★ Turks are going to the polls tomorrow in one of the most contested elections. The election prohibitions went into effect Friday at 6 p.m.

The election law and the Supreme Election Council do not permit any independent news or broadcasts on the elections until 9 p.m. on election day.

The media can only have news and notifications from the Supreme Election Council.

From May 14, 6 a.m. until midnight, there is also a ban on the sale of alcohol. All public entertainment places will remain closed on election day.

No one will carry a gun in residential areas except those protecting security and public order.

★ Associated Press reported that Muharrem İnce, the leader of the center-left Homeland Party, announced Thursday that he was withdrawing from the presidential race, a move likely to bolster President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's main challenger Mr. Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.

Polls initially showed him garnering 8% of the votes. However, this recently dipped down to 2%.

Also, a video released last week showed him in a compromising situation. Mr. Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the opposition-block joint candidate, blamed Russians for the video.

According to Turkish news outlet Bianet, President Erdoğan expressed disappointment that İnce had withdrawn his candidacy. He added that it was not clear why.

★ Dorian Jones of VOA, reporting from Istanbul, had a news video on the Turkish elections.

In the introduction to the video, he said that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan faces his biggest electoral challenge Sunday with a country recovering from deadly earthquakes, an economic crisis, and a united opposition under the leadership of Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu vowing democratic reform.

See the video >> here <<

Another video by Dorian Jones discussed the alliance of Mr. Erdoğan's ruling Justice and Development Party with a radical Islamist party.

Mr. Erdoğan has turned to Hüda Par to consolidate his Kurdish base. But the move is controversial, with the Hüda Par accused of past links to political violence.

For the reporting, Dorian Jones traveled to Turkey's southeastern province of Diyarbakır. See the video >> here <<

★ On May 12, Twitter had the following announcement:

"In response to legal process and to ensure Twitter remains available to the people of Turkey, we have taken action to restrict access to some content in Turkey today."

Twitter did not explain what the restrictions were. It said that the restricted contact would be available in the rest of the world.

★ According to Emre Kızılkaya from online news outlet Journo, out of more than 500,000 suggestions made by Google in the last several months in the run-up to the elections in Turkey, 81% of them highlighted the pro-government media outlets, the daily Duvar reported.

Journalists and experts accuse Google of taking steps to disrupt the media echo system in Turkey, particularly with its support for copy-paste publishing, Duvar added.

Read the rest of the daily Duvar article >> here <<

★ According to the online site Turkish Minute, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the presidential candidate for the opposition Nation Alliance and leader of the Republican People's Party, criticized an interview of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan broadcast simultaneously on 24 TV stations on Friday, vowing such practices would not continue under his rule.

Kılıçdaroğlu appeared at the same time on only one station.

Kılıçdaroğlu said that they would ensure media diversity in Turkey. According to a report published in 2022, 95% of the media is under the control of the ruling Justice and Development Party. Also, the independent press and broadcasts are under constant threat from President Erdoğan's administration.

★ The latest edition of ILGA Europe's Rainbow Map, published annually since 2009, Turkey ranked 48th, the second worst country for LGBTI+ space in Europe, as it has been for the past five years.

Azerbaijan is in last place on the list. Belarus and Russia that Turkish officials come before Turkey. The three-page Turkey report includes President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan targeting LGBTI+s through the "family" concept. It all so highlights the problems of LGBTI+ refugees.

  Read more >> here <<

★ According to Maksim Panasovskyi of http://gagadget.com/, the U.S. suggested Turkey send the S-400 Russian-built surface-to-air missile system to Ukraine.

Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, foreign affairs minister of Turkey, said Turkey had rejected the idea, as it violated the sovereignty and independence of Turkey.

Turkey paid Russia $2.5 billion for the S-400 system. Its purchase angered Western allies of Turkey in NATO, and they removed Turkey from the F-35 program.

Turkey was producing parts for the new fighter jet under development and was also supposed to purchase 100.

NATO officials said the S-400 system was incompatible with their defense systems, and Russians could it could use it to spy on NATO defenses.

Read more >> here <<

★ According to the daily Duvar, on May 12, Kerem Kınık, the head of the Turkish Red Crescent, resigned after criticism by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

On May 11, Mr. Erdoğan repeated what others expressed months ago in the aftermath of the February 6 earthquakes. He was speaking on a prerecorded broadcast, part of his election campaign, hosting youth asking him questions.

He said he was sad that the Red Crescent sold tents to two NGOs helping the earthquake survivors.

On the same broadcast, Mr. Erdoğan denied that press freedom in Turkey has been deteriorating. "There are not as many journalists and prisons as claimed," he added.

★ We just heard about a festival that took place two weeks ago. We thought it was still newsworthy to report about it.

The 12th Alaçatı Herb Festival, where hundreds of herbs collected from nature took their place on the stalls, hosted millions, reported the Business World Global website.

Attendees experienced colorful scenes in the walk on the second day of the 'Windy Story of Herbs" festival.

During the 4-day festival, visitor numbers rose to 1.3 million from 1.1 million last year.

In addition to edible wild plants for sale, the festival included many events, from seminars to concerts.

The municipality of Çeşme district in turkeys Aegean province of Izmir organized the festival. The theme of this year with "Rebirth."

★ Puratos is an international group offering an innovative range of products and application expertise for customers in the artisanal, industrial, retail, and food sectors in the bakery, pastry, and chocolate industries. It also conducts food research.

Turkish branch of Puratos unveiled preferences for this year with its Tastes of Tomorrow study that analyzed global and local consumption habits, expectations, and changing trends.

Puratos Turkey General Manager Bora Akın said:

"Continuing the classics ranks first in food trends this year.

"Although we do not give up on classic tastes, day-by-day interest in vegan products is increasing.

"The close relationship between nutrition and health makes functional foods more popular.

"Sourdough versions are preferred even in classic foods such as pizza and hamburgers due to their functional properties facilitating digestion and benefiting intestinal health.

"And to stop food waste, upcycled foods are on the rise."

★ The new event space at the Museum Gazhane, Building L, opened its doors with "Life," the first solo exhibition by Zeki Demirkubuz.

Seventy-eight photographs taken since 2009 by the master film director met with art lovers as of May 9.

Nurhak Kaya is the curator, and Ebru Yılmaz is the artistic director. It is organized in partnership with Strange, İBB Heritage, and İBB Culture and bears the same name as the new film by Demirkubuz.

Zeki Demirkubuz started photography 14 years ago and continues with his shootings in Japan, Mexico, the U. S., and many different countries, especially in Turkey, and opens the remarkable moments he encountered to the viewers.

★ Borusan Sanat commemorated Leyla Gencer, one of the greatest names in 20th-century opera history, with a meeting on Wednesday, May 10.

Speakers who knew Gencer closely participated in the conversation and discussed her education, professional journey, and contributions to cultural and artistic life.

In addition, Borusan Sanat will perform a concert in memory of Leyla Gencer this year, as it has every year.

Thursday, May 25, conducted by Carlo Tenan, BIPO will be on stage with guest soloists at Zorlu PSM.

According to Wikipedia, Ayşe Leyla Gencer, nee Çeyrekgil lived between 10 October 1928 – 10 May 2008. She Was a Turkish operatic soprano.

Gencer was a notable bel canto soprano who spent most of her career in Italy, from the early 1950s through the mid-1980s and had a repertoire encompassing more than seventy roles.

She was particularly associated with the heroines of Italian composer Gaetano [gayı-tano okunur] Donizetti.

★ The "Breaking Point: You Write the End of the Story" exhibition, created in cooperation with QNB Finansbank and Artkolik Art and Education Platform, awaits art lovers at Kristal Kule.

The exhibition consists of works produced with waste materials by artists who place the climate crisis and environmental problems at the center of their work. Denizhan Özer is the curator of the comprehensive exhibition.

The exhibition includes works by important representatives of Turkish contemporary art, including Bubi, Bedri Baykam, and Mehmet Özenbaş.

★ On May 9, İş Sanat hosted the Venice Baroque Orchestra, one of the leading ensembles in Italy, at the İş Towers Hall.

Cellist Mario Brunello was the soloist of the Venice Baroque Orchestra concert, which performed the works of the Baroque period with original period instruments.

Described as a "free spirit" and one of the versatile and sought-after artists of his generation, Brunello draws attention with his unique and passionate style.

★ Applications continue for the Istanbul Culture and Arts Foundation Instrument Support Fund, initiated to provide new instruments to music students and instructors who lost theirs in the February earthquake in southeastern Turkey.

Music students and teachers from the disaster area can submit their instrument requests by filling out the application form available on the foundation website until May 30.

★ Vehbi Koç Foundation presented this year's Vehbi Koç Award to Genco Erkal and Dostlar Theatre, of which he is one of the founders.

The foundation gives the annual award to encourage individuals and institutions that contribute to improving the quality of life for people.

This year is the 22nd anniversary of the award.

Turkish entrepreneur and philanthropist Vehbi Koç (1901-1996) established the foundation in 1969. The foundation is a prominent non-governmental charitable organization in Turkey and is active in education, healthcare, and culture.

★ According to the website Arkeonews, during the Istanbul Bathonea excavations, archaeologists unearthed a 1600-year-old writing set.

The set, thought to belong to a merchant, has a small vessel, a bone writing pen, and an inkwell.

Bathonea is an ancient city with a harbor in the Avcılar district of Istanbul, northwest of Küçükçekmece Lake. It was one of the oldest and largest ancient ports in the region.

The excavations also revealed ancient harbor structures, a giant open cistern that Emperor Constantine the Great may have commissioned, the ruins of a fortress, and a palace monastery complex with mosaic floors, underground water channels, and ancient roads.

In 2014, archaeologists discovered much older artifacts, two figurines, tin remains, and ceramic fragments dating from 1800 BCE to the early Hittite and Hurri periods.

More about Bathonea is >> here <<

Ankara, in central Turkey        : 70/46 Showers
Antalya, on the Mediterranean    : 77/64 Partly Cloudy
Erzurum, in Eastern Turkey       : 57/41 Showers
Istanbul, in northwestern Turkey : 68/50 Partly Cloudy
Izmir, on the Aegean             : 73/57 Partly Cloudy
Trabzon, on the Black Sea        : 63/55 Showers