Category Archives: Turkey

Turkey’s mobsters step out of shadows and into public sphere

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After decades in hiding, in prison or keeping low profile, players from a bloody period in the country’s history are now seen as ‘folk idols’ by the Turkish right

At first glance, the photograph of two smartly dressed older Turkish men, posing for the camera in an office filled with flags, could be of any important figures in the country – but it is rare for a picture to say so much about both the past and the future.

On the left is Devlet Bahçeli, an ultranationalist political dinosaur who has in the past few years become an influential coalition partner in the government of Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

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Erdoğan vows to expand fight against PKK after deaths of 13 hostages

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More than 700 alleged supporters of Kurdish militants held following failed attempt to rescue Turkish soldiers and police

The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has vowed to expand operations against the Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK) as the fallout from the deaths of 13 Turkish soldiers and police officers abducted by the militant group continued to reverberate at home and abroad.

The bodies of 13 victims, 12 shot in the head and one who died of a bullet wound to his shoulder, were discovered in a cave complex in Gare in Kurdish-run northern Iraq during a Turkish military operation designed to free them, officials said on Sunday. The PKK said the hostages had been killed in Turkish airstrikes.

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I crossed the world to see my dying dad – then the pandemic took me on a wild Europe odyssey

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When I tried to return from Jersey to Australia, I had no idea the journey would lead me through 16 cities in nine countries, and take nearly five months

On the morning of 1 July last year, while sitting in my apartment in the Sydney suburb of Balmain, I got the phone call I had dreaded since I moved to Australia.

My dad was dying.

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Turkey student protests: teargas, pepper spray and pot-banging – video

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Escalating protests over the appointment of a state-approved rector at a prestigious Istanbul university have become an unexpected catalyst for Turkey’s disillusioned and underemployed youth to vent their frustrations at President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government.

Demonstrations by both staff and students erupted last month after the former political candidate Melih Bulu was appointed. The decision was denounced as undemocratic

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Student protests grow as Turkey’s young people turn against Erdoğan

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President’s appointment of political ally as university rector becomes catalyst for disillusioned youth to vent frustrations

Escalating protests over the appointment of a state-approved rector at a prestigious Istanbul university have become an unexpected catalyst for Turkey’s disillusioned and underemployed youth to vent their frustrations at President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government.

Demonstrations by both staff and students erupted last month over the installation of Melih Bulu, a business figure who stood as a ruling Justice and Development party (AKP) parliamentary candidate in 2015, as rector of Boğaziçi University, arguably the most acclaimed higher education institution in the country.

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How Boncuk the dog waited days outside Turkish hospital – video

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Boncuk, a devoted pet, spent days waiting outside a hospital in Trabzon, Turkey, where her sick owner Cemal Senturk was being treated. Boncuk followed the ambulance that transported Senturk to hospital before making multiple visits to front door. According to Senturk's daughter, Aynur Egeli, she would take Boncuk home but the dog kept going back. After six days apart Boncuk and Senturk were reunited when he was discharged

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Turkish televangelist sentenced to 1,075 years for sex crimes

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Adnan Oktar was detained in 2018 along with more than 200 other suspects in his group

A Turkish court has sentenced a Muslim televangelist who surrounded himself with scantily clad women he called “kittens” to more than 1,000 years in jail for sex crimes.

Adnan Oktar preached creationism and conservative values while women in revealing outfits – many of whom appeared to have had plastic surgery – danced around him to upbeat music in the TV studio.

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‘Teaching us wonder’: Turkey embarks on cultural mission to preserve its fairytales

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Mammoth task to collate magical folklore of Anatolian plateau involves thousands of stories

Once upon a time, in the old, old days when the mouse was a barber, and the donkey ran errands, and the tortoise baked bread, there was a great mountain called Kaf Daği on the border of the spirit realm, from which many of the fairytales and myths of the Middle East sprang forth.

Today, Kaf Daği is thought to be somewhere in the Caucasus mountain range that separates the Black Sea from the Caspian. In this magical place – also known as Jabal Qaf in Arabic and Kuh-e Qaf in Persian – princes are cursed by witches, who turn them into stags; beautiful maidens are birthed from oranges; and sultans, courtiers, slaves and farmers alike are at the mercy of the peri (fairies) and ifrit (demons) that populate the Turkish fairyland.

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Istanbul university students clash with police over rector appointment

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Melih Bulu was assigned post at Boğaziçi University by Turkish president Erdoğan

Students and staff at an Istanbul university have clashed with police in rare protests sparked by the politically charged appointment of a state-approved rector with links to Turkey’s conservative ruling party.

Melih Bulu – who stood as a Justice and Development party (AKP) parliamentary candidate in 2015 – was appointed rector of Boğaziçi University by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in a presidential decree issued on 1 January and sworn into office on Tuesday.

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Deadly suicide attack in Mogadishu claimed by al-Shabaab

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Motorcycle bomber targets Turkish construction company, killed at least five people and injuring 14

A suicide bombing in Mogadishu has killed at least five people, the Turkish health minister has said.

The al-Shabaab group, which is linked to al-Qaida, claimed responsibility for the attack on Saturday in the Somali capital in a post from its Shahada news agency. The group often targets Mogadishu with suicide bombings and other attacks.

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Pressure on Turkey to protect Uighurs as China ratifies extradition treaty

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Ankara has long welcomed Uighur and Turkic Muslims fleeing China but human rights groups fear the treaty will endanger them

Beijing has ratified an extradition treaty with Turkey that human rights groups warn could endanger Uighur families and activists fleeing persecution by Chinese authorities if it is adopted by Ankara.

The treaty, first signed in 2017, was formalised on the weekend at the national people’s congress, with state media saying it would be used for counter-terrorism purposes. Facing strong opposition within its parliament, Turkey’s government has not yet ratified the deal, and critics have urged the government to abandon it and prevent the treaty from “becoming an instrument of persecution”.

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Covid-19 patients killed by exploding oxygen cylinder in Turkey

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Ten killed when ‘high pressure oxygen device’ exploded at Sanko University hospital in Gaziantep

At least 10 people have died after an oxygen cylinder exploded at an intensive care unit treating Covid-19 patients in Turkey, the health minister said.

The state-run Anadolu news agency said the fire took place at the private Sanko University hospital in Gaziantep, which is about 40 miles north of the country’s border with Syria. It cited a hospital statement identifying the victims as being between 56 and 85. The fire was quickly brought under control.

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EU leaders approve sanctions on Turkish officials over gas drilling

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Bloc defers decision on trade tariffs and arms until consultation with Biden administration

EU leaders have agreed to impose sanctions on an unspecified number of Turkish officials and entities involved in gas drilling in Cypriot-claimed waters – but they deferred bigger decisions such as trade tariffs or an arms embargo until they have consulted with the upcoming Biden administration.

The decision reached by the EU council after hours of heated debate disappointed hardliners such as France, Cyprus and Greece, which had pressed for more urgent and substantive action to express EU disapproval of Turkish foreign policy.

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Breakthrough in Qatar dispute after ‘fruitful’ talks to end conflict

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Saudi prince hails progress in negotiations brokered by Kuwait and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner

A breakthrough in the three-and-a-half-year dispute between Qatar and its neighbouring Gulf states appears to have been achieved following what were described as “fruitful” talks to resolve the conflict.

The Saudi foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, said “significant progress” had been reached in the last few days and he was optimistic all countries were close to finalising a resolution.

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Turkish court jails hundreds for life over 2016 coup attempt

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Army officers, pilots and civilians convicted of being leaders in plot to take power

A Turkish court has sentenced leaders of the attempted coup in 2016 to life imprisonment, convicting hundreds of army officers, pilots and civilians over the failed effort to overthrow President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

More than 250 people were killed on 15 July 2016 when rogue soldiers commandeered warplanes, helicopters and tanks to take control of institutions and overthrow the government, directed from an airbase near the capital, Ankara.

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Greece faces legal action over alleged expulsion of Syrian to Turkey

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Man with right to asylum in Germany allegedly stripped of papers and expelled in ‘refugee pushback’ while searching for 11-year-old brother

In the latest allegation that Greek authorities are illegally expelling refugees , lawyers will this week file a case at the UN human rights committee on behalf of a Syrian man living in Germany, who says he was picked up and sent to Turkey while he searched for his brother in Greece.

The 26-year-old told the Guardian that he had been detained and forced into a boat to Turkey in November 2016. His papers were confiscated which meant he was not able to return to Germany, where he had been granted asylum, for three years.

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Erdoğan met by protests from Turkish Cypriots during visit

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‘Provocative’ trip to northern Cyprus angers residents as well as the south and Greece

Turkey’s president has been greeted with protests from Turkish Cypriots denouncing Ankara’s overt meddling in their domestic affairs as he visited northern Cyprus.

In a rare display of opposition for a leader whose tolerance for critics is notoriously low, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was met by demonstrators as he flew into the territory for celebrations marking its unilateral declaration of independence 37 years ago.

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‘Nikol is a traitor’: Armenia PM refuses to yield to opposition after Nagorno-Karabakh deal

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Government says it will not give in to protesters’ call to resign after ceasefire agreement seen as capitulation

The office of Armenia’s prime minister has said that it will not allow the opposition to seize power by force, as heated protests have continued for a second day after the signing of a ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh seen as a capitulation.

Several thousand protesters defied martial law on Wednesday to gather in downtown Yerevan, Armenia’s capital, and call for the prime minister Nikol Pashinyan’s resignation. On Monday evening, he signed a Russian-brokered ceasefire that ceded territory to Azerbaijan that had been won in a bloody war in the 1990s. “Nikol is a traitor,” the protesters chanted.

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The life and death of White Helmets’ founder James Le Mesurier

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James Le Mesurier died a year ago today. The Guardian’s Martin Chulov describes the immense pressure the co-founder of the White Helmets was under, as he saw the organisation he built appear to be slipping away from him

In November 2019, James Le Mesurier, the British co-founder of the Syrian rescue group known as the White Helmets, fell to his death in Istanbul.

The Guardian’s Middle East correspondent, Martin Chulov, knew James well and had spoken to him the week before his death. He tells Anushka Asthana how he began investigating one of the most difficult stories of his career: what led his friend, an internationally celebrated humanitarian, to take his own life?

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Nagorno-Karabakh peace deal reshapes regional geopolitics

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Western powers sidelined as Russia and Turkey use sway on local players to boost influence

The Russian-brokered ceasefire deal in Nagorno-Karabakh will empower both Moscow and Ankara as the new kingmakers in the South Caucasus, analysts said, redrawing security guarantees between Armenia and Azerbaijan with the conspicuous absence of the west.

As in the conflicts in Libya and Syria, Russia and Turkey have once again found themselves backing opposing sides, and used their sway on local players to negotiate for peace deals that guarantee their own influence.

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