A child reaches to touch a decorative ball hung on a Christmas tree at Karakoy seafront in Istanbul, Turkey, Dec. 6, 2021.
A whirling dervish of the Mevlevi order performs during a Sheb-i Arus ceremony in Konya, central Turkey, Dec. 17, 2021. Every December the Anatolian city hosts a series of events to commemorate the death of 13th century Islamic scholar, poet and Sufi mystic Jalaluddin Rumi.
A drone photo shows an aerial view of the Göksu Waterfall surrounded by trees with fall colors in Konya, Turkey, Nov. 8, 2021.
Nurse, Gökalp Ballı from the Gevaş Public Health Center vaccination team talks with 79-year-old Sabri Altıntaş after he was vaccinated with the Chinese Sinovac Coronavac vaccine during a house call in the village of Daldere, Feb. 12, 2021, Van, Turkey.
People take part in Ramadan Bayram, also known as Eid al-Fitr, prayers amid a coronavirus lockdown outside the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque, May 13, 2021, in Istanbul, Turkey. Ramadan Bayram is a three-day festival of feasting and celebration, marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
A competitor prepares to throw a javelin toward an opponent during the Turkish Javelin Throw League friendly Jereed game between Uzmanlar Sports Club and Dadas Sports Club, in Erzurum, March 5, 2021. Jereed, also known as Cirit, is a traditional Turkish equestrian team sport where players score points by throwing a blunt wooden javelin at the opposing team.
Flames soar through the forest, Aug. 2, 2021 in Muğla, Marmaris district, as the European Union sent help to Turkey and volunteers joined firefighters in battling a week of violent blazes that have killed eight people.
Street dog Boji, a regular user of commuter ferries, buses, metro trains and trams, is pictured on a ferry that runs between the city's Asian and European sides, Istanbul, Turkey, Oct. 5, 2021.
Wrestlers, doused in olive oil, greet each other as they are introduced to the crowds during the 660th installment of the annual Historic Kırkpinar Oil Wrestling championship, in Edirne, northwestern Turkey, July 10, 2021. Thousands of Turkish wrestling fans flocked to the country's Greek border province to watch the championship of the sport that dates to the 14th century, after last year's contest was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. The festival, one of the world's oldest wrestling events, was listed as an intangible cultural heritage event by UNESCO in 2010.
A sign warning of mines is seen on the Turkish-Iranian border in Van province, Turkey, Aug. 21, 2021.
This photograph shows massive stone head statues at the archaeological site of Mount Nemrut in Adıyaman, southeastern Turkey, Sept. 17, 2021. This UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987 is on a 2,134-metre-high (7,000-feet-high) mountain including giant 10-meter high, seated statues of King Antiochus I himself surrounded by ancient Gods, including Zeus and Apollo, which was discovered in 1881 by a German engineer.
A general view of Salda Lake in Burdur province, Turkey, March 1, 2021. The official Twitter account of NASA Earth mentioned Lake Salda in their tweet a day before NASA rover Perseverance touched down on Mars.
Nancy Van Der Stracten, a 75-year-old suffering from Parkinson's Disease, practices boxing with her trainer Muhammed Ali Kardaş at a boxing club in the southern resort city of Antalya, Turkey, Feb. 26, 2021.
This photograph taken July 31, 2021 near the town of Manavgat shows a burnt car in front of a burnt house, as a massive forest fire engulfed a Mediterranean resort region on Turkey's southern coast.
Greek Orthodox faithful Vasili Kürkçü, 44, kisses a wooden crucifix after retrieving it in the Golden Horn during the Epiphany ceremony in Istanbul, Jan. 6, 2021. With no visiting faithful from Greece or other Christian Orthodox countries, due to the coronavirus pandemic, only two swimmers raced to retrieve the cross which was thrown into the waters by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians.
Aerial view of an almost deserted beach and sea snot, a thick slimy layer of the organic matter also known as marine mucilage, spreading through the Sea of Marmara and posing a threat to marine life and the fishing industry, on the shores of Istanbul, Turkey, June 12, 2021.
A view shows a partially collapsed building, as the area was hit by flash floods that swept through towns in the Turkish Black Sea region, in the town of Bozkurt, in Kastamonu province, Turkey, Aug. 14, 2021.
A woman picks roses during the start of the annual rose harvest at the Gulsha Cosmetics production facility, June 1, 2021, in Isparta, Turkey. Isparta, known as the "land of roses," produces 60% of the world's rose harvest and exports products all over the world. Rose oil, said to have anti-aging effects, has seen a large increase in demand from global luxury brands primarily in France and China. The harvest lasts a month and occurs every year between May and June. In the past two years, COVID-19 and extreme drought conditions in Turkey have hurt the annual harvest with production down approximately 30%. Although the coronavirus affected local shops and tourist numbers, many producers of rose-related products saw an increase in online sales during the pandemic.
A shepherd herds a flock of sheep near Lake Tuz in Aksaray province of Turkey, Oct. 25, 2021. Lake Tuz, Turkey’s second-largest lake and home to several bird species, has seen its waters entirely recede this year, a victim of climate change-induced drought that has hit the region as well as decadeslong wrongful agricultural policies that have exhausted the lake’s underground waters.
Saffron flowers during harvest at a saffron field in the Safranbolu district of Karabuk, Turkey, Oct. 24, 2021.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel (L) looks at President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during a joint news conference following their meeting at the Huber Villa, in Istanbul, Turkey, Oct. 16, 2021. The leaders discussed Ankara's relationship with Germany and the European Union as well as regional issues including Syria and Afghanistan.
An aerial view of Lake Tuz in Aksaray province, Turkey, Oct. 26, 2021. Lake Tuz, Turkey's second-largest lake and home to several bird species, has seen its waters entirely recede this year, a victim of climate change-induced drought that has hit the region as well as decadeslong wrongful agricultural policies that have exhausted the lake's underground waters.
Runners cross the 15th July Martyrs Bridge over the Bosporus during the 43rd Intercontinental Istanbul Marathon in Istanbul, Turkey, Nov. 7, 2021.
