Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Turkish president and leader of ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party on Tuesday announced 20 mayoral candidates for March 2019 local elections.
Candidates for eight metropolitan municipalities and 12 provincial municipalities were named at the party's parliamentary group meeting in the capital Ankara.
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan nominated former Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci for Izmir mayorship in the upcoming local elections.
Mehmet Özhaseki, the party's deputy chairman and former minister of environment and urbanization, will run for Ankara mayorship.
The candidates for Afyonkarahisar, Balikesir, Bingol, Canakkale, Cankiri, Corum, Eskisehir, Hatay, Karaman, Konya, Mardin, Mus, Sakarya, Sivas, Tokat, Trabzon, Usak and Yozgat provinces were also announced.
The candidate for Istanbul was not revealed on Tuesday; however, Parliament Speaker Binali Yıldırım is the top contender for the spot.
On Saturday, Erdoğan announced the list of 40 mayoral candidates including 14 metropolitan municipalities and 26 provincial municipalities.
The local elections in Turkey are scheduled on March 31, 2019.
The Turkish Red Crescent handed out winter humanitarian aid packs to at least 150 orphans and their families in a refugee camp in northern Iraq on Monday.Hakan Karacay, Turkey’s consul in Erbil, told reporters that they distributed winter clothes and food aid packages to 155 orphans and their families living in the Bahirka camp near Erbil thanks to the cooperation between the Turkish Red Crescent and its Erbil branch.Karacay added that Turkey should be proud of its humanitarian aid efforts, as Turkey is the world’s most generous country in terms of humanitarian support.Many civilians had to take shelter in Iraq's Erbil and Duhok provinces after the Daesh terror group occupied Mosul in 2014.After fleeing Daesh-occupied areas in Iraq, the refugees have been trying to survive in the camps humanitarian aid support for some four years.
Turkish Red Crescent helps orphans in N.Iraq
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Monday said that Turkey's fight against drug trafficking also harms terrorist organizations."Addiction and terror resemble each other. The swamp must be drained for an effective fight against both," Erdoğan said at a symposium on international drug policies and public health in Istanbul. "Therefore, the struggle against addictive products is also a struggle to dry out the resources of terrorism," he said.Turkish defense industry to dominate Pakistani expoTurkish jets 'neutralize' six terrorists in northern IraqThe Turkish president reiterated it was not an accident that drugs, alcohol and tobacco fuel terrorist organizations.Erdoğan said the most important results of Turkey's fight against terrorism was the "big blow" against all kinds of drug trafficking.He said 52,000 people have been put in jail in Turkey on charges related to drug trafficking.He added that electronic addiction was also a big threat to the society.Turkey welcomes mutual prisoner releases in SyriaTurkey's ruling AK Party reveals 40 mayoral candidates
Turkey continues fight against drugs, terrorism
Turkish gendarmerie rescued 57 irregular migrants who were stranded off the coast of western Çanakkale province on Monday, according to security sources.The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the migrants were preparing to cross to Greece's Lesvos island.However, they could not set sail due to heavy rain and called the gendarmerie for help, the sources said.The migrants are from Afghanistan and some other African nations.Video: Turkish gendarmerie rescues 57 migrants from heavy rainSeparately, at least 114 irregular migrants were held in Didim district of western Aydin province, the sources said.The sources added that the migrants are Afghan, Syrian and Palestinian nationals.Turkey has been the main route for refugees trying to cross into Europe, especially since the beginning of the civil war in Syria.Some 205,000 irregular migrants were held in Turkey in 2018 as of Oct. 15, according to the Interior Ministry.
Turkish gendarmerie rescues 57 migrants from heavy rain