In a year, Turkey will build 325,000 homes for those affected by the earthquakes
More than 49,000 people died in the earthquakes in South-Eastern Turkey, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced at the extraordinary summit of the Organization of Turkic States in Ankara.
"After February 6, 11 provinces in the southeastern part of our country were affected by a disaster that has no analogue in the world in terms of its power and devastation. About 14 million of our citizens were directly affected by the earthquakes, more than 49,000 people died, more than 115,000 were injured," the president said.
Earlier, Erdogan visited the most affected Hatay province and promised that over 240,000 houses in the affected cities and 75,000 in the villages would be built there in one year, Anadolu Agency reported.
So far, 426,000 tents have been pitched and 100,000 housing containers will be placed in another month, Erdogan said.
Before the presidential elections, Montenegrin President dissolves parliament
The President of Montenegro, Milo Đukanović, dissolved the parliament in Podgorica by decree, BTA reported. This happened after the deadline for the country's 27th parliament to form a government headed by Miodrag Lekic expired on March 16. He was given the mandate after changes to the law on the powers of the president and the parliament took over the right to nominate a candidate for prime minister.
On March 12, Lekić informed the leaders of the parliamentary parties that he did not have the necessary majority to form a new government, because he lacked 3 votes of the deputies from the Civic Movement of the current acting Prime Minister, Dritan Abazović.
The elections for a new parliament will be at the end of May or the beginning of June. Presidential elections will be held in Montenegro on March 19.
EU Court, Ombudsman asked to decide on the blockade of Bulgaria and Romania in Schengen
Romanian MEP from the Renew Europe group, Vlad Gheorghe, has asked the Court of Justice of the EU and the European Ombudsman to rule on whether Romanians and Bulgarians, who remain outside the European Schengen area of free movement, are discriminated against, reports AGERPRES.
"I have asked the two institutions to give their opinion on this case, taking into account the provisions of Article 2 and Article 4, paragraph 3 of the EU Treaty, as well as Articles 20 and 21 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU. In my requests, I reminded the Court of the EU and the Ombudsman that both the European Parliament and the European Commission have repeatedly come out with a decision that Romania and Bulgaria are ready to join Schengen, Vlad Gheorghe wrote on Facebook.
Skopje calls on the Ecumenical Patriarch to recognize the Ohrid Archbishopric
In Istanbul, Macedonian President Stevo Pendarovski met with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I.
"As a state and Church, we expect the highest institutional body in Orthod
