Turkey - Page 61

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — British Prime Minister Theresa May on Saturday urged Turkey to sustain its democracy and abide by human rights standards during her meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that also drew promises of closer defense cooperation

In an interview with ABC News on Wednesday, President Trump said he would “absolutely do safe zones in Syria” as part of his effort to head off another refugee crisis.

Russia and Turkey are hailing the Syria peace talks in Kazakhstan as a rousing success.

Contents: Russia, Iran, Turkey sign farcical Syria peace agreement; Syria peace conference sees a return to ‘proximity talks’; The aftermath of the destruction of Aleppo

Turkey has arrested more than 1,600 people accused of being linked to the failed military coup in July 2016, including 1,218 suspected followers of the U.S.-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen.

Contents: Trump may permit US military cooperation with Russia in Syria; Russia will build major naval base in Tartus Syria

Samil Tayyar, a deputy for the ruling AKP Party of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, denounced NATO as a “terror organization” in a weekend interview.

The Turkish government has taken the opportunity of a visit from a high-ranking Japanese official to warn the east Asian country to beware of any ties to Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accuses of running an international terrorist network responsible for a failed coup against him in July.

Multiple Turkish media outlets are reporting that Abdulkadir Masharipov, the Uzbek terrorist responsible for the killing of 39 people at Istanbul’s Reina nightclub on New Year’s Eve, was detained in Iran and released before making his way into Turkey on Islamic State orders.

The European Union’s intelligence report on the true causes of July’s thwarted coup against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is not going to sit well with Erdogan or his officials.

The post-Obama power axis in the Middle East continues taking shape. On Tuesday, President Obama’s respected negotiating partners in Tehran declared the U.S. would not be welcome at Syrian peace talks in Kazakhstan next week.

The Turkish government has announced the capture of Abdulkadir Masharipov, who reportedly confessed to the massacre of 39 people at Istanbul’s Reina nightclub on New Year’s Eve.

Turkish police were questioning Tuesday the suspected jihadist who slaughtered 39 people on New Year’s night at an Istanbul nightclub, after capturing him in a raid on a residential area of the city after a long manhunt.

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmuş blamed “an intelligence organization” for helping organize the New Year’s Eve terrorist massacre that killed 39 people in Istanbul’s Reina nightclub. The Islamic State has taken credit for the attack.

Lithuanian Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis has taken a leaf out of President-Elect Donald J. Trump’s book, announcing a multi-million euro border fence to “ensure credible control of [the] eastern border of the European Union”.

Turkey was a key step closer on Monday to dramatically expanding the powers of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after parliament approved, on first reading, a bill critics fear will lead to one-man rule.

The Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) terrorist who allegedly killed 39 people and injured 39 others at the famous waterfront Reina nightclub in the Turkish capital of Istanbul is believed to have absconded with his 4-year-old son after the deadly attack, reports Hurriyet Daily News, citing anonymous police sources.

Forces loyal to Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, backed by Russian airstrikes and Iran-allied fighters, violated the ongoing truce in Syria 399 times in the first 11 days, according to the Turkey-based opposition group Syrian National Coalition.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan took the country’s lawmakers to task Friday over an “ugly” brawl in parliament during a vote on a hugely controversial bill bolstering his powers left several injured.

Contents: Peace conference to reunite Cyprus adjourns without a deal; History of Cyprus suggests that there is little hope for permanent reunification

The Turkish Parliament descended into a brawl for the first time in 2017 — but far from the first time in recent memory — following a vote on establishing a presidential system that opponents argument would dangerously consolidate the power of current President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus has reportedly blamed the West, and specifically President Barack Obama, for the unprecedented crisis in Syria and the spread of terrorist groups to other countries in the Middle East.

The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a group the United States and other NATO allies designated a terrorist organization, claims its fighters will only leave Sinjar, Iraq, once it goes back to the control of the Yazidis, a minority group that calls the area its home.

A mob chanting, “there is no god but Allah,” attacked three young Turkish citizens on Monday at a shopping mall after they unfurled a banner reading, “Turkey is secular and will remain secular,” and protested Islamic State attacks on the Eurasian country.

Contents: Thousands of migrants risk freezing to death as deep freeze spreads across Europe; Migrants in eastern Europe trapped in deep freeze temperatures; European Commission resettlement plan appears to be a disaster

Turkey’s Parliament on Monday kicked off debate on proposed constitutional amendments that would hand Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s largely ceremonial presidency sweeping executive powers and Erdogan himself the possibility to serve two more five-year terms.

Speaking to the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet, former Turkish intelligence head Cevdet Öneş said that the Islamic State jihadist responsible for a mass shooting in Istanbul’s Reina nightclub on New Year’s Eve was a professional who “definitely” received some help from someone within the club.

Memet Kocarslan, who owns the Istanbul nightclub where 39 people were gunned down in cold blood minutes after 2017 began, contends that Turkey’s bans on private ownership of popular semiautomatic rifles made it easy for a terrorist who ignored the ban to outgun police and overpower security at the facility.

A new, sharia-compliant Turkish marriage guide allows husbands to strike their disobedient wives, counsels women not to talk during sex and suggests that polygamy creates healthy “competition” in a marriage.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Monday he believes that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will not make the same mistakes as the outgoing administration in relations with Turkey.

Turkey’s parliament on Monday begins debating a controversial new draft constitution aimed at expanding the powers of the presidency under Recep Tayyip Erdogan that is expected to be put to a referendum by the spring.

An alleged lack of allied support for Turkey’s offensive in the Middle East has reportedly prompted officials in Ankara to reconsider American use of Incirlik Air Base for their bombing campaign against the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL).

ISTANBUL — The once bustling Grand Bazaar in Istanbul is astonishingly quiet. The shops and restaurants in the city’s trendy Istiklal Street are all but empty of foreign customers and the hotels in the upscale Nisantasi district are nearly deserted.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Secretary-General Antonio Guterres believes there is “a historic opportunity” for a breakthrough in upcoming negotiations that would reunite the divided Mediterranean island of Cyprus after more than four decades, the United Nations said Friday. The new

A dual Canadian citizen was arrested last week in southern Kars, Turkey, after posting multiple Facebook updates insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, calling him “America’s biyatch” and an “idiot.”

Turkish officials are blaming Kurdish militants for a car bomb and gun attack on a courthouse in the city of Izmir on Thursday. A police officer and a court worker were killed, while five others were wounded in the attack.