The number of Syrian refugees stationed in Turkey has exceeded 10,000. Media reports say the refugees receive food and other bare necessities as well as some electronic equipment such as washing machines and even TV sets.

Residence permit-related matters are always popular and it is amazing that almost every question is based on an individual issue, pushing me to write about this topic frequently. I received the following email regarding residence permit applications based on marriage: “I moved over to Turkey in March 2011, initially on a tourist visa after being advised by many to apply for residency when I actually move to Turkey. I married my husband on Dec. 4, 2010, and have left my life in the UK to be a housewife in Turkey.

Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut and today Google made everyone aware of this legend because all the logos has been changed to his amazing picture many years ago and Google Doodle celebrated another amazing day and refreshed our memories with Google logo. Regarding to Wikipedia he was the first human to journey into outer space when his Vostok spacecraft completed an orbit of the Earth on April 12, 1961.

Newroz in Turkey will be celebrated on 20th March all over the resorts and Newroz refers to the celebration of the traditional Kurdish holiday for beginning of Spring and Summer and aims to put smiles on many faces due better weather and this is one of the official Kurdish festival that gets celebrated by Kurdish society all over the World.

Turkey is currently debating placing outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan, who is serving a life sentence on İmralı island, under house arrest, a proposal made by the Democracy Society Congress (DTK) and the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP). Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin ruled out such a possibility, saying current laws do not allow for Öcalan to be granted house arrest. “Neither our laws nor regulations allow this,” he said.

“Living in Turkey, is considerably cheaper than in the UK particularly now that the austerity measures are beginning to bite”, says Suleyman Akbay, Director at Oceanwide Properties. Suleyman should know; he has offices in central London, Hampshire and Turkey so is fully aux fait with the cost of living in both countries.

Many people all over the World believe that Santa Claus did not exist but truth is that old Father Christmas did in fact exist as a historic personality. He did not come from beyond the North Pole where Reindeers roam, but lived under the warm Lycian sun as Bishop of Myra. His church and ex-tomb continue to exist as places of pilgrimage in the Turkish town of Demre (known also as Kale, near Antalya). Alot of people celebrate Christmas but not much would know the truth about Santa.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, accompanied by two ministers, will attend the commemoration ceremony to be held for the deceased musician Ahmet Kaya. On the other hand, Republican People's Party, or CHP, chairperson Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has not decided on the issue yet.