- Erdogan’s fury at Western support for Israel: Turkish leader declares ‘the West is ignoring international law Daily Mail
- Turkey’s Erdogan tells Pope: Silence of international community over Gaza ’embarrassing’ Yahoo News
- Erdoğan tells pope Israel is committing a ‘massacre’ in Gaza, calls for int’l action TurkishMinute
- Gaza’s next hospital crisis, the Pope’s moral incoherence and other commentary New York Post
- Pope Francis urges release of hostages, entry of humanitarian aid in Gaza | ABS-CBN News ABS-CBN News
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Tag Archives: Turkish
Turkish officials launch rescue of US researcher trapped in 3,000-foot cave – Fox News
- Turkish officials launch rescue of US researcher trapped in 3,000-foot cave Fox News
- Rescue begins of ailing US researcher stuck 3000 feet inside a Turkish cave, Turkish officials say The Associated Press
- Rescue operation to save American explorer trapped in Turkey cave begins – latest The Independent
- Rescue begins of ailing US researcher stuck 3,000 feet inside a Turkish cave, Turkish officials say WHAS11
- Rescue teams begin extraction mission for Mark Dickey, Westchester County man trapped 3,000 feet down in cave in Turkey CBS New York
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Turkish opposition leader accuses Russia of spreading conspiracies, deep fakes ahead of election – POLITICO Europe
- Turkish opposition leader accuses Russia of spreading conspiracies, deep fakes ahead of election POLITICO Europe
- Turkish opposition accuses Russia of election interference days before vote The Guardian
- Erdogan Rival Says Has Evidence of Russia’s Online Campaign Ahead of Turkey Vote U.S. News & World Report
- Erdogan Rival Accuses Russia Of ‘Deep Fake’ Campaign Ahead Of Presidential Vote Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
- ‘We’re against LGBT’: Erdoğan targets gay and trans people ahead of critical Turkish election The Guardian
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‘She helped us, told us when to do what’: Israeli doc describes rescuing Turkish girl – The Times of Israel
- ‘She helped us, told us when to do what’: Israeli doc describes rescuing Turkish girl The Times of Israel
- Israeli rescue workers have deployed to Turkey — and may help in Syria. Here’s why | Opinion NorthJersey.com
- Israel Troops Say Voices Still Heard in Turkey Earthquake Rubble Days Later Newsweek
- Israeli rescuer who helped in ’99 earthquakes returns to Turkey to save lives The Times of Israel
- Israel’s rescue teams arrive in Turkey, will establish field hospital for earthquake victims Al-Monitor
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Erdogan to Sweden: Don’t expect Turkish support for NATO bid after Stockholm protest
ANKARA, Jan 23 (Reuters) – Sweden should not expect Turkey’s support for its NATO membership after a protest near the Turkish embassy in Stockholm at the weekend including the burning of a copy of the Koran, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday.
Protests in Stockholm on Saturday against Turkey and against Sweden’s bid to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) have heightened tensions with Turkey, whose backing Sweden needs to gain entry to the military alliance.
“Those who allow such blasphemy in front of our embassy can no longer expect our support for their NATO membership,” Erdogan said in a speech after a Cabinet meeting.
“If you love members of terrorist organisations and enemies of Islam so much and protect them, then we advise you to seek their support for your countries’ security,” he said.
Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom declined to immediately comment on Erdogan’s remarks, telling Reuters in a written statement he wanted to understand exactly what had been said.
“But Sweden will respect the agreement that exists between Sweden, Finland and Turkey regarding our NATO membership,” he added.
Sweden and Finland applied last year to join NATO following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but all 30 member states must approve their bids. Ankara has previously said Sweden in particular must first take a clearer stance against what it sees as terrorists, mainly Kurdish militants and a group it blames for a 2016 coup attempt in Turkey.
U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said Finland and Sweden are ready to join the alliance, but declined to comment on whether Washington thought Erdogan’s comments meant a definitive shutting of the door to them.
“Ultimately, this is a decision and consensus that Finland and Sweden are going to have to reach with Turkey,” Price said.
Price told reporters that burning books that are holy to many is a deeply disrespectful act, adding that the United States is cognizant that those who may be behind what took place in Sweden may be intentionally trying to weaken unity across the Atlantic and among Washington’s European allies.
“We have a saying in this country – something can be lawful but awful. I think in this case, what we’ve seen in the context of Sweden falls into that category,” Price said.
The Koran-burning was carried out by Rasmus Paludan, leader of Danish far-right political party Hard Line. Paludan, who also has Swedish citizenship, has staged a number of demonstrations in the past where he burned the Koran.
Several Arab countries including Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Kuwait denounced the event. Turkey had already summoned Sweden’s ambassador and cancelled a planned visit by the Swedish defence minister to Ankara.
Reporting by Ece Toksabay and Huseyin Hayatsever; Additional reporting by Niklas Pollard in Stockholm and Humeyra Pamuk in Washington; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Grant McCool
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Turkish anger after Quran burning, Kurd protests in Sweden | Islamophobia News
Turkey denounced Sweden after protests in front of its embassy in Stockholm including the burning of a Quran by far-right supporters and a separate demonstration by Kurdish activists.
Ankara said on Saturday it was cancelling a visit by Sweden’s defence minister aimed at overcoming Turkey’s objections to its NATO membership. Sweden needs Turkey’s backing to gain entry to the military alliance as fears in Europe grow after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Quran burning was carried out by Rasmus Paludan, leader of Danish far-right political party Hard Line. In April last year, Paludan’s announcement of a Quran burning “tour” during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan sparked riots across Sweden.
Surrounded by police, Paludan set fire to the holy book with a lighter following a long diatribe of almost an hour, in which he attacked Islam and immigration in Sweden. About 100 people gathered nearby for a peaceful counterdemonstration.
“If you don’t think there should be freedom of expression, you have to live somewhere else,” he said.
The Turkish foreign ministry responded immediately in a statement.
“We condemn in the strongest possible terms the vile attack on our holy book… Permitting this anti-Islam act, which targets Muslims and insults our sacred values, under the guise of freedom of expression is completely unacceptable,” the ministry said.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu vented fury at Swedish authorities’ failure to ban the protest. “It’s a racist action, it’s not about freedom of expression,” he said.
Several Arab countries – including Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Kuwait – also denounced the Quran-burning.
“Saudi Arabia calls for spreading the values of dialogue, tolerance, and coexistence, and rejects hatred and extremism,” the Saudi foreign ministry said in a statement.
A small group gathered outside the Swedish embassy in Ankara to protest the Quran-burning. A protest was also scheduled to take place in Istanbul on Saturday evening.
‘Clear crime of hatred’
Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom called the Islamophobic provocations “appalling”.
“Sweden has a far-reaching freedom of expression, but it does not imply that the Swedish Government, or myself, support the opinions expressed,” Billstrom said on Twitter.
A separate protest took place in the city supporting Kurds and against Sweden’s bid to join NATO. A group of pro-Turkish demonstrators also held a rally outside the embassy. All three events had police permits.
Demonstrators waved flags of various Kurdish groups, including the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which has waged a decades-long insurgency against Turkey. The PKK is considered a terrorist group in Turkey, the European Union, and the United States, but its symbols are not banned in Sweden.
Turkey earlier was angered by Sweden’s green light for the protest in front of its embassy amid ongoing tensions following Ankara’s objections to Sweden’s bid to join the NATO military alliance.
Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar denounced Sweden’s government for failing to take measures against “disgusting” anti-Turkish protests on its soil. Akar said the scheduled January 27 visit by his Swedish counterpart Pål Jonson no longer held “any importance or point”.
Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin condemned the demonstration as a “clear crime of hatred”.
“Allowing this action despite all our warnings is encouraging hate crimes and Islamophobia,” he tweeted. “The attack on sacred values is not freedom but modern barbarism.”
Billström told TT news agency on Friday that Sweden respects freedom of speech.
‘Extremists and loonies’
Carl Bildt, a former prime minister of Sweden, told Al Jazeera there was still progress being made on the issue of Turkey’s approval for Sweden’s ascension into NATO despite the tensions.
“There are extremists and loonies running around trying to sabotage the whole process. They should not be given [importance] if the authorities in Ankara are truly interested in coming to an agreement,” Bildt said.
Turkey summoned the Swedish ambassador on Friday to condemn the protests, saying rallies by pro-Kurdish groups linked to the PKK would be a violation of the joint memorandum signed between Turkey, Sweden and Finland that prevented a Turkish veto for the Nordic countries’ NATO accession in June.
Sweden and neighbouring Finland dropped decades of military non-alignment last year when they applied to join the Western defence alliance in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Turkey has so far refused to approve their bids, which need sign-off by all member states, and tied its favourable vote to Swedish steps to extradite people it accuses of terrorism or of having played a part in the 2016 coup attempt against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Turkey argues that Sweden is not doing enough to crack down on Kurdish groups that Ankara views as “terrorists”.
Sweden’s ambassador to Turkey was summoned last week after a video posted by a Kurdish group in Stockholm that depicted an effigy of Erdogan swinging by his legs from a rope.
Turkish court sentences Erdogan rival to jail with political ban
ISTANBUL, Dec 14 (Reuters) – A Turkish court sentenced Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu to jail on Wednesday and imposed a political ban on the opposition politician who is seen as a strong potential challenger to President Tayyip Erdogan in elections next year.
Imamoglu was sentenced to two years and seven months in prison along with the ban, both of which must be confirmed by an appeals court, for insulting public officials in a speech he made after he won Istanbul’s municipal election in 2019.
Riot police were stationed outside the courthouse on the Asian side of the city of 17 million people, although Imamoglu continued to work as usual and dismissed the court proceedings.
At his municipal headquarters across the Bosphorus on the European side of Istanbul, he told thousands of supporters that the verdict marked a “profound unlawfulness” that “proved that there is no justice in today’s Turkey”.
Voters would respond in presidential and parliamentary elections which are due by next June, he said.
The vote could mark the biggest political challenge yet for Erdogan, who is seeking to extend his rule into a third decade in the face of a collapsing currency and rampant inflation which have driven the cost of living for Turks ever higher.
A six-party opposition alliance has yet to agree their presidential candidate, and Imamoglu has been mooted as a possible leading challenger to run against Erdogan.
Kemal Kilicdaroglu, chairman of Imamoglu’s opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), said he was cutting short a visit to Germany and returning to Turkey in response to what he called a “grave violation of the law and justice”.
‘VERY SAD DAY’
[1/5] Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu and his wife Dilek sit at his office as a Turkish court sentenced Imamoglu, a popular rival of President Tayyip Erdogan, to more than two years in prison and imposed a political ban for insulting public officials, in Istanbul, Turkey, December 14, 2022. REUTERS/Umit Bektas
The European Parliament rapporteur on Turkey, Nacho Sanchez Amor, expressed disbelief at the “inconceivable” verdict.
“Justice in #Turkey is in a calamitous state, grossly used for political purposes. Very sad day,” he tweeted.
Imamoglu was tried over a speech after Istanbul elections when he said those who annulled the initial vote – in which he narrowly defeated a candidate from Erdogan’s AK Party – were “fools”. Imamoglu says that remark was a response to Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu for using the same language against him.
After the initial results were annulled, he won the re-run vote comfortably, ending the 25-year rule in Turkey’s largest city by the AKP and its Islamist predecessors.
The outcome of next year’s elections is seen hinging on the ability of the CHP and others in opposition to join forces around a single candidate to challenge Erdogan and the AKP, which has governed Turkey since 2002.
Erdogan, who also served as Istanbul mayor before rising to dominate Turkish national politics, was briefly jailed in 1999 for reciting a poem that a court ruled was an incitement to religious hatred.
Selahattin Demirtas, the jailed former leader of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), tweeted that Imamoglu should be incarcerated in the same prison where Erdogan was held so that he could ultimately follow his path to the presidency.
A jail sentence or political ban on Imamoglu would need to be upheld in appeals courts, potentially extending an outcome to the case beyond the elections date.
Critics say Turkish courts bend to Erdogan’s will. The government says the judiciary is independent.
“The ruling will be final only after the higher court decides whether to uphold the ruling or not. Under these circumstances, it would be wrong to say that the political ban is in place,” Timucin Koprulu, professor of criminal law at Atilim University in Ankara, told Reuters after the ruling.
Additional reporting by Ece Toksabay and Huseyin Hayatsever in Ankara and Daren Butler in Istanbul;
Writing by Daren Butler and Dominic Evans;
Editing by Gareth Jones
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Exclusive: U.S. imposes sanctions on Turkish businessman, citing links to Iran’s Quds Force
WASHINGTON, Dec 8 (Reuters) – The Biden administration on Thursday imposed sanctions on prominent Turkish businessman Sitki Ayan and his network of companies, accusing him of acting as a facilitator for oil sales and money laundering on behalf of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Ayan’s companies have established international sales contracts for Iranian oil, arranged shipments and helped launder the proceeds and obscured the origin of the Iranian oil on behalf of Iran’s Quds Force, an arm of the IRGC, the Treasury said in a statement first reported by Reuters.
“Ayan has established business contracts to sell Iranian oil worth hundreds of millions of dollars to buyers,” in China, the United Arab Emirates and Europe, the statement says, adding that he then funneled the proceeds back to the Quds Force.
Ayan’s son Bahaddin Ayan, his associate Kasim Oztas and two other Turkish citizens involved in his business network are also designated, along with 26 companies including his ASB Group of Companies, a Gibraltar-based holding company and a vessel.
Ayan, the son Bahaddin and Oztas were not immediately available for comment. Ayan’s ASB Group and Turkey’s Directorate of Communications did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Treasury action freezes any U.S. assets of those designated and generally bars Americans from dealing with them. Those that engage in certain transactions with those designated also risk sanctions.
The U.S. measures come at a time when ties between the United States and Turkey are strained over a host of issues, including disagreement over Syria policy and Ankara’s purchase of Russian air defense systems.
Most recently, Washington has warned Turkey to refrain from carrying out a military incursion into northern Syria after Ankara said it was preparing a possible ground invasion against the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia that it views as terrorists but who make up the bulk of U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
Washington maintains sweeping sanctions on Iran and has looked for ways to increase pressure as efforts to resurrect a 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran have stalled.
U.S. President Joe Biden had sought to negotiate the return of Iran to the nuclear deal after former President Donald Trump pulled out of the agreement in 2018.
The 2015 agreement limited Iran’s uranium enrichment activity to make it harder for Tehran to develop nuclear arms in return for lifting international sanctions. Iran denies wanting to acquire nuclear weapons.
Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk and Daphne Psaledakis; Additional reporting by Ezgi Erkoyun; Editing by Don Durfee and Howard Goller
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Turkish jets hit targets in Syria, Iraq after Istanbul bomb blast | Turkey-Syria Border News
Kurdish fighters report ‘deaths and injuries’ after Turkish air raids hit Kobane and two villages housing people displaced by war in Syria.
Turkish military planes have hit targets in northern Syria and Iraq, bombing bases Turkey’s defence ministry claimed were used by those behind an explosion in central Istanbul last weekend that killed six people and wounded more than 80.
The Turkish defence ministry announced the launch of the raids in a statement on Twitter on Sunday.
“The hour of reckoning has come,” the Turkish defence ministry tweeted early on Sunday, along with a photo of a military plane taking off on a night-time operation, adding that those who had perpetrated the “treacherous attacks” would be held accountable.
Ankara has blamed the November 13 bomb attack in Istanbul on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and affiliated Syrian Kurdish groups. Kurdish fighters have denied involvement.
Hesap zamanı!
Alçaklardan hain saldırıların hesabı soruluyor! 🇹🇷 pic.twitter.com/pnEbFDkOF7
— T.C. Millî Savunma Bakanlığı (@tcsavunma) November 19, 2022
In another post accompanied by a video showing a target being selected followed by an explosion, the defence ministry said it was using “precision strikes” to destroy “terrorist hotbeds”.
Terör yuvaları tam isabet vuruşlarla yerle bir ediliyor! 🇹🇷 pic.twitter.com/9jiFRn0hej
— T.C. Millî Savunma Bakanlığı (@tcsavunma) November 19, 2022
“In line with our self-defence rights arising from Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, the Pence Kilic air operation was carried out in the regions in the north of Iraq and Syria which are used as bases for attacks on our country by terrorists,” the ministry said.
Turkey and the United States both consider the PKK a “terrorist” group, but disagree on the status of the Syrian Kurdish groups that have been allied with Washington in the fight against the ISIL (ISIS) group in Syria.
The US State Department had said on Friday it feared possible military action by Turkey, advising its nationals not to travel to northern Syria and Iraq.
While Ankara did not give exact details of the overnight operation, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said the Turkish air raids had hit Kobane (Ayn al-Arab) in northeast Syria.
Kobane, a Kurdish-majority town near the Turkish border, was captured by ISIL (ISIS) in late 2014 before Kurdish fighters drove them out early the following year.
“Kobane, the city that defeated ISIS, is subjected to bombardment by the aircraft of the Turkish occupation,” tweeted Farhad Shami, head of the SDF media centre.
The SDF spokesperson later said two villages populated with internally displaced persons (IDPs) in northern Syria had been hit.
“The Turkish occupation aircraft are shelling the al-Beilonya village which is heavily populated with Afrin IDPs who were forcibly displaced from Afrin in 2018,” he said.
“In addition to the Dahir al-Arab village, which is populated with Ras al-Ain IDPs who were also forcibly displaced by the Turkish occupation in 2019,” he added.
The air attacks had resulted in “deaths and injuries”, he said, without specifying the toll.
The head of SDF, Mazloum Abdi, wrote on Twitter that the attacks threatened the whole region and called on people in the targeted areas to remain in their homes and await instruction from security forces.
There were no immediate comments from the governments of Syria or Iraq.
Turkey has launched three major cross-border operations in Syria since 2016 and already controls some territories in the north.
The attacks will not be limited to our regions which are now being subjected to aggressive and barbaric bombing.
We call on our families to stay in their homes and abide by the directives of the Security Forces. (2)— Mazloum Abdî مظلوم عبدي (@MazloumAbdi) November 19, 2022
Turkish police arrest suspect in Istanbul bombing | News
Interior minister says police have arrested ‘the person who left the bomb’ that exploded on Istanbul’s Istiklal Avenue.
Turkish police have arrested a suspect in the bombing in central Istanbul that left at least eight people dead and 81 others wounded, according to an official.
Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu told reporters on Monday that the suspect in custody was the “person who left the bomb that caused the explosion” on a busy thoroughfare in Turkey’s largest city.
#URGENT Person who left bomb that caused explosion Sunday on Istanbul’s Istiklal Avenue arrested by police, says Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu pic.twitter.com/I08OTC4rPb
— ANADOLU AGENCY (@anadoluagency) November 14, 2022
Soylu blamed the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) for Sunday’s blast on Istiklal avenue, saying “Our assessment is that the order for the deadly terror attack came from Ayn al-Arab in northern Syria” where he said the group has its Syrian headquarters.
“We will retaliate against those who are responsible for this heinous terror attack,” he said, adding that the death toll has risen from six to eight and that 81 people had been wounded, with two of them in “critical condition”.
No group has claimed responsibility for the blast yet.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday described the explosion as “treacherous” and said it “smells like terrorism”. Speaking before his departure to the Group of 20 summit in Indonesia, Erdogan said initial information suggested that a “woman had played a part” in the attack.
Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag told A Haber television later on Sunday that the woman was seen sitting on one of the benches on Istiklal Avenue for more than 40 minutes.
The explosion occurred just minutes after she got up, he said.
“There are two possibilities,” he told A Haber. “There’s either a mechanism placed in this bag and it explodes, or someone remotely explodes [it]”.
Al Jazeera has obtained pictures of the woman suspected to be behind the bombing.
#الجزيرة تحصل على صور من زوايا مختلفة للسيدة المشتبه في أنها تقف وراء هجوم #اسطنبول pic.twitter.com/DgdojrKMMY
— قناة الجزيرة (@AJArabic) November 13, 2022
Soylu’s announcement on Monday did not add any details about the woman.
Istanbul and other Turkish cities have been targeted in the past by Kurdish separatists, ISIL and other groups, including in a series of attacks in 2015 and 2016.
These include twin bombings outside an Istanbul soccer stadium in December 2016 that killed 38 people and wounded 155. The attack was claimed by an offshoot of the PKK, which has kept up a deadly campaign for Kurdish self-rule in southeastern Turkey since the 1980s and is designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the European Union and the United States.
Regularly targeted by Turkish military operations, the group is also at the heart of a tussle between Sweden and Turkey, which has been blocking Stockholm’s entry into NATO since May, accusing it of leniency towards the PKK.
Condemnations of Sunday’s attack and condolences for the victims rolled in from several countries including Greece, Egypt, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, the US, Azerbaijan, Italy and Pakistan.
Greece “unequivocally” denounced the blast and expressed condolences, while the United States it stood “shoulder-to-shoulder with our NATO ally in countering terrorism”.
French President Emmanuel Macron said in a message to the Turks: “We share your pain. We stand with you in the fight against terrorism”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also tweeted in Turkish: “The pain of the friendly Turkish people is our pain.”
European Council President Charles Michel also sent condolences, tweeting: “My thoughts are with the victims and their families.”