Turkey carried out airstrikes against what it said are bases for armed Kurdish groups in northern Syria and Iraq, claiming that they were used as a base for attacks on Turkey, including the explosion at a popular pedestrian mall in downtown Istanbul last weekend that left six dead and dozens …
Read More »‘PKK, US behind Istanbul bombing’: Turkish official
Turkey’s Interior Minister Suleiman Soylu said in a statement in parliament on 18 November that the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) was an arm of US intelligence and reiterated his earlier comments by denouncing Washington for its support for the Kurdish militia.
Read More »Turkey launches ‘payback’ strikes against SDF in northern Syria
In what it called retaliation for the deadly Istanbul blast on 13 October, the Turkish military launched over a dozen airstrikes against Kurdish positions in northern Syria in the late hours of 19 November and into the morning of the next day, killing members of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces …
Read More »Turkey Briefing
At 15:17 p.m. Sunday, a CCTV camera picked up a woman in black hijab and tight camouflage pants walking at Taksim Square. A few minutes later, another camera caught her shopping in a store on Istiklal Street. After sitting on a bench for about 45 minutes, at 16:11 she took …
Read More »The Russian-Turkish Bond to Harm the West
Turkey’s skies remain open to Russian airlines and its doors remain open to hundreds of thousands of Russians and their money. Turkey’s exports to Russia are surging. Russian cash helped to plug the growing hole in Turkey’s foreign currency reserves — and at a time when Erdogan needs foreign money …
Read More »Turkey in Yemen: An evolving foreign policy
Throughout the eight years of war in Yemen, Ankara has seen its policies towards the country shift several times due to Turkey’s own changing political and economic situation. Turkey’s foreign policy under the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) is based on the ideology of “Neo-Ottomanism.” Ankara employs soft …
Read More »Istanbul Blast: PKK Rejects Involvement
The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a Turkish-Kurdish militia group, which is banned in Turkey as a terrorist organization, said on Monday that it was not involved in the Sunday explosion in Istanbul. “We have nothing to do with this incident and it is well-known by the public that we would …
Read More »Syrian jihadi group exploits poverty in Idlib to attract new members
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which controls Idlib, is taking advantage of the difficult living conditions of the people to attract more people into its ranks by offering high salaries. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) is still the largest and most dominant faction in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib, amid its continuous attempts …
Read More »US, Russian spy chiefs meet in Turkey over Ukraine war
CIA chief warns his Russian counterpart “on the consequences of the use of nuclear weapons” during face-to-face talks in Ankara. US and Russian spy chiefs traveled to Turkey’s capital for a delicate meeting amid increasing fears that Russia may be readying to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine. CIA Director William …
Read More »Turkey points to Kurdish militants for deadly Istanbul bombing
Turkish security forces have arrested a Syrian woman they say confessed to carrying out the attack under instructions from Kobani, but both the Kurdistan Workers Party and Syrian Kurdish forces deny any involvement. Ankara pointed the finger at the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and its Syrian offshoot as the …
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