Middle East

Ukrainian, Turkish presidents conduct talks amid Donbass tensions with Russia

Editorial Bureau April 10, 2021

ANKARA (TURKEY) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will conduct talks with his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul on Saturday, amid tensions between Kyiv and Moscow regarding conflict, which has been going for long, in Ukraine’s eastern Donbass region. Kyiv has

Middle East

Turkish women rally over Erdogan’s decision to leave domestic violence treaty

Editorial Bureau March 27, 2021

ISTANBUL (TURKEY) – Several thousand women protested in the streets in Istanbul on Saturday demanding that Turkey reverses its decision to withdraw from an international treaty against domestic abuse which it once championed. President Tayyip Erdogan stunned European allies with last week’s announcement that Turkey was pulling out of the Istanbul Convention,

Europe

HDP officials, rights group head arrested by Turkish police

Editorial Bureau March 19, 2021

ISTANBUL (TURKEY) – Turkish police detained three district heads of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) and seven others in Istanbul on Friday, in connection to alleged links to militants, police said, two days after a court case began over banning the party. Separately, Turkey’s Human Rights Association (IHD) co-chairman Ozturk Turkdogan was

Middle East

Turkey begins probe into comments made by Dutch politician Wilders on Erdogan

Editorial Bureau February 16, 2021

ANKARA (TURKEY) – Prosecutors in Turkey have started a probe on Tuesday into remarks about President Tayyip Erdogan by Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders, said state media reports. The Dutch leader tweeted on Monday saying Erdogan was a terrorist and urged Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte to expel the Turkish envoy. He also demanded the […]

World

Sailors held hostage off Nigeria return to Turkey, revisit death threats and forest captivity

Editorial Bureau February 14, 2021

ISTANBUL (TURKEY) – Fifteen Turkish sailors kidnapped by pirates last month in the Gulf of Guinea arrived back in Turkey on Sunday and the ship’s captain described how they faced death threats and were held in a forest during their three-week ordeal. The sailors hugged relatives as they arrived before dawn at Istanbul Airport, where […]

Middle East

Turkey arrests four pending trial over university protests: prosecutor

Editorial Bureau February 7, 2021

ISTANBUL (TURKEY) – Four people were formally arrested as part of an investigation into protests against President Tayyip Erdogan’s appointment of a rector at one of the country’s top universities, an Istanbul prosecutor’s office said on Sunday. The protests began last month over Erdogan’s appointment of Melih Bulu, an academic and former

Middle East

Turkish authorities arrest 65 more people over university protests

Editorial Bureau February 5, 2021

ISTANBUL (TURKEY) – Turkish police arrested 65 people late on Thursday over protests, continuing a crackdown on the protesters in spite of growing international criticism. The Istanbul governor’s office said the protesters had breached a ban on public demonstrations, gatherings and marches enforced due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It said that the people detained

Middle East

Most of detained university protestors set free in Istanbul

Editorial Bureau February 3, 2021

ISTANBUL (TURKEY) – Seventy six of 105 people arrested over protests against President Tayyip Erdogan’s appointment of a rector at one of Turkey’s top universities were released, the Istanbul Governor’s office said on Wednesday. The office said it is still processing the detentions of 29 people in the city. Talking against a government ban on […]

Europe

Twitter says Turkish minister’s LGBT comments about protesters distasteful

Editorial Bureau February 2, 2021

ISTANBUL (TURKEY) – Turkey’s interior minister on Tuesday slammed protesters at a top Istanbul university as “LGBT deviants” in a statement, which Twitter considered as hateful conduct. Students and teachers at Istanbul’s Bogazici University have held protests for the last month against the appointment of Melih Bulu as rector by President

Europe

Mediterranean talks with EU raises hopes for Turkey

Editorial Bureau January 24, 2021

BRUSSELS/ANKARA (BELGIUM/TURKEY) – After a five-year hiatus marked by grievances over their rival claims to Mediterranean waters, Turkey resumes talks with Greece on Monday in the first test of its hopes to reverse deteriorating relations with the European Union. While diplomats say that rebuilding trust will be a hard slog, the talks follow Turkey’s decision