The Turkish Armed Forces on Sept. 23 increased the level of a drill it has been conducting near the Iraqi border for the past five days as additional troops were deployed.
Comment(s)9/23/2017
The chief of staff of Turkey, Iran and Iraq will hold trilateral talks soon amid latest developments in the region.
The Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) region does not only accommodate Kurds, but also Turkmens and Arabs, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stressed on his way back from New York, when questioned about the planned independence referendum in the region.
The Iraqi Kurdish independence referendum will have serious consequences and trigger fresh crises in the region, Presidential spokesperson İbrahim Kalın said on Sept. 23.
Turkey's steps in response to the Iraqi Kurdish independence referendum will have diplomatic, political, economic and security dimensions, Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım said on Sept. 23.
The Turkish government will seek a mandate from the Parliament to send troops to Iraq and Syria after consecutive security meetings where measures to be taken against the Arbil administration have been decided.
Turkey on Sept. 22 called for the cancellation of the Iraqi Kurdish independence vote, ruling out any postponement.
Turkey’s National Security Council Meeting (MGK) which convened under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan ended late on Sept. 22, stressing that the Iraqi Kurdish independence referendum was illegitimate and unacceptable.
Istanbul Mayor Kadir Topbaş on Sept. 22 announced that he was stepping down from his post, which he had held for the past 13 years
Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım said on Sept. 22 that Ankara "will not refrain from using its natural rights" regarding the Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government’s (KRG) independence referendum slated for Sept. 25.
The winner of Miss Turkey 2017 was decrowned on Sept. 22 a couple of hours after the beauty pageant due to her alleged tweet about the July 15, 2016 coup attempt.
Comment(s)9/22/2017
One soldier and a worker were killed on Sept. 23 in an attack by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants in the southeastern province of Hakkari, the governor’s office said.
POLITICS
ANKARA
The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) will support a parliamentary motion on a one-year mandate authorizing the deployment of the Turkish army abroad “if it will be about counter-terrorism”
Comment(s) 9/22/2017
DIPLOMACY
NEW YORK - Reuters
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Sept. 21 Turkey will deploy troops in Syria’s northern Idlib region as part of a so-called de-escalation agreement brokered by Russia last month.
KOCAELİ
At least 19 people were killed after a fishing boat carrying migrants sank off the northwestern Turkish coast of Kocaeli in the Black Sea early on Sept. 22
Turkey’s Central Bank expects economic growth to remain robust in the third quarter following a 5.1 percent growth rate in the second quarter.
Turkey’s Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) launched an investigation against a mufti over his sexist comments insinuating women who do not wear the headscarf were like “products sold at half price” on Sept. 22.
ANKARA - Anadolu Agency
The construction of a concrete barrier along hundreds of kilometers of Turkey’s border with Syria is expected to be completed by the end of September, a Turkish official told state-run Anadolu Agency on Sept. 22.
QAMISHLI - Agence France-Presse
Residents of Kurdish-majority areas of northern Syria began voting on Sept. 22 in the region's first local elections, as part of a push to cement a semi-autonomous regional government.
BERLIN
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her beleaguered rival Martin Schulz embarked on a final push for votes on Sept. 22 ahead of a weekend election, both seeking to beat back a challenge from the emboldened hard-right.
Turkish novelist Aslı Erdoğan received Erich Maria Remarque Peace Prize in the German city of Osnabrück on Sept. 22.
ISTANBUL
Turkish Airlines has kicked off talks to order a total of 40 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner jets, the company announced on Sept. 22.
OPINION - all the columnists »
We do not yet know whether U.S. President Donald Trump’s Sept. 21 message - in which he said he had “become close friends” with President Tayyip Erdoğan and relations between the two countries were “at their best level ever” - really is good news for those hoping for an improvement in Turkish-American relations.
I first noticed just how widespread the use of drugs in schools has become in Turkey when I did a news story on the subject two years ago.
Immediately after his return from the United States, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan held a key security meeting and then chaired the cabinet in order to announce Turkey’s counter-measures against the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) bid to vote for independence on Sept. 25.
Let’s start with what President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has recently said. “Those who were sent to the West to study came back only having taken in Western culture and having left their identities there.”
American writers in Turkey infamously get their ideas from our taxi drivers, so I make a point of returning the favor when I am in the U.S. Usually, you say the name of your country and the taxi driver tells you what that name currently resonates with in the capitol.
Trying to woo nationalists, fascists, religious fanatics and such segments of the Greek Cypriot society that delivered oaths on hand grenades to “drink Turkish Cypriot society,” repeating at every opportunity that the “majority cannot succumb to the minority,” and at the same time trying to fool Turks with some empty “we want federation” rhetoric must be a very tiring occupation.
In the 15th Istanbul Biennial, the theme grabs you almost as much as the works of art.
“Ever since Lausanne, we have dreamed of establishing a state,” Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) leader Massoud Barzani said in 2016 during a visit to the U.S.
Arkas Art Center’s new exhibition ‘Landscapes of Water’ shows the sea at its best and its worst through the eyes of 70 artists from the 19th and early 20th century
The Mor Barsavmo Monastery, one of the two monasteries in a Midyat village, needs attention and awaits protection
The 16th Filmekimi, organized by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV), will be bringing cinephiles in seven different cities together with outstanding films between Sept. 29 and Oct. 8. The festival will travel to six more cities during October.
A strong Beşiktaş will seek a first away win since 2005 against Fenerbahçe, another title challenger that suffered a bad start to the season, in the first derby game of the year on Sept. 23.
Shipwrecks from 1,000-2,700 years ago were discovered on southern coasts. Officials think they do not need to be removed and can be protected in their original place
The Monumental Fountain (Nymphaeum) in the ancient city of Side has been undergoing restoration since 2004, and it will soon finally be completed and opened to visitors
A two-month-old fawn, which has been found by locals in the western province of Afyonkarahisar after she lost her mother because it was blind, has undergone cataract surgery in the Afyon Kocatepe University (AKU) Veterinary Faculty Health Application and Research Center.
FOLDED CORNER - ‘The New Sultan: Erdoğan and the Crisis of Modern Turkey’ by Soner Çağaptay (IB Tauris, 240 pages, $25)
Comment(s)9/21/2017
It wasn’t exactly instant karma when Beatle John Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono, heard about a Polish beverage company’s new drink called “John Lemon.” She threatened legal action alleging that it infringed on the trademark of her late husband.
Offices in the heart of Manhattan aim to give Turkish firms a foothold in the world’s biggest economy and boost exports