Turkey - Page 65

(AFP) – President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to call a referendum on the future of Turkey’s EU membership bid, while Brussels accuses Ankara of “backsliding” on key commitments.

BERLIN, Nov 18 (Reuters) – The number of Turks seeking asylum in Germany is up sharply this year, and has been rising steadily since a failed military coup on July 15, a German newspaper group reported on Friday.

The Turkish military claims there has recently been at least one instance of infighting between older and newer members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) — a group declared a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States, and other NATO members.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is getting closer to that dictatorship he has always wanted, as proposed changes to the Turkish constitution could keep him in office until 2029.

ISTANBUL — Turkey’s state-run news agency says authorities will deport a French journalist who was detained while conducting an interview in the southeast near the border with Syria. Anadolu Agency says 52-year-old Olivier Bertrand was detained Friday in Gaziantep for

Moscow (AFP) – A flotilla of Russian warships is now in the eastern Mediterranean off the Syrian coast after being sent to reinforce Russia’s military in the area, a naval commander said on state television.

BERLIN (AP) — About 20,000 protesters demonstrated Saturday in the western German city of Cologne against the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The rally in an industrial area along the Rhine River brought together pro-Kurdish demonstrators and members

Turkish media have picked up an opinion piece by key Trump foreign policy adviser Gen. Michael Flynn calling for the extradition of Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, while at least one Turkish official has expressed eagerness to work with an incoming Trump administration to have the cleric returned to his home country.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, facing his own anti-Islamist resistance at home, called Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro on Wednesday to express his support for the socialist regime and the calls for “dialogue” with the opposition, many of whom Maduro has imprisoned.

The democratic election of Republican Donald Trump to the U.S. presidency has trigged a bizarre backlash against America’s free and fair election in the radical leftist communities native to the country’s big cities.

Contents: EU’s expected scathing report on Turkey may scuttle refugee deal; Austria says EU must prepare for collapse of Turkey migrant deal; Hungary’s Viktor Orbán defeated in attempt to ban refugee quotas

The Turkish pro-Erdogan publication Daily Sabah claims Russian officials are seeking meetings with their Turkish counterparts to discuss the placement of an air defense system in Turkey.

American officials have assured the government of Turkey that, while the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are largely Kurdish fighters, the Kurds will not take on the main role of liberating the Islamic State “capital” of Raqqa, Syria.

U.S. government and military leaders have begun the mission to convince the government of Turkey that cooperating with Syrian Kurdish militias, which Ankara considers terrorist elements, is the only way to defeat the Islamic State in its self-proclaimed capital, Raqqa.

“I don’t care if they call me a dictator or whatever else,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a defiant speech this Sunday, objecting to those who have called the mass arrests of opposition legislators an alarming challenge to the nation’s democratic institutions.

Turkey on Monday slammed EU criticism of its crackdown following the July 15 coup bid and warned relations were increasingly fragile as the bloc crafts a report on its stalled membership bid.

Austria’s foreign minister said Monday the EU should change its stance on Turkey following the recent crackdown and stop the flow of billions of euros in aid if Ankara fails to stick to its migrants deal with the bloc.

Contents: US-backed Kurdish militias in Syria make surprise announcement of Raqqa operation; Is Syria’s Bashar al-Assad a ‘necessary evil’?

Contents: Turkey’s Erdogan eliminates more opposition in quest for power; Erdogan continues his war against Turkey’s media

U.S.-backed Kurdish-led Syrian forces have announced the start of a campaign to retake the Islamic State’s de facto capital of Raqqa from the extremist group.

Thousands of Russians have been fighting in Syria in anti-government ranks, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview published on Saturday, issuing a warning of possible attacks by them on their return home. Last year, Moscow launched an

After repeatedly accusing its members of being “supported by a terrorist organization” and “backing suicide bombers,” the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has finally arrested the senior leadership of the Kurd-friendly People’s Democratic Party (HDP) in a midnight raid.

On Friday’s Breitbart News Daily, SiriusXM host Alex Marlow asked former Navy SEAL and Blackwater founder Erik Prince for his take on the “happy talk we’re hearing” about the operation to liberate Mosul, Iraq, from the Islamic State (ISIS).

Internet users in Turkey were on Friday experiencing severe difficulties accessing social media after the country was plunged into new turbulence by the detention of its main pro-Kurdish leaders, correspondents and a watchdog said.

Turkish police on Friday detained the two co-leaders of the country’s main pro-Kurdish party, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), and several other MPs in a major escalation of the crackdown in the wake of a failed July 15 coup.

“Barack Obama has decided to come to Antalya once his presidency tenure is over. If he plays with me I will give him a few-stroke lead,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced on Thursday.

A Turkish cabinet minister issued a call to the nation’s mothers to adjust their children’s lullabies to include the policy platform of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, claiming those who are children now wield a special responsibility to make the nation great by the 600th anniversary of the Muslim conquest of Turkey.

The Shiite-led government in Baghdad has vowed to dismantle predominantly Sunni Turkey following Ankara’s military build along the Iraqi border.

ANKARA (AFP) – Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim on Tuesday dismissed a “red line” warning on press freedom by the European Parliament’s president following the detention of several journalists from the opposition daily Cumhuriyet.

An unnamed “senior U.S. State Department official” told reporters Tuesday that American law enforcement evidence suggests that Turkish Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen operates his charter schools like an “organized crime” syndicate, not a religious group, and that Turkey’s demands to extradite Gulen for criminal activity “may have some merit.”

Two weeks since announcing the start of the operation to liberate the city of Mosul from the Islamic State, the Iraqi army has crossed the city limits, and authorities claim troops are progressing steadily in capturing the city’s dense urban neighborhoods.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Tuesday that Turkey is considering reinstating limited use of the death penalty if there is an agreement between political parties.

The U.S. State Department has ordered civilian family members of the consulate staff in Istanbul to leave Turkey entirely, due to escalating terrorist threats.

Turkey has been anxiously following the Iraqi government’s efforts to liberate the city of Mosul from extremist factions and re-establish its authority there, an Arab intelligence official said.

Contents: Shia militias in Iraq may or may not be attacking Tal Afar near Mosul; ISIS using tens of thousands of men, women and children as human shields in Mosul; Conflicts among ethnic groups lead to chaos in Mosul operation

Turkish authorities have dismissed more than 10,000 civil servants over their suspected links with U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, blamed by Ankara for orchestrating the failed coup in July.