WThe 2020 Bingöl earthquake occurred at 17:24 local time on 14 June in Turkey. The magnitude of the earthquake was determined to be 5.8 Mw. The earthquake's epicentre was close to the Kaynarpınar village in Karlıova, Bingöl and felt in the neighbouring provinces of Erzurum, Diyarbakır, Elazığ and Muş. 392 aftershocks were detected following the earthquake, with the largest being a 5.5 Mw event.
WThe first and most destructive of the 2020 Iran–Turkey earthquakes occurred on 23 February, near Khoy in north-west Iran, close to the border with Turkey, killing 9 people in Başkale, Van. It hit at 9:23 a.m. local time with a magnitude of 5.8 Mw at a depth of 6 kilometres and the epicenter was Qotur district, according to the Iranian Seismological Center (IRSC). About 10 hours later the same area was hit by another major earthquake of 6.0 Mw .
WA magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck on Friday, 30 October 2020, about 14 km (8.7 mi) northeast of the Greek island of Samos. Many buildings were damaged or collapsed as a result of the earthquake, with the Church the Assumption of Mary in Karlovasi, Greece, partially collapsing, while in the Turkish city İzmir, which was heavily affected by the earthquake, dozens of buildings were either damaged or completely collapsed. Emergency services in both countries immediately attended the scene, as rescue efforts continued into the night.
WThe COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey is part of the ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. As of December 15, 2020, Turkey has 1,898,447 confirmed cases, 1,661,191 recoveries, 16,881 deaths, and a death rate of 186 per million people, the seventy-eighth-highest rate globally.
WThe 2020 Elazığ earthquake occurred at 20:55 local time on 24 January in Turkey. The magnitude of the earthquake was determined to be 6.7 Mw. The earthquake's epicentre was close to the town of Sivrice in Elazığ Province and felt in the neighbouring provinces of Diyarbakır, Malatya and Adıyaman, and the neighbouring countries of Armenia, Syria and Iran. Kandilli Observatory reported the magnitude of the earthquake as 6.5 Mw . A total of 41 people were killed and more than 1,600 were injured.
WGöktürk-3 is a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) Earth observation satellite that will be designed and developed under prime contractorship of Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) with support of Military Electronic Industries (ASELSAN) and TÜBİTAK Space Technologies Research Institute for the Turkish Ministry of National Defence.
WPegasus Airlines Flight 2193 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Izmir to Istanbul in Turkey operated by Pegasus Airlines. On 5 February 2020, the Boeing 737-800 operating the route skidded off the runway while landing at Istanbul-Sabiha Gökçen International Airport, Turkey. Three people were killed, 179 people were injured, and the aircraft was destroyed. It was the first fatal accident in the airline's history. The accident came less than a month after another Pegasus Airlines accident involving a Boeing 737 skidding off the runway at the same airport.
WTurkey has been diplomatically and militarily involved in the Syrian civil war since its outbreak in 2011. Initially condemning the Syrian government at the outbreak of civil unrest in Syria during the spring of 2011, the Turkish government's involvement gradually evolved into military assistance for the Free Syrian Army in July 2011, border clashes in 2012, and direct military interventions in 2016–17, in 2018, in 2019, and in 2020. The military operations have resulted in the Turkish occupation of northern Syria since August 2016.
WThe Turkish military intervention in the Second Libyan Civil War is a military intervention by Turkey in support of the UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) of Libya in the Second Libyan Civil War. Military intervention was approved by the Grand National Assembly of Turkey on 2 January 2020, which passed a one-year mandate to deploy troops to Libya. Turkish military deployments to Libya began on 5 January.
WThe Turkvision Song Contest 2020 will be the fourth edition of the Turkvision Song Contest. It will take place in Istanbul, Turkey, with performances filmed remotely, and organised by Turkish Music Box Television. Twenty-six Turkic regions, which have either a large Turkic population or a widely spoken Turkic language, will participate in the contest. The contest will take place on 20 December 2020.