Ukraine and Turkey have jointly proposed elevating the level of defense cooperation between the two. A Ukrainian delegation recently traveled to Ankara to put plans together.
The Turkey government lashed out at the Russian government after they acknowledged the 1915 massacre of Armenians as genocide.
This week the world is marking the gruesome 100th anniversary of events that took lives of some 1.5 million of Turkey’s Armenians. The Ottoman Empire was falling apart, fighting as one of the Axis powers in WW1, fearful of its Christian minorities and their possibly joining the Allied effort led by Czarist Russia to liberate them.
As if on safari, the hunters proudly display their dead prey. But the circa 1915 photograph depicts an undeniable horror. The hunters flank a dozen or so human bodies, laid out upon a dirt mound. The distinctive hunters’ uniforms identify them as Turkish soldiers of the Ottoman Empire; their victims are Armenian Christians.
Palestinian factions ‘unity’ talks in crisis, near collapse; ISIS and Yemen force yet another realignment of the Mideast
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, on a visit to a Muslim center in Maryland, claimed that President Barack Obama had agreed to the construction of a Turkish-funded mosque in the state, and may even attend the opening himself. The White House has denied that any such opening is on the President’s schedule.
The Christian population of Turkey is evaporating rapidly. The nation, a NATO member since 1952, has experienced a reduction in its Christian population from 20% 100 years ago to only 0.2% today. The latest blow in the community occurred at the Hagia Sophia during Easter holy week.
The Armenian genocide is a very sensitive subject with Turkey, as it prefers to think of that horrendous century-old bloodbath as a military clash with the Ottoman Empire, which the Armenians lost very badly–badly enough to kill about 1.5 million of the 2 million Christian Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire at the time, to be specific.
A senior advisor to the Prime Minister of Turkey was declared “retired” today after having called the death of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians at the hands of Ottoman Turks in 1915 a “genocide” and praising Pope Francis for condemning those who deny the genocide took place.
Turkish authorities broke ground on Tuesday on the Akkuyu nuclear power plant, a project spearheaded by Russian developers that the Turkish government claims is indispensable to the nation’s energy independence.
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.
The U.S. State Department wants a “full, frank” acknowledgement of the facts surrounding the mass killing of Armenians in World War I, but demurred when it came to labeling it “a 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.
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Turkish officials resumed the crackdowns on free speech after a court fined the country’s opposition leader for insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
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.”
Turkey is in the process of recovering from a major blackout that has brought the country to a relative standstill. Almost the entire country has been affected by the massive power cut, according to some media reports out of Turkey. Officials are considering the possibility that they were hit by a major cyber attack directed at its critical infrastructure.
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledged his full support to the Sunni Arab coalition currently fighting the Shiite Houthi rebels that have taken over Yemen’s capital, Sanaa. Stating that Iranian attempts to “dominate the region” have “begun annoying us,” Erdogan noted that Turkey is ready to further involve itself in the conflict “if there is a role to play.”
The Islamist government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has sentenced two cartoonists to 11 months in prison for drawing a magazine cover in which some claim it is implied that Erdogan is homosexual. The cartoon also overtly depicts Erdogan discussing killing journalists.
The Turkish Parliament is considering an extensive Internet regulation bill that has been expanded this week to include a ban on sharing content prohibited by the state–not just punishment for those who publish the content originally.
Fuat Özgür Çalapkulu, the head of Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (AKP), raised many eyebrows when he tweeted that Turkey, a member of NATO, needs to be ready for ‘Caliph’ Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Hurriyet Daily News caught Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan holding forth about his role in shaping American health care at the inauguration of a new health complex in Ankara.
At press time, President Obama has not yet congratulated the new Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry denounced on Saturday a recent report adopted by theEuropean Parliament that called on European Union member states to recognizeArmenian claims of genocide at the hands of the late Ottoman Empire.
Turkish education officials are pulling a textbook from grade schools featuring a children’s story in which hyenas dismiss the idea of women being freely able to choose their own careers for fear that they will “not even want to start a family.”
The Turkish government has announced plans to expand Internet access to the nation’s poorest families. The announcement follows a blanket ban on more than 68,000 websites and years of attempts at Internet censorship under the ruling AK Party, led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The persecution of individuals speaking ill of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan continues, as more stories surface of people silenced or punished for disagreeing with the president. In an incident this week, a young cleaning lady in a private firm was fired after allegedly posting insults against Erdogan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Facebook.
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A 13-year-old boy in Turkey was swept out of class by police in an arrest his father was later informed was the result of a Facebook post in which his son allegedly insulted the nation’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
A French-Armenian protester attacked Turkish Ambassador to France Hakkı Akil on Monday during a talk at Paris’s Descartes University, running up to his podium and drenching him in pomegranate juice.
With Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress to discuss Iranian nukes on March 3, one need ponder President Obama’s continuing rebukes of the Israeli Prime Minister for doing so.
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Reports indicate Egypt, Italy, Russia planning military action in Libya; Egypt court declares Hamas to be a terrorist organization; Egypt and Turkey may try to create a ‘Sunni front’ with Saudi Arabia
Justice and Development Party (AKP) candidates in Turkey, from regional positions to the Turkish legislature, are donning medieval Ottoman garb in their advertising campaigns, in an attempt to harken back to the strength of the Islamist Ottoman Empire.
The Turkish government has evacuated the site of the Tomb of Süleyman Şah and relocated the tomb’s priceless artifacts to protect it from the Islamic State. The Syrian government is calling the move a “flagrant aggression,” as Turkey did not request permission to traverse sovereign Syrian territory to reach the tomb.
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A legislative floor debate on a controversial homeland security bill rapidly descended into chaos in Turkey late Tuesday night into early Wednesday morning, with ruling Islamist AKP party members fiercely beating opposition party members and using the ceremonial gavel to break ribs.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Mexico for two days to “enhance bilateral” ties. The Muslim president used his public appearance in the Mexican capital to send a message to the United States government, however, and to attack President Barack Obama.