Down below you will find a summary of topics from major Turkish papers and internet sites. Government says withdrawal of outlawed PKK militants developing according to plans On the contrary to negative statements by the opposition parties as well as concerns from many citizens as to what is going to happen regarding the withdrawal process in question, the government paints a very confident picture about the ...

Following Öcalan’s historic call on March 21 for the withdrawal, as a result of the ongoing efforts to find a peaceful solution to the Kurdish issue, the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) will start withdrawing from Turkish soil on May 8th 2013. Murat Karayılan, the senior leader at the PKK base of the Kandil Mountains in northern Iraq has announced the armed members of the terror organization are sch ...

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 ...

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 ...

Nine Turkish soldiers were killed and 70 others were injured when terrorists from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) attacked a military convoy with rocket launchers in the eastern province of Bingöl, sources said on Tuesday. The convoy was traveling between the provinces of Bingöl and Muş when it was hit by the rocket launchers near the village of Kardeşler. The attack was the second such assault there in ...

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 ...

In ongoing operations in the Southeastern provinces of Hakkâri, Şırnak and Diyarbakır, the Turkish Armed Forces has killed 115 terrorists. In Northern Iraq 25 terrorists have been killed. Chief of General Staff Özel paid a personal visit to the troops in Şemdinli, where seven battalions are engaged in a widespread operation on the terrorist organization. The PKK terrorist organization has been struck hard i ...

Ankara’s reaction to the treacherous attack in Beytüşşebap, Şırnak has been harsh. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan emphasizes the fact that these perpetrators will never be allowed to realize their intentions. A steadfast resolution in the fight against terrorism was the message delivered in a state summit held yesterday in response to the PKK attack in Beytüşşebap, which resulted in the deaths of ten soldier ...

10 Turkish soldiers, 20 PKK militants killed in clashes Ten Turkish soldiers were killed and seven were injured in attacks by suspected members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the southeastern province of Şırnak last night. The PKK has launched numerous attacks on military bases around the province's Beytüşşebap district. The militants attacked the bases with rocket-propelled grenades (RPG ...

Forming an international coalition to impose a partial no-fly zone over Syria, in order to provide protection for the Syrian population on the run from the civil war ongoing in the country, has been under discussion among Western allies for the last few weeks, Turkish official sources confirmed to the Hürriyet Daily News on Aug. 24. The confirmation came after French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian had ...

Washington is not lending the amount of support it should be giving Turkey in its fight against terrorism, President Abdullah Gül has said while admitting that Turkey should be able to take its own measures without relying on other countries to resolve the problem. “Is there anything more that the U.S. could do? Of course there is. Is [the U.S. effort] enough? I do not think so. But every country has its ow ...

Commenting that if the people in the Southeast were not so afraid of the PKK terrorist organization, then the BDP, or Peace and Democracy Party, would not get the vote, Erdoğan states "These deputies embrace them (terrorists) as if they were brothers, so of course we suffice to ask, ‘what sort of relationship is this’? Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was remarking on imagery surfaced depicting BDP deput ...

Terrorist organization bombing kills 8, injures 64 in Turkey near Syrian border A car laden with explosives was detonated by suspected members of outlawed Kurdistan Worker's Party (NAMED terrorist organization by USA and many EU members) today in the eastern province of Gaziantep, near the Syrian border, killed at least eight people and 64 wounding, daily Hürriyet reported. Militants of said organization re ...

Huseyin Aygun, a parliamentarian for the country's main opposition group, the Republican People's Party (CHP), gestures at his office in Ankara December 5, 2011. Republican People’s Party (CHP) Tunceli deputy Hüseyin Aygün was released by his captors yesterday, 48 hours after he was kidnapped by militants. Tunceli Gov. Mustafa Taşkesen confirmed Aygün’s release, and said the lawmaker was at a military post ...

Clinton: Syria mustn’t become PKK havenISTANBUL Syria must not become a haven for outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants battling Turkey, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned Aug. 11 during a visit to Turkey. “We share Turkey’s determination that Syria must not become a haven for PKK terrorists whether now or after the departure of the [Bashar] al-Assad regime,” Clinton told a joint new ...

Suspected members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) have kidnapped a deputy from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) today. CHP Tunceli deputy Hüseyin Aygün was returning from a visit to Ovacık district of the southeastern province of Tunceli when PKK militants stopped his vehicle at around 7 p.m., broadcaster CNN Türk reported. One journalist and one aide who were traveling wit ...

PKK attacks rage in west, east as one soldier killed While military operations are continuing in Turkey’s southeast after more than two weeks, another attack from the outlawed PKK come in the westwern coast of country. ‘Unfortunately, this is another example of terrorism’s spread,’ Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan says One Turkish soldier was killed and 11 were injured when a landmine exploded as a milit ...

Turkey strong enough to bring PKK's puppet masters into line, Erdoğan says Turkey is powerful enough to bring the "enemy countries" that hold the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party's (PKK) strings into line, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said today. Erdoğan sent a written message to offer his condolences to the Chief of General Staff Gen. Necdet Özel in the wake of yesterday night's PKK attack on a mil ...

Turkey has a natural right to intervene in Syria if terrorist formations pose a threat in the area" Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said yesterday after groups affiliated with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) gained control of Syrian towns along Turkey’s border. "If there are formations that are being set up right now that results in a certain terrorist act, then it is ou most natural ...

President Gül calls on Turkey to separate the Kurdish issue from terrorism while asking Kurds to distance themselves from militancy Turkish people should distinguish the Kurdish question from the terror problem, Turkey’s President Abdullah Gül has said, urging Kurdish citizens to put a distance between themselves and terror, in the wake of the deadly terrorist attack killing eight troops in Hakkari. The Tur ...

BDP leader calls on PKK to lay down arms Selahattin Demirtaş, the co-leader of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), called on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) to halt all armed activities today. Demirtaş spoke in the wake of today's attack on a military outpost in the Dağlıca distict of the eastern Hakkari province by the PKK that left eight soldiers and 10 PKK militants dead. Demirtaş extended h ...

No negotiations, PKK has to lay down arms: Turkish PM The government will not conduct any negotiations with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told reporters today, adding that the PKK’s disarmament was the only way to end terror.  "Nobody can make terrorism an issue of negotiation," Erdoğan said. "We will end this, sooner or later. This is non-negotiabl ...

Amid initiatives between the governement and political parties to speed up democratic improvements in Turkey, Kurdish terrorists do not fail to perform their bloody jobs. 8 killed, 16 wounded in clashes in southeastern Turkey Eight soldiers were killed and 16 more were wounded yesterday during clashes between security forces and members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the southeastern prov ...