For quite a while now Turkey has been debating whether the “Presidential System” would be suitable for the country. Opinion leaders have expressed that PM Erdoğan has made it clear he would be in favor of such a system switch in the Turkish democracy whereas many believe this would make the number one politician of Turkey even more authoritarian. The members of the ruling party have already started to talk ...

Dozens of employees from Turkey's national flag-carrier Turkish Airlines went on strike Thursday, a day after parliament passed a controversial bill to ban strikes in the aviation sector. The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP)-dominated parliament passed the bill late Wednesday a after heated debate. "Many employees went on strike at 0300 GMT to protest the new law and they will not start working un ...

Heated debate has gripped Turkey over the redrafting of a military-era constitution and a related question -- whether Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan is trying to cling to power as president. Parliament has started work to rewrite the 30-year-old national charter to replace a text passed two years after a 1980 military coup, reflecting deep changes in a country now ruled by a moderate Islamist government. Civi ...

Deputies elected by the votes of Turkish citizens have been held in detainment (in prison literally) for a long time now. The AKP government in power takes every chance to emphasize on how democracy and “the SAY of the citizens” are of top priority for them. The leader and the followers also frequently mention they do everything for the Turkish people and based on the wishes of the citizens (meaning to comp ...

Parliaments’s Justice Commission agrees to reinstate a 10 percent limit on foreign ownership of land in a single district as members of the ruling party succumb to objections A parliamentary commission discusses a draft on foreign ownership of land.The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has agreed to reinstate a 10 percent limit on foreign ownership of land in a single district, during discussions a ...

Turkey’s parties cast aside their differences on International Women’s Day to unanimously pass a bill calling for increased protection for women from violence Turkish lawmakers passed unanimously yesterday a landmark bill to curb violence against women in a rare show of cooperation between the ruling party and the opposition. The adoption of the legislation, which introduces tough measures against abusers a ...

Ninety-one percent of Turks lack adequate information on how planned education reform will affect their children, according to a poll by the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), which has called for greater public debate on a contentious related motion. “This situation is unacceptable for any democracy. How can we trust a government that is doing business in secret?” CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğl ...

Retreating amid a barrage of harsh criticism, the Turkish government promises to ‘ease concerns’ regarding a controversial draft to alter the education system Speaking in Antalya, Education Minister Ömer Dinçer says he understands the concerns voiced regarding the proposed changes in the education system. However, he rejects accusations that the changes will undermine the schooling of girls. AA photo The go ...

The protest of the Armenian bill has resulted in a 34.4% drop in French imports compared to the same period of the year prior. The increasing reactions have at present resulted in a monthly detriment to Sarkozy of 356 million dollars. The draft passed by the French Parliament which deems criminalizing the Armenian allegations of a so-called 'genocide' has slowly begun to result in an increasing financial bi ...

European liberals and democrats have slammed a French law that makes it a crime to deny that the killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks nearly a century ago constituted genocide, saying the move was "incomprehensible." Alexander Graf Lambsdorf from Germany's Free Democratic Party (FDP) said in a statement that the genocide-denial bill is an additional burden on already strained Turkish-European relations, a ...

Parliament’s preparation of a new constitution will be the top item in Turkish politics, while lengthy pre-trial detentions and the debate over the presidential term and elections are also likely to remain in the headlines The drive to draw up a new constitution is expected to dominate Turkey’s domestic agenda in 2012, with the opposition parties wary that the ruling party could pursue amendments in line wi ...

Knesset holds first discussion on possible recognition of Turkey's Armenian genocide; Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin says Israel has an ethical commitment to recognize other nations' genocides. JERUSALEM- The Foreign Ministry warned that Israel's possible recognition of the Armenian genocide, which was discussed in a Knesset committee on Monday, could lead to the serious deterioration of Israel's ties with T ...

The Turkish Central Bank could withdraw its nearly 23 billion euros of reserves from France after the EU member’s recent move to fine any denial of an Armenian ‘genocide’ in 1915, economists tell the Daily News. However, such a sharp move could risk Turkey’s EU bid, they add. Turkey’s Central Bank might shift nearly 30 billion Turkish Liras of investment in French bonds to other European powerhouses as part ...

France's Sarkozy urges mutual respect of views with TurkeyFrench President Nicolas Sarkozy Friday urged the mutual respect of views between his country and Turkey amid a row over France's criminalisation of the denial of the Armenian genocide. "I respect the views of our Turkish friends -- it's a great country, a great civilisation -- and they must respect ours," Sarkozy said in Prague where he is attending ...

If the French parliament passes the genocide bill on Thursday (22nd Dec 2011) everybody will be holding their breath to see what Ankara has to say. Many people (Turks to be in the first place) believe Turkey should consider retaliating by boycotting trade with France to include civil boycott of French goods by Turkish people. Some other say Turkey should pass a bill in the parliament saying what France did ...

A country which always refers to "DEMOCRACY", liberty and especially "FREEDOM OF SPEECH" is upto playing dirty games against Turkey only to win a couple of hundred thousand Armeninan votes by trying to pass a bill which is supposed to punish anybody to deny so-said Armenian genocide (claimed to have been carried out by the Turkish state in the past). It is absolutely NONSENSE and out of logic to even make a ...

Turkish Parliament’s Foreign Relations Committee meets with senior French politicians to drum up opposition against a French bill crimalizing ‘genocide’ denial. AA photoA Turkish parliamentary delegation started a three-day campaign in Paris yesterday to halt a French motion criminalizing the denial of Armenian genocide claims, warning that the bill’s passage would seriously damage bilateral ties. Volkan Bo ...

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan sent a letter today to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, warning of the "grave consequences" a French bill recognizing Armenian genocide claims would have on bilateral relations. "I want to express this clearly," Erdoğan said. "These steps will lead to grave consequences for the cultural, economic and political relations between France and Turkey, and the responsi ...

The Defense Ministry's budget was taken up in Parliament on Dec. 13 and the new one has been fixed at TL 18.2 billion for the 2012 fiscal year, marking a 7.4 percent increase over 2011. The Turkish Ministry of Defense budget has been fixed at TL18.2 billion for the 2012 fiscal year, marking a 7.4 percent increase over 2011. The Defense Ministry budget will make up 1.3 percent of the gross domestic product ( ...

Turkish Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan has said that a draft law criminalizing rejection of Armenian allegations pertaining to the incidents of 1915 would seriously harm GENEVA- Caglayan, who is currently in Geneva, told AA correspondent on Friday that the bill was brought up in France ahead of presidential election set to be held in 2012. It was a tactic by French President Nicolas Sarkozy to impress Fren ...

A Turkish parliamentarian delegation will pay a two-day visit to Paris from Dec. 19 to 20 to warn the French Parliament of serious damage to bilateral ties if it passes a bill that would criminalize denial of the Armenian "genocide." Led by Volkan Bozkir, the head of Parliament's foreign affairs commission, the delegation will include Kasim Gulpinar of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), Osman Koruturk ...

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan took part in the killing of civilians during the Armenia-Azerbaijan war in 1992, Parliamentary Speaker Cemil Çiçek alleged yesterday. It is ironic that Armenia has accused Turkey of genocide, “while one of the biggest massacres of the recent past was carried out in front of the entire world in 1992 in Khojaly village,” Çiçek said today during an event to commemorate the eig ...

Turkey’s president and government appear headed for a collision over a controversial bill reducing penalties for match fixers, as the ruling party has openly ignored President Abdullah Gül’s advice to find a balance between the crime and punishment. Parliament will discuss the bill at the Justice Commission tomorrow and will likely vote on it Dec. 11 in an obvious challenge to Gül, who vetoed the legislatio ...