in Turkey’s debt crunch The hefty external debt of Turkey’s public and private sectors is increasingly imposing the option to offer asset swaps to creditors, including company shares and valuable real estate. Turkey
Opting for backdoor measures, Turkey’s Central Bank holds interest rate steady Turkey’s Central Bank left a key interest rate unchanged in favor of liquidity measures Thursday in what analysts described as a “missed opportunity” to send a positive signal to the markets. Turkey
Turkey's 'hedonist' singles become new target of AKP heavyweight Numan Kurtulmus, deputy chair of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party who opened a Pandora’s box on the Istanbul Convention, has come under fire once more for remarks on “over hedonist singles.” Turkey
Turkey banks on military drones to extend power, regional clout The “dronization” of Turkey’s power projection abroad continues with a new unmanned aerial vehicle that Ankara plans to use against PKK militants in Iraq and Syria as well as in brewing regional conflicts. Turkey
Turkish foreign minister visits Venezuela Mevlut Cavusoglu's trip is notable given US sanctions on Venezuela. Turkey previously sent medical aid to the South American country. Turkey