Tag: Turkey

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the U.S. is working to secure the freedom of Pastor Andrew Brunson, who remains in a Turkish jail.

Turkey announced on Thursday the official end of the three-month “state of emergency” that began in July 2016.

The Central Bank of Venezuela has begun refining gold in Turkey in a bid to escape the pressure of international economic sanctions against the Maduro regime, the country’s mining minister announced on Wednesday.

Turkey’s Foreign Ministry responded Thursday to President Donald Trump’s characterization on Twitter of the arrest of American Pastor Andrew Brunson as a “total disgrace,” insisting that his prolonged detention is a “legal process” necessary for the country’s national security.

Turkish-backed paramilitary groups, working with the Syrian rebel Ahrar al-Sham militia, have reportedly taken to attacking and torturing Kurdish civilians in northern Afrin, Syria, witnesses alleged this week.

A Turkish court, to the dismay of U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, on Wednesday ruled against releasing Andrew Brunson, an American pastor imprisoned on terrorism and spying charges pending trial.

Turkish prosecutors opened an investigation against Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the head of the secularist opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), on Wednesday for tweeting a cartoon depicting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as several wild animals.

The United States is reportedly in talks with Turkey to convince them they should purchase the Raytheon Co. Patriot defense system as a potential alternative to the Russian S-400 systems Turkey currently has, a Reuters report revealed Monday.

The government of Turkey has yet to lift a state of emergency in place since a failed coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in 2016 despite promising to do so last Monday. The nation’s justice minister promised this Monday that the state of emergency would lift “within a few days.”

Tens of thousands of people rallied in Istanbul on Sunday night to mark the second anniversary of the failed military coup in July 2016.

The Iranian government claimed Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin will “soon” head to Tehran to meet Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss the status of Syria’s civil war.

Anyone who has concerns about the future of an increasingly ‘multicultural’ Netherlands in which the Dutch become a minority should leave, according to the leader of pro-migrant party DENK.

Adnan Oktar, an Islamic television host long accused of running a “sex cult” in Turkey, was arrested on Wednesday along with over one hundred of his supporters, many among them his scantily-clad female accomplices he calls “kittens.”

Venezuela’s socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro may have found an unlikely savior for his economy: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who invited Maduro to his inauguration Monday and appears to have facilitated meetings with Turkish investors.

An international survey has ranked Israel as the eighth most powerful nation in the world for the second consecutive year, narrowly ahead of Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

Anti-Trump comedian Kathy Griffin took to Twitter Monday to condemn President Donald Trump preemptively for what she described as an inevitable conclusion of the reelection of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Turkey: that Trump “will drop to his knees and blow this dictator.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced during his inaugural address Monday that Turkey is entering a “new era,” where the nation will take center stage in geopolitics and citizens are expected to submit to the will of the state for the greater good of Turkish identity.

Turkey’s push for full European Union (EU) membership will receive fresh impetus under reappointed Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, who revealed Tuesday that changes are already being to better coordinate relations with the supranational body.

Recently re-elected Turkish president Reccip Erdogan invited Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro to his inauguration as the two men currently hold talks in Istanbul. 

The government of Turkey issued a blanket decree Sunday firing 18,632 state employees for unspecified “links with terror groups” and has increased the number of arrests for “insulting the president” ahead of the inauguration of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Monday.

Turkey denounced the embargo imposed by its NATO ally the United States on state sponsor of terror Iran as a “mistake,” arguing that America “does not have the right” to force other countries to implement its unilateral decision,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told the state-run Anadolu Agency (AA) on Friday.

Turkey reportedly announced this week that it has agreed to build four of its indigenous “Ada-class” naval corvette warships for Pakistan’s military, marking an unprecedented export deal for the country.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım told the nation’s state-run Anadolu Agency on Thursday that the newly re-elected government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will end the national state of emergency, imposed after a failed coup in 2016, on Monday.

Turkish state media published a column Tuesday blaming the “deliberate ignorance” among Iran’s ruling elite for triggering the series of recent protests throughout the Islamic Republic.

Populist Austrian Vice Chancellor and leader of the Freedom Party (FPÖ) Heinz-Christian Strache has said that Turks in Austria who voted for Islamist Recep Tayyip Erdoğan should return to Turkey.

The Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) sold illegally obtained gas and oil to the Russian- and Iranian-backed Syrian regime as well as to Turkey while it ruled Iraq and Syria, Kurdistan 24 learned from a jailed senior commander from the jihadist group.

According to a Russian state media report related by Turkey’s Hurriyet Daily News, the United States is planning to send next-generation B61 nuclear gravity bombs to NATO bases in several European countries, including Turkey. The bomb is said to be compatible with F-35 joint strike fighters, which Turkey is also due to receive amid some controversy.

LGBT Turks staged a gay pride rally Sunday in Istanbul despite warnings by police that the event was not legal, after reportedly coming to a last-minute agreement to allow a smaller gathering. Police nonetheless attacked congregants with rubber bullets and arrested at least five, ending the event the same way it has for the past four years.

ISTANBUL, Turkey — Gay rights groups and activists pressed ahead with the Istanbul Pride parade on Sunday despite Turkish authorities banning the event for a fourth year in a row.

BERLIN (AP) – German authorities say they have arrested a 27-year-old German woman suspected of being part of the Islamic State group’s “morality police” in Iraq. Federal prosecutors said Monday that Jennifer W. traveled to Iraq via Turkey and Syria

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu blamed Syrian regime allies Russia and Iran, as well as the United States, on Friday for dictator Bashar al-Assad’s bombardment of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and other rebel forces in southern Syria in violation of the de-escalation zone established by Moscow and Washington.

Turkey and its freshly re-elected President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are not the most popular names at the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization these days, but Turkey is reportedly seeking an expanded role in NATO nonetheless.

Erdogan’s position is that he should be an Ottoman emperor at war with America’s allies and directing America’s enemies. It would be a mistake to let him lead the charge with a hundred F-35s.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo explicitly told a Senate panel on Wednesday that maintaining America’s relationship with its NATO ally Turkey “has been difficult” in recent years, citing the United States support for Syrian Kurds considered terrorists by Ankara as a hurdle.

A spokesperson for Turkish President Recep Erdogan told Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) to “shut up” on Tuesday after he urged people not to congratulate the Turkish strongman on his controversial election victory on Sunday.