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Thursday, April 30, 2015

Interview rooms at Istanbul airports help deport ‘risky’ foreigners Anadolu Agency

Interview rooms at Istanbul airports help deport ‘risky’ foreigners

30 April 2015 16:51 (Last updated 30 April 2015 16:55)
Hundreds of suspected foreigners deported from Turkey's biggest province.

ISTANBUL (AA) - Interview rooms at Istanbul's airports and at the city's largest bus terminal have helped Turkish authorities deport more than 300 suspected foreigner fighters, the Istanbul counter-terrorism department told The Anadolu Agency Thursday.

More:Interview rooms at Istanbul airports help deport ‘risky’ foreigners Anadolu Agency

UK: Chance of first Turkish-origin MP quadruples Anadolu Agency

UK: Chance of first Turkish-origin MP quadruples

30 April 2015 15:49 (Last updated 30 April 2015 16:04)
This is the first time this many candidates of Turkish-origin have run for national British elections

LONDON

Four British parliamentary candidates of Turkish descent are running in the U.K.'s general election due to be held on May 7.

In separate interviews for the Anadolu Agency, the four candidates said that, if elected, they would work to increase the participation of Turks in British political life.

More:UK: Chance of first Turkish-origin MP quadruples Anadolu Agency

Vacation Like a Boss at the New Raffles Istanbul - Condé Nast Traveler

Vacation Like a Boss at the New Raffles Istanbul
Written by Paul Brady
April 29, 2015
Jenny Zarins/Courtesy Raffles

Though Raffles Istanbul hasn’t even been open a year, it made our 2015 Hot List and cemented itself as one of Europe’s finest and most over-the-top luxury hotels.

More:Vacation Like a Boss at the New Raffles Istanbul - Condé Nast Traveler

CİHAN - World - Armed man busts post office, takes one hostage in Ankara - Cihan News

Armed man busts post office, takes one hostage in Ankara
CIHAN | ANKARA- 29.04.2015 14:12:48

An armed man raided a post office in Ankara’s Abidinpaşa neighborhood and took hostage one of employees who he had pounded and wounded before.

More:CİHAN - World - Armed man busts post office, takes one hostage in Ankara - Cihan News

Lira Plunge Scuppers Asset Sales in Threat to Turkey Financing - Bloomberg Business

Lira Plunge Scuppers Asset Sales in Threat to Turkey Financing

Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek boasted in October that Turkey’s privatization agency was so effective it was working itself out of a job. Six months on, its position looks safe: sales of state assets are collapsing.

More:Lira Plunge Scuppers Asset Sales in Threat to Turkey Financing - Bloomberg Business

Turkey: Police Seize Three Million Dollars of Heroin in Istanbul

Turkey: Police Seize Three Million Dollars of Heroin in Istanbul

Turkish police have seized 358 kilograms of heroin from a flat in Istanbul.

Seized Heroine on Display - from Istanbul Narcotics Division Turkish media reported that the narcotics had been stashed in the floor of the apartment.

More:Turkey: Police Seize Three Million Dollars of Heroin in Istanbul

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Gezi Park activists acquitted in Turkey | News | DW.DE | 29.04.2015

Gezi Park activists acquitted in Turkey

A judge has dismissed the case against more than a dozen activists involved in Turkey's 2013 anti-government demonstrations. The accused were leaders of Taksim Solidarity, originally an environmental group.

More:Gezi Park activists acquitted in Turkey | News | DW.DE | 29.04.2015

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Size of counterfeit and pirate economy: $10.8 billion - GİLA BENMAYOR

Size of counterfeit and pirate economy: $10.8 billion

The British investor I met during the “Investing in Turkey Forum” meeting in London was curious about two things. First, he was interested in whether or not Deputy Prime Minister in charge of economy Ali Babacan and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek will take part in the economy management after the June elections.

More:Size of counterfeit and pirate economy: $10.8 billion - GİLA BENMAYOR

Cyprus president to meet with Turkish Cypriot leader ahead of reunification talks | News | DW.DE | 28.04.2015

Cyprus president to meet with Turkish Cypriot leader ahead of reunification talks

Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades is set to meet newly elected Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci. The meeting comes ahead of a new round of UN-brokered talks aimed at reuniting the long-divided island.

More:Cyprus president to meet with Turkish Cypriot leader ahead of reunification talks | News | DW.DE | 28.04.2015

Dollar surge threatens Istanbul housing bubble

Dollar surge threatens Istanbul housing bubble

Housing Developers and Investors Association (KONUTDER) President Ömer Faruk Çelik warns that the lira decline versus the dollar and lack of land development in Istanbul are driving up prices at an alarming rate.

More:Dollar surge threatens Istanbul housing bubble

Turkish Cyprus: Come together? | The Economist

Come together?
A reunification supporter wins Turkish Cyprus's presidential election

Apr 28th 2015, 10:33 | Europe
WHEN a left-wing moderate and a passionate advocate of reunification won the presidential election on April 26th in Turkish-controlled northern Cyprus, many wondered whether the long-divided island might at last be on its way to reconciliation.

More:Turkish Cyprus: Come together? | The Economist

Turkish-Dutch mafia war spills more blood: Report - EUROPE

Turkish-Dutch mafia war spills more blood: Report

AMSTERDAM

The son of a Turkish man who had been questioned over alleged links to a recent series of mafia shootings in downtown Istanbul was killed in the Netherlands on April 26, Dutch media has reported.

More:Turkish-Dutch mafia war spills more blood: Report - EUROPE

Turks protest prison term for woman who killed her rapist - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

Turks protest prison term for woman who killed her rapist

Nevin Yildirim made the headlines in 2012, both domestically and abroad. The young Turkish woman had murdered her rapist, beheaded him and tossed the head in the village square. Pregnant with the rapist's child, she was barred from having an abortion. She would later place the child in state care. Yildirim is now in jail, serving a life sentence. The case has stoked fundamental questions on the Turkish judiciary’s approach to women, the media’s sexist language, the weight of a woman’s account in cases of abuse and the say the state and fathers have on the fate of an unborn child.

More:Turks protest prison term for woman who killed her rapist - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

Turkey Suspends Judges Who Ordered Release Of Media Exec Held In Anti-Terrorism Investigation

Turkey Suspends Judges Who Ordered Release Of Media Exec Held In Anti-Terrorism Investigation
Reuters
Posted: 04/27/2015 12:12 pm EDT Updated: 04/27/2015 2:59 pm EDT
HIDAYET KARACA

ISTANBUL, April 27 (Reuters) - Turkey on Monday suspended three judges who ordered the release of a prominent media executive and police officers held in an anti-terrorism probe, local media said, in a move that could exacerbate concern over political meddling in the judiciary.

More:Turkey Suspends Judges Who Ordered Release Of Media Exec Held In Anti-Terrorism Investigation

Erdogan raps new Turkish Cypriot leader

Erdogan raps new Turkish Cypriot leader

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan became embroiled with a war of words with the newly elected leader of northern Cyprus on Monday, bluntly telling him he should be careful what says.

More:ekathimerini.com | Erdogan raps new Turkish Cypriot leader

Monday, April 27, 2015

Op-Ed: Turkey and the U.S. have catching up to do

Op-Ed: Turkey and the U.S. have catching up to do

By Kenneth Szabo
Ankara - As the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the US and the EU takes shape, Turkey must play smart to avoid a major loss.

More:Op-Ed: Turkey and the U.S. have catching up to do

Akinci’s election gives hope for reunification, says President | Cyprus Mail

Akinci’s election gives hope for reunification, says President

April 27th, 2015 Cyprus 35 Comments

The election of Mustafa Akinci to the leadership of the Turkish Cypriot community gives hope that at long last Cyprus will be reunited, President Nicos Anastasiades said on Monday following Akinci’s landslide victory in a poll on Sunday in the island’s northern Turkish occupied areas.

More:Akinci’s election gives hope for reunification, says President | Cyprus Mail

Dazzling projects showcased at Istanbul Arab-Turk real estate summit - Daily Sabah

Dazzling projects showcased at Istanbul Arab-Turk real estate summit
EMRE BAŞARAN
@Bakirkoylu
ISTANBUL

The ninth Real Estate Fair and Arab-Turk Summit took place on April 25 and 27 with an opening ceremony held at the Hilton Convention Center in Istanbul's central district of Şişli.

More:Dazzling projects showcased at Istanbul Arab-Turk real estate summit - Daily Sabah

Sunday, April 26, 2015

Why Armenia Genocide recognition remains a tough sell - LA Times

Why Armenia Genocide recognition remains a tough sell

More than 20 nations have recognized the Armenian deaths as the result of a genocide.

When parties in the Austrian Parliament last week signed a declaration calling the slaughter of Armenians by the Ottoman Turks that began in 1915 a genocide, the Republic of Turkey issued a statement saying it would leave “permanent stains on Turkish-Austrian friendship” and recalled its ambassador from Vienna.

More:Why Armenia Genocide recognition remains a tough sell - LA Times

Tourism in Turkey Facing Difficult Year | .TR

TURKISH TOURISM ABOUT TO FACE A DIFFICULT YEAR Central & Eastern Europe - Turkey - Travel & Tourism Industry NewsTravel, tourism & hospitality industry coverage news
Date 27.04.2015

Expensive liquor licenses, increasing European fear of terror and a massive drop of bookings by Russian tourists startle the Turkish tourism industry. Some regions close to the Mediterranean Sea apprehend declines of up to 40 percent. Critics find fault with the lack of a concrete tourism strategy.

More:Tourism in Turkey Facing Difficult Year | .TR

Turkey condemns Hollande's comments on Armenian issue

Turkey condemns Hollande’s comments on Armenian issue

by Erol Ersoy - Apr 25, 2015

ANKARA – Turkey condemned France’s “unjust and partial attitude” to the deaths of Armenians in 1915 late on Friday.

More:Turkey condemns Hollande's comments on Armenian issue

Why Do We Remember Gallipoli? - The New Yorker

Why Do We Remember Gallipoli?
By Anthony Lane

If you are going to see the new Russell Crowe film, “The Water Diviner,” now is the time. Today is Anzac Day, the annual day of remembrance that honors the men of Australia and New Zealand who died at Gallipoli, in what was then the Ottoman empire and is now part of Turkey; this year, in particular, it stands out because it was exactly a century ago that the gruelling campaign began. It lasted eight and a half months, from the amphibious landings of April 25, 1915, to the final, exhausted evacuation, on January 9, 1916. During that period, the number of dead from Australia and New Zealand numbered around eleven and a half thousand, with more than twenty-five thousand wounded. Earlier today, their sacrifice was recalled in a service at Gallipoli that began, as is customary, at dawn.

More:Why Do We Remember Gallipoli? - The New Yorker

Breakaway Turkish Cypriots Vote for Leader in Runoff - ABC News

Breakaway Turkish Cypriots Vote for Leader in Runoff
NICOSIA, Cyprus — Apr 26, 2015, 7:43 AM ET
By MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS Associated Press
Associated Press

Breakaway Turkish Cypriots are voting Sunday for a leader in a runoff that pits moderate Mustafa Akinci against hard-line incumbent Dervis Eroglu.

More:Breakaway Turkish Cypriots Vote for Leader in Runoff - ABC News

Saturday, April 25, 2015

Relabeling: How to Diminish Armenian-Turkish Tensions | The National Interest

Relabeling: How to Diminish Armenian-Turkish Tensions

Compromising on what to call the horrific acts of 1915 could be the key.
Christopher J. Fettweis

April 25, 2015

It is late April, which means the annual drama between Armenians and Turks is about to begin. As happens every year, Armenians around the world will passionately demand that Turkey admit its crimes during World War I were genocidal, and Turks will deny it with equal vehemence.

More:Relabeling: How to Diminish Armenian-Turkish Tensions | The National Interest

Thousands Gather in Istanbul to Demand Turkey Recognize Armenian Mass Killings as Genocide | VICE News

Thousands Gather in Istanbul to Demand Turkey Recognize Armenian Mass Killings as Genocide

By John Beck
April 25, 2015 | 9:42 am

Thousands gathered Friday evening in Istanbul to mark the centennial of the mass killings of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey.

More:Thousands Gather in Istanbul to Demand Turkey Recognize Armenian Mass Killings as Genocide | VICE News

Invisible For Generations, 'Hidden Armenians' Emerge In Turkey : Parallels : NPR

Invisible For Generations, 'Hidden Armenians' Emerge In Turkey
April 25, 2015 5:20 AM ET
Peter Kenyon - Square

A century after Ottoman forces massacred an estimated 1 to 1.5 million Armenian Christians, some of the remaining Armenian Turks are taking tentative steps out into the open. They survived because their ancestors were taken in by Muslim families in 2015, and raised as Muslims.

More:Invisible For Generations, 'Hidden Armenians' Emerge In Turkey : Parallels : NPR

Armenian massacre remembrance sparks rift between Turkey and Europe | World | DW.DE | 24.04.2015

Armenian massacre remembrance sparks rift between Turkey and Europe

Events held to remember the massacre of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire 100 years ago have caused a rift between Turkey and Europe. Ankara rejects that the killings were genocide, reports Thomas Seibert from Istanbul.

More:Armenian massacre remembrance sparks rift between Turkey and Europe | World | DW.DE | 24.04.2015

Tugce defendant ′infinitely sorry′ and ′never reckoned with her death′ | News | DW.DE | 24.04.2015

Tugce defendant 'infinitely sorry' and 'never reckoned with her death'

An 18-year-old accused of assaulting a young Turkish-German woman last year, resulting in her death, has apologized on the opening day of his trial in a juvenile court. He has said he had no intention of killing her.

More:Tugce defendant ′infinitely sorry′ and ′never reckoned with her death′ | News | DW.DE | 24.04.2015

Friday, April 24, 2015

UPDATE 1-Thousands gather to remember the fallen at Gallipoli centenary | Reuters

UPDATE 1-Thousands gather to remember the fallen at Gallipoli centenary

By Mehmet Emin Caliskan

GALLIPOLI PENINSULA, Turkey, April 23 (Reuters) - Thousands of Australians, New Zealanders and Turks gathered on Turkey's Gallipoli peninsula on Thursday ahead of the 100th anniversary of one of the bloodiest battles of World War One.

More:UPDATE 1-Thousands gather to remember the fallen at Gallipoli centenary | Reuters

Reconciliation, Not Accusation | Florida Turkish American Association

Following full page ad appeared in today's edition of Miami Herald

genocide?
Reconciliation, Not Accusation

“That the massacre of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire was the same as what happened to Jews in Nazi Germany is a downright falsehood. What happened to the Armenianswasthe result of amassive Armenian armed rebellion against theTurks,which began even beforewar broke out, and continued on a larger scale.

More:Reconciliation, Not Accusation | Florida Turkish American Association

Thursday, April 23, 2015

Making Amends for the Armenian Genocide

Making Amends for the Armenian Genocide
By Thomas de Waal 4/23/15 at 4:21 PM

A group of American Armenians stood at a green iron gate in eastern Turkey and rattled it. No one answered. They had found the right house—an eye doctor had lived there during the slaughter that came to be known as the Armenian Genocide of 1915 and sheltered the grandfather of one of them. But there was no one at home.

More:Making Amends for the Armenian Genocide

Turkey insists it has nothing to hide on 100-year-old Armenian tragedy | euronews, interview

Turkey insists it has nothing to hide on 100-year-old Armenian tragedy

23/04 16:45 CET

"Imprisoning the thousand-year-old-relationship between Turks and Armenians, good memories of history, in just one year, 1915, and turning everything around the word "genocide" is wrong"

More:Turkey insists it has nothing to hide on 100-year-old Armenian tragedy | euronews, interview

Anzac families fly in to a rock star welcome in Istanbul Turkey | dailytelegraph.com.au

Anzac families fly in to a rock star welcome in Istanbul Turkey

Janet Fife-Yeomans
The Daily Telegraph
April 24, 2015 12:00AM

IT was a Turkish welcome that they did not expect but it was totally appropriate.

The wives, sons, daughters and grandchildren of the first Anzacs were greeted like rock stars when they arrived at Istanbul’s Sabiha Gorken Airport yesterday on the commemorative Qantas flight QF100.

More:Anzac families fly in to a rock star welcome in Istanbul Turkey | dailytelegraph.com.au

EU-Turkey project to improve handling of dangerous goods at sea - GREEN

EU-Turkey project to improve handling of dangerous goods at sea

ANKARA – Anadolu Agency

A joint EU-Turkey project aimed to improve the security of highly dangerous materials transported by sea was discussed by Turkey and three other nations at a meeting on April 22.

More:EU-Turkey project to improve handling of dangerous goods at sea - GREEN

UN and Turkey launch new Istanbul Regional Hub - Daily Sabah

UN and Turkey launch new Istanbul Regional Hub
SÜHEM ÖZGE TERECE
ISTANBUL
Published 7 hours ago

AA Photo

The United Nations and the Republic of Turkey officially launched the new Istanbul Regional Hub on Thursday which provides support to the countries and territories in which the UN Development Programme (UNDP) works in Europe and CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States).

More:UN and Turkey launch new Istanbul Regional Hub - Daily Sabah

Istanbul now trails New York as global diplomatic center: FM - DIPLOMACY

Istanbul now trails New York as global diplomatic center: FM

ISTANBUL
The United Nations and the Republic of Turkey officially launched the new Istanbul Regional Hub on April 23 in a move that made the intercontinental city “the second global diplomatic center after New York,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said.

More:Istanbul now trails New York as global diplomatic center: FM - DIPLOMACY

Turkish-Armenian Reconciliation the Only Path Forward - Yahoo News

Turkish-Armenian Reconciliation the Only Path Forward
PR Newswire
10 hours ago

WASHINGTON, April 23, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following statement is being issued by Pax Turcica Institute (PTI):

More:Turkish-Armenian Reconciliation the Only Path Forward - Yahoo News

Gallipoli: Changes to Turkey's national park laws spark concerns over potential development near peninsula battlefields - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Gallipoli: Changes to Turkey's national park laws spark concerns over potential development near peninsula battlefields
7.30
By Zoe Daniel

As the centenary of the Anzac landings approaches, changes to Turkey's national park laws have sparked concerns about the potential for development on the Gallipoli peninsula.

More:Gallipoli: Changes to Turkey's national park laws spark concerns over potential development near peninsula battlefields - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Turkey and Japan film on Ottoman ship starts production

Turkey and Japan film on Ottoman ship starts production

Japanese and Turkish actors are working together for “Ertuğrul," a movie based upon an Ottoman ship of the same name which sank near Oshima island in 1890 en route to Japan, sent by the sultan to provide aid.

More:Turkey and Japan film on Ottoman ship starts production

Istanbul metro line extends

Istanbul metro line extends

Thursday, 23 April 2015 11:39
Published by Ozgur Tore

Istanbul inaugurated a new metro line, Levent-Rumeli Hisarustu, on April 19, 2015. The 3.3 km line, with 4 stations, connects the Rumeli Hisarüstü and Levent districts. The new metro route was officially opened to use on Sunday in Istanbul the line aiming at solving the traffic problem of the city links to each other Rumeli Hisarüstü and Levent districts.

More:Istanbul metro line extends

Why The Turkish Lira Continues To Fall | Seeking Alpha

Why The Turkish Lira Continues To Fall
| Apr. 22, 2015 11:45 PM ET

The Turkish lira remains weak as falling economic growth and inflation measures weigh on policy. The U.S. dollar continues to trend higher against the Turkish lira, seen below.

More:Why The Turkish Lira Continues To Fall | Seeking Alpha

Gallipoli 2015: Emotions run raw for daughter of Turkish Gallipoli veteran Adil Sahin - Yahoo7

Gallipoli 2015: Emotions run raw for daughter of Turkish Gallipoli veteran Adil Sahin

Tim Leslie
April 23, 2015, 3:49 pm

Hatice Demir sits in the small living room of the house she shares with 10 of her children and grandchildren.

More:Gallipoli 2015: Emotions run raw for daughter of Turkish Gallipoli veteran Adil Sahin - Yahoo7

The Peninsula Qatar - 2015 may be the year Cyprus is reunified, say Turkey, US

2015 may be the year Cyprus is reunified, say Turkey, US
April 22, 2015 - 12:03:55 pm

Washington--Turkey and the United States voiced hopes Tuesday that 2015 could be the year when a long-elusive diplomatic solution is finally found to the decades-old division of Cyprus.

More:The Peninsula Qatar - 2015 may be the year Cyprus is reunified, say Turkey, US

Armenian president says ready to restart reconciliation with Turkey | Reuters

Armenian president says ready to restart reconciliation with Turkey
YEREVAN | By Margarita Antidze

(Reuters) - Armenia's president said on Wednesday he was ready to normalize relations with Turkey, two months after he withdrew peace accords from parliament, blaming a Turkish lack of political will to end 100 years of hostility.

More:Armenian president says ready to restart reconciliation with Turkey | Reuters

Turkey calls on leaders to reject Armenian genocide label | News | DW.DE | 22.04.2015

Turkey calls on leaders to reject Armenian genocide label

Turkey's president has blamed Armenia for making plans to "insult Turkey" during ceremonies to mark 100 years since the massacre of 1.5 million Armenians. Ankara rejects assertions the 1915 killings were genocide.

More:Turkey calls on leaders to reject Armenian genocide label | News | DW.DE | 22.04.2015

Time for Turkey and Armenia to act - SEMİH İDİZ

Time for Turkey and Armenia to act

The commemorations of the “Armenian centenary” will pass, leaving anger on the Turkish side at Pope Francis, the European Parliament, and the German Bundestag for affirming that the Armenian massacres in 1915 were genocide. There will also be relief on the Turkish side that that President Barack Obama did not use the “G-word” – which press reports from Washington indicate will be the case – in his commemorative message to the Armenians on April 24.

More:Time for Turkey and Armenia to act - SEMİH İDİZ

Erdogan raps EU for leaving migrants ‘to their deaths’ | Arab News

Erdogan raps EU for leaving migrants ‘to their deaths’

ANKARA: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday accused EU states of leaving migrants “to their deaths” after a succession of deadly disasters that have cost hundreds of lives.

More:Erdogan raps EU for leaving migrants ‘to their deaths’ | Arab News

Turkey recalls ambassador to Austria after parliament issues Armenian genocide declaration

Turkey recalls ambassador to Austria after parliament issues Armenian genocide declaration
bug

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
April 22, 2015 - 3:19 pm EDT
Share/Save/Bookmark

ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey said Wednesday it is recalling its ambassador to Austria after parties represented in parliament signed a declaration recognizing the massacre of Armenians a century ago as genocide.

More:Turkey recalls ambassador to Austria after parliament issues Armenian genocide declaration

Turkey: A critical US ally for Middle East stability | TheHill

Turkey: A critical US ally for Middle East stability

By Halil Danismaz

This week, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu arrived in Washington, D.C., and his visit could not come at a more critical time: in the face of a deteriorating security situation in the Middle East. By all accounts, the most pressing issue to be discussed in each of the meetings on his agenda – from Congressional leadership to Secretary of State John Kerry – was how to strengthen the bilateral partnership to achieve a long-term plan for stability in the region, particularly as it relates to the ongoing conflict in Syria.

More:Turkey: A critical US ally for Middle East stability | TheHill

Turkey ranks 2nd in the world in Blue Flag beaches, surpassing Greece

Turkey ranks 2nd in the world in Blue Flag beaches, surpassing Greece

The quality of Turkish beaches further excels as the number of blue flag beaches in Turkey jumps 41 ahead of Greece, into second place behind Spain.

More:Turkey ranks 2nd in the world in Blue Flag beaches, surpassing Greece

Turkish diplomats organize march to commemorate colleagues killed by Armenian terrorists - Daily Sabah

Turkish diplomats organize march to commemorate colleagues killed by Armenian terrorists
NURBANU KIZIL
ISTANBUL

The retired members of Turkey's Ministry of Foreign Affairs have announced that they will be organizing a march on Saturday April 25 in the Turkish capital Ankara to commemorate colleagues and ambassadors who had been brutally murdered by Armenian terrorist organizations between 1973 and 1985.

More:Turkish diplomats organize march to commemorate colleagues killed by Armenian terrorists - Daily Sabah

Turkey faces delicate battle against Islamic State sympathizers at home | Reuters

Turkey faces delicate battle against Islamic State sympathizers at home
ISTANBUL/ANKARA | By Humeyra Pamuk and Jonny Hogg

(Reuters) - Defne Bayrak's husband was a suicide bomber who killed CIA operatives in a 2009 attack in Afghanistan. Now, she is among the hundreds of Turks using social media to show support for Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq.

More:Turkey faces delicate battle against Islamic State sympathizers at home | Reuters

US Secretary of State expresses hope for real progress in Cyprus in 2015 (updated) | Cyprus Mail

US Secretary of State expresses hope for real progress in Cyprus in 2015 (updated)

April 22nd, 2015 Cyprus 68 Comments

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday that the division of Cyprus was begging for an international solution and progress in peace talks was possible this year.

More:US Secretary of State expresses hope for real progress in Cyprus in 2015 (updated) | Cyprus Mail

Obama won't call it the Armenian 'genocide' - CNN.com

Obama won't call it Armenian 'genocide' on 100th anniversary of atrocity

Jim Acosta and Kevin Liptak, CNN

Updated 9:08 PM ET, Tue April 21, 2015

Washington (CNN)President Barack Obama, wary of damaging relations with Turkey amid growing unrest in the Middle East, won't use the 100th anniversary of the massacre of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire to declare the brutal episode a genocide.

More:Obama won't call it the Armenian 'genocide' - CNN.com

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

What does Armenian diaspora want? - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

What does Armenian diaspora want?

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu delivered a heartwarming message Feb. 15: “[The] Armenian diaspora is not an enemy diaspora, it is ours. We will keep reaching out to them.” Yet on March 18, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called upon the Armenian diaspora, saying, “Come let’s go over the archives. We can assign experts to evaluate all documents, bring your documents. It is not ethical to go traveling around different countries, distributing money, establishing lobbies to carry anti-Turkish propaganda.”

More:What does Armenian diaspora want? - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

MIT gun truck bust lands Turkish gendarmes in prison - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

MIT gun truck bust lands Turkish gendarmes in prison

Last week, Turkey was rattled by a new development related to the Jan. 19, 2014, operation in which seven trucks chartered by the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) were stopped, searched and found to be illegally transporting weapons and ammunition to Syrian opposition groups.

More:MIT gun truck bust lands Turkish gendarmes in prison - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

Turkey energy authorities have recently uncovered huge fuel fraud methods

Turkey nergy authorities have recently uncovered huge fuel fraud methods

Balkans News - 20.04.2015

Turkey's energy authorities have recently uncovered huge fuel fraud methods in use in Turkey and now they prepare to launch serious measures to prevent the use of this system, through which untaxed jet fuels are bought by several fuel distribution companies and sold to the automotive fuel market illegally for higher prices.

More:Turkey nergy authorities have recently uncovered huge fuel fraud methods

Armenian immigrants look for a better life in Turkey - Yahoo Maktoob News

Armenian immigrants look for a better life in Turkey
Al JazeeraAl Jazeera

Istanbul - Children run and shout in the basement of a church in Istanbul - a school for Armenian immigrants living in Turkey.

Some have been in Turkey for many years, while others are new arrivals. Their exact numbers are unclear, as the bulk of them are undocumented.

More:Armenian immigrants look for a better life in Turkey - Yahoo Maktoob News

How the Occupation of Istanbul Shaped the Modern Middle East | Duke Today

How the Occupation of Istanbul Shaped the Modern Middle East
April 20, 2015 | Julie Harbin

Erdag Goknar discusses the ramifications of the post WWI-partition of the Middle East. Photo by Julie Harbin

Durham, NC - At the end of World War I, the defeated capital of the Ottoman Empire, Istanbul, was “a city of poverty and refugees” with a multi-ethnic population of 1 million, with 100,000 refugees including Balkan Muslims, Russians, Crimean and Caucasian Muslims, Jews, Armenians and Turks.

More:How the Occupation of Istanbul Shaped the Modern Middle East | Duke Today

Monday, April 20, 2015

Turkey softens tone in Armenian row, Germany to defy Ankara

Turkey's prime minister has said the government "shares the pain" of descendants of Ottoman Armenians killed in 1915. Germany, meanwhile, looks set to follow the pope and others in calling the killings
"genocide."

Ahmet Davutoglu sought to reach out to Armenians on Monday, sayingTurkey wanted to heal the wounds of the past 100 years after the mass killings of their ancestors under the Ottoman Empire.

However, the Turkish prime minister's statement stopped well short of recent comments by Pope Francis and the European Parliament, never referring to the events as "genocide."

"We once again respectfully remember and share the pain of grandchildren and children of Ottoman Armenians who lost their lives during deportation in 1915," Davutoglu said in a statement released by his office to mark the 100th anniversary of the start of the killings, observed on Friday, April 24.

Turkey softens tone in Armenian row, Germany to defy Ankara | News | DW.DE | 20.04.2015

ISTANBUL: For first time,Turkey will let Armenians hold memorial for 1915 victims | World | McClatchy DC

For first time,Turkey will let Armenians hold memorial for 1915 victims

By Roy Gutman

ISTANBUL — For the first time ever, Turkey will permit Armenians to hold a religious service this week to commemorate the massacres and deportations of a century ago, Turkish officials said Monday. Turkey will even send a senior government official to attend.

More:ISTANBUL: For first time,Turkey will let Armenians hold memorial for 1915 victims | World | McClatchy DC

Hundreds of migrants sink in the Mediterranean, EU to hold urgent meeting - ARA News

Hundreds of migrants sink in the Mediterranean, EU to hold urgent meeting
April 21, 2015

ARA News

Istanbul, Turkey – On Thursday, the European Union’s foreign ministers will hold an emergency meeting, to discuss the humanitarian disaster that claimed the lives of more than 670 illegal immigrants who drowned in the Mediterranean Sea, off the Libyan coast.

More:Hundreds of migrants sink in the Mediterranean, EU to hold urgent meeting - ARA News

Turkish PM says country 'shares pain' of Armenians - BBC News

Turkish PM says country 'shares pain' of Armenians

4 hours ago
From the section Europe

Ahmet Davutoglu did acknowledge that Ottoman Armenians died in deportations

The prime minister of Turkey has said the country will "share the pain" of Armenians whose ancestors were killed 100 years ago in what was then the Ottoman Empire.


More:Turkish PM says country 'shares pain' of Armenians - BBC News

Gallipoli story told with fundamentalist twist | The New Daily

Gallipoli story told with fundamentalist twist

11:28am, Apr 21, 2015
Dan Moss AM News Reporter

Guides “paid” to slant Anzac story as victory of Muslims over western forces.

Turkish victory at Gallipoli is being painted as a religious victory.

Tourism to the battlefield of Gallipoli has increased to become an economic focus of the area, but guides showing Australians around Anzac Cove are being coaxed to add a religious slant to the story, according to reports.

More:Gallipoli story told with fundamentalist twist | The New Daily

Professor known as ’Turkey’s Einstein’ dies at 81, FM announces

Professor known as ’Turkey’s Einstein’ dies at 81, FM announces

Professor Oktay Sinanoğlu, a quantum chemist dubbed "Turkey's Einstein," died on Monday at the age of 81 in a US hospital, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu announced on Twitter, expressing his sadness at the professor's death.

More:Professor known as ’Turkey’s Einstein’ dies at 81, FM announces

Fareed Zakaria: Turkey headed for illiberal democracy

Fareed Zakaria: Turkey headed for illiberal democracy

The host of CNN's flagship foreign affairs show and Washington Post columnist Fareed Zakaria has said Turkey is transforming into an "illiberal democracy," a term he coined to refer to countries with free elections yet no individual freedoms or civil liberties.

More:Fareed Zakaria: Turkey headed for illiberal democracy

Sunday, April 19, 2015

Main Turkish opposition in election vow to boost economy, democracy | Reuters

Main Turkish opposition in election vow to boost economy, democracy
ISTANBUL | By Daren Butler

(Reuters) - Turkey's main opposition promised on Sunday to revitalise a flagging economy and boost democracy in an election manifesto which accused the ruling AK Party of polarising the country and leaving millions in poverty during its 13 years in power.

More:Main Turkish opposition in election vow to boost economy, democracy | Reuters

Problematic April for Turkey | Vestnik Kavkaza

Problematic April for Turkey
18 April 2015 - 8:32pm

Certainly, the Turkish Foreign Ministry is now looking forward to the end of the month, when the storm from the exaggeration of the "Armenian issue" by domestic and foreign public figures and international media will settle. In the meantime, with the approach of April 24, the landmark date for the Armenian people, sentiments about the recognition or non-recognition of the genocidal killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire a century ago are only igniting with force.

More:Problematic April for Turkey | Vestnik Kavkaza

It’s a three-horse race for Turkish Cypriots | Cyprus Mail

It’s a three-horse race for Turkish Cypriots

April 19th, 2015 featured 4 Comments

By Agnieszka Rakoczy

IT’S a neck-and-neck race among the three main contenders in Sunday’s elections in the north, with the only certainty being that Turkish Cypriots will return to the polls next Sunday to choose among the two front runners of the first round.

More:It’s a three-horse race for Turkish Cypriots | Cyprus Mail

Saturday, April 18, 2015

Our View: Interesting developments in Turkish Cypriot elections | Cyprus Mail

Our View: Interesting developments in Turkish Cypriot elections

April 18th, 2015 Comment, Cyprus 13 Comments

TURKISH Cypriots go to the polls tomorrow to elect a president, although it is unlikely that a run-off would be avoided. None of the seven candidates has been tipped to secure anywhere near the absolute majority required, which means the two front-runners will contest the top post seven days later.

More:Our View: Interesting developments in Turkish Cypriot elections | Cyprus Mail

Turkey Heightens Crackdown on Satirists | Al Jazeera America

Turkey’s humorless ruling party cracks down on satirists
Cartoonists lampoon officials despite the growing threat of prison
April 18, 2015 2:00AM ET
by David Lepeska @dlepeska

On April 8, the chief Istanbul prosecutor charged two columnists for the Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet with “inciting public hatred” for republishing the cover of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, which features an image of the Prophet Muhammad. If convicted, the two journalists face up to four and a half years in prison.

More:Turkey Heightens Crackdown on Satirists | Al Jazeera America

‘Anti-democratic practices are more detrimental to Turkey than genocide resolutions’

‘Anti-democratic practices are more detrimental to Turkey than genocide resolutions’

Edward Erickson (Photo: Today's Zaman, Mehmet Yaman)
April 17, 2015, Friday/ 17:00:27/ İBRAHİM TÜRKMEN / ISTANBUL

Turks should get past the Armenians' accusations of genocide and instead be more concerned about the infamous image the repressive actions of the current government depict, says a prominent military historian.

More:‘Anti-democratic practices are more detrimental to Turkey than genocide resolutions’

15 graphs to explain why populism could wreck Turkey’s economy - EMRE KIZILKAYA

15 graphs to explain why populism could wreck Turkey’s economy

The political race for the June 7 general elections in Turkey is turning into an auction of populism, which looks increasingly dangerous for the already-strained economy.

This month, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, the leader of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), announced that the public sector would hire 120,000 people to plant trees and raise the retirement pension by 100 Turkish Liras, weeks after he heralded a 50 percent increase in the on-duty bonuses paid to health personnel.

More:15 graphs to explain why populism could wreck Turkey’s economy - EMRE KIZILKAYA

Friday, April 17, 2015

Where now for Turkey? President Erdogan clamps down on opposition, but former EU allies fear more human rights abuses and media crackdowns - Europe - World - The Independent

Where now for Turkey? President Erdogan clamps down on opposition, but former EU allies fear more human rights abuses and media crackdowns

Kim Sengupta Author Biography

Ankara

Friday 17 April 2015

The abuse of human rights and suppression of the media, a savage civil war in Syria and continuing bitterness over divided Cyprus. Along with the Armenian genocide and the machinations of Vladimir Putin, these are some of the varied and controversial issues surrounding Turkey’s long and troubled campaign to join the European Union.

More:Where now for Turkey? President Erdogan clamps down on opposition, but former EU allies fear more human rights abuses and media crackdowns - Europe - World - The Independent

Turkey's Best Asset to Tackle ISIS: Ankara or America? | Michael Shank, Ph.D.

Turkey's Best Asset to Tackle ISIS: Ankara or America?

As Turkish President Recept Tayyip Erdogan made his rounds recently in the Middle East, talking with Iran about ending sectarianism in the region, and with Egypt about freeing political prisoners, he would've done well to start at home. There's much to do, and Erdogan could begin by talking with Turkish exiles in Pennsylvania.

More:Turkey's Best Asset to Tackle ISIS: Ankara or America? | Michael Shank, Ph.D.

World Bank downgrades Turkish growth rate

World Bank downgrades Turkish growth rate

The World Bank anticipates that Turkey's economy will grow by 3 percent this year, a downgrade from an earlier forecast of 3.5 percent, according to a report released by the bank on Thursday.

More:World Bank downgrades Turkish growth rate

Breakaway Turkish Cypriots pick leader as peace talks loom - Houston Chronicle

Breakaway Turkish Cypriots pick leader as peace talks loom
By MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS, Associated Press | April 17, 2015 | Updated: April 17, 2015 5:55am

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Uncertainty reigns as Turkish Cypriots vote for a new leader this weekend: There's no clear favorite and no way of knowing whether the winner can bring talks on reunifying Cyprus to a successful conclusion.

More:Breakaway Turkish Cypriots pick leader as peace talks loom - Houston Chronicle

Economy most important problem for Turks: Poll - LOCAL

Economy most important problem for Turks: Poll

ISTANBUL - HDN

Economic issues rank as the most important problem for half of Turks, according to a survey made public on April 16.

A total of 33.1 percent of those polled said unemployment ranks as Turkey’s most important problem. “This is the highest percentage I have seen for long time,” said Ali Çarkoğlu, who has been conducting similar surveys for the past two decades.

More:Economy most important problem for Turks: Poll - LOCAL

Turkish Airlines Basel flight diverted back to Istanbul over bomb scare - CRIME

Turkish Airlines Basel flight diverted back to Istanbul over bomb scare

ISTANBUL

A Turkish Airlines (THY) plane flying from Istanbul to Basel was diverted as an emergency measure on April 17 in the third bomb scare on a THY flight in less than a month.

More:Turkish Airlines Basel flight diverted back to Istanbul over bomb scare - CRIME

Turkey's blackout caused by line maintenance, hydro production oversupply - TEIAS

Turkey's blackout caused by line maintenance, hydro production oversupply - TEIAS
16 April 2015 14:42 Source:ICIS

A blackout that hit nearly all of Turkey’s 81 provinces at the end of March was caused by a combination of hydro production oversupply, reduced thermal generation and maintenance on transmission lines, a source at the Turkish grid operator TEIAS said on Wednesday.

More:Turkey's blackout caused by line maintenance, hydro production oversupply - TEIAS

Thursday, April 16, 2015

Survey finds majority of Turkish population is pious - Daily Sabah

Survey finds majority of Turkish population is pious
DAILY SABAH
ISTANBUL

An international survey looking into people's relation with religion in 65 countries found the Turkish nation is overwhelmingly pious compared to other countries, with 79 percent of the population describing themselves this way.

More:Survey finds majority of Turkish population is pious - Daily Sabah

AKP readies diversion as genocide anniversary nears - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

AKP readies diversion as genocide anniversary nears

Before the Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power, Turkey pretended it had no “Armenian problem.” Under the AKP, it finally acknowledged the issue, but keeps avoiding genuinely facing it.

More:AKP readies diversion as genocide anniversary nears - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

Envisioned as tallest tower in Turkey, Ankara's partially-built Republic Tower is now heading for demolition | News | Archinect

Envisioned as tallest tower in Turkey, Ankara's partially-built Republic Tower is now heading for demolition

Started in 2003 by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and intended to be Turkey’s tallest tower, the partially-constructed Republic Tower in Ankara’s Keçiören district will now be demolished after the Ankara Municipal Assembly rejected its zoning plan. [...]

More:Envisioned as tallest tower in Turkey, Ankara's partially-built Republic Tower is now heading for demolition | News | Archinect

Turkey: Opposition, govt jointly condemn EU parliament Anadolu Agency

Turkey: Opposition, govt jointly condemn EU parliament

16 April 2015 19:03 (Last updated 16 April 2015 19:45)
Turkish parliament speaker, ruling AK Party and opposition parties, CHP and MHP, have jointly condemned European Parliament’s resolution on the 1915 events

More:Turkey: Opposition, govt jointly condemn EU parliament Anadolu Agency

Illusions Versus Reality: Turkey's Approach To Middle East And North Africa - Analysis - Eurasia Review

Illusions Versus Reality: Turkey’s Approach To Middle East And North Africa – Analysis
April 16, 2015 FRIDE Leave a comment

By FRIDE

By Soli Özel and Behlül Özkan*

When the Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in Turkey in 2002, it was able to build upon an emerging regional role to create a new, multifaceted Turkish foreign policy brand. Having positioned itself as a regional mediator during the first decade of the 2000s, by the time of the 2011 Arab uprisings Turkey had shifted its role towards a more intrusive style in dealing with its Middle Eastern neighbours. Four years later, Turkey’s once so promising regional standing lies in ruins. Ankara has lost its gamble on Islamists holding power in transitioning neighbours; has discredited its discourse on the need for democratisation across the region as a thinly veiled hegemonic ambition; and has squandered most of its regional geopolitical capital.

More:Illusions Versus Reality: Turkey's Approach To Middle East And North Africa - Analysis - Eurasia Review

Armenian history: Gunning for the G-word | The Economist

Armenian history
Gunning for the G-word
The complexities of calling mass killing genocide
Apr 18th 2015 | From the print edition

ON APRIL 24th millions of Armenians around the world will commemorate the centenary of the mass killing of their forebears by Ottoman forces. A growing number of historians say it was genocide.

More:Armenian history: Gunning for the G-word | The Economist

Imported gilded marble to adorn Turkish and Finnish steam baths in Ak Saray

Imported gilded marble to adorn Turkish and Finnish steam baths in Ak Saray

Exclusive 24-carat gilded marble at a cost of 3,000 euros per square meter has been imported from Italy to be used during the construction of a spa that includes Turkish baths (hamam), Finnish steam baths and pools within the presidential palace, claimed Tezcan Karakuş Candan, head of the Turkish Union of Engineers and Architects' Chambers (TMMOB) Ankara branch.

More:Imported gilded marble to adorn Turkish and Finnish steam baths in Ak Saray

Turkey PM`s Armenian aide steps down amid genocide row | Zee News

Turkey PM`s Armenian aide steps down amid genocide row
Last Updated: Thursday, April 16, 2015 - 18:49

Ankara: The first member of Turkey`s Armenian community to hold the post of senior advisor to the prime minister has retired, an official told AFP on Thursday, after he described the mass killings of Armenians during the Ottoman Empire as "genocide".

More:Turkey PM`s Armenian aide steps down amid genocide row | Zee News

Future of tourism is bright for Italy and Turkey

Future of tourism is bright for Italy and Turkey

Thursday, 16 April 2015 15:30

Başaran Ulusoy, President of Association of Turkish Travel Agencies – TURSAB said, “Turkey and Italy are both among the most important tourism destinations in the World. The future seems bright for Italian – Turkish tourism relations”. Turkey is the sixth most visited country in the World after Italy. Italy has been an attractive destination for the world as well as for Turkish people with its magnificent heritage. Art, culture, landscape and cuisine are the other factors that attract foreign visitors to Italy.

More:Future of tourism is bright for Italy and Turkey

World's largest conference on Halal Tourism due in Istanbul - AzerNews

World's largest conference on Halal Tourism due in Istanbul
16 April 2015, 16:20 (GMT+05:00)

Turkey has been named as the host of the largest international showcase of Halal travel- a sector that is currently worth $150 billion.

More:World's largest conference on Halal Tourism due in Istanbul - AzerNews

Turkey accuses EU of religious fanaticism in genocide resolution | EUROPE ONLINE

Turkey accuses EU of religious fanaticism in genocide resolution
Europe
16.04.2015
By our dpa-correspondent and Europe Online auf Facebook posten Auf Twitter posten
Istanbul (dpa) - The Turkish government has accused European Parliament members of showing "religious and cultural fanaticism" by approving a resolution that commemorates the killing and mass deportation of Armenians in the final years of the Ottoman Empire.

More:Turkey accuses EU of religious fanaticism in genocide resolution | EUROPE ONLINE

Armenian Patriarchate mass in Istanbul to feature ‘shared pain’ - PanARMENIAN.Net

Armenian Patriarchate mass in Istanbul to feature ‘shared pain’

April 16, 2015 - 09:33 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Patriarchate of the Armenians of Turkey will hold mass on April 24 in memory of ‘those who lost their lives in 1915’.

More:Armenian Patriarchate mass in Istanbul to feature ‘shared pain’ - PanARMENIAN.Net

Turkey’s ex-president warns on Erdogan’s concentration of power - FT.com

Turkey’s ex-president warns on Erdogan’s concentration of power

Splits within Turkey’s AK party widened on Wednesday when former president Abdullah Gul sounded the alarm about a concentration of power under his successor, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Mr Gul warned in particular about his successor’s ambitions to introduce a presidential system.

More:Turkey’s ex-president warns on Erdogan’s concentration of power - FT.com

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Istanbul-based football club Besiktas’ assets seized Anadolu Agency

Istanbul-based football club Besiktas’ assets seized

15 April 2015 20:22 (Last updated 15 April 2015 20:26)
The sequestration office in Istanbul has confiscated Besiktas’ assets because of their $8.8 million debt to an advertising agency, Aktif Tanitim

More:Istanbul-based football club Besiktas’ assets seized Anadolu Agency

Turkey and Armenia redraw battlelines over 1915 - FT.com

Turkey and Armenia redraw battlelines over 1915

Piotr Zalewski

On April 24, dozens of world leaders are expected to travel to Turkey to mark the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Gallipoli, one of the bloodiest campaigns of the first world war. But dozens more could be conspicuous by their absence.

More:Turkey and Armenia redraw battlelines over 1915 - FT.com

Superstock 600: More Turkish delight in The Netherlands?

Superstock 600: More Turkish delight in The Netherlands?

Razgatlioglu takes the STK600 double at Aragon 1An apparent phenomenon controlled Superstock 600 proceedings in Aragon, either running away from the pack or forcing his rivals into mistakes as they pushed too hard to keep up. Toprak Razgatlioglu has taken the series by storm, with his Magny-Cours 2014 win and Aragon 2015 double meaning he has won each of the three races he has entered to date.

More:Superstock 600: More Turkish delight in The Netherlands?

Turkish Airlines attracts GCC tourists to experience ‘International Istanbul Tulip Festival 2015’ | Al Bawaba

Turkish Airlines attracts GCC tourists to experience ‘International Istanbul Tulip Festival 2015’

Turkish Airlines, the national carrier of Turkey and Europe’s Best Airline*, is celebrating the upcoming ‘International Istanbul Tulip Festival 2015’ from April 11 – May 3, 2015, providing visitors and residents, alike, with competitive prices and promotions to one of the world’s most fascinating tourist destinations.

More:Turkish Airlines attracts GCC tourists to experience ‘International Istanbul Tulip Festival 2015’ | Al Bawaba

Opinion: ‘Rolling back reform has led to malaise in Turkey’ - FT.com

Opinion: ‘Rolling back reform has led to malaise in Turkey’

Murat Üçer and Daron Acemoğlu

The authorities’ violent reaction to street protests in Istanbul marked a turning point for civil society

Turkey’s economic performance has been stellar in recent years. Growth surged after its financial crisis of 2001, with real output expanding by almost 7 per cent a year between 2002 and 2007.

More:Opinion: ‘Rolling back reform has led to malaise in Turkey’ - FT.com

Turkey government at odds with big business - FT.com

Turkey government at odds with big business

Daniel Dombey

Turkey’s business elite gathered last month on the mountain top from which the Greek god Zeus is said to have watched the Trojan war. The meeting was Turkey’s answer to Davos, but bore an uncanny resemblance to a dissidents’ conclave.

More:Turkey government at odds with big business - FT.com

Turkish president tightens grip on state - FT.com

Turkish president tightens grip on state

Daniel Dombey

Facing the future: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan with guards at the presidential palace in Ankara. The president is seeking re-election in June

These are unsettling times for Turkey, as the nation steels itself for elections in June that could determine its course for years to come.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the country’s president and dominant figure, has struck an increasingly confrontational tone on relations with the west.

More:Turkish president tightens grip on state - FT.com

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Protests as Turkey builds first nuclear power plant | Business | DW.DE | 14.04.2015

Protests as Turkey builds first nuclear power plant

Turkey launched construction of its first nuclear power plant on Tuesday, which the government hopes will open a new era of greater energy self-sufficiency. But the ceremony faced protests from environmentalists.

More:Protests as Turkey builds first nuclear power plant | Business | DW.DE | 14.04.2015

Turkish museums to introduce sign language and Braille starting in Istanbul

Turkish museums to introduce sign language and Braille starting in Istanbul

Services for visually and hearing-impaired people will be increased at key Istanbul museums next year, the head of the country’s largest travel agency body claimed on Tuesday.

More:Turkish museums to introduce sign language and Braille starting in Istanbul

Turkish fashion icon lashes out at violence against women with new show

Turkish fashion icon lashes out at violence against women with new show

A high-profile Turkish fashion designer is to hold a show in the U.S. capital to draw attention to the issue of violence against women.

More:Turkish fashion icon lashes out at violence against women with new show

Iran, secret gold and the mystery trade boosting Turkish exports - Chicago Tribune

Iran, secret gold and the mystery trade boosting Turkish exports
By Onur Ant, Bloomberg News Bloomberg

ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey's trade balance, one of the few points for solace in this year's worst performing bond market, might not be improving as much as the data appears to show.

More:Iran, secret gold and the mystery trade boosting Turkish exports - Chicago Tribune

How will Turkey explain $4.3 billion in unidentified foreign currency? - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

How will Turkey explain $4.3 billion in unidentified foreign currency?

A foreign currency influx that has reached $40 billion since the Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in 2002 tends to reach record levels prior to elections. This inflow, which the Central Bank has not explained, is now $4.3 billion in the lead-up to June 7 elections, prompting questions as to whether the AKP is getting election support from abroad.

More:How will Turkey explain $4.3 billion in unidentified foreign currency? - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

Erdogan rethinks sectarian politics - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

Erdogan rethinks sectarian politics

Following President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s recent visit to Iran, speculation is rife about a new regional policy Ankara is trying to develop for the Middle East. This is said to be predicated on a return to Turkey’s former role as a potential mediator in regional crises, which it held prior to the Arab Spring.

More:Erdogan rethinks sectarian politics - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

Turkish students' Jedi temple protest - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

Turkish students' Jedi temple protest

“The nearest Buddhist temple is 2,000 kilometers (1,243 miles) away. I cannot pray during my lunch break. So please build a temple on campus.” This was one of the messages a student at Istanbul Technical University (ITU) wrote for an online petition.

More:Turkish students' Jedi temple protest - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

Turkey's $22B nuclear plant to be tsunami, quake proof Anadolu Agency

Turkey's $22B nuclear plant to be tsunami, quake proof

14 April 2015 20:53 (Last updated 14 April 2015 20:57)
It is a $22 billion investment, Turkey's energy minister says at the groundbreaking for the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant's marine hydro-technic structure

More:Turkey's $22B nuclear plant to be tsunami, quake proof Anadolu Agency

International Conference on Airpower in Istanbul, 2015 | SLDInfo

International Conference on Airpower in Istanbul, 2015

2015-04-14 Early in April 2015, an airpower conference was held in Istanbul and sponsored by the Turkish Air Force.

The event, ICAP 2015, was held in Istanbul, Turkey and was attended by over 1000 participants from over 50 nations, with 29 air chiefs attending.

More:International Conference on Airpower in Istanbul, 2015 | SLDInfo

UN chief won't call 1915 slaughter of Armenians 'genocide' | The Times of Israel

UN chief won’t call 1915 slaughter of Armenians ‘genocide’

Secretary-general brands murder of estimated 1.5 by Ottomans ‘atrocity crimes,’ but doesn’t follow Pope Francis’s lead

More:UN chief won't call 1915 slaughter of Armenians 'genocide' | The Times of Israel

Monday, April 13, 2015

Political tension rising in Turkey - SEMİH İDİZ

Political tension rising in Turkey

The stakes have never been so high for Turkey. It is clear that the general elections on June 7 are not going to be just regular elections. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan clearly intends to use these for regime change. He wants the executive powers legally vested with the prime minister for himself.

More:Political tension rising in Turkey - SEMİH İDİZ

The Eagle :: Column: Trying to Talk to the Turks

Column: Trying to Talk to the Turks
Abroad Columnist Shelby Ostergaard gets lost in translation in Turkey
By Shelby Ostergaard | Published 4 hours ago | Updated 4 hours ago

Before I tell you this story, there are two things you need to know about me. First, I’m a pretty friendly person. I like to talk to people, I like to hear their stories. Second, I talk fast. Really fast.

More:The Eagle :: Column: Trying to Talk to the Turks

Europe should see Turkey is no longer a country of emigration - BARÇIN YİNANÇ

Europe should see Turkey is no longer a country of emigration

“I don’t say it impolitely, but I say it directly: I don’t want to see you here again,” said Muriel Domenach, the French Consul General in Istanbul, talking about her conversations with visa-seeking Turks.

More:Europe should see Turkey is no longer a country of emigration - BARÇIN YİNANÇ

The seductive glamour of Turkish opinion polls - CONTRIBUTOR

The seductive glamour of Turkish opinion polls

Michael Daventry*

Watch out Turkish politics watchers, you’re in for a bumpy ride: Opinion pollsters have opened the hunting season and they’re out to hijack your Twitter feed.

More:The seductive glamour of Turkish opinion polls - CONTRIBUTOR

Censorship claims overshadow Istanbul Film Festival - CINEMA-TV

Censorship claims overshadow Istanbul Film Festival

ISTANBUL

The 34th Istanbul Film Festival committee announced April 13 that the screening of a majority of films in the National Competition, National Documentary Competition, International Competition, Cinema in Human Rights Competition, Out of Competition, and New Turkish Cinema sections were canceled. The festival committeee also announced that the National and International Golden Tulip Competitions, National Documentary Competition and the Closing Ceremony were cancelled.

More:Censorship claims overshadow Istanbul Film Festival - CINEMA-TV

Bursa’s women claim the Challenge Cup - VOLLEYBALL

Bursa’s women claim the Challenge Cup

The Bursa Büyükşehir Belediye women’s volleyball team scored a home victory against Uralochka Ektarinburg, after a difficult comeback from a heavy loss in Russia, claiming the trophy at the 2015 Confederation of European Volleyball’s (CEV) Challenge Cup final on April 12.

More:Bursa’s women claim the Challenge Cup - VOLLEYBALL

Hundreds march as Turkish mine disaster trial begins | Energy & Oil | Reuters

Hundreds march as Turkish mine disaster trial begins
Mon Apr 13, 2015 8:28am GMT

AKHISAR, Turkey, April 13 (Reuters) - Hundreds of protesters marched in western Turkey on Monday, demanding harsh sentences for mining company executives at the start of their trial over the deaths of 301 miners, the country's worst industrial accident.

More:Hundreds march as Turkish mine disaster trial begins | Energy & Oil | Reuters

Op-Ed: How Erdogan spins the news and Turkey out of control (Includes interview and first-hand account)

Op-Ed: How Erdogan spins the news and Turkey out of control Special

By Lonna Lisa Williams 16 hours ago in World
Islamist Ak Party President Erdogan is spinning the news and Turkey out of control as he grants police more powers; limits freedom of speech, protests, and the press; and arrests those who oppose him.

More:Op-Ed: How Erdogan spins the news and Turkey out of control (Includes interview and first-hand account)

ISTANBUL: Turkish Cannes winner joins fight against domestic censorship | Movie News & Reviews | The News Tribune

Turkish Cannes winner joins fight against domestic censorship

By ISOBEL FINKEL

ISTANBUL — In a year when Turkey's film industry is winning unprecedented plaudits abroad, it's also battling censorship at home, prompting dozens of the nation's most prominent directors to boycott its main festival.

More:ISTANBUL: Turkish Cannes winner joins fight against domestic censorship | Movie News & Reviews | The News Tribune

EU urges Turkey, Armenia to normalize ties amid massacre row | UTSanDiego.com

EU urges Turkey, Armenia to normalize ties amid massacre row
By Associated Press6:22 a.m.April 13, 2015

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union is urging Turkey and Armenia to normalize ties after remarks by Pope Francis fueled their long-running row over the slaughter of Armenians by Ottoman Turks 100 years ago.

More:EU urges Turkey, Armenia to normalize ties amid massacre row | UTSanDiego.com

Turkish Court Drops All Charges Against Dutch Journalist - WSJ

Turkish Court Drops All Charges Against Dutch Journalist
Case dismissed as international concern grows over Turkey’s poor press freedom record
By Ayla Albayrak
April 13, 2015 11:14 a.m. ET

ISTANBUL—A Turkish court Monday acquitted the first foreign journalist to be tried in almost two decades on terrorism-related charges, dropping the closely watched case amid mounting international concern over Turkey’s poor press freedom record.

More (subscription rqd):Turkish Court Drops All Charges Against Dutch Journalist - WSJ

Turkey: High stakes for Kurds and Erdogan in coming poll | Green Left Weekly

Turkey: High stakes for Kurds and Erdogan in coming poll
Monday, April 13, 2015
By Dave Holmes

A lot is at stake in Turkey’s parliamentary elections to be held on June 7 — for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) as well as the oppressed Kurdish population.

More:Turkey: High stakes for Kurds and Erdogan in coming poll | Green Left Weekly

Sunday, April 12, 2015

Meet the Muslims who sacrificed themselves to save Jews and fight Nazis in World War II

Meet the Muslims who sacrificed themselves to save Jews and fight Nazis in World War II

News Hour:

Noor Inayat Khan led a very unusual life. She was born in 1914 to an Indian Sufi mystic of noble lineage and an American half-sister of Perry Baker, often credited with introducing yoga into America. As a child, she and her parents escaped the chaos of revolutionary Moscow in a carriage belonging to Tolstoy’s son. Raised in Paris in a mansion filled with her father’s students and devotees, Khan became a virtuoso of the harp and the veena, dressed in Western clothes, graduated from the Sorbonne and published a book of children’s tales — all before she was 25.

More:Meet the Muslims who sacrificed themselves to save Jews and fight Nazis in World War II

Turkey’s spy agency involved in smuggling stolen cars to Syria

Turkey’s spy agency involved in smuggling stolen cars to Syria

The testimony given by members of the gendarmerie who in early 2014 intercepted Syria-bound trucks that were carrying arms to radical groups has revealed the involvement of intelligence operatives in illegally moving stolen vehicles into Syria to be used by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants.

More:Turkey’s spy agency involved in smuggling stolen cars to Syria

Washington Post: Erdoğan’s ‘Putinesque’ rule a disaster for NATO

Washington Post: Erdoğan’s ‘Putinesque’ rule a disaster for NATO

The Washington Post has said Turkish president's conversion into what it called a “Putinesque” strongman would be a disaster for the NATO alliance, warning that a lack of democracy and free media in Turkey may mean an end to the long-term alliance.

More:Washington Post: Erdoğan’s ‘Putinesque’ rule a disaster for NATO

Turkey wins 5 medals, 3 gold, in European Weightlifting Championship

Turkey wins 5 medals, 3 gold, in European Weightlifting Championship

The Turkish Weightlifter National Team has won Saturday five medals -- including three golds -- in the European Weightlifting Championships being held in Georgia.

More:Turkey wins 5 medals, 3 gold, in European Weightlifting Championship

Voices: Cracking down on free expression in Turkey

Voices: Cracking down on free expression in Turkey
Lucy Kafanov, Special for USA TODAY 7:01 a.m. EDT April 12, 2015

ISTANBUL — Two blackouts, less than one week apart, plunged Turkey into darkness. The first, caused by a massive power outage, crippled cities and provinces across the country. Last Monday's blackout had nothing to do with the electricity grid: The lights stayed on while access to Twitter, Facebook and YouTube was cut.

More:Voices: Cracking down on free expression in Turkey

Saturday, April 11, 2015

Istanbul's Hagia Sophia sees first Koran reading in 85 years | The Times of Israel

Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia sees first Koran reading in 85 years

Former church and mosque-turned-museum debuts exhibit on Muhammad, raising concern among secular activists it will be repurposed as house of worship

More:Istanbul's Hagia Sophia sees first Koran reading in 85 years | The Times of Israel

Erdogan and the desperate search for a role | GulfNews.com

Erdogan and the desperate search for a role
Mustapha Karkouti, Special to Gulf News
Published: 18:28 April 11, 2015

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s recent statements and itinerary are clearly posing more worrying questions than providing reassuring answers.

More:Erdogan and the desperate search for a role | GulfNews.com

ANKARA, Turkey: Turkey: PKK open fire, 4 soldiers wounded | World | The News Tribune

Turkey: PKK open fire, 4 soldiers wounded

The Associated PressApril 11, 2015

ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey's military says Kurdish rebels have fired on troops in eastern Turkey, wounding four soldiers and touching off clashes between the military and the rebels.

More:ANKARA, Turkey: Turkey: PKK open fire, 4 soldiers wounded | World | The News Tribune

Friday, April 10, 2015

Turkey’s social media power grab - The Washington Post

Turkey’s social media power grab

The repression of media is part of a disturbing trend in Turkey. (Dado Ruvic/Reuters)
By Editorial Board April 10 at 8:57 PM

A CRUCIAL election is approaching in Turkey, so it is sadly unsurprising that social media are once again coming under government pressure. This week authorities blocked more than 100 Web sites, including Twitter, Facebook, Google and YouTube, until they agreed to remove images of a Turkish prosecutor being held hostage by gunmen. The government was claiming credit for having killed the terrorists, while glossing over the fact that the prosecutor died as well; so the photographs had to go.

More:Turkey’s social media power grab - The Washington Post

Turkey's minorities join race for parliament - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

Turkey's minorities join race for parliament

Turkey’s political parties announced their ambitious candidate lists this week for the June 7 general elections, which will deliver a fateful verdict on President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ambitions to install a presidential system. In a remarkable development, the parties have opened up to minority groups, which have been largely sidelined from politics, excluding the early years of the modern republic. Members of the Greek, Armenian, Yazidi and Roma communities have been given favorable spots on the slates, raising the prospect of strong minority representation in the next parliament.

More:Turkey's minorities join race for parliament - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

Turkey Announces New Regional Policy - VERDA ÖZER

Turkey Announces New Regional Policy

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s visit to Iran this week carried meanings and created results beyond Turkey-Iran relations. In Tehran, Ankara gave clues about its new, emerging regional policy.

More:Turkey Announces New Regional Policy - VERDA ÖZER

Growing pains as Turkish solar market slowly emerges: pv-magazine

Growing pains as Turkish solar market slowly emerges
10. April 2015 | Applications & Installations, Markets & Trends, Global PV markets, Industry & Suppliers | By: Jonathan Gifford

The Solarex trade show currently under way in Istanbul reveals a market growing much more slowly than many had hoped. However, the fundamentals for PV remain strong and administrative barriers are slowly reducing.

More:Growing pains as Turkish solar market slowly emerges: pv-magazine

What do journalists do when they can’t write about the news? - GÜVEN SAK

What do journalists do when they can’t write about the news?

Oscar Wilde is quoted as saying “the one duty we owe to history is to rewrite it.” Recently, for some reason, Turkish journalists have been taking this duty upon themselves.

More:What do journalists do when they can’t write about the news? - GÜVEN SAK

Turkey embarks on restoration efforts of Armenian churches - ARCHAEOLOGY

Turkey embarks on restoration efforts of Armenian churches

ISTANBUL

Ankara has embarked on a series of restoration projects on Armenian churches in Turkey, amid criticism that the country’s remaining Armenian cultural and historical heritage not destroyed during World War I has been left to ruin.

More:Turkey embarks on restoration efforts of Armenian churches - ARCHAEOLOGY

Unexpected April snowfall paralyzes Ankara

Unexpected April snowfall paralyzes Ankara

Spring snowfall surprises residents of western Turkey, as rural roads become blocked and more cars get stranded in weather usually reserved for winter.

More:Unexpected April snowfall paralyzes Ankara

Council of State approves the cancelation of Istanbul’s Sulukule transformation project - LOCAL

Council of State approves the cancelation of Istanbul’s Sulukule transformation project

Ali Dağlar - ISTANBUL

The Council of State has approved the cancellation of the controversial urban transformation project in Istanbul’s Sulukule neighborhood, which was historically populated by Roma people, years after the project was completed.

More:Council of State approves the cancelation of Istanbul’s Sulukule transformation project - LOCAL

Why Turkey Won’t Go Nuclear by George Perkovich and Sinan Ülgen - Project Syndicate

Why Turkey Won’t Go Nuclear

ISTANBUL – According to conventional wisdom, if Iran develops nuclear weapons, then Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and perhaps Egypt will try to follow suit. Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu went further when he addressed the United States Congress in early March, asserting that even allowing Iran a uranium-enrichment program would “spark a nuclear arms race in the most dangerous part of the planet.”

More:Why Turkey Won’t Go Nuclear by George Perkovich and Sinan Ülgen - Project Syndicate

Inferno in jewelry mega-mall near Istanbul’s airport

Inferno in jewelry mega-mall near Istanbul’s airport

A massive fire has broken out in Kuyumcukent, a giant jewelry mall in Istanbul’s Yenibosna district on the European side near the Atatürk International Airport, home to roughly half of Istanbul’s gold production.

More:Inferno in jewelry mega-mall near Istanbul’s airport

The Present and Future of Climate Change in Turkey and Beyond: An Interview with Umit Sahin

The Present and Future of Climate Change in Turkey and Beyond: An Interview with Umit Sahin
Apr 10 2015 by Zeynep Oğuz

[In this interview, Dr. Ümit Şahin, an Sabanci University Istanbul Policy Center Senior Scholar and an ecological, anti-nuclear, and human rights activist in Turkey, discusses the politics of climate change in Turkey and the globe. In November 2014, Şahin published a thorough report called “Mapping the Actors of Climate Change Policies in Turkey.” Şahin explicitly states that Turkey’s antidemocratic and neoliberal developmentalist policies are in stark contrast with what is needed to fight climate change. Şahin believes that the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference to be held in Paris will be an insufficient, yet crucial step for establishing a legally binding, international agreement to combat climate change. For Şahin, the power of social movements is key to pushing governments to take concrete action. Şahin’s report can be downloaded here.]

More:The Present and Future of Climate Change in Turkey and Beyond: An Interview with Umit Sahin

Muslim woman tries to close Thrace’s sharia inheritance law loophole | Law | The Guardian

Muslim woman tries to close Thrace’s sharia inheritance law loophole

A legal consequence of historical wrangling between Greece and Turkey is finally set to be challenged at the European court of human rights

More:Muslim woman tries to close Thrace’s sharia inheritance law loophole | Law | The Guardian

Ottoman architect Sinan exhibition opens in Istanbul Anadolu Agency

Ottoman architect Sinan exhibition opens in Istanbul

10 April 2015 16:12 (Last updated 10 April 2015 16:15)
An exhibition on Turkey’s first star architect Mimar Sinan opened on Friday in Istanbul to mark the 427th anniversary of his death.

More:Ottoman architect Sinan exhibition opens in Istanbul Anadolu Agency

Antalya eyes bigger share of global golf market - TOURISM

Antalya eyes bigger share of global golf market

ANTALYA - Anadolu Agency

Turkey’s Western Mediterranean Development Agency (BAKA) and Turkish Airlines have initiated a project to enable the Turkish province of Antalya to take a bigger share in the world golf market by inviting representatives from France’s golf travel agencies to visit the resort town of Belek’s golf courses.

More:Antalya eyes bigger share of global golf market - TOURISM

Turks ignore Erdogan as Europe's most tech-savvy bank users - Chicago Tribune

Turks ignore Erdogan as Europe's most tech-savvy bank users
By Isobel Finkel, Bloomberg News Bloomberg

ISTANBUL — Turkey's leader has said he's more against the Internet every day. The country's citizens aren't toeing the presidential line, adopting technology such as online banking faster than anywhere else in Europe.

More:Turks ignore Erdogan as Europe's most tech-savvy bank users - Chicago Tribune

Senior PKK figure signals renouncing violence against Turkey, apologizes to Germany - Daily Sabah

Senior PKK figure signals renouncing violence against Turkey, apologizes to Germany
DAILY SABAH WITH ANADOLU AGENCY
ISTANBUL

A leading figure of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), Cemil Bayık has said they are putting an end to war as it did not benefit any of the sides involved in it. Cemil Bayık told the regional German public televisions WDR and NDR that the group had recently gone through a transformation phase and renounced the path of violence to achieve its political goals.

More:Senior PKK figure signals renouncing violence against Turkey, apologizes to Germany - Daily Sabah

Pegasus Airlines & Turkish Airlines: Turkey's aviation booms, Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen Airport gains | CAPA - Centre for Aviation

Pegasus Airlines & Turkish Airlines: Turkey's aviation booms, Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen Airport gains

Turkey is home to two of Europe's fastest growing airlines. Turkish Airlines increased ASKs by 16% in 2014 and LCC Pegasus Airlines grew by 20%. From a standing start as a scheduled carrier ten years ago, Pegasus' share of seats in Turkey reached 19% in 2014. Turkish remained the country's largest airline, but its market share of just under 54% in 2014 was unchanged from 2010. The main battlegrounds between the two are on international routes to/from Europe and in the domestic market, where Pegasus has grown particularly rapidly.

More:Pegasus Airlines & Turkish Airlines: Turkey's aviation booms, Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen Airport gains | CAPA - Centre for Aviation

Refugee ministry advances in Turkey - Mission Network News

Refugee ministry advances in Turkey
Published by Katey Hearth on April 10, 2015

Turkey (MNN) — As the refugee crisis in Turkey swells, international aid groups are springing to action.

More:Refugee ministry advances in Turkey - Mission Network News

Thursday, April 09, 2015

Turkey’s Important Balancing Act - The Globalist

Turkey’s Important Balancing Act

Promoting women’s empowerment in Turkey.
By Ana Maria Munoz Boudet and Will Wiseman, April 9, 2015

Over recent years, Turkey has seen steadily increasing female labor force participation, albeit from very low levels. Gains in education have been moving more women into the labor force, confirming what we see in other countries.

More:Turkey’s Important Balancing Act - The Globalist

An end to ‘blue blood’ politics? - ERTUĞRUL ÖZKÖK

An end to ‘blue blood’ politics?

Will June 8, 2015, the day after Turkey’s June 7 general election, be a day of defeat for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP)?

I am not a good election forecaster. I only know that if the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) passes the 10 percent military coup threshold, then it may be.

More:An end to ‘blue blood’ politics? - ERTUĞRUL ÖZKÖK

Turkey welcomes Palestine's ICC membership Anadolu Agency

Turkey welcomes Palestine's ICC membership

09 April 2015 18:17 (Last updated 09 April 2015 18:19)
'The Israel-Palestine problem should be resolved in a comprehensive manner, and the peace process should be reactivated,' Foreign Ministry says.

More:Turkey welcomes Palestine's ICC membership Anadolu Agency

Erdoğan may hand management of economy over to family member

Erdoğan may hand management of economy over to family member

While questions still hang over who would be in any new economic management team influenced by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, it is being argued that Erdoğan would replace competent technocrats by less experienced figures, some of them from among his family members.

More:Erdoğan may hand management of economy over to family member

Turkish politics: Taken hostage | The Economist

Turkish politics
Taken hostage
A kidnapping becomes a pretext for a crackdown on social media
Apr 11th 2015 | ANKARA | From the print edition

ON MARCH 31st two members of DHKP-C, a Marxist revolutionary group, strolled into Istanbul’s main courthouse disguised as lawyers and armed with guns and hand grenades, and took a prosecutor hostage. Hours later the prime minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, boasted that security forces had conducted a “successful” operation, killing both gunmen.

More:Turkish politics: Taken hostage | The Economist

Turkeys ambassador to US refutes WSJ editorial on security bill - Daily Sabah

Turkey's ambassador to US refutes WSJ editorial on security bill
ANADOLU AGENCY
NEW YORK

Turkey's ambassador to the U.S. has rejected criticism made in a Wall Street Journal editorial of Turkey's recently passed domestic security reforms.

The editorial, entitled Erdoğan's Assault on Freedom, contains "misleading information on the intent and purpose of new legislation that was designed to enhance public safety in Turkey," said Ambassador Serdar Kılıç said in a letter to the daily's editor published on Thursday.

More:Turkeys ambassador to US refutes WSJ editorial on security bill - Daily Sabah

Life at the coalface: CITyFiED consortium & cities visit to Soma demo site in Turkey

Life at the coalface: CITyFiED consortium & cities visit to Soma demo site in Turkey
Nothing can replace the value and insight gained by a hands-on visit.
And this was the case when members of the CITyFiED project consortium and cluster cities combined a recent project meeting with technical visits to the Soma demonstration site.

The retrofitting interventions in the district of Manisa Province cover an area of 41,158 m2 across 346 dwellings on a site owned by SOMA Electricity Generation & Trading Joint Stock Company (SEAŞ) and used to house its personnel.
Two different retrofitting strategies have been proposed at the site and these were shared with the visiting groups. The first consists of the application of passive design strategies on the building envelope adding defined building elements such as insulation. The second strategy consists of integration of active design strategies such as building integrated PV and solar collectors as a renewable technology and innovative integration of monitoring systems from partner REENGEN for providing best indoor comfort conditions and energy savings. Delegates were able to visit an example of ‘before’ and a series of apartments currently undergoing the significant works.

More:European Commission : CORDIS : News and Events : Life at the coalface: CITyFiED consortium & cities visit to Soma demo site in Turkey

Aaron Stein | Turkey Balances Saudi Arabia and Iran | Foreign Affairs

Turkey's Yemen Dilemma
Why Ankara Joined the Saudi Campaign Against the Houthis
By Aaron Stein
April 8, 2015

Last month, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan took a trip to Riyadh to meet with Saudi Arabia’s King Salman. The meeting, which took place behind closed doors, seemed to have planted the seeds for a breakthrough: three weeks later, Turkey expressed its support for the Saudi-led mission in Yemen. In doing so, it formally approved Riyadh’s air campaign against the Houthis, followers of the Zaidi branch of Shia Islam who have swept across that country’s northwest with the backing of certain Yemeni military factions.

More:Aaron Stein | Turkey Balances Saudi Arabia and Iran | Foreign Affairs

Twitter to be officially label as a national security threat in Turkey

Twitter to be officially label as a national security threat in Turkey

Twitter to be placed in the controversial National Security Policy Document, commonly referred to as the “Red Book,” which outlines high priority security threats to the country along with terror groups as well as religious congregations.

More:Twitter to be officially label as a national security threat in Turkey

Turkish Academics to Fight Twitter and Facebook Ban in Court | NDTV Gadgets

Turkish Academics to Fight Twitter and Facebook Ban in Court
Reuters, 8 April 2015

Two Turkish academics on Tuesday appealed a court order that allowed authorities to block access to Twitter and YouTube for several hours this week, a crackdown they say reflects Ankara's growing authoritarianism.

More:Turkish Academics to Fight Twitter and Facebook Ban in Court | NDTV Gadgets

Wednesday, April 08, 2015

Danish politicians consider filing lawsuit against Turkey at European court

Danish politicians consider filing lawsuit against Turkey at European court

Dismayed by what they say is reticence on the part of Turkey to offer a satisfactory explanation for the release of a suspect believed to be involved in an attack on a Danish writer known for his strong anti-Islam stance, a number of Danish politicians are considering filing a lawsuit against Ankara at the European Court of Human Rights.

More:Danish politicians consider filing lawsuit against Turkey at European court

Danish politicians consider filing lawsuit against Turkey at European court

Danish politicians consider filing lawsuit against Turkey at European court
CIHAN | ISTANBUL- 08.04.2015 17:24:55

Dismayed by what they say is reticence on the part of Turkey to offer a satisfactory explanation for the release of a suspect believed to be involved in an attack on a Danish writer known for his strong anti-Islam stance, a number of Danish politicians are considering filing a lawsuit against Ankara at the European Court of Human Rights.

More:CİHAN - News - Danish politicians consider filing lawsuit against Turkey at European court

On again, off again: Understanding Turkey’s social media ‘problem’ - Al Arabiya News

On again, off again: Understanding Turkey’s social media ‘problem’

By Menekse Tokyay | Special to Al Arabiya News, Istanbul
Wednesday, 8 April 2015

Turkish internet users started the week with a countrywide ban on Twitter and video-sharing website YouTube following a prosecutorial order. However, the bans were shortly lifted, with Twitter accessible by Monday evening and YouTube access opened up on Tuesday.

More:On again, off again: Understanding Turkey’s social media ‘problem’ - Al Arabiya News

Who are the 14 Erdoğan-linked figures on AKP’s candidate list? - POLITICS

Who are the 14 Erdoğan-linked figures on AKP’s candidate list?

ANKARA
Turkish President Erdoğan’s son-in-law, lawyer, speechwriter, advisor, advisor’s cousin, coordinator’s father, chief of staff’s wife and official singer are all on the election candidates list of the ruling AKP.

More:Who are the 14 Erdoğan-linked figures on AKP’s candidate list? - POLITICS

The Case for Turkey in Europe by Volkan Bozkir - Project Syndicate

The Case for Turkey in Europe

ANKARA – Turkey’s wider neighborhood is engulfed in crises. To its east lie political instability, civil war, and terrorism, while its neighbors to the west are struggling to regain their financial footing, following an economic collapse nearly on the scale of the Great Depression. In the midst of all this turmoil, Turkey represents an island of peace, democracy, security, and stability – something that the European Union should keep in mind when considering the current paralysis in accession talks.

More:The Case for Turkey in Europe by Volkan Bozkir - Project Syndicate

Turkish prosecutor requests acquittal of Dutch reporter - Yahoo News

Turkish prosecutor requests acquittal of Dutch reporter

Diyarbakir (Turkey) (AFP) - A Turkish prosecutor on Wednesday requested the acquittal of a Dutch journalist specialising in Kurdish issues who was accused of spreading "terrorist propaganda" for the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

More:Turkish prosecutor requests acquittal of Dutch reporter - Yahoo News

European Parliament head visits Turkey Anadolu Agency

European Parliament head visits Turkey

08 April 2015 11:49 (Last updated 08 April 2015 11:52)

The President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz began his two-day official visit toTurkey on Wednesday.

At his meeting with Turkey's EU Minister Volkan Bozkir in Ankara, Schulz said that he made this visit with "one of the most important strategic partners."

More:European Parliament head visits Turkey Anadolu Agency

Erdogan woos Iranian business while resisting Tehran’s ambitions - FT.com

Erdogan woos Iranian business while resisting Tehran’s ambitions

Daniel Dombey in Istanbul

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s president, signed several trade agreements with Iran on Tuesday, during a controversial visit that came after Ankara backed a Sunni-led anti Iranian coalition in Yemen.

More:Erdogan woos Iranian business while resisting Tehran’s ambitions - FT.com