Diary

ANKARA (AA) - Here are the main topics Anadolu Agency's English Desk plans to cover on Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021 (coverage may change depending on developing/breaking stories):

TURKEY

ANKARA - President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to receive Azerbaijani Prime Minister Ali Asadov.

ANKARA - Erdogan also to attend introduction meeting of scholarship for national athletes, and to chair his ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party's Central Decision and Executive Board meeting.

ANKARA - Parliament Speaker Mustafa Sentop to separately receive Husrev Emin, head of Association of Turkish Civil Society Organizations in Macedonia, along with his delegation, and Azerbaijani delegation led by Asadov.

ANKARA - Following latest developments on COVID-19 outbreak in Turkey, worldwide.

AZERBAIJAN

BAKU - Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu to visit Azerbaijan for official talks.

US

NEW YORK - UN Security Council to discuss latest situation in Yemen.

NEW YORK - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Executive Director of UN Environment Programme Inger Andersen to hold news conference.

FRANCE

PARIS - US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, French Minister for Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian, and German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas to discuss nuclear dispute with Iran, developments in Middle East.

BELGIUM

BRUSSELS - Second day of virtual meeting of NATO defense ministers.

RUSSIA

MOSCOW - Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to meet UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen.

MOSCOW - Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova to hold news conference.

THE ECONOMY

ANKARA - Turkey-Azerbaijan Business Forum to be held. Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay, Azerbaijani Premier Asadov, Turkish Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan, Azerbaijani Economy Minister Mikayil Cabbarov to attend event.

ANKARA - Turkish Statistical Institute to announce consumer confidence index for February.

ANKARA - Turkish Central Bank to reveal short-term external debt for December.

ANKARA - Turkish Central Bank to hold Monetary Policy Committee meeting to announce its decision on interest rates.

SPECIAL REPORT

OPINION - New agricultural bills of India explained

By Sanjay Panada

ANKARA (AA) - The recent international outcry on three agricultural bills is based on half-truths and lack of understanding about the urgencies of Indian agriculture sector which is facing a plethora of problems due to lack of reforms.

SPECIAL REPORT

'Turkey a counterbalance to Russia, China in Central Asia'

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey is a counterbalance to Russia and China's growing presence in Central Asia, a Kazakh academic said.

SPECIAL REPORT

Comedians standing up to repression in Zimbabwe

By Jeffrey Moyo

MWENEZI, Zimbabwe (AA) - Despite facing a constant threat of being arrested by police, comedians in Zimbabwe still attract and amuse people in villages and towns, saying serious things in a lighter way.