ANKARA

Anadolu Agency is here with a rundown of the latest developments in Turkey, around the world, and on the coronavirus pandemic. 

Developments in Turkey, coronavirus pandemic and other news

Turkey has administered over 113.18 million doses of coronavirus vaccines since the country launched an immunization drive in January, according to official figures released Wednesday.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan marked the 98th anniversary declaration of Ankara as the Republic of Turkey’s capital.

Speaking at a joint press conference with Denis Moncada Colindres, the foreign minister of Nicaragua, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the PKK and its Syrian offshoot YPG are targeting Turkey, and the government is not going to watch the developments as a mere spectator.

Turkey’s parliament speaker Mustafa Sentop received his Tajik counterpart Mahmadtoir Zokirzoda in the Turkish capital.

Speaking at the 2021 Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Mediterranean Conference held virtually, Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Yavuz Selim Kiran remarked that the destabilizing factors caused by the pandemic have paved the way for terrorism, organized crimes and a regional and global increase in human smuggling and stressed the importance of international cooperation to combat all these problems.

Turkish security forces arrested a Syrian national, Delil Hiso, who supplied grenades, explosives and rifle cartridges used by PKK terrorists in a gun assault and car bombing on a courthouse in Turkey’s city of Izmir more than four years ago.

Other developments across the world

WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus said the number of weekly reported deaths from COVID-19 continues to decline worldwide and is now at the lowest level in almost a year.

According to newly-released figures from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the number of drug overdose deaths in the country jumped nearly 30% from March 2020 to March 2021 and exceeded 96,000.

Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry reported that an Azerbaijani civilian convoy of cars carrying non-military goods for building civil infrastructure came under fire from "illegal Armenian armed detachments" near the Gozlukorpu settlement in the Kalbajar region of Karabakh.

Algeria said security officials thwarted a plot by the separatist terror network MAK to carry out armed attacks in the country.

At least five people are dead and two wounded after a man with a bow and arrows went on a rampage near the Norwegian capital Oslo before being arrested.

Iran has been secretly moving to resume diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia in a move seen as a step to ending the war in Yemen, according to Bloomberg News.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the country is intent on opening its de facto embassy to Palestinians. Blinken also remarked that Washington does not intend to support any normalization effort with Syria's Bashar al-Assad unless there is progress on a political solution to the 10-year crisis there.

Holding meetings with several senior Russian officials in Moscow, US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland appreciated “the frank, productive review” of bilateral relations.

US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas announced that the country will begin allowing fully vaccinated non-essential travelers from Canada and Mexico to enter the US starting next month.

Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said his country is holding talks with Iran on opening a transportation corridor from the Persian Gulf to the Black Sea.

The chancellor candidate of Germany’s Social Democratic Party (SPD), Olaf Scholz, said he was upbeat on prospects for the formation of a new government by Christmas amid accelerated coalition talks with Greens and the liberal Free Democrats (FDP).

Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema held his first radio phone-in program with citizens after being elected barely two months ago in which he promised to fight the pandemic, corruption and restructure the debt.

The Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) set up cricket training pitches and a football stadium especially designed for hearing and visually impaired children at Ida Rieu School for Blind and Deaf in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi.

Little Amal, a giant puppet representing a Syrian refugee girl, arrived in the French capital as part of an 8,000-kilometer (4,970-mile) journey across Europe to raise awareness about the plight of millions of young refugees.