Turkey's national flag carrier Turkish Airlines (THY) is sending revamped planes to its flights to Colombia and Panama to give passengers traveling to Latin America and back extra comfort. Cemal Kaya, Turkish Airlines’ manager in Colombia, Panama and Venezuela, told Anadolu Agency on Monday that the planes serving the Colombia and Panama line have been renovated for a more comfortable flight. Explaining that despite its marathon 13-hour length, the Istanbul-Bogota-Panama line has many passengers, Kaya said that with the renovated planes THY started to give better service to its customers and has gotten lots of positive feedback.

The Turkish Coalition of America’s Fourth Annual Turkish American Youth Leadership Congress took place in Washington, DC from October 26-29, 2017. Twenty three young Turkish American college students, graduate students, and young professionals enjoyed a weekend of networking and meetings with experts and government officials, and they came away inspired to become involved in politics and take a more active role in the Turkish American community.

By Murat Güzel - * Malatya, the town where I was born, hosts one of the 25 refugee camps across the plains of southeastern Turkey. With our NATO allies, the United States has helped provide 2,083 shipping containers in Malatya alone that serve as homes for 7,625 refugees. In the dusty summer heat and in the windy, rainy winter, they serve as shelter for men, women, and children who have escaped the Syrian conflict. A small commitment of our tax dollars early in a refugee crisis is an investment in the future. According to NATO’s Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Center, the Turkish government and private sector have diligently clothed, fed, and housed over 3.1 million people fleeing conflict. This makes Turkey the host country with the largest refugee population in the world.

Customs and Trade Minister Bulent Tufenkci said Tuesday he hoped the visa row between Turkey and the U.S. gets resolved soon since it hinders trade. The Turkey-U.S. visa row was sparked on Oct. 8, when the U.S. Embassy in Ankara announced the suspension of non-immigrant visa services to Turkish nationals, following the arrest of a local employee at the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul, prompting a tit-for-tat response from Ankara. Speaking at a meeting with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce committee in capital Ankara, Tufenkci said: "I hope the visa suspension will be removed shortly and negotiations will be concluded positively, and contribute to increasing trade volume between the two countries."