Turkey

The ministry said in a written statement that it strongly condemned and protested the "heinous act committed under the guise of freedom of expression", which is "unacceptable". The statement came after Turkish media reported that members of the Danish far-right group The Patriots Go Live displayed Islamophobic banners.

There were 276 votes in favour on Thursday for the Nordic nation to become a part of the military alliance, reports Turkey's state-run Anadolu News Agency. The vote means that all 30 current member states of NATO have now ratified Finland's accession, a requirement for it to join the alliance.

Erdogan told news channel ATV-A Haber in an interview that Putin may either travel to Mersin in person or attend the ceremony via teleconference, Xinhua news agency reported. The project, located in the southeastern Turkish province of Mersin, is Turkey's first nuclear plant. It is expected to produce 35 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity annually and will meet about 10 per cent of domestic electricity needs.

The Ministry officials told Ambassador Herve Magro that Ankara "strongly condemns" the French Senate's hosting of the members of the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) and the Women's Protection Units (YPJ), and its awarding them with "medals of honor", Xinhua news agency quoted sources as saying.

The report, announced by Turkey's Treasury and Finance Ministry and prepared by the presidency's department of strategy and budget, predicted that the financial burden caused by the tragic tremors could reach approximately 9 percent of the national income in 2023, Xinhua news agency reported.

Contact with the Turkish presidential administration has been frequent since last spring, Niinisto added on Wednesday, and has accelerated in recent days. The Finnish President also said he has been in contact with the Swedish Prime Minister, adding that it is very important to Finland that NATO membership both for his country and Sweden should materialise as soon as possible.

"The number of foreign nationals among the killed is 6,660. Most of them are our Syrian brothers," Suleyman Soylu said on Monday at a press conference in the central Malatya province, which was also attended by Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy.

Although the police allowed the protesters on Wednesday night to carry on with their march for a while, later they used tear gas to disperse them, reports the BBC. Several people were also detained. The women had gathered in the city's Istiklal Street despite the ban imposed by the Beyoglu district governor's office for all kinds of demonstrations and marches in the area.

The six-party Nation Alliance after hours-long negotiations picked Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of the main opposition party, as their joint candidate, Felicity Party head Temel Karamollaoglu told a gathering in Ankara, Xinhua news agency reported. Addressing the alliance's supporters, Republican People's Party leader Kilicdaroglu - also known as "Turkey's Gandhi" for his resemblance to Mahatma Gandhi.

"The time is coming. This nation will do what is necessary on May 14. No credit will be given to those who empty talk," Erdogan told his party members in Parliament. The resident had earlier said that the elections were to be held on May 14 in order to avoid the seasonal migrations of voters and the university exams in early summer.