Author: Hasad Alp

Ukrainian forces have stepped up their counter-offensive efforts, seizing a tactically important location which could send Russian troops into a panic. Footage shared on social media shows Ukrainian troops pressing into Robotyne, a village in the southern Zaporizhzhia region. It is part of Ukraine’s offensive push launched in early June to strike Russia’s defensive lines and sever their path to Crimea, according to the Kyiv Post. The Ukrainians say they are close to taking the village, just a week after the country liberated Urozhaine, a Ukrainian village previously held by the Russians. Hanna Maliar, the deputy defence minister, said: “Our…

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is poised to visit Ukraine on Aug. 25 amid US-led efforts to explore an alternative route to exporting Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea as fears of armed escalation rise, according to media reports. Fidan is due to visit Iraq on Aug. 23-24. The Middle East Eye was first to report that Fidan would travel to Kyiv, his first trip to the Ukrainian capital as foreign minister, to discuss the proposed arrangements. Unnamed Turkish officials talking to the London-based outlet aired worry that Ukraine’s push for alternative routes could “escalate the situation in the Black Sea and…

BEIJING, Aug 6 (Reuters) – China’s decision to join international talks in Saudi Arabia this weekend seeking to end Russia’s war in Ukraine signals possible shifts in Beijing’s approach but not a U-turn in its support for Moscow, analysts say. While Beijing declined to join earlier talks in NATO member Denmark, analysts said it feels far more comfortable joining the effort in Saudi Arabia, even if Russia is not present and Ukraine is pushing its own plan. China has refused to condemn Moscow for the invasion it launched in February 2022 but has offered its own peace plan, Beijing appears to be…

ANKARA, Aug 2 (Reuters) – Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan emphasised the importance of avoiding steps that could jeopardise the resumption of the Black Sea grain initiative in talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, Erdogan’s office said. The two leaders also agreed that Putin would visit Turkey, the Turkish presidency’s statement said, without giving a date. A senior Turkish official said that discussions between Ankara and Moscow are ongoing for a visit in late August. Russia quit the deal that had allowed the safe Black Sea export of Ukraine grain on July 17 and has since attackedUkrainian agricultural and port infrastructure.…

Russia on July 20 launched a third consecutive round of air strikes on southern Ukraine, targeting port installations and grain storage facilities as well as civilian infrastructure and killing at least two people, regional officials said. The attacks came after Russia refused to extend a UN-sponsored deal that had allowed shipments of Ukrainian grain abroad, and warned that it would consider cargo ships on the Black Sea destined for Ukraine as potential military targets. In Mykolayiv, one person was killed and at least 18 civilians, including children, were wounded in an attack on a three-story residential building in the city center, regional…

Turkey’s central bank on Thursday hiked its key interest rate by 250 basis points to 17.5%, coming in below analyst forecasts of 500 basis points as the country’s monetary policymakers embark on a long and painful mission to tackle double-digit inflation. “Monetary tightening will be further strengthened as much as needed in a timely and gradual manner until a significant improvement in the inflation outlook is achieved,” the bank said in a statement, after its interest rate decision. The Turkish lira fell about half a percentage point against the dollar on the news, trading at 26.92 to the greenback. Earlier this week, the…

After years of currency reserve depletion, Turkey could be at risk of currency turmoil ahead of the country’s election on May 14, warned Goldman Sachs. “The current market uncertainty poses significant risks, in our view,” Goldman said in a note. The risk increases if savers fear more conventional economic policies under a new government. That could trigger volatility in the FX market, Goldman said Wednesday. Even though this is not the firm’s base-case scenario, it is still a significant concern. “Given the short-term nature of the instruments, time is unlikely to be on the authorities’ side,” the bank’s analysts said.…

Five workers have been killed by a huge blast at a rocket and explosives factory in Turkey, officials say. It happened early on Saturday morning at the state-owned MKE Rocket and Explosives Factory, 40km (25 miles) east of the capital Ankara. Several others were injured by the blast, which state TV said shattered windows in nearby homes and shops. Officials said the explosion was caused by an incident in the factory’s dynamite department. Regional governor Vahap Sahin said that no other workers or staff remained trapped in the rubble, and state media reported that wounded employees had been transferred to…

GAZIANTEP, TURKIYE: At least 18 flights were suspended for 12 hours following the suspected sighting of an unidentified flying object (UFO) by a passenger aircraft radar in southeastern Turkey on Saturday, reported Turkish news agency Anadolu. A commercial aircraft, which landed at the airport around midnight, reported that it had spotted on its radar an unidentified object at a height of 2,743.2 metres (9,000 feet) over the city of Gaziantep, said the authorities. Upon receiving the report from the pilot, air traffic control authorities ordered all scheduled flights to be diverted to airports in Adana and Sanliurfa instead. Turkish news…

ATHENS (Reuters) – Greece’s jobless rate eased to 10.8% in January, down from an upwardly revised 12.4% in December, data from statistics service ELSTAT showed on Thursday. Seasonally adjusted data showed 501,948 people were officially unemployed, with those under the age of 24 the hardest hit. The reading was the lowest since December 2009 – at the start of Greece’s decade-long economic crisis – following the revision of last month’s figure. Unemployment peaked in the summer of 2013 and has been falling steadily since. Unemployment was wider spread among women than men, with the rates at 13.9% and 8.3%, respectively.…