Turkey on Monday declared three days of national mourning for the Palestinian victims of Israel's military operation in the Gaza Strip, denouncing the assault as a "massacre." "We condemn Israel's massacre of the Palestinian people," Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc told reporters in Ankara in televised comments after a cabinet meeting as the Palestinian death toll topped 500. 

Amid the spiraling bloodshed in Gaza, Turkey continues to send aid to the Palestinian enclave through the Kerem Shalom border crossing in coordination with the Israeli army. Turkish agencies have been flowing aid into Gaza worth a total of $2.5 million and most of the assistance is based on local procurement, a Turkish official told the Hürriyet Daily News. 

Armenians are feeling concerned over Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's presidential candidacy and believe that placing centralized power in his hands is a potential threat to the safety and security of Armenians, given his divisive manner of ruling.

Istanbul may be rich in cultural history, with 18th-century mosques, sultans’ palaces and Byzantine relics, but its global contemporary art offerings are nowhere near that of London, Paris and New York.

Social and cultural exchanges across the Aegean Sea are bridging the gap between Greece and Turkey.  A recent joint project by two photography groups was the latest in a decades-long series of cultural collaborations that experts say are important for providing political leaders with the impetus to resolve differences.

On Friday, June 20, Serap Pollard, the first Turkish designer in London, displayed her AW14 collection at the Embassy of Turkey in Ulaanbaatar in a runway show as part of a week of cultural events to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Mongolia and Turkey. Pollard’s collection, displayed in front of the crowd of roughly 100, comprised of the international business and fashion community, also embraced a polycentric philosophy.

Turkey's massive soft power has rapidly evaporated as Ankara attempted to impose its values on others.  Due to its soft power, every actor in the Middle East -- Sunnis and Shiites, autocratic regimes and pro-reform critics, Israel and Palestinians -- trusted Ankara's integrity.