Andrew Wilks

Ad hoc aid op­er­a­tions have been set up by or­di­nary cit­i­zens across Turkey in the wake of the cat­a­stroph­ic earth­quakes.

Con­cerns grow over the in­flu­ence of or­gan­ised crime in snook­er, fol­low­ing charges against 10 Chi­nese play­ers.

Turk­ish Pres­i­dent Er­do­gan has main­tained reg­u­lar con­tact with Putin and eco­nom­ic ties de­spite West­ern sanc­tions.

The Sochi sum­mit comes af­ter Ankara helped bro­ker a grain deal that has eased glob­al food cri­sis fears.

Deal last week saw Turkey back Fin­land and Swe­den’s NATO bids, avert­ing a po­ten­tial cri­sis, but dif­fer­ences re­main.

Amid com­plex ties are Is­rael’s warn­ings of an Iran­ian plot to kill or kid­nap Is­raeli tourists on Turk­ish soil.

Turkey views the PKK – and all its af­fil­i­ates – as se­cu­ri­ty threats, com­pli­cat­ing its re­la­tion­ship with Swe­den, Fin­land.

Akkuyu Nu­clear Pow­er Plant would be Turkey’s first, but Rus­sia’s in­va­sion of Ukraine may cause prob­lems.

Signs of warm­ing ties emerge amid Turk­ish diplo­mat­ic dri­ve that co­in­cides with ma­jor eco­nom­ic cri­sis.

Turkey has upped its STEM ed­u­ca­tion game, but ex­perts say more needs to be done.