Worldcrunch
ISTANBUL – As children in Istanbul packed their bags this week to start a new school year, protests broke out against the controversial “4+4+4” education reform, recently implemented by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). Large crowds gathered outside the Istanbul imam hatip religious schools on Fatih Street to protest the new education system […]
NTV, DAILY HURRIYET (Turkey), CNBC (USA) ISTANBUL – One police officer has died in Istanbul’s Sultangazi district, after a suicide bomber threw a grenade into a police station in the area, Turkish news channel NTV reported. Up to five people were injured and taken to hospital in critical condition, according to Daily Hurriyet. “First (the […]
US spy chief Patraeus makes low-profile visits to Ankara and Jerusalem, aiming to repair damage between two key U.S. allies.
HÜRRIYET, HABER 7 (Turkey) Worldcrunch At least 25 Turkish soldiers were confirmed dead Thursday, after a military depot exploded in the western province of Afyonkarahisar. Terrorism has been ruled out as a cause of the blast, which also left at least eight injured. Veysel Eroglu, the Minister of Forestry and Water, says the explosion Wednesday […]
NEW YORK – Turkey intends to keep up its diplomatic efforts to establish a buffer zone in Syria, despite the United Nations’ failure last week to reach a resolution at the Security Council meeting on Thursday. “How long are we going to sit and watch while an entire generation is being wiped out by random […]
It is hard to dispute that Iran’s geopolitical importance, both internationally and regionally, has been on the rise over the past decade. With the Arab Spring, the Islamic Republic saw a new opportunity. For Tehran, the Arab uprisings meant “the awakening of Islam,” the rise of Islamist political parties sympathetic to Iran’s plight, and a […]
ADDOUNIA TV (Syria), AL ARABIYA (UAE), LE MONDE (France) Worldcrunch Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said the situation in Syria is getting “better,” although his government needs more time to “win the battle” against rebels trying to overthrow him. Al-Assad was speaking in an exclusive interview with the Syrian pro-government TV station Addounia, which will be […]
HURRIYET, RADIKAL (Turkey) Worldcrunch ISTANBUL -There was hope that Turkey’s top technology experts could provide some clarity in the ongoing OdaTV case that’s roiled the country’s media and government elite for the past 18 months. But the long-awaited computer files report by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey, TUBITAK, has only fed more […]
ISTANBUL – For the first time in Turkey’s history, the Kurdish armed group PPK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) has kidnapped a Turkish lawmaker. Hüseyin Aygün, an MP for the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) was kidnapped last Sunday in the eastern province of Tunceli. PKK has claimed responsibility for the abduction and has promised to free […]
Big oil companies don’t think much of Iraq’s threats. They are lining up for oil prospection in Kurdistan, despite Baghdad’s ban on signing contracts with Kurdish authorities. Last week, Total announced it was purchasing 35% of two blocks located in Iraqi Kurdistan, while the Russian oil giant Gazprom Neft bought stakes in two blocks that […]
Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan targets PKK strongholds along the Syrian border after tensions last month sparked by Syria’s shooting down of a Turkish military jet. The move is part of a longstanding conflict over Kurdish minorities who live in b
Earlier this year, Prime Minister Erdogan called abortion “murder,” setting off protests in Turkey, where the practice has long been allowed early in pregnancies. Now, a woman who has an abortion after the 10th week faces three years in
Analysis: Don’t be fooled by the fact that Turkey’s Prime Minister Erdogan didn’t launch a military response to the downing of a Turkish jet. He has made it clear in other ways that Bashar Al-Assad’s days are numbered.
Turkish President Gul breaks government silence after downing of air force jet by Syria.
Prime Minister Erdogan has confirmed the introduction of Kurdish language elective classes, beginning in the fifth grade, hoping to placate the country’s largest minority. But some Kurds are hardly satisfied.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants plays to be submitted to public servants before they can be shown, and for inappropriate scenes to be “reformed.”
A women’s right to an abortion is rapidly vanishing in Turkey, as Prime Minister Erdogan recently called it “murder.”
Uniquely situated, NATO member Turkey is pushing fellow alliance members to rethink the approach to the withdrawal from Afghanistan slated for 2014. Turkish President Abdullah Gül also has his say on Pakistan, and addresses unfinished business with the ne
The Turkish Parliament is weighing whether to revise a clause in its Workplace Safety Law that could lead to the dismissal of employees who attend work after having consumed alcohol.
The euro zone’s lingering economic woes and ends to buying restrictions are making Turkey suddenly look like the place to be – especially for Western European retirees. Vacation homes go for as little as 130,000 euros. Pool included.
Internet access has been slowly but steadily spreading across Turkey, but for economic and even cultural reasons, there are still wide swaths of the population cut off from the digital revolution.
A strictly Muslim-focused social network called Salamworld is set to launch this summer, during Ramadan. The Turkish-based company is thinking big: 50 million users in three years, all interacting in a worldwide – and sex free – “umma.”
Op-Ed: Greedy landlords and shortsighted politicians are standing in the way of the passage of historic legislation that would better prepare Istanbul and the rest of the country for a major earthquake that experts say is likely to hit.
Ahu Aysel, owner of a hotel chain and ex-wife of the owner of Istanbul’s most popular soccer team, has paid big bucks for the chance at becoming the first Turkish citizen to go into space. She must be chosen in a lottery to board a commercial fli
Analysis: As bidding opens to foreign firms to build new nuclear facilities in Turkey, authorities in Ankara see immediate economic advantages to turning the projects over to Chinese firms. But blatant bypassing of more experienced European firms is also
Analysis: Critics who accuse Turkey’s ruling – and largely unchallenged – AKP of trying to gradually implement Sharia law are missing the point. Religious conservatism is indeed gaining ground in Turkey. But so too is secularization of the countr
Plans have long been in the works for a Turkish-language edition of Al Jazeera, which would help fulfil Turkey’s diplomatic ambitions in the Middle East. But first they must resolve internal and external politics, and decide if PKK are to be call
Op Ed: Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) won a recent battle over education reform by utterly marginalizing the opposition. These tactics indicate a dangerous trend for Turkey toward an ever more authoritarian government.
The Turkish government wants to isolate the armed Kurdish rebel group PKK, while opening up to the Kurds themselves. Ankara takes a lesson from Europe’s recent past, with an eye on how Kurds in Iraq and even Syria will affect the outcome.
Coach Özgür Gözüacik earned the respect of her players – and the attention of the media – after breaking into one of the world’s most male-dominated professions: professional soccer. Istanbul’s sole female coach, the 29-year-old yearns for a cham
Âlâ is the first Turkish women’s fashion magazine with ‘conservative chic’ sensibility. Founded last year, it’s a hit in a country that is both increasingly Islamic and worldly.
Op-Ed: Ankara’s is coming down hard against Kurdish opposition forces, including dozens of new arrests of journalists. It is a bad sign for the health of Turkey’s democracy, with the West watching and the Muslim world holding it up as a model in
Op-Ed: Turkey’s economy grew by 8% in the third quarter of 2011, the world’s fastest growth rate after China. At the same time, however, its trade deficit is ballooning. A hard landing awaits. When it arrives, Turkish policy makers must accept re
Analysis: Just a year ago, Prime Minister Erdo?an was viewed in many Western capitals with deep suspicion, accused of pushing Turkey towards an Islamic republic. Though basic positions haven’t changed, five specific Erdo?an actions have helped cr
The first gastarbeiter (guest workers) from Turkey came to Munich from Istanbul in 1961. Some of them took part in the recent 50th anniversary trip celebrating the bilateral recruitment agreement—and looked back to often painful memories.
Op-Ed: With newly constructed apartments reduced to rubble and the death toll nearing 600, Turkey must demand the truth about how unsafe buildings were allowed to rise.
On the scene after the 7.2 magnitude earthquake in Eastern Turkey on Sunday left more than 300 dead. But some are already wondering why newer, multi-story buildings collapsed, while one-and-two-story adobe structures showed no signs of damage at all.
Op-Ed: A series of attacks by banned Kurdish separatist outfit PKK has left 29 Turkish security personnel dead, opening grave questions for Turkey’s future.
Op-Ed: There will be a heavy price to pay for the recent detention of more than 150 accused of being part of a banned separatist Kurdish group. Those sure to benefit are hardliners on all sides as hopes grow dimmer for a democratic solution to the Kurdish
Prime Minister Erdogan vows a fierce response to the Kurdish rebels’ killing of police officers in southeastern Turkey. Reports cite the possibility of a coming Turkish ground assault across the Iraqi border to strike PKK rebel enclaves there.