National & International News

British army officer awarded for work in Turkey

A COLCHESTER-based Army officer has been recognised for his “truly pioneering” work helping people affected by the earthquake in Turkey. Captain Richard Ainsworth-Masiello has been awarded Associate of the Royal Red Cross (ARCC) by King Charles in the latest Operational Honours and Awards List. The award is in recognition of Richard’s role as a Mental…

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Türkiye logs record tourism revenue as foreign arrivals leap

A surge in foreign arrivals has helped Türkiye generate an all-time high tourism revenue in the third quarter, official data showed this week, signaling that the country is all but sure to achieve its record year-end targets. The number of tourists arriving in September rose 5.7% year-over-year to 5.8 million, the Culture and Tourism Ministry…

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Keeping 95-year family’s halva tradition going

İhsan Helvacı , who continues the profession he inherited from his father in a 95-year-old halva shop in Izmir, has maintained 66 years in the profession. The halva maker, which has been serving its business in Basmane for almost a century, offers a nostalgic experience to visitors, and the secret of the centuries-old halva is attributed to its naturalness.…

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Şirince voted “World’s Best Tourism Village”

Şirince Village has been selected as the ‘World’s Best Tourism Village’ in the ‘Best Tourism Villages’ awards organized within the scope of the 25th General Assembly of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). Within the scope of the ‘Best Tourism Village’ initiative launched by UNWTO in 2021, destinations with a population of up to…

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Woman’s fight saves girls from forced marriage

Dilek Demir, who was forcibly married at the age of 13 and endured years of abuse in her family, has dedicated herself to the fight against child marriage and abuse of girls after assuming an essential role as the head of a local office in a neighborhood in the province of Diyarbakır. After enduring a…

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Young woman’s organ donation saves six lives

A 28-year-old woman who passed away due to a brain surgery shortly after giving birth has saved the lives of six people through organ donation. Özlem Serbes, who got married in İzmir two years ago, was diagnosed with a brain tumor at the 35th week of her pregnancy. Urgently rushed into labor, the young woman gave the birth to…

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US and China ‘to see” British mum’s farming life documentary

A documentary about a Bristol mum and her husband running a farm in the Turkish mountains is to be premiered exclusively at film festivals across the globe – from the US to China! Mum-of-eight Emma Isik is the star of the documentary, called EMMA, which was produced by Merve Kus Mataraci and shot with the…

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Partner speaks of ‘devastation’ of partner’s death

A man whose fiancée sought out the “best doctors in Turkey” for her weight-loss surgery has told of his devastation over her death. Jon Burt said he and Emma Morrissey, 44, jointly decided to look into gastric operations after she became increasingly depressed at yo-yoing between a size 12 and 22. Following hours of online research,…

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Steel and soul: Meet Türkiye’s last ‘hakkak’ engraver, Bedros Muradyan

Master Bedros Muradyan, Türkiye’s last master in the ancient art of “Hakkaklık,” has dedicated his life to preserving the rich tradition of manual craftsmanship. Beginning his journey into this intricate world at the tender age of 11-12, he joined his father in their workshop, tucked away inside Zincirli Han in Eminönü. Here, amid the scent…

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Turkiye’s Eastern Express to operate 3 times a week  

Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu announced that the “Touristic Eastern Express,” operating on the Ankara-Kars route, listed among the top four most beautiful train routes in the world, will run three times a week starting from December. “This season, the Express will make 42 journeys in each direction between Ankara and Kars, totaling 84…

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