New Delhi (PTI): The Republic Day celebrations will now begin every year from January 23 instead of January 24 to include the birth anniversary of freedom fighter Subash Chandra Bose, government sources said on Saturday.

This is in line with the Narendra Modi government's focus on commemorating important aspects of India's history and culture, they said, noting it had earlier started celebrating Bose's birth anniversary as "Parakram Divas".

Other such days, observance of which have become a yearly affair, are August 14 as Partition Horrors Remembrance Day, October 31 as National Unity Day (birth anniversary of Sardar Patel), November 15 as Janjatiya Gaurav Divas (Birsa Munda's birth anniversary), November 26 as Constitution Day and December 26 as Veer Baal Divas (a tribute to the four sons of Guru Gobind Singh), sources added.

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Istanbul: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has confirmed reports from Turkish media indicating that Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh is scheduled to visit Turkey on Saturday. Erdogan stated, "What we will speak will be between us for now. And we will take our steps accordingly."

Regarding the recent escalation, Erdogan expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of international leadership.

"Israel says different things, Iran of course has different opinions. Nobody claimed the [attack]. And there is no reasonable statement so far. You can not say ‘What Iran says is right.' You can not say ‘What Israel says is right’ either. When you look at USA, they say ‘We were aware, we were not aware,'" Erdogan commented while addressing reporters in Istanbul.

Additionally, Erdogan remarked that he was not surprised by the United States vetoing the United Nations Security Council resolution that would have facilitated full UN recognition of a Palestinian state on Thursday.

“At the UNSC while the world supported Palestine, America is backing Israel again. We were not expecting anything different but this gave us an opportunity to see that,” he added.