Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone conversation on the situation in Syria and Iraq on Sept. 25, private broadcaster CNN Türk has reported.
Comment(s)9/25/2017
Turkey would intervene militarily if the Turkmen population in Iraq is targeted, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu warned in a televised interview on Sept. 25, amid a series of warnings from Ankara over the independence referendum in northern Iraq.
Fourteen Turkish-origin German citizens were elected to Germany’s Bundestag in the Sept. 24 general elections.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan hinted on Sept. 25 that Turkey could launch an operation to the Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) if necessary, citing a previous operation in northern Syria.
Turkey will not “embark on an adventure” but it will respond if its interests are harmed amid the Sept. 25 Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) independence referendum
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Sept. 25 that “Buddhist terror” targeting Rohingya Muslims is ongoing in Myanmar.
Turkish customs minister Bülent Tüfenkci said on Sept. 25 habur border gate with northern Iraq was not closed, tight controls imposed on traffic.
Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on Sept. 25 criticized recent Russian airstrikes in the Syrian rebel stronghold of Idlib, saying the bombardments killed several civilians and moderate opposition members in the region.
Some of the suspects in the deadly Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) bomb attack in the capital Ankara two years ago received training in the Syrian border city of Tel Abyad for 40 days, according to a secret witness’ testimony in the ongoing case’s fifth hearing, state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Sept. 25
The Istanbul municipal council will meet on Sept. 28 to elect a new provincial mayor, after Kadir Topbaş announced last week that he was stepping down from the post, which he had held for the past 13 years
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has accelerated work to amend six different laws related to elections in a bid to harmonize existing legislation for the shift to an executive presidential system, which will fully go into effect after dual elections in 2019
A total of 64 migrants were caught on a plastic boat off the touristic town of Kuşadası in the Aegean province of Aydın.
LOCAL
BALIKESİR
A group of local hunters joined the 95th anniversary celebrations marking the liberation of the northwestern town of Erdek from Greek occupation during Turkey’s War of Independence, together with dead pigs that they hunted, Doğan News Agency reported on Sept. 25.
Comment(s) 9/25/2017
MIDEAST
Uğur Ergan / Nuray Babacan - ANKARA
The government is planning to put measures set out in the National Security Council (MGK) meeting on Sept. 22 into practice if the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) goes ahead with the independence referendum on Sept. 25.
ANTALYA
Police have seized a total of 13 kilograms of marijuana hidden in a wheelchair at Antalya International Airport in southern Turkey, Doğan News Agency reported on Sept. 24.
ANKARA
Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım sent a congratulatory message to German Chancellor Angela Merkel after she was re-elected with her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in Germany’s election on Sept. 24
BERLIN – Agence France-Presse
German Chancellor Angela Merkel huddled with her party Sept. 25 after winning a fourth term with a far weaker score, now facing the double headache of an emboldened nationalist opposition party and thorny coalition talks ahead.
TOKYO – Agence France-Presse
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Set. 25 called a snap election, seeking a fresh term at the helm of the world’s third-largest economy as tensions with nearby North Korea reach fever-pitch.
GENEVA – Agence France-Presse
Russian state agents have committed serious abuses, including torture, in Crimea, the U.N. said Sept. 25, warning that the rights situation in the annexed peninsula had “significantly deteriorated” under Moscow’s occupation.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel woke up Sept. 25 to a fourth term but now faces the double headache of an emboldened hard-right opposition party and thorny coalition talks ahead.
ISTANBUL
Police officers helped release a tangled up dolphin washed ashore in Istanbul’s Avcılar district on Sept. 25.
Rifat Başaran – ANKARA
Parliament Speaker İsmail Kahraman has rejected a proposal submitted by the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) regarding the formation of a special commission to investigate human rights violations in the Gaza Strip.
OPINION - all the columnists »
Thanks to Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) leader Masoud Barzani’s move to hold a referendum on carving out an independent Kurdistan, the Middle East is once again a high-risk spot, competing with the ongoing crisis on the Korean Peninsula.
Ankara may be right to be alarmed by the northern Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) call for referendum, as it could herald a radical change along Turkey’s southern border.
Earlier this month, as I prepared myself for a retinal scan to enter a notorious prison in Istanbul, my mind wandered beyond freedom of press to equally important areas for the media and all of us, such as privacy rights, network security, governments, Big Tech, advertisers and concentration of power.
The countdown has started and the clock is ticking very loudly to warn the Iraqi Kurds that their referendum vote for independence, scheduled to take place on Sept. 25, is loaded with a potential disaster not only for northern Iraq but a bigger geography spanning Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Iran and probably beyond.
The irresistible charm of rent has steadily increased the amount of land in Istanbul zoned for housing, construction and the human population.
The number of students, teachers and schools in Turkey are growing, but the quality is gradually deteriorating.
“What does trust mean to you?” Ask this when you’re in a comfortable environment.
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.
Comment(s)9/23/2017
Tens of thousands of coffee lovers flocked to the Istanbul Coffee Festival held between Sept. 21 and 24 to sip on different kinds of coffees from all around the world.
The secrets behind the construction of the oldest and only survivor of the Seven Wonders of the World have been locked within its limestone and granite walls for centuries.
The Mediterranean basin is the cradle of civilizations, no doubt about it.
Stuffed, rolled, baked or fried: rice paper rules in food-obsessed Vietnam, where diners have spurned factory-made versions for homespun ones, propping up a thriving cottage industry in the Mekong Delta.
An Istanbul derby between Fenerbahçe and Beşiktaş on the night of Sept. 23 descended into farce amid five red cards, 10 yellow cards, and two penalties, with the home side Fenerbahçe eventually extending its unbeaten streak against the visitors to 15 games with a 2-1 victory.
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.
Comment(s)9/22/2017
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.
Lukoil plans to keep pumping 100 million tons of oil per year between 2018 and 2027 with projects outside Russia and will keep annual investment at $8 billion-$8.5 billion, the chief executive said on Sept. 23.
Comment(s)9/24/2017
Nail Olpak was appointed as the new chair of Turkey’s Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEİK) on Sept. 22, after Ömer Cihad Vardan resigned from the post due to personal reasons.