★ According to VOA reporter Dorian Jones, the outcome of the Turkish presidential elections in May is growing more uncertain, with Muharrem Ince, a populist outsider entering the race and threatening to split the opposition vote--something that would help longtime-incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

★ With Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan languishing in many polls ahead of the May elections, his challenger, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, is promising to mend strained ties with Western allies of Turkey.

  Analysts say that could be bad news for Moscow, Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul.

★ With Turkey and Hungary continuing to block Sweden from joining the NATO military alliance, the Swedish government hopes for a swift ratification soon by both countries after the Turkish elections scheduled for May 14, Henry Ridgwell.

  Sweden and Finland lodged a joint application to join NATO just weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

  The alliance welcomed Finland earlier this month – NATO's 31st member state - after Turkish and Hungarian lawmakers finally voted through the ratification in March. Sweden's application has yet to be approved by the same two NATO members.

  Turkey has accused Sweden of harboring what it considers pro-Kurdish terrorists, including members of the Kurdistan Workers Party militant group, which Sweden denies.

Watch or read Henry Ridgwell's reporting  >> here << or   >> here << .

★ Deutsche Welle reporter Elmas Topcu wrote that refugees are a top political issue in the upcoming elections.

  Turkey has taken in about 5.5 million refugees, many of them Syrians. Ahead of the May 14 parliamentary and presidential elections, almost all parties say they would send Syrians back if elected.

★ Turkey has always been proud of its armed forces. But the truth is that rampant bullying plagues the military.

  According to the figures from the Army, there have been 900 suicides over the past decade, many due to bullying. Until now, such abuse has been a taboo subject, but not anymore, Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul.

  View Dorian's video reporting >> here <<  to find out more.

★ Another Deutsche Welle newscast reports that analysts project the highly-anticipated elections just weeks away to be a close race for its long-time president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

  But as the southern part of the country struggles to recover from two massive earthquakes, observers warn many of the displaced might not be able to vote. Professor Orestis Adamidis of Oxford University visited Turkey several weeks after the earthquakes as part of a reconnaissance mission with the Earthquake Engineering Field Investigation Team. He shared his insights on the destruction, why the devastation was so widespread, and what building back might look like.

  View the  newscast >> here <<

★ When you think of Vietnamese food, you probably think of pho and freshly rolled spring rolls. Not the döner kebab - a meaty, German-Turkish late-night snack.

  Over the past decade, however, mobile kebab stands have been popping up throughout Vietnamese cities. They are now a ubiquitous part of the streetscape. And all of this is thanks to a clever Vietnamese entrepreneur and some German support.

★ İş Sanat, the cultural arm of Turkey's financial and banking giant İş Bank, is continuing with its spring program. The following will take place at the İş Towers Hall:

  On April 27, it will host Norwegian saxophonist, described as the "father of Scandinavian jazz," and percussion master Trilok Gurtu.

  On May 2, it will host the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, founded by Conductor Tõnu Kaljuste.

  On May 3, world-renowned jazz trumpet player Nils Petter Molvær will join the Almagest Quintet. Established by pianists Sabri Tuluğ Tırpan, the quintet has Cenk Erdoğan (guitar, string tanbur), Eylem Pelit (bass guitar), Hamdi Akatay (percussion), and Volkan Öktem (drums) as members.

★ At the invitation of violinist Özcan Ulucan and pianist Birsen Ulucan who represent Turkey on the national and international stage, Grammy award-winning Russian violin virtuoso and conductor Maxim Vengerov gave a concert at the Istanbul Metropolitan municipality Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall.

  The organizers donated the revenues from the concert for the art education of February 6 earthquake survivors.

  Vengerov, Özcan and Birsen Ulucan, and successful Norwegian cellist Sandra Lied Haga performed in the concert. Cemal Reşit Rey Symphony Orchestra, directed by Murat Cem Orhan, accompanied the artists.

  The audience heard Double Concerto by Brahms, Trio Concerto by Beethoven, and Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture by Tchaikovsky.

★ The Shining Stars concerts, organized by İş Sanat to provide young musicians with stage experience and to support them in their first steps in artistic life, continue at İş Kuleleri Hall. Nergis Boran Öztaş (singing) and Efe Yaşar (percussion) will take the stage on April 24, while Can Saraç (piano) and Alaz İkiz (piano) on May 15.

★ The "Tulip and Woman" exhibition, consisting of 440 ceramic tulips produced by 50 ceramic artists in white to pink, purple to red, and classical or stylized forms, opened at the Istanbul Tulip Foundation.

  Seçil Nebioğlu, a ceramic artist and the exhibition organizer, said they interpreted the tulip and woman as symbols of nobility, grace, and love.

  The exhibition will be on through April 26.

★ Minoa Bookstore received the "International Excellent Award" at the London Book Fair.

  Minoa is an independent bookstore in the Beşiktaş Akaretler neighborhood of Istanbul, operating since 2014. There is also a cafe-brasserie section with a capacity of 80 guests in the store.

★ The Byzantine chain made to prevent the conquest of Istanbul is on display at the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts.

  The Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts, the last museum opened during the Ottoman Empire, is celebrating its 109th anniversary this year.

  The museum is in Pargalı İbrahim Pasha Palace in Sultanahmet Square, a masterpiece of Ottoman civil architecture built by Mimar Sinan in the 1500s.

  There are approximately 40,000 articles in the museum from the Umayyads, Abbasids, Fatimids, North Africa, Andalusia, Seljuks, Principalities, and the Ottoman Empire to the Republican period.

  One of the objects just went on display at the museum is a 60-foot section of the chain the Byzantines used to block entrance to the Golden Horn, an estuary of the Marmara Sea by the Peninsula where historic Constantinople was.

  The ramparts were not very robust by the Golden Horn, and Byzantines wanted to keep navies of hostile forces out of the estuary.

  Sultan Mehmet the Second, who conquered Istanbul at age 21 in 1453, had greased planks laid over hills and transported his ships on land to Golden Horn.

  The ships in the Golden Horn made the blockade around Constantinople complete and shocked the Byzantines.

A depiction of the ancient city and a section of the chain:

★ Wild goats are under protection in Turkey. Once abundant, they are rarely around these days.

  However, people spotted them this year in Turkey's Munzur Valley National Park in the eastern province of Tunceli. When goats realized humans were watching them, they climbed up the hill and disappeared into the forest.

  The Munzur Valley National Park, about 110,000 acres, provides a habitat for many species of animals and plants. Forested hills cover the park.

★ PTT, the Turkish Postal Service, put into circulation a set of commemorative stamps with the theme "Turkey's Automobiles" and a first-day envelope.

  The stamps feature cars designed or manufactured in Turkey.

  According to PTT, the commemorative stamps are available at the post offices and on their website.

★ Yaren the stork, the symbol of the rural Eskikaraağaç Neighborhood on the shore of Uluabat Lake in Turkey's North Western province of Bursa, returned to its human friends eagerly waiting for him.

  It is the 12th year Yaren and his wife Nazlı returned to their nest with a lake view. However, they were late by 12 days, and this made their human friends worry about them.

  Yaren is close to local fisherman Adem Yılmaz.

  As soon as Yaren arrives in Turkey, he lands on Adem's boat.

  Yılmaz takes his friendship with the stork seriously. He is a member of the European Association of Stork Villages.

  Yaren means friend in Turkish.

  A documentary on Yaren >> here <<