The increasing exploration and drilling efforts for new wells after Turkey's Fatih drillship discovered 405 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas in the Black Sea is about to bear fruits with further gas volumes.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will announce the recent developments in the field, which is expected to be about a new gas discovery.

Fatih drilled Turkali-1 and Turkali-2 testing wells after the big discovery along with the Amasra-1 well, which is an exploration well.

Testing and exploration drills will likely result in new additional gas reserves.

Turkey's Black Sea gas find was the largest offshore gas discovery in the world last year, while it was the second-largest in overall findings.

International Energy Agency head Fatih Birol said last year in an interview with Anadolu Agency that the potential economic value of Turkey's discovery was around $80 billion in an interview with Anadolu Agency.

Another drillship, Kanuni, is currently carrying out completion tests at the Turkali-2 well while Fatih is drilling testing the well of Turkali-3.

Turkish President Erdogan announced he will have a video link with the Kanuni drillship on Friday.

Plateau period of gas production is in 2027-2028

The first gas production from Sakarya Gas Field is planned for 2023.

Around 155 kilometers of the pipeline will be built from underneath the sea to Filyos onshore in Zonguldak, a port city in the Black Sea.

Turkish Petroleum will invest 780 million Turkish Lira only in the production and transmission facilities concerning the field. However, the overall investment volume in the Sakarya Gas Field is not publicly announced.

The pipeline will carry the natural gas produced underneath the sea to the gas processing facility to be built in Filyon Industry Zone.

After the processing, the gas will flow into Turkey's gas distribution system.

As a start, the daily gas production from the field will be around 10 million cubic meters which correspond to 3.5 billion cubic meters annually. The production will increase gradually, reaching 40 million cubic meters per day, making around 14-15 billion cubic meters of gas production yearly.

This marks the plateau period of the field when it reaches maximum production capacity, which is estimated to be around 2027-2028.
It accounts for 30% of Turkey's current natural gas consumption, which was 48.2 bcm in 2020.

As an import-dependent country, Turkey imported 48 bcm of natural gas last year with a growth of 6.5% compared to the previous year.

Turkey's natural gas production stood at 441 million cubic meters in 2020, according to Turkey's Energy Market Regulatory Authority data showed./aa

Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) signed Thursday in the capital Lefkosa a protocol to improve bilateral ties in trade and economic cooperation.

Turkey's Trade Minister Mehmet Mus said: "We are aware of the importance of our trade and investment partnership that will increase the welfare of our brothers in the TRNC."

"We are working to reflect the brotherhood and cultural ties between the two countries towards our trade and economic relations, and we will continue to work for that," he added.

Turkish Cypriot Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Erhan Arikli emphasized that the action plan that was signed has the potential to change the TRNC's fate.

"The TRNC needs to gain international competitive power to have perpetual and stable growth. With this deal and action plan, we want to pave the way for the TRNC to sell and market products to Turkey and third-party countries," he added./aa

A Turkish court on Tuesday sentenced 36 members of a hit squad which attempted to assassinate Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the night of the 2016 coup attempt.

The court in the southwestern province of Mugla handed 18-year prison terms to 30 members on 18 counts of robbery. Five others were given 15-year jail time on 15 counts. One was given 18 years on 15 counts.

All of them were soldiers who had infiltrated the armed forces to carry out the 2016 coup bid orchestrated by the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO).

On the night of the coup, they robbed Erdogan's bodyguards.

The president, who was vacationing in southwestern Mugla province at the time, had departed for Istanbul after being alerted about the coup bid and narrowly escaped an armed attack on the hotel he was staying in Marmaris. The hotel was bombed 15 minutes after his departure.

FETO and its US-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, in which 251 people were killed and 2,734 injured.

Ankara also accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary./aa

The International Red Cross head said Thursday after a visit to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory that residents are traumatized after the 11-day escalation which ended in a cease-fire last month.

“I visited Gaza yesterday and the south of Israel today,” said Robert Mardini, the director-general of Red Cross, in a statement.

“The trauma in this region grows after each new round of hostilities. People remain wary of what’s to come.”

He said people shared profound fatigue, hopelessness, and an inability to see a better future for the younger generations.

“The humanitarian aid that residents in Gaza need now cannot prevent a nearly inevitable return to nights filled with terror at some point in the near or distant future,” said Mardini.

Mardini said the terror could only end “with political solutions.”

“I have conveyed to both sides our offer to be a neutral intermediary should there be a negotiated exchange for detainees or human remains. Families have the right to know, to grieve, and to move on with their lives,” said Mardini.

Gaza people deeply affected

“People in Gaza have been deeply affected by the latest escalation. With every round of fighting, they are left worse off, with livelihoods and homes ruined once more,” said the Red Cross chief.

“Civilians in Israel have also paid a high price. In the south, staying close to shelters has become second nature for communities, as has extinguishing fires caused by arson balloons that damage farmland and livelihoods,” said Mardini.

He said that humanitarian aid preventing the collapse of some essential services in Gaza is not sustainable.

Mardini went on to say that those under the age of 18 have lived through four military operations and countless escalations.

He said that he faced similar questions in Jerusalem. “What is the future of Palestinian youth living under the longest military occupation in modern history?”

Mardini added that international humanitarian law has to be restored to address the legal and humanitarian impacts of occupation policies on the Palestinian population.

“Respect of this law is not the panacea to end the occupation, but it helps preserve a path toward a negotiated solution," he said.

Red Cross teams recently reached Gaza to bring in extra medical supplies to support a fragile health system under immense strain and also simultaneously coping with the spread of COVID-19.

Mardini said the teams are assisting families who have lost homes and access to water and electricity, focusing on long-term needs like rebuilding infrastructure and crucial mental health support.

“We will also continue to support our partners from Magen David Adom in Israel and the Palestine Red Crescent Society,” he said.

Violence in Gaza erupted against the backdrop of tension over an Israeli court ruling to evict Palestinian families from their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem and police assaults on worshippers inside the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque./aa

• Dr. Anthony Fauci got his start as a public health expert during the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980s.
• Fauci told Today he never wanted to become director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), but was motivated by the lack of attention the HIV/AIDS crisis received.
• He believes there is much to be learned from the COVID-19 vaccines that could possibly lead to a vaccine for HIV.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), is one of the nation's leading experts on the novel coronavirus pandemic. Nearly four decades before COVID-19 spread around the world, he tackled another deadly and less publicized epidemic.

Fauci told Today about his early career experience working as senior investigator for the National Institutes of Health, as the HIV/AIDS crisis hit in 1981. He became one of the country's lead HIV/AIDS researchers as the deadly epidemic took the lives of 700,000 people in the US.

"It was a particularly transforming time," he told Today. "I can remember very distinctly sitting in my office outside my lab in the clinical center hospital where I saw the first (report) describing the first five patients from Los Angeles with this curious new disease, with nobody knowing what was going on."

He spent much of his career trying to find solutions to the HIV/AIDS crisis, which motivated him to become director of the NIAID.

"I never really had any aspirations to be the director of the institute, but it was clear to me that we were not paying as much attention to infectious diseases in general, but specifically to HIV," he told Today.

HIV/AIDS research and treatment has grown rapidly since the 1980s

HIV/AIDS treatments have vastly improved since Fauci first learned of the virus in the 1980s.

In 2017, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated people living with HIV, who have taken anti-viral medication regularly for at least six months, have undetectable viral loads, meaning they cannot pass it on to other people.

People looking to protect themselves from HIV also now have the option of taking pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), a medication that greatly reduces the chance of someone contracting the virus through sex or sharing needles. According to the CDC, taking PrEP can reduce someone's chance of contracting HIV through sex by 99%.

Scientists have yet to develop a vaccine for HIV, but Fauci is hopeful. While HIV attacks the body differently than COVID-19, the process of developing vaccines for COVID-19 has taught specialists ways to reimagine vaccine development.

"Hopefully some of the things we've learned from the COVID-19 vaccines will ultimately help us to develop a successful and highly effective HIV vaccine," Fauci said. "So we're still hoping that that's going to come to pass."

Insider

Washington — President Biden on Wednesday urged Americans who haven't yet gotten vaccinated to get the COVID-19 shot, announcing new incentives by the administration and private businesses across the country. It's never been easier to get vaccinated, Mr. Biden said, as he aims for 70% of American adults to have at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine by July 4. 

Right now, 52% of American adults are fully vaccinated, the president said, and he encouraged young people to get their shots. Those who get vaccinated this week can be fully vaccinated by the week of July 4, the president said. The president warned that fall could see an increase in cases and deaths in places where not enough people have gotten vaccinated, and insisted that the COVID-19 vaccine is not a partisan matter.

"Getting the vaccine is not a partisan act," he said. "The science was done under Democratic and Republican administrations. Matter of fact, the first vaccines were authorized under a Republican president."

Mr. Biden also warned young people that the virus could be with them for months, affect their social lives and have harmful effects on their long-term health. 

"Do it for yourself. Do it to protect those more vulnerable than you," he said. 

The president is deeming June a "national month of action" to boost vaccinations by the upcoming holiday and outline an "all-of-America approach" to getting more shots in arms, including by tapping into national organizations, community- and faith-based partners, businesses, social media influencers, celebrities, athletes, colleges, young Americans and scores of volunteers. 

To make it easier for Americans to get inoculated against COVID-19, four of the country's largest child care providers — KinderCare, Learning Care Group, YMCAs and Bright Horizons — will provide free child care to parents and caregivers getting their shots or recovering from side effects, the White House announced. Thousands of Albertsons, CVS, Rite-Aid and Walgreens pharmacies will also remain open late every Friday in June beginning next week. And Uber and Lyft are already offering free rides to and from vaccination sites. 

The Biden administration is also launching a "We Can Do This" nationwide tour, led by Vice President Kamala Harris, to reach unvaccinated Americans. Harris will travel to the South, while first lady Dr. Jill Biden, second gentleman Doug Emhoff and other Cabinet members will head to communities across the country. The White House is rolling out a "Shots at the Shop" initiative to engage Black-owned barbershops and beauty salons to support outreach efforts, as well as a COVID-19 College Challenge to boost vaccinations among young people.

During the campaign to boost vaccinations, the White House has launched partnerships with private-sector companies to make it easier for Americans to get their coronavirus shots. In addition to partnering with ride-sharing companies Uber and Lyft to provide free rides to vaccination sites, brewer Anheuser-Busch announced Wednesday it is teaming up with the White House to help meet Mr. Biden's July 4 vaccination goal.

As part of its "Let's Grab a Beer" initiative, the company will give Americans of legal drinking age a free beer when the U.S. reaches the White House's benchmark of 70% of adults partially vaccinated by July 4.

Other companies providing incentives for customers who get their shots include Doordash, a restaurant delivery service, which is giving $2 million in gift cards to the National Association of Community Health Centers; Major League Baseball teams, which have on-site vaccinations at games and award free tickets to fans who get vaccinated; and Microsoft, which is providing thousands of Xboxes to Boys and Girls Clubs in hard-hit communities that run promotions and seminars about the need to get inoculated.

States, too, have rolled out their own initiatives to incentivize residents to get their COVID shots. Ohio health officials reported a spike in people getting their vaccines after Governor Mike DeWine announced the state would award five vaccinated residents $1 million each to boost vaccination rates. West Virginia is giving $100 savings bonds to residents between the ages of 16 and 35 who get their shots, while the first 100,000 Minnesota residents who receive their first dose of a coronavirus vaccine before June 30 will be eligible for rewards.

Mr. Biden announced in early May his target of 70% of adults partially vaccinated and 160 million U.S. adults fully vaccinated by July 4. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 62.8% of the U.S. adult population have received at least one dose of their vaccines, while 51.7% of American adults are fully vaccinated. Seventy percent of adults in 12 states have already received at least one shot, and more than 28 states and the District of Columbia have fully vaccinated at least half of their adult populations.

Turkey's first lady received the Waste Wise Cities Global Champion award from UN-Habitat on Wednesday for her efforts towards creating a healthy environment. 

At a ceremony in the capital, Ankara, Maimunah Mohd Sharif, executive director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), presented the award to Emine Erdogan for her contributions to the Waste Wise Cities initiative and healthy environment as well as Turkey's Zero Waste Project that she led.

Praising the Zero Waste Project, Sharif said Erdogan's contributions in connection with the issue should set an example.

Mentioning the Waste Wise Cities initiative that was launched to address the global waste crisis, she noted that 200 cities around the world have taken part in the project so far.

Climate change is one of the biggest challenges of our time, and its negative effects are increasingly felt in both social and economic life. We see that climate change affects especially the most vulnerable groups in the world, she noted.

Noting that it was her pleasure to announce Emine Erdogan as "Waste Wise Cities Global Champion," Sharif also thanked the first lady for her "inspiring efforts and inspiring global leadership" in waste management and the Zero Waste Project

- Strong cooperation between Turkey, UN-Habitat

Speaking at the ceremony, Erdogan said that Turkey and UN-Habitat will forge strong cooperation towards achieving a green environment.

"We believe that the Waste Wise Cities initiative will contribute significantly to the goal of cities in harmony with the environment and nature. We are determined to contribute to the success of this initiative," she noted.

Saying that she accepted the award on behalf of the Turkish youth, Erdogan mentioned that the sensitivity of youth to environmental issues is a harbinger of good days to come.

"It is a fact that nature is an inseparable and indivisible whole. The borders between countries do not apply to nature. All humanity pays the price of the crime committed against nature within the borders of a country," she stated.

The first lady went on to say that the current generation is the last generation that can eliminate the climate crisis.

"Therefore, our burden and our responsibility are very heavy."

During the program, environmental activists shared their future expectations with Erdogan as they wrote down their wishes and demands regarding the environment on paper and conveyed them.

At the end of the program, Erdogan, Sharif and Turkey's Environment Minister Murat Kurum had a conversation with young people who participated in the ceremony.

Zero Waste Project

Initiated in 2017, Turkey’s Zero Waste Project aims for a recycling rate of 35% in 2023, up from the current 19%.

From 2017 to 2020, 315 million kilowatt-hours of energy, 345 million cubic meters of water, 50 million barrels of oil, 397 million tons of raw materials and 209 million trees were saved.

The project has also prevented 2 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions.

In 2025, total global waste is expected to reach 2.2 billion tons from the current 1.3 billion tons, according to the World Bank.

Also, the project brought 17 billion Turkish liras ($3 billion) to the Turkish economy from June 2017 to the end of 2020. The average USD/TRY exchange rate was 5.55 during the period.

The project also aims to employ 100,000 people directly and generate savings of 20 billion Turkish liras ($2.32 billion) by 2023./aa

The YPG/PKK terrorist group gave in to the demands of the people of Manbij in northeastern Syria on Wednesday, announcing that it will release all prisoners arrested during recent protests, end forced recruiting and punish those who fired on peaceful protestors. 

Following the move by the terrorist group, the people reciprocated and ended their peaceful protests.

Residents of Manbij protested Monday and Tuesday against the YPG/PKK's forcible recruitment of their children.

An Anadolu Agency correspondent in the city said the agreements were reached at a meeting between the YPG/PKK and the heads of families as well as prominent figures in Manbij.

During the protests Monday and Tuesday, eight people were killed and 27 others were wounded when YPG/PKK militants opened fire on them.

The terrorist group seeks to recruit civilians for terrorist activities from areas under their control, including Ayn al-Arab (Kobani), Qamishli, al-Malikiyah, Darbasiyah, al-Hasakah, Raqqah, Deir ez-Zor and Manbij.

Turkey and the US demand that the terrorist group exit Manbij, which fell under YPG/PKK control in August 2016./aa