Editor Brian Harrod Provides Comprehensive up-to-date news coverage, with aggregated news from sources all over the world from the Roundup Newswires Network
Turkish president tells Donald Trump he is ready to send troops into US-overseen areas
The threat of a growing security vacuum in Syria as a result of Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw US troops has been underlined by an attack on a joint US-Kurdish patrol, which reportedly killed five people and injured at least two American soldiers.
The attack on Monday, in which a suicide bomber drove a car into a checkpoint, emphasised the vulnerability of American troops since the US president declared he was withdrawing 2,000 soldiers from northern Syria on the grounds that Islamic State has been defeated.
Ankara hits back after Trump threatened to ‘economically devastate’ it over Syria
Turkey’s foreign minister has hit back at Donald Trump over his threat to economically devastate the country if it follows through on a planned operation against Kurdish forces in northern Syria, saying Ankara will not be intimidated by its Nato ally.
“We have said repeatedly we are not scared of and will not be intimidated by any threats,” said Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu in televised remarks from Ankara on Monday, before rebuking the US president for using Twitter for sensitive diplomatic matters.
Journalist was found guilty of ‘defamation and insult’ for writing about companies owned by former PM
A Turkish journalist has been sentenced to more than a year in jail for her work on the Paradise Papers investigation into offshore tax havens, because it revealed details of the business activities of the country’s former prime minister and his sons.
Pelin Ünker, a member of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) was found guilty in an Istanbul court of “defamation and insult” for writing about companies in Malta owned by Binali Yıldırım and his sons. Yıldırım was prime minister from 2016 to 2018, when the post was abolished, and is now the speaker of the country’s national assembly.
US security chief tempers withdrawal claims, jeopardising Turkey’s plans to target Kurdish groups
Turkey has asked Washington to hand over its bases in Syria as the Trump administration appeared to reverse plans to withdraw from the country’s north-east on Tuesday, jeopardising Ankara’s plans to launch a widespread military operation targeting Kurdish groups.
The fresh row between the two Nato allies broke out as the US national security adviser, John Bolton, visited Ankara to row back on a surprise announcement by Donald Trump in December that US forces would leave Syria imminently, abandoning Kurdish proxies who had led its ground war against the Islamic State terror group. Turkey views those same Kurdish groups as mortal foes.
Adviser indicates long stay for troops while president claims he never said withdrawal would be quick
US troops will not leave north-eastern Syria until Islamic State militants are defeated and US-allied Kurdish fighters protected, national security adviser John Bolton said on Sunday, signaling a pause to a withdrawal abruptly announced last month and initially expected to be completed within weeks. Achieving such conditions will likely take months or even years.
Newly elected head receives decree of autocephaly in elaborate ceremony in Istanbul
The biggest rift in Christianity in centuries is expected to open up after a new Orthodox church in Ukraine gained formal independence from Moscow in a move set to heighten geopolitical tensions in the region.
The newly elected head of the Ukrainian Orthodox church travelled to Istanbul to receive the “tomos”, or decree of autocephaly (independence), from the Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, in an elaborate ceremony in St George’s Cathedral on the eve of the Orthodox Christmas.
Eleven suspects attend first court hearing following killing of journalist
A Saudi prosecutor has asked for the death penalty for five of 11 suspects held over the murder of Jamal Khashoggi at the country’s consulate in Istanbul on 2 October, the state news agency SPA reported on Thursday.
The call came during the first court hearing in the Khashoggi case, which has shredded the kingdom’s international reputation and strained its relations with Turkey, the US and many other western governments.
Pristina badly needs a new mosque – but Turkish attempts to court the young Balkan state with investment and advocacy is making some uneasy
It is six years since Islamic leaders and government officials laid the cornerstone of Pristina’s new central mosque – a slab of stone now hidden beneath weeds in a parking lot.
Pulling back the weeds reveals it is covered with bright red graffiti – death threats to Kosovo’s chief mufti, along with the words: “No Turkish mosque or there will be blood.”
Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, left, talks with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the Esenboga Airport in Ankara, Turkey, Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2018. Pro-government newspaper Yeni Safak on Wednesday said it had obtained audio recordings of the alleged killing of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2. Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, left, talks with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the Esenboga Airport in Ankara, Turkey, Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2018.
A Turkish newspaper has published an account of the alleged murder of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, as America's top diplomat arrived for talks over the Washington Post columnist's disappearance. The report by Yeni Safak adds to increasing pressure on Saudi Arabia to explain what happened to Mr Khashoggi, who vanished on October 2 while visiting the consulate to pick up paperwork he needed to get married.
President Donald Trump during an interview with The Associated Press in the Oval Office on Tuesday. Photo Credit: AP/Evan Vucci President Donald Trump sounds insulted that anyone would think he's going soft on the Saudis because they've been so nice for his personal bottom line.
Police searching the Saudi Consulate found evidence that Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi was killed there, a high-level Turkish official said Tuesday, and authorities appeared ready to also search the nearby residence of the consul general after the diplomat left the country. The comment by the Turkish official to The Associated Press further intensified the pressure on Saudi Arabia to explain what happened to Khashoggi, who vanished Oct. 2 while visiting the consulate to pick up paperwork he need to get married.
Human rights activists hold pictures of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi during a protest outside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, Oct. 9, 2018. The leaders of Turkey and Saudi Arabia have discussed forming a joint working group to look into the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who went missing October 2 at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
NewsOK Pro is a fast and easy way to build your own customized topic pages and add them to the existing NewsOK you've grown to love. President Donald Trump touted the release of pastor Andrew Brunson from a Turkish prison during a rally in Richmond, Kentucky, on Saturday, calling it "another tremendous victory for the American people" and thanking Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
President Trump said Wednesday that while he was worried about the fate of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, halting arms sales to Saudi Arabia in response would be a step too far. PICTURED: Michael Beer holds a poster during a rally for Khashoggi, who disappeared after entering the Saudi Consulate in Instanbul.
President Donald Trump welcomed American pastor Andrew Brunson to the Oval Office on Saturday, celebrating his release from nearly two years of confinement in Turkey that had sparked a diplomatic row with a key ally and outcry from U.S. evangelical groups. Brunson, who returned to the United States aboard a military jet shortly before their meeting, appeared to be in good health and good spirits.
U.S. pastor Andrew Brunson and his wife Norrine arrive at the airport in Izmir, Turkey Oct. 12, 2018. REUTERS/Umit Bektas An American evangelical Christian pastor at the center of a row between Ankara and Washington looked set to fly home on Friday after a Turkish court freed him, a move that may signal a step towards mending ties between the allies.
More than a week after a prominent Saudi dissident and Washington Post columnist went missing, President Donald Trump has spoken to Saudi officials "at the highest level" to press them on his disappearance, he said Wednesday. Trump declined to comment on whether he would hold the Saudis responsible, saying, "I have to find out who did it."
His case had created a deep rift in U.S.-Turkish relations, with the Trump administration heavily committed to securing his freedom and punishing its NATO ally with economic penalties for not doing so. An evangelical Christian pastor, he had also become a rallying cry for religious freedom advocates in the U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted about his impending release Friday, saying his administration was "working very hard" on his case and adding later, "PASTOR BRUNSON JUST RELEASED.