ANKARA (Reuters) – President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey would disregard the European Parliament’s vote later on Wednesday on the 1915 mass killings of Armenians, which the pope this week described as genocide.
A clash between the Marxist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and Turkish armed forces (TSK) left five militants dead and wounded four Turkish soldiers. The fight occurred despite the PKK leader’s call for a ceasefire in March. Now the fights threaten to end fragile peace talks while pro-Kurdish groups accuse Turkey of staging the attacks.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that he “condemns” Pope Francis for his use of the expression “genocide” when referring to the slaughter of 1.5 million Armenian Christians by the Ottoman Empire from 1915-1917.
Pope Francis took a brave leap forward on Sunday, risking backlash from the Turkish government, when he spoke out against the Armenian genocide that took place almost 100 years ago at the hands of Ottoman Turks. Members of California’s over 200,000-strong Armenian community rejoiced at his courage to name and condemn the genocide.
The day after publicly commemorating the Armenian genocide and risking a hostile response from Turkey, Pope Francis spoke of the need for courage to proclaim the truth boldly, no matter what the consequences.
Turkey’s reaction to Pope Francis’s comments Sunday on the Armenian genocide was swift and resolute, as the country recalled its Vatican ambassador back to Ankara and denounced the Pope for instigating “hatred and animosity” by spreading “unfounded allegations.”
Rampant speculation on whether Pope Francis would employ the “G-word” in describing the Turkish massacre of 1.5 million Armenians a century ago has been definitively answered as the Pope called the slaughter “the first genocide of the twentieth century” Sunday
Holy Fire from Jerusalem’s Easter celebration arrives in Athens; Pakistan and Turkey refuse to support Saudi Arabia in Yemen; Pakistanis fear repercussions from neutrality on Yemen
Turkish officials resumed the crackdowns on free speech after a court fined the country’s opposition leader for insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
When President-elect Obama declared that he was going to “fundamentally transform” America, not many Americans understood what that meant. They certainly did not understand that he did not believe in America’s exceptionalism and greatness. They were also unaware of his past Marxist indoctrination, blaming America for many of the world’s problems. Therefore, anything that undercuts and withdraws America’s power and influence is seen as being objectively progressive. This is fundamental to understanding why President Obama shows empathy with American’s enemies, e.g., Iran, Cuba, Russia, and China.
In preparation for a special Mass commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide to be celebrated Sunday, Pope Francis received a delegation Thursday from the Armenian-Catholic Church.
The New York Times profiled the small town of Lisleby in Norway. However, it is not just any old small town. At least seven young men left the cozy town for Syria to join terrorist groups. Seven does not appear to be a large number, but it is for Lisleby, considering the town consists of only 6,000 residents.
Last week, terrorists from a Marxist gang in Turkey called the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party–Front took prosecutor Mehmet Selim Kiraz hostage in an Istanbul courthouse and shot him dead. In response to a widely-circulated photograph of Kiraz shortly before his death, the Turkish government banned social media giants Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.
A Turkish court threatened Google with a nationwide ban should the popular search engine fails to comply with its ruling against the publication of images showing a kidnapped prosecutor slain by a Marxist terror group last week.
Turkey’s Directorate of Religious Affairs, known as the Diyanet, issued a fatwa that allows Muslims to use toilet paper. However, the department reminded people “that water should be the primary source of cleansing.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Tehran this morning to discuss economic and political negotiations with Iran. Once close allies, Erdogan’s visit arrives a week after the president declared that Iran’s meddling in Yemen “has begun annoying us,” and accused the Islamic Republic of attempting to “dominate the region.”
Death tolls in Yemen continue to rise with a California man believed to be the first American killed in the current escalating violence between Iran-backed Shia Houthi militias and Sunni tribes supportive of Yemeni President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi, who
Pakistan parliament debates sending troops to Yemen to support Saudi Arabia; Greece confirms that it will pay the IMF on Thursday and avoid bankruptcy
Turkish authorities arrested ten Westerners and four Russians who attempted to cross into Syria to join the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL).
Turkish authorities neutralized a woman who was reportedly armed with guns and hand grenades as she and a male accomplice attempted to attack the Istanbul Police Headquarters on Wednesday, Ankara officials have revealed.
Journalist Murat Saka with Turkey’s Hürriyet Daily News decided to spend a year on the streets in Istanbul in the Aksaray and Kumkapi with African sex workers. He put together a photo essay in the publication.
The French UMP (Union for a Popular Movement) Party is facing controversy following the discovery that a large part of a bill presented to the French legislature in remembrance of the Armenian genocide was plagiarized from Wikipedia. Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy is a member of the UMP.
A renowned Turkish prosecutor and two Marxist gunmen have been killed after the left-wing terrorists took him hostage amid a countrywide blackout.
Turkish officials have rejected a bid to make American actress Julianne Moore the face of the country’s tourism, citing her “poor acting.”
(Reuters) – Gunshots and explosions were heard and smoke was visible on Tuesday evening from a building where members of a Turkish far-left group have been holding a prosecutor hostage in Istanbul, a Reuters witness said.
