If the Democratic Union Party (PYD) condemns the outlawed PKK, it may provide a way for Turkey to open a channel with the group that is cooperating with the U.S. in Syria, CHP Deputy Chair Öztürk Yılmaz told reporters in Washington
Comment(s)5/29/2017
Defending champion Beşiktaş clinched the Turkish Super League title after beating a relegated Gazinantepspor 4-0 away only one week before the ending late on May 28
Comment(s)5/28/2017
A number of parts of buildings on the Galatasaray Islet in Istanbul’s Bosphorus were demolished early on May 28, after the rejection of an evacuation order by one of its tenants, state-run Anadolu Agency has reported
The global network of the Fethullahist Terror Organization (FETÖ) is made up of more than 500 companies, hundreds of foundations and media outlets, and over 1,000 schools across 170 countries, a report by Turkey’s National Intelligence Agency (MİT) has stated.
Turkey and the European Union are set to focus on upgrading the Customs Union agreement and a migrant deal, according to an agreed 12-month road map on bilateral ties, with the first gathering to be held on June 13
The endorsement of a new road map could help reenergize Ankara-Brussels ties if Turkey softens its restrictions on fundamental freedoms, retired ambassador Ünal Çeviköz tells the Hürriyet Daily News, adding that issues of democracy will remain on the agenda if the EU does not opt for simply transactional relations with Turkey
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said the government still has a problem in “ruling the cultural and social field” in Turkey, despite being in power for 14 years
A French photojournalist detained by police in Turkey for nearly three weeks has ended a week-long hunger strike, press freedom body Reporters Without Borders (RSF) stated on May 27.
Turkey will never allow another coup attempt to happen again, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan vowed on May 27, speaking at the first iftar fast-breaking meal of Ramadan, state-run Anadolu Agency has reported
A Turkish court arrested two journalists from daily Sözcü late on May 26 over alleged links to the July 15, 2016, failed coup attempt, widely believed to have been masterminded by the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ).
A delegation from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has visited two educators, who were arrested after being on hunger strike for over 75 days in protest at being dismissed from their jobs through state of emergency decrees, in a jail in Ankara
Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan confirmed in a phone call their mutual desire for a deepening of the strategic partnership between their two countries, the Kremlin said on May 27
Comment(s)5/27/2017
DIPLOMACY
BANGKOK
The United Nations expressed grave concern on May 27 over the deportation by Myanmar and Thailand of a Turkish national over alleged connections to the July 2016 coup attempt in Turkey.
Comment(s) 5/28/2017
BUSINESS
Nerdun Hacıoğlu - MOSCOW
Russia has awarded a Turkish businessman for his efforts in the normalization of ties between Ankara and Moscow after a major row between the two sides last year
ANKARA – Anadolu Agency
Turkey has voiced its concerns over the escalation of violence that took place in Libya’s capital Tripoli on May 26.
İZMİR
Fitch ratings agency has increased its national long-term rating on İzmir, the third largest province in Turkey on the Aegean coast, to its top grading “AAA” from the current “AA+” with a stable outlook.
ISTANBUL
The German government will hold discussions with the Turkish government for another two weeks over the resolution of the latest refusal of a German delegation’s visit to the İncirlik air base in the southern province of Adana, Der Spiegel reported on May 27
Comment(s) 5/27/2017
ANKARA
Turkish warplanes hit outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) targets in Turkey’s eastern province of Van and northern Iraq on May 27 and 28
Fikret Bila - ANKARA
Ankara and Brussels will pursue a one-year calendar to chart the future course of Turkey’s EU accession bid, President Erdoğan says
The leading US newspaper is reporting that the FBI is now investigating meetings that Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, had in December 2016, with Russian officials
Canada’s official opposition Conservatives on May 27 chose a 38-year-old leader to fight a 2019 election against Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau but only after a fierce contest that revealed internal divisions
PORTLAND
A man fatally stabbed two passengers aboard a Portland, Oregon, commuter train after they tried to stop him from harassing two young women who appeared to be Muslim, police said on May 27
OPINION - all the columnists »
Zbigniew Brzezinski, who passed away on May 26, 2017 at the age of 89, was one of the U.S.’s most highly praised foreign and security policy gurus of the past half-century
Another disastrous project with the name “peace” is on its way, with U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent consequent visits to Saudi Arabia and Israel revealing the pillars of this new policy. The new administration is appealing to the U.S.’s so-called old Sunni allies in search of a rehabilitation of Muslims’ relations with Israel, and the interests and willingness seem mutual.
Commenting on the long expected and highly anticipated collapse of the Cyprus talks process, Turkish Cypriot President Mustafa Akıncı placed the blame on the shoulders of his Greek Cypriot counterpart Nikos Anastasiades.
If you follow those who only complain about negativities around them but offer no solutions, it becomes easy to believe that the world is no longer a place that can be lived
U.S. President Donald Trump signed a series of agreements amounting to $380 billion in his Saudi Arabia visit. He did not refer to any of the Islamophobic speeches we frequently heard during his election campaign.
For Greece, last week was a bad week. First, the government could not secure an agreement on a relief of its huge debt in a meeting with finance ministers of the Eurozone and the IMF on May 22.
There were two bombs on May 22. The one in Britain killed at least 22 people and injured 120 as they came out of a concert at Manchester Arena.
There is just one good piece of news regarding Turkish foreign policy nowadays, but there are many bad ones that have stained the outlook on Turkey when evaluated from abroad.
There is no question that there is an augmenting quest for anything Ottoman in the recent years.
The cross of a 12th century Byzantine chapel, located outside the ancient city of Myra in the southern province of Antalya, has reportedly been stolen
“A Season of Daphne,” directed by Mehmet Öztürk, won the award for best picture at the 9th Montreal Turkish Film Festival on May 21.
Inspired by true events, ‘Black Crows’ airs over Ramadan, prime time for television viewers in the Arab world and it is the first television series depicting life under ISIL rule in Syria and Iraq
The 70th Cannes Festival is set to end on May 28. Fatih Akın’s ‘In the Fade’ is among strong contenders for the Golden Palm.
Turkish academic and painter Aydın Ayan celebrates the 45th anniversary of his life in the arts. A catalog of his works has been published by Mimar Sinan University Publications
Gaziantepspor has already been relegated but the locals of the culinary capital of the country are taking solace in the fact that more than 25,000 Beşiktaş fans will flock to the southeastern province on May 28 to watch the defending champion attempt to clinch its second title in a row.
From May 27 to June 24, Mövenpick Hotel Istanbul will offer an extensive iftar buffet, highlighting the rich heritage of Turkish and Ottoman cuisines to the accompaniment of live “fasıl” music.
Comment(s)5/26/2017
In our first review we spoke about two films at Cannes this year (“Sea Sorrow” and “Jupiter’s Moon”) focusing on one of the main themes of this year’s festival: The migration crisis. This is only part of the overall crisis in today’s Europe, which includes the degeneration of the political and economic system as well as of human values.