★ According to Associated Press, Turkish foreign affairs minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu was in New York on Wednesday. Mr. Çavuşoğlu met with his U. S. counterpart Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

  Associated Press writes that the two sides seem to have brushed off their differences which had been causing strains in relations for several years.

  According to the State Department webpage, spokesperson Ned Price said the following about the meeting:

  "Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken met today with Turkish Foreign Affairs Minister Mevlut Çavuşoğlu in New York City. Secretary Blinken and Foreign Affairs Minister Çavuşoğlu discussed tensions in the South Caucasus. And the Secretary noted that the United States continues to engage to facilitate dialogue between Azerbaijan and Armenia and help achieve a long-term political settlement to the conflict.

  "They also discussed ways to advance coordination and NATO unity in response to Russia's war against Ukraine.

  "The Secretary commended Turkish diplomatic efforts to ensure continued shipment of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea, and emphasized the importance of maintaining UN-brokered agreements, and holding Moscow accountable for the commitments it has made."

  According to Turkish Radio and Television Corporation, Turkey pushed U.S. officials for the sale of F-16 jet fighters Turkey wants. U.S. Congress opposes the deal.

  After his meeting with the Secretary of State, Mr. Çavuşoğlu flew to Texas to inaugurate the new chancellery office of the Turkish Consulate Gen. there, the Anatolia news agency of Turkey reported.

  Anatolia news agency also wrote:

• The U.S. support for the Kurdish militia in Syria, whom Turkey considers an affiliate of the rebel Turkish Kurds,
• Disagreements over Turkey's purchase of Russian-made S-400 air defense system in 2017

 strained the relations between Turkey and the U.S.

  In 2019, under then-President Donald Trump, the U.S. removed Turkey from the F-35 joint strike fighter program over the S-400 purchase, saying that they would pose a risk to F-35 fighters. Turkey claims that they do not pose any risks.

★ According to daily Duvar, on January 16, Turkish President Recep TayyipErdoğan once again targeted LGBTQ groups while talking about the constitutional amendment that the ruling Justice and Development Party is preparing to "protect families."

  "We want to prevent the virus of heresy, which is against human nature, from poisoning our nation's existence," he stated.

  Mr. Erdoğan's Justice and Development Party is preparing amendments to the Constitution purportedly to ensure civil rights for women wearing headscarves and family issues. Mr. Erdoğan says the family is the union of man and woman.

  Enacting a constitutional amendment requires the support of 400 out of 600 lawmakers in the Turkish parliament. The total number of seats in the People's Alliance, consisting of the ruling Justice and Development Party, the far-right Nationalist Movement Party, and the ultranationalist Grand Unity Party, is 335. It means an additional 65 lawmakers from the opposition will need to vote for the constitutional amendments.

  Three months ago, the Justice and Development Party officials visited the opposition parties in parliament to garner support for changing the Constitution. However, three parties rejected a second round of Justice and Development Party visits and said they would not support the amendment.

★ The pro-Kurdish Peoples Democratic Party asked Turkey's constitutional court to postpone all proceedings regarding the closure case until after the elections.

  The co-chair for the party said the ruling coalition intends to blackmail his party with the case.

  The prosecutors demand the party be closed, alleging it has ties to the rebel Kurdistan Workers Party, which has fought with the Turkish government for nearly four decades.

  Turkey, the European Union, and the United States consider the Kurdistan Workers Party a terrorist organization.

  The People's Democratic Party is the third-largest party in the Turkish parliament. Its constituents may be pivotal in deciding the winning block in the June elections.

★ The Economist magazine's latest issue was not very flattering to Turkey's Ruling Justice and Development Party and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

  Here is a summary of how Turkish news outlet Bianet covered The Economist cover and the article, and the reactions from the ruling party government:

  On the cover of the magazine, on a red background, The Economist wrote "Turkey's Looming Dictatorship" in large font, and Mr. Erdoğan's silhouette formed the inside of the crescent of the Turkish flag.

  The Economist wrote in its article about the elections in June,

• that Turkey is an important country in NATO, and
• that it exerts growing influence in the western Balkans, in the eastern Mediterranean, and more recently in Africa.

  The article argued that Mr. Erdoğan grew more autocratic the longer he stayed in power and made the following points. The Economist then explained each point in detail, which were going to skip here:  

• The country is on the brink of disaster.
• Critics are in jail.
• Voters are pushing back.
• Turks worry that elections will be neither fair nor free.

  The first reaction to the article came from Turkey's presidential communications director Dr. Fahrettin Altun.

  "Here we go again," said Altun on his Twitter account and accused The Economist of recycling an intellectually lazy, dull, and purposefully ignorant depiction of Turkey.

  On Friday, President Erdoğan also chimed in. To a journalist's question, he said, "Is a British journal determining the fate of Turkey? My people will determine the fate of Turkey. What my people say will happen in Turkey."

  See the Bianet news for details Read more >> here <<

★ According to National Public Radio, on Saturday, Turkey canceled a planned visit by the defense minister of Sweden after it allowed an anti-Turkish protest in Stockholm.

  Rasmus Paludan, a Danish politician with anti-Islam actions in the past, received permission to protest in front of the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm.

  During the protest, Paludan burned a copy of the Koran after a one-hour talk attacking Islam and immigration to Sweden.

  According to the Anatolia News Agency, Turkish foreign affairs minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said racism and hate crimes do not count as freedom of thought.

  Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership after Russia started the war to invade Ukraine. Both countries need Turkey's approval since NATO requires a unanimous vote for new members.

★ According to the Anatolia News Agency, a court sentenced Enes Çağrı K., 30, to one year and three months in prison for torturing a stray dog in Istanbul.

  The man was in detention for weeks. However, after the trial, the court released him.

  On November 27, 2022, a person posted a video on the Internet showing Enes Çağrı K. torturing a dog in Sarıyer, İstanbul.

★ After cutting the key interest rate in the past four months by 500 basis points, Turkey's bank left the rate at 9% without a change for the past two months.

  Analysts are predicting that the supposedly-independent central bank may reduce the rates further close to the presidential and general elections due in June upon the suggestions of the Turkish president.

  Independent experts calculated The inflation in December in Turkey as 138 %. The Turkish Statistical Institute, part of the Turkish government, claimed that it was only 64%.

  Economists blame Mr. Erdoğan's unorthodox policies for the problems in the Turkish economy.

★ According to Deutsche Welle, Uganda is abandoning its Chinese partners and turning to Turkey to build a new railway line to connect to neighboring Kenya.

  Last week, Uganda formally terminated a $2.2 billion contract with China Harbour Engineering Company after the China Exim Bank refused to provide the funding.

★ The winner of the short film competition organized by Sabancı Endowment is Ece Akın and Mustafa Solmaz with their movie "Home of the Girl."

  Dilşad Demir came in second with "Okay, Who Is This Woman?"

  The third place went to Hüseyin Urçuk with his film "The Clothesline."

  The theme of this year's competition was "The First Time in a Leading Role."

  The winners received their awards at a ceremony held at the Sabancı center in Istanbul.

  In the ceremony, Süheyla Noyan received the Social Influence Award with his film "The Flower Would Bloom."

  The family of the Turkish businessman Hacı Ömer Sabancı established the Sabancı endowment in 1974. The foundation gives money to various causes, including education and health.

★ An unusual festival starts in Istanbul. Dubbed the "Report Card Festival," it will be in various districts of metropolitan Istanbul between January 21 through February 3, coinciding with the school semester break.

  Organized by the Metropolitan Istanbul Mayoralty, the festival will have concerts, plays, and workshops, all free of charge.

★ Turkish Film Critics Association chose the ten best foreign films, but an ex-pat made one of them.

  Cem Kaya's "Love, Deutsche Mark, and Death" came in second among 10. Kaya was born in Germany to Turkish parents in 1976.

  His 2022 film is a documentary about the independent and as of yet unknown music of immigrant Turkish guest workers and their grandchildren in Germany.

  Here is a review of the film with Kaya Read more >> here <<

★ Saliha Sultan of the daily Karar writes that inflation is hitting the magazine publishers in Turkey hard.

  Since almost all of the paper in Turkey is important these days, the recent devaluation of the Turkish lira made printing paper expensive, she writes.

  "Another help cry came from Notos, one of the literary magazines hit by the economic crisis," she wrote.

  Notos magazine asked for help from its readers through its social media account, Ms. Sultan reports. The magazine said that to publish its edition for March-April, it needs financial help.

  Notos has been in circulation for the past 16 years.

★ Istanbul greater Metropolitan mayoralty is renovating the deserted older structures on the Golden Horn.

  Dubbed the "Fener Houses," the structures opened to the public as "Golden Horn Art" and will be available for exhibitions and cultural activities.

  Some of the structures are hundreds of years old.

  Mahir Polat, an assistant to the General Secretary of the Istanbul Metropolitan Mayoralty, said that they are restoring the structures in line with the principle that advocates pain homage to historical traces.

  He said that some of the homes belonged to the most distinguished business people in the most splendid times of Istanbul. He added that visitors would be able to see this.

  The first structure going through restoration is the Genovese house. It opened its doors to visitors with an exhibition dubbed "The Life Repair Shop" by Vahap Avşar, a prominent figure in the contemporary arts.

  In the building called Golden Horn Art 3, Hülya Özdemir and Ferhat Satıcı's exhibition, dubbed "In the Shade of the Fading Roads," is on display, featuring video works and designs.

★ The 250-year-old Rami Barracks is now Turkey's most spacious library and the third in the world.

  It took a two-year restoration and conversion project to accomplish the task. When it opened on January 13 with the attendance of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the library immediately filled up with the people of Istanbul.

  Its total area is 600,000 ft.² and can accommodate 4200 people.

  In addition to being a library, it will also be a venue for national and international exhibitions, conferences, and other activities.

  Turkish authorities are also working to put the library on UNESCO's Cultural Heritage List.

★ Turkey's main opposition Republican Peoples Party leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu attended the 70th anniversary of Turkish theater actor Müjdat Gezen's in the arts.

  Mr. Kılıçdaroğlu said that all segments of society should know the value of arts and artists.

  A society giving importance to artists is a developed one, he added.

  However, in the past 20 years, it has not been the case, he also said.

  Remembering the day when he stepped onto the stage 70 years ago, actor Mujdat Gezen said:

  "You know there are slides in children's parks. Children go up the stairs slowly, taking time. When they reach the top of the slide, they slide down in just a few seconds. I am like the man on top of the slide. I would be going down very fast."

★ According to the website "Ancient Origins," archaeologists in Turkey have spent the past four years excavating at Gre Filla, a Neolithic mound in southeastern Turkey. A dam will flood it when construction is complete.

  Now the archaeologists are planning to relocate the site to avoid inundation.

  The site contains artifacts from 12,000 years ago. The order of some of the rock monuments suggests that the ancients may have used them for rituals or ceremonies.

  Gre Filla is in Turkey's southeastern province of Diyarbakır. Other mounds featuring ancient structures and artifacts exist in the region, also. The most notable one is Göbeklitepe.

  See a video about the site Read more >> here <<

★ Semih Güneri, a Turkish archaeologist and an expert on petroglyphs think that ancient Turks may have drawn the thousands of year-old figures on rocks in the Gobi desert.

  Güneri is a professor at Turkey's Dokuz Eylül University.

  A UNESCO website, titled World Heritage Convention, writes that the oldest petroglyphs date back to 5000 years ago and news to 1200 years ago.

  Among the figures are men riding horses or camels, cattle and camel herds, hunting scenes, and men with carts.

  See a photograph of the petroglyphs >> here <<