Istanbul, Turkey | AFP | Turkey and its main regional ally Qatar on Tuesday launched military exercises in the emirate that will involve some 250 Turkish troops and 30 armoured vehicles, reports said. The exercises come as Ankara presses on with its unequivocal backing of Doha in the crisis triggered by …
Read More »Almost 500 go on trial in Turkey’s biggest coup case
Sincan, Turkey | AFP | Nearly 500 people appeared in court Tuesday in the biggest trial yet of suspects from Turkey’s failed coup, facing charges of conspiring to oust the government from an air base seen as the plotters’ hub. Forty-one of those held were marched into the court outside Ankara …
Read More »Turkey defends plan to allow religious marriages amid controversy
Istanbul, Turkey | AFP | The Turkish government on Sunday strongly defended a plan to let state-approved clerics conduct marriage ceremonies, rejecting fierce criticism that this would undermine the modern republic’s secular foundations. Turkey is mainly Muslim but officially is a secular state. Under its current laws, even religiously observant couples …
Read More »Erdogan urges all Muslims to ‘visit’ and ‘protect’ Jerusalem
Ankara, Turkey | AFP | Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday urged all Muslims to visit and protect Jerusalem after violence broke out over metal detectors that Israel installed and later removed from a sensitive holy site in the city. “From here I make a call to all Muslims. …
Read More »Erdogan’s slams Israel for ‘disregard of law’ in Jerusalem crisis
Ankara, Turkey | AFP | Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday accused Israel of flouting international law in the crisis over security measures at a sensitive Jerusalem holy site, saying the Jewish state was harming itself and the region. Israel installed metal detectors at entrances to the Haram al-Sharif …
Read More »Erdogan to visit Qatar and Saudi amid Gulf crisis
Istanbul, Turkey | AFP | Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will this month visit Qatar and Saudi Arabia, which are locked in a deep diplomatic crisis, his office announced Tuesday. Erdogan will also visit Kuwait, the main mediator in the Qatar crisis, during his July 23-24 tour. Turkish Prime Minister Binali …
Read More »Turkey extends post-coup state of emergency
Istanbul, Turkey | AFP | Turkey’s parliament voted on Monday to renew a state of emergency in effect since last year’s failed coup attempt sparked the biggest crackdown in the country’s modern history. The state-run Anadolu news agency said lawmakers agreed to a three-month extension of the current emergency law, which …
Read More »Jerusalem holy site closure ‘crime against humanity’: Turkey
Istanbul, Turkey | AFP | Turkey on Monday blasted Israel’s two-day closure of a Jerusalem holy site, following a deadly attack, as a “crime against humanity.” The Haram al-Sharif compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, includes the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa mosque. It is venerated …
Read More »Turkey celebrates defeat of anti-Erdogan putsch after new purge
Istanbul, Turkey | AFP | Turkey on Saturday holds an intense series of events to celebrate the first anniversary of the defeat of last year’s attempted coup, showcasing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s grip on power on the heels of a new purge of state employees. The authorities have declared …
Read More »Coup bid ‘martyrs’ become new heroes of Erdogan’s Turkey
Çukurkuyu, Turkey | AFP | People have come from far and wide to this sleepy Anatolian village in central Turkey to recite prayers, take selfies or just think quietly. The purpose of their visit is simple — to pay their respects at the grave of Sergeant Omer Halisdemir, probably the most …
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