According to a statement by the so-called foreign ministry the OIC summit which is being hosted by Erdogan will start with a Foreign Ministers meeting and will continue with the meeting of heads of states and governments.

Meanwhile, Ertugruloglu also attended a dinner given by Erdogan in honour of the leaders attending the summit.

Ertugruloglu who is accompanied by the "general director of the foreign ministry" Kemal Koprulu will return to Cyprus tonight.

[06] "TRNC" is taking part at the "SIAL Middle East" food exhibition in Abu Dhabi

According to the press officer of the "Turksih Cypriot Chamber of Industry" Huseyin Ezgin, it is the 3rd time that the "TRNC" participates in the "SIAL Middle East" exhibition.

(DPs)

[07] An increase at the arrivals of foreign travellers to the occupied area of Cyprus

The paper also reports that the most tourists apart from Turkish citizens come from Germany. The number of German tourists was raised this year to 46,913 from 34,970 of last year.

(DPs)

[08] Turkey to host Foreign Ministers' meeting in Istanbul

A statement from Turkey's Foreign Ministry on Tuesday said this will be the third time the meeting will be held under Turkey's MIKTA chairmanship.

"In 2017, Turkey chaired two MIKTA Foreign Ministers' Meetings on the sidelines of the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Bonn and the 72nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York respectively," the statement said.

"During the meeting [in Istanbul], MIKTA countries will exchange their views on the global and regional issues. At the end of the meeting, the MIKTA chairmanship will be handed over to Indonesia for 2018."

[09] The Organization of the Islamic Conference gathers in Istanbul for Jerusalem

Turkey, as the term president of the OIC, will host leaders from Muslim-majority countries on Dec. 13, with a joint position of Muslim countries to be announced under the title of the Istanbul Declaration.

The move comes after U.S. President Donald Trump instructed the State Department to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, in line with the 1995-dated Jerusalem Embassy Act.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will preside over the OIC meeting in Istanbul and will address the opening and closing ceremonies of the summit.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Jordanian King Abdullah II, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, Bangladeshi President Abdoul Hamid and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani are among 22 heads of state and government who will be present at the summit.

Some 25 Foreign Ministers will also be represented, including Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Kazakhstan. Saudi Arabia will be represented by Islamic Affairs Minister Salih bin Abdulaziz al-Shaikh.

In the morning session, the Foreign Ministers of the OIC counties will come together to discuss recent developments before giving the floor to the Presidents and head of states and governments.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told private broadcaster NTV on Nov. 12 that some Arab countries have failed to sufficiently repudiate Washington's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's undivided capital because U.S. President Donald Trump "scares them."

"It seems that some Arab countries refrain from challenging Trump," Cavusoglu said.

However, he promised that a "strong statement" on Jerusalem would emerge from the OIC extraordinary summit in Istanbul on Dec. 13.

"A very strong message will be delivered from the summit," Cavusoglu said, adding that this message will stress that the decision taken by the U.S. unilaterally breaches international law, and will call all nations to stand against it while also calling nations to recognize the State of Palestine.

"If we don't defend Jerusalem today, when will we defend it? If we don't defend Jerusalem, one of the three most sacred places of Islam, what will we defend?" he stated, hinting that the text would cite East Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Palestine with pre-1967 borders.

At the end of the 1948 war the armistice line divided Jerusalem in two: The Israel-controlled Western part, and the Jordan-controlled eastern part, which included the old walled city containing important Jewish, Muslim and Christian religious sites. Since the Six Day War in 1967 the whole city has been under Israel's control.

OIC leaders will conclude ongoing talks over the technical details of the declaration on Dec. 13.

[10] Turkish, Palestinian Presidents met in Istanbul

According to a Turkish presidential source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media, the leaders met at the Beylerbeyi Palace, where they had a closed-door meeting that lasted for one hour.

The meeting came a day before an extraordinary summit of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in the wake of U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

The summit in Istanbul follows Erdogan's call on OIC member countries to gather extraordinarily after the U.S. recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement last week was followed by worldwide opposition.

Jerusalem remains at the core of the Israel-Palestine conflict, with Palestinians hoping that East Jerusalem -- now occupied by Israel -- might eventually serve as the capital of a future state.

During his election campaign last year, Trump repeatedly promised to relocate the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

[11] Turkey gives nod to 'Kurds but not the YPG' in Syria talks

"The YPG is not the sole representative of the Kurds. Actually it represents only a small portion of them," Cavusoglu said in an interview with private broadcaster NTV on Dec. 12.

Ankara sees the YPG as an offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), therefore a terrorist group.

"[The YPG] forces people into joining its armed group. Kurds currently cannot go back to the 20% of the Syrian lands controlled by the YPG. We are not against our Kurdish brothers, we stand with them," Cavusoglu said, adding that some 300,000 Kurds have escaped to Turkey from the Syrian war.

When asked if "Kurdish groups other than the YPG" could join a conference on Syria's future to be organized by Russia, Cavusoglu sounded positive.

"Iran is also against the YPG's presence in Syria. We have handed the list of those who represent the Kurds to Russia," he said.

His remarks followed reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during their meeting in Ankara on Dec. 11 that Syrian Kurdish groups not including the YPG could be invited to the planned conference.

Meanwhile, the Syrian opposition has claimed that the Bashar al-Assad government delegation to the Geneva peace talks has produced a number of new conditions, making it difficult to move forward.

Opposition spokesman Yahya Aridi said on Dec. 12 that the Damascus delegation told U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura they would not negotiate directly. He said de Mistura told them about the government's stance.

Aridi says the opposition delegates "consider this to be a precondition." There was no immediate response from the government team in Switzerland.

Syrian opposition and government delegates arrived back in Geneva for a new round of U.N.-sponsored talks after a short break. The government delegation has protested the opposition's insistence on the absence of President Bashar Assad from any future transition period.

The opposition has been calling for the indirect peace talks to become direct.

Separately, Turkish Foreign Minister Cavusoglu said Ankara had no current plans to reduce the number of its soldiers at the Bashiqa army base in northern Iraq, while responding to a question.

Commenting on reports that the Iraqi army and the YPG have decided to work together in securing the borders, Cavusoglu said Turkey would "discuss the issue with Baghdad."

"We know Iraq is also disturbed by the YPG," he added.

[12] Lawsuit filed against Turkish singer Zuhal Olcay for 'insulting the President'

The indictment prepared by the Istanbul Prosecutor's Office stated that a person told the police that Olcay had made an insulting hand gesture against Erdogan during a concert in the Kadikoy district of Istanbul on Aug. 5, 2016. An investigation was subsequently launched and footage from the concert was examined by an expert, state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Dec. 12..

Olcay is accused of revising lyrics to the song "Bos Vermisim Dunyayi" (I Let Go of the World) to criticize Erdogan, devising a hand-gesture to accompany the melody. According to the footage, the revised lyrics say: "Recep Tayyip Erdogan, all of them are null and lies, this life will end one day and you will say I had a dream."

In her testimony Olcay reportedly said she revised the lyrics because the President's name fitted the rhyme scheme and she "did not have any other ulterior, insulting motive."

The singer also said the hand gesture targeted an audience member in the front row after he or she made a negative comment about her.

The prosecutor's office has demanded a jail term for Olcay ranging from one year and two months to four years and eight months on charges of "insulting the President."

The indictment has been approved by the 46th Criminal Court of Peace and the singer will soon face a trial on the charges.

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