Turkey

ANKARA, Turkey – Romania and Turkey signed a memorandum of understanding in Istanbul on Friday (April 3rd) regarding Romania’s participation in the Black Sea naval operation Harmony. The two countries will take part in the exercises, along with Ukraine and Russia. Black Sea Harmony is an initiative launched by Turkey …

The Turkish Cooperation and Development Agency (TİKA) will construct 100 residential units for Georgians displaced by the country’s most recent war. Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony near the Georgian city of Gori on Saturday, TİKA head Musa Kulaklıkaya said that the construction of the units will be completed soon and …

ANKARA, Turkey – Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Wednesday (April 1st) that he is mulling changes in the government after his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) suffered its worst election result in seven years. The AKP won 39% of the votes in Sunday’s local elections, falling well …

ANKARA, Turkey – President Abdullah Gul hosted the third trilateral meeting among counterparts from Afghanistan and Pakistan on Wednesday (April 1st). Gul, Afghanistan’s Hamid Karzai and Pakistan’s Asif Ali Zardari discussed ways to strengthen relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan, joint economic projects, and the fight against terrorism in the context …

MADRID, Spain – A Spanish court has released on bail Remzi Kartal, a former lawmaker from Turkey’s disbanded Democracy Party and suspected former commander of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Turkish media reported on Monday (March 30th).

ANKARA, Turkey – Six people, including opposition Great Union Party (BBP) leader Muhsin Yazicioglu, died in a helicopter crash in the southern province of Kahramanmaras, Interior Minister Besir Atalay said on Friday (March 27th). Yazicioglu’s helicopter crashed Wednesday in bad weather. Searchers took two days to find the wreckage and …

BRUSSELS, Belgium/ANKARA, Turkey – Turkish President Abdullah Gul said Friday (March 27th) Ankara is not against “any candidate” for the post of NATO secretary-general. “Turkey does not have any particular objection [to Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen’s candidacy],” media reports quoted Gul as saying in Brussels.

MADRID, Spain – Spanish police have detained a alleged senior official of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), authorities announced on Friday (March 27th). The suspect is Remzi Kartal, a former lawmaker from Turkey’s disbanded Democracy Party (DEP) and allegedly a former PKK commander. He was apprehended last Monday in …

VATICAN CITY – Cypriot President Demetris Christofias met on Friday (March 27th) with Pope Benedict XVI as part of his four-day visit to the Holy See. Benedict XVI said he hopes the direct reunification talks between Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat will “bear fruit”. The Cypriot president …

Today, Kenan Evren, the leader of a 1980 military coup is falling from grace as are other coup-era generals in Turkey. For decades, he was the embodiment of a Turkish “pasha” general, one of those stern custodians of the republic’s secular principles, always ready to step in to salvage the …