The ruling AK PARTI held its general congress in Ankara on Sept 30th. PM Tayyip Erdoğan made an impressive speech and the organization which was attended by foreign politicians (mainly from ME) as well was a true success. However, to cast a shadow over this performance an unpleasant situation was exercised by the ruling party. Some newspapers were not granted accreditation to monitor the convention. Many op ...

After a long vacation during which the country has gone through multiple major undesired events, deputies were back at the Turkish Grand National Assembly yesterdey to start with their work for the new term. Mr. Cemil Çiçek, the speaker of the Turkish Grand National Assembly condemned terrorism and delivered some important messages. Çiçek said that fighting terrorism was a non-partisan issue and it was a pr ...

In his last convention speech as chairman of Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan vowed to deliver a brand new constitution based on fundamental human rights to replace the decades-long military era-drafted constitution. “We desperately need a new constitution that reflects the will of the people at the highest level. Our determination [for that] is f ...

In an interview with world-renowned economist Kemal Derviş he encouraged Turkey to face west rather than east and added that Ankara had a major role to play in an EU that needs to transform itself. Derviş said Ankara has a major role to play in an EU that needs to transform itself. Kemal Dreviş is known to have been at the steering-wheel years ago when Turkey's economy was in a very critical situation. Some ...

None of the opposition parties represented in Parliament were present today at the hall hosting the big congress of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), although the same hall hosted several regional opposition parties. While the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) were invited both groups protested the congress for different reasons. The Peace ...

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan signalled that new talks between the state and outlawed Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) might be possible as his government faces an upsurge in violence in the country's southeast. Turkish intelligence officials have maintained contact with senior figures from PKK in recent years to try to end a conflict that has claimed more than 40,000 lives, but discussions have broke ...

U.S. President Barack Obama slammed an anti-Muslim film that has sparked unrest in Muslim countries as “disgusting” but said there would be no ban on the movie while vowing to hunt down those behind an attack in Benghazi that killed the U.S. envoy to Libya and three other Americans. “I have made it clear that the U.S. government had nothing to do with this video, and I believe its message must be rejected b ...

Turkey should abide by the rules of the European Union and give up its expansionist designs, a conservative Greek Cypriot presidential candidate has said. Speaking to the Hürriyet Daily News at his newly-decorated presidential election office in Nicosia, George Lilikas said Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu was guilty of having a “megalo idea” of expanding Turkey into a new empire with a neo-Ottomani ...

The leaders of the rebel Free Syrian Army said today they have moved their command center from Turkey to Syria with the aim of uniting rebels and speeding up the fall of President Bashar Assad's regime. Brig. Gen. Mustafa al-Sheikh, who heads the FSA's Military Council, told The Associated Press that the group made the move last week. He would not say where the new headquarters is located. The FSA has been ...

Hannes Swoboda, the head of the Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament, has condemned acts of terror in Turkey and accused the Iranian government of seeking to inflame tensions in its neighbor. "I condemn every act of terror and strongly believe that terror cannot be used as a means to attain your goals in today's world," Swoboda said in a recent speech in Vienna, delivered at the opening of th ...

Turkish generals sentenced to 20 years in jail in coup case A court in Istanbul has sentenced retired Air Force Cmdr. Gen. İbrahim Fırtına, retired 1st Army Cmdr. Gen. Çetin Doğan and retired Navy Cmdr. Adm. Özden Örnek to 20 years in prison in the “Balyoz” (Sledgehammer) coup case today. They were initially sentenced to life in prison, but the terms were later reduced to 20 years. Thirty-four suspects were ...

Economy Minister Zafer Çağlayan recently stated that although the global economy is experiencing a significant recession, by following a successful economic policy, Turkey is about to take-off flying. "By taking certain measures and making a soft landing, Turkey is soon about to take-off," stated Çağlayan, adding that with their incentive package geared towards the Sixth Zone, the Eastern and Southeastern p ...

An Istanbul court is about to finalize its decision regarding 365 military members in the Balyoz (sledgehammer) case, a military coup plan dating back to 2003 A decision in the one of the major coup-plot cases plot case was expected to be announced late yesterday. The court was discussing its ruling in the “Balyoz” (Sledgehammer) case regarding the verdict as the Hürriyet Daily News went to print. The case ...

Lieberman dismissed a rift between the Jewish state and Washington over how to deal with Iran's nuclear programme, saying America is Israel's "best friend." Israel will not attend a conference on the creation of a nuclear-free Middle East scheduled to take place in Finland, a foreign ministry spokesman said on Thursday. "This announcement was made on Wednesday in Vienna during a meeting of the International ...

Haluk Koç, the deputy chairman of the Republican People's Party (CHP), has made public the text of the protocol allegedly signed by members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and representatives of the Turkish Government at the negotiations in Oslo. England, in the capacity of an arbitrator country, signed the text in the name of the two parties, Koç said. According to the text the two sides agreed upon, ...

The Turkish state will not cease operations against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Southeast Anatolia until the militants lay down their arms, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said yesterday. “The terrorists should know that if they drop their arms, then the operations in the country will end. But arms cannot be silenced as long as the terrorists do not drop their arms. They would target ...

Polarization, hate and hostility are eroding Turkey’s social, political, and economic accomplishments, Turkish Industry and Business Association (TÜSİAD) Chairwoman Ümit Boyner has said. Terrorist activities and the deaths, suffering families and collective sorrows they cause have been on Turkey’s agenda for a long time, Boyner said, speaking at the association’s Supreme Consultation Council (YİK) on Sept. ...

President Barack Obama sent a personal message to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan asking him to speak out against the violence. Obama has vowed to "stand fast" against spreading anti-US violence raging in the Arab world, as he mourned four Americans slain in Libya after their remains were flown home. In a heart-rending homecoming, four transfer caskets draped in American flags were slowly borne ...

Turkey’s Foreign Affairs Ministry released the following statement on Wednesday regarding the heinous attack on a U.S. mission in Benghazi Tuesday evening, which resulted in the deaths of U.S. Ambassador to Tripoli Christopher Stevens and three other U.S. Foreign Service Officers. "We condemn in the strongest terms the terrorist attack which took place in the city of Benghazi in Libya on September 11, 2012 ...

Turkey and Israel share common interests and would benefit from resuming “a fruitful dialogue,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said recently during an interview with Jerusalem Post. “We both have a border with Syria, and I am sure we both want to see a stable and peaceful Syria,” Netanyahu told the Jerusalem Post. “That is a common interest. There are other common interests that come to mind. I t ...

PM: "Turkey will not hand over Iraqi VP Hashemi" Turkey will not hand over Iraq's fugitive Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, who faces a death sentence against him in Baghdad, if Baghdad government would file such a request and he can remain in Turkey as long as he needs to, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday. "I'll say it very clearly. We will be willing to host Mr. Hashemi as long as he wants, an ...

A clear majority of Turks are against a military intervention to put a halt to the violence in Syria, according to a recent poll by the German Marshall Fund. Some 57 percent of Turkish respondents in the Transatlantic Trends survey categorically rejected a Turkish invasion after being asked: “Recently, there has been discussion of the desirability of intervening in Syria, where the government has been using ...

The well-known CNN correspondent Christiane Amanpour held an exclusive interview with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Istanbul in which the two discussed the 18-month crisis in Syria while also touching on a number of other topics, including weapons of mass destruction and the suspected nuclear program in Iran. When asked what he thought about the United States' involvement in solely providing "nonle ...