2M Turkey News

Turkey restricts the sale of rainbow and LGBTI products to minors Turkey's Trade Ministry has announced that LGBTI+, pride and rainbow themed merchandise sold online must be advertised as adult only products due to claims that it would negatively impact children’s development. Turkey's Board of Advertisement declared on Wednesday, December 9th that an 18+ -adult only- logo was mandatory for the sale of products containing LGBTI+ symbols after board members of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce agreed that if they didn't take these measures, children's "mental, psychological and social development" could be affected. Several LGBTI+ members and allies have protested this move: "There is no single decision by medical authorities that LGBTI+ and rainbow themes negatively affect children's development" They noted that companies that do not rate rainbow goods as 18+ will see advertisements suspended. Four suppliers have already received ...

Friday 4 December The coronavirus death toll reached 14 129 last Wednesday, with 193 only for the day. This makes Turkey one of the most affected countries by the disease. Following this strong increase in deaths, the Health Minister Fahrettin Koca decided to start a vaccination campaign with the Chinese experimental vaccine CoronaVac. The country signed an agreement with the Chinese company Sinovac Biotech for a first shipment of 50 million doses by 11 December. Vaccination will then be performed the population in four steps, according to different degrees of priority, beginning with health personnel and people over 65. The vaccine will be administered free and in two doses. Meanwhile, Turkey is also developing its own vaccine. Début imminent de la vaccination Vendredi 4 décembre En Turquie, le nombre total de morts du coronavirus a atteint 14.129 mercredi dernier, avec 193 seulement pour ce jour. Cela fait de la Turquie l’un des pays les plus touc...

Severe earthquake predicted in Tekirdağ province Geophysics engineer Övgün Ahmet Ercan stated that a major earthquake of magnitude 9 - the equivalent to 24 atomic bombs - is expected in the northwestern province of Tekirdağ. He warned the population that the districts of Ergene, Şarköy and Marmara Ereğlisi are the most dangerous areas to be in during the shock, because of the active fault lines in the Marmara Sea, while the Edirne and Kırklareli provinces, Tekirdağ’s western neighbors, are the safest places. Turkey has gone through devastating earthquakes in the past, as it is among the world's most seismically active zones. One of them killed 17,800 people in Izmit in 1991 and just last month, 116 people died when a 6.6 magnitude earthquake rocked the western province of Izmir. Experts affirm that all forecasts point to an inevitable earthquake of at least 7.0 magnitude, but no technology exists to predict its time or epicenter. Grave tremblement de terre annon...

Thursday 12 November, President Erdogan said Turkey had reached space four times with his own satellites. Earlier this year, he announced the beginning of a national space program followed by a series of tests. Those tests could allow Turkey to be challenging the most advanced countries in space technology like China, the USA, India and Russia. The main goal of this project is to become self-reliant in the defense industry. The president also wanted to encourage Turkish companies to produce more. It obviously worked since they multiplied their turnover by 11 over the last five years. La Turquie à la conquête de l’espace Jeudi 12 novembre, Le président Erdogan a déclaré que la Turquie avait propulsé quatre de ses propres satellites dans l’espace. En début d’année, il avait lancé ce programme spatial national suivi d’une série de tests. Ces tests pourraient permettre à la Turquie de jouer dans la même division que des pays plus avancés en technologie spatiale comme...

The Turkish navy has announced that they will send a research ship which is currently at the center of drilling row back to the Mediterranean The tensions between the two started in August when the boat was sent to monitor an area claimed by Greece, Turkey and Cyprus. Turkey decided to withdraw their ship in order to avoid unnecessary conflicts in September. But they have recently declared that they had the intention to send it in the eastern Mediterranean for 10 days to research seismic activity. The vessel will also be accompanied by Ataman and Cengiz Han, two other ships. Greece and Turkey have a history of border disputes and competing over maritime rights. La marine turque a annoncé qu'elle enverrait un navire de recherche qui est actuellement au centre de la ligne de forage de retour en Méditerranée Les tensions entre les deux ont commencé en août lorsque le bateau a été envoyé pour surveiller une zone revendiquée par la Grèce, la Turquie et Chypre. La Turqu...

  Tensions persist between Turkey and EU   Friday 9th October Earlier this year, in August, tensions rose between Greece and Turkey about maritime borders in the Eastern Mediterranean. Turkey sent sh ips to search rich oil and gas deposits in G reek waters. The EU warned of sanctions over those “provocations”. On Friday 2 October, in the morning, during a meeting with EU leaders in Brussels, European Commission President, Ms. von der Leyen, pronounced a speech to avoid a possible conflict. According to the European Commission, Turkey’s actions violate internationals laws. The president said that Turkey has to stop pressures and provocations. Then, Turkey and the EU will be able to create a constructive and positive relationship. If those provocations don’t stop, the EU could impose sanctions. On Turkey’s side, tensions also exist about Cyprus and Libya. These bones of contention are as many obstacles that prevent Turkey from joining the European Union one ...