Turkish police on Monday fired tear gas and water cannons at around 10,000 demonstrators protesting a mass trial of hundreds accused of plotting to topple the government, leading to three injuries and a lengthy delay in the hearing. An AFP photographer saw protesters trying to breach a security barricade by hurling stones at the police outside the prison complex in Silivri, a suburb on the outskirts of Istanbul.

Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu said a crime as big as 'genocide' is being committed against Istanbul's skyline. The CHP leader said on his Twitter account on Tuesday that neither humanity nor history will forgive those who destroy the historic skyline of the city. He later shared an image showing an old photo of Sultanahmet and a new photo of the same area side by side. The newer photo shows three skyscrapers visible behind the historic mosque.

SALT Beyoglu and SALT Galata, which opened in 2011 in Istanbul, finally has its third sister institution in the Ulus district of Ankara. The district, which is becoming more and more an area for art and culture lovers with its museums, theater and opera halls, is also home to a small three-floor building designed by Guilo Mongeri and constructed in 1926.

The head of Turkish intelligence, Hakan Fidan, is the driving force behind the state's clandestine peace talks with a jailed Kurdish rebel chief that aim to end a bloody three-decade insurgency. Low-profile Fidan, 45, was appointed to the top spy seat by close ally Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in May 2010. Fidan took part in peace talks with senior figures from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Oslo in 2009, which unravelled in 2011 when secret recordings were leaked to the media revealing the talks.