Timeline Turkey 2011- Present
Return to home
2011 Jan 5, In
Turkey authorities searching for mass graves of Kurds, who
disappeared in the 1990s, unearthed the bones of eight people in a
field in Bitlis province in southeast Turkey.
(AP, 1/5/11)
2011 Jan 9, In Turkey PM
Erdogan visited Kars and called for the destruction of a local
monument near the Armenian border. The monument featured a divided
human figure, with one half extending a hand to the other half. It
was meant to symbolize the pain of division and the hope of
reconciliation, and was sculpted from stone by Mehmet Aksoy, a
prominent Turkish artist. Local authorities halted its construction
on grounds that it was built on a historic military site, Timur
Pasha emplacement, used to defend the city in the 16th century.
(AP, 1/10/11)(Econ, 1/15/11,
p.56)(http://tinyurl.com/4g4kpya)
2011 Jan 18, It was reported
that around 187,000 women in Turkey are in polygamous marriages even
though polygamy is illegal.
(AFP, 1/18/11)
2011 Jan 21, Two-day talks
between Iran and six world powers started in Istanbul. A senior
Iranian official said suspending uranium enrichment is not up for
discussion.
(AFP, 1/21/11)
2011 Jan 22, In Turkey talks
meant to nudge Iran toward meeting UN Security Council demands to
stop uranium enrichment collapsed, with Tehran shrugging off calls
by six world powers to cease the activity that could be harnessed to
make nuclear weapons.
(AP, 1/22/11)
2011 Feb 3, In Turkey a
powerful explosion in Ankara collapsed two stories of a factory,
leaving at least six people dead and injuring some 30 others. Hours
later another explosion killed 6 more people at a paint shop in the
same industrial district.
(AP, 2/3/11)(SFC, 2/4/11, p.A2)
2011 Feb 7, Iran and Turkey
said they plan to triple two-way annual trade to $30 billion by
2015, ahead of a visit by Turkish President Abdullah Gul to the
Islamic republic.
(AFP, 2/7/11)
2011 Feb 11, A Turkish court
ruled that 133 current and former military officers must be jailed
pending the outcome of their trial on charges of plotting to
overthrow the government and issued warrants for the arrests of 29
other officers.
(AP, 2/12/11)
2011 Feb 13, Abdullah Gul
arrived in Tehran on his first trip as Turkish president aimed at
boosting economic and political ties with the Islamic republic.
(AFP, 2/13/11)
2011 Feb 14, Iran’s security
forces cut phone lines and blockaded the home of an Iranian
opposition leader in attempts to stop him attending a planned rally
in support of Egypt's uprising. Eyewitnesses reported sporadic
clashes in central Tehran's Enghelab or Revolution square between
security forces and opposition protesters. Turkish President
Abdullah Gul, who is on a visit to Iran, urged governments in the
Middle East to listen to the demands of their people. Student Sanee
Zhaleh (26) was shot dead during the opposition rally.
(AP, 2/14/11)(AP, 2/16/11)
2011 Feb 21, British-based
Diageo announced the takeover of Mey Icki, Turkey’s largest maker of
raki, an aniseed drink, for $2.1 billion.
(Econ, 3/5/11, p.70)
2011 Feb 27, In Turkey
Necmettin Erbakan (85), a longtime leader of Turkey's Islamic
political movement, died. He briefly served the country's prime
minister (1996-1997) in the first Islamic-led coalition in Turkey's
modern history.
(AP, 2/27/11)
2011 Mar 3, Turkish police
detained 13 people, mostly journalists, in a crackdown on an alleged
secularist network accused of conspiring to topple the
Islamic-rooted government. Critics say the case is part of a
government assault on press freedom. 4 of the journalists were
released on March 12, 2012.
(AP, 3/3/11)(AP, 3/13/12)
2011 Mar 4, In Turkey several
thousand demonstrators, some covering their mouths with black
ribbons, protested against the detention of eight journalists in a
case that has drawn expressions of concern from Western governments
and international media rights groups.
(AP, 3/4/11)
2011 Mar 6, A Turkish court
ordered Ahmet Sik and Nedim Sener, two leading investigative
journalists, jailed pending the outcome of a trial into an alleged
plot to topple the Islamic-rooted government, raising further
concerns over media freedom in the country. Ahmet Sik was arrested
as he prepared a book about the alleged infiltration of Islamists
into the Turkish police, a sensitive theme in a nation divided over
the role of religion. Sener and three other journalists were freed
on bail in March, 2012.
(AP, 3/6/11)(Econ, 3/12/11, p.61)(AP,
4/14/11)(Econ, 3/17/12, p.63)
2011 Mar 13, In Turkey hundreds
of journalists, joined by members of some non-governmental
organizations, protested the detention of reporters that the
authorities allege were involved in an attempt to bring the
government down in 2003.
(AP, 3/13/11)
2011 Mar 16, An Iranian cargo
plane en route to Syria was forced to land in Turkey's southeastern
Diyarbakir airport for an inspection. The plane was found to be
carrying 150 tons of food but "no material contrary to international
standards.
(AFP, 3/16/11)(AP, 3/23/11)
2011 Mar 19, An Iranian plane
bound for Syria landed in Turkey’s southeastern city of Diyarbakir
for a search of its cargo. The plane carried light weapons,
including automatic rifles, rocket launchers and mortars, which were
seized. The plane returned to Iran March 22 without the seized
cargo.
(AP, 3/23/11)
2011 Mar 20, Britain said its
air and sea strikes on Libya had been "very successful" and stressed
it was doing everything it could to avoid civilian casualties as it
enforces a UN-sanctioned no-fly zone. at least seven demolished
tanks smoldered in a field 12 miles (20 km) south of Benghazi, many
of them with their turrets and treads blown off. Turkey was blocking
NATO action, which requires agreement by all 28 members of the
alliance.
(AFP, 3/20/11)(AP, 3/21/11)
2011 Mar 21, A Turkish court
ordered five military officers and two civilians jailed in a probe
into the 2007 killing of three Christians, including a German
national, over allegations that the attack was part of an alleged
plot to topple the government.
(AP, 3/21/11)
2011 Mar 21, President Barack
Obama, seeking to shore up participation and clarify leadership of
the military attacks on Libyan forces, spoke with Turkish and Qatari
leaders.
(Reuters, 3/22/11)
2011 Mar 24, Dubai police said
the Gulf emirate has seized thousands of small arms being smuggled
in a sea cargo shipment bound for Yemen. The weapons were discovered
in a Dubai warehouse about two weeks ago. The shipment originated in
Turkey.
(AP, 3/24/11)
2011 Apr 6, Turkey launched a
probe into allegations that the state agency which makes the
university entrance exams had devised a code so that students deemed
to be pro-government could score high points. Some 1.7 million
students took the exam March 27, and those who pass will take
another exam in June.
(AP, 4/6/11)
2011 Apr 11, Turkey said it is
willing to consider the idea of hosting a political office for
Taliban militants from Afghanistan in order to promote talks to end
the war there, and an Afghan official said Turkish planning is
already in progress.
(AP, 4/11/11)
2011 Apr 13, The presidents of
Turkey and Pakistan, meeting in Ankara, said they would support
initiatives designed to end the war in Afghanistan, but they
declined to confirm that a plan is under way to open a political
office for Taliban in Turkey to promote peace talks.
(AP, 4/13/11)
2011 Apr 18, In Turkey Bedri
Baykam, a prominent government critic, was hospitalized after a
stabbing assault, which followed a speech in which he condemned
plans to tear down the "Monument to Humanity," a sculpture near the
Armenian border.
(AP, 4/19/11)
2011 Apr 19, In Turkey Kurdish
protesters clashed with police in two cities and the main Kurdish
party threatened to boycott the upcoming election because of a
decision the previous day to bar some Kurdish candidates.
(AP, 4/19/11)
2011 Apr 20, In southeastern
Turkey one person was killed when police opened fire on Kurdish
protestors in Bismil town.
(AFP, 4/20/11)
2011 Apr 21, US helicopter
maker Sikorsky Aircraft won a Turkish contract worth $3.5 billion
(2.4 billion euros).
(AP, 4/21/11)
2011 Apr 26, Turkey began to
demolish the 100-foot "Peace and Brotherhood" monument near its
eastern border dedicated to friendship with Armenia after PM Erdogan
called it a "monstrosity" on Jan 9. The statue was commissioned in
2006 to highlight friendship between Turkey and Armenia, two
countries with a history of enmity and suspicion.
(AFP, 4/26/11)
2011 Apr 27, Turkey's PM
Erdogan announced what he called a "crazy and magnificent" plan to
build a new waterway to the Black Sea, to be completed by 2023,
promising that the tanker-clogged Bosporus through Istanbul would
soon be used for sports and boat trips.
(AP, 4/27/11)
2011 May 1, In Turkey activists
flooded Istanbul‘s Taksim Square and marked international workers'
day around the world with marches demanding more jobs, better
working conditions and higher wages.
(AP, 5/1/11)
2011 May 4, A Turkish police
officer was shot dead by unidentified assailants in the northern
city of Kastamonu, where PM Tayyip Erdogan had been speaking earlier
in the day.
(Reuters, 5/4/11)
2011 May 9, In Turkey a
five-day UN-backed conference of the 48-member "least-developed
countries" opened to address the problems of the world's poorest
countries. The last such conference was hosted by the EU in Brussels
in 2001. France hosted the two previous ones in 1990 and 1981.
(AP, 5/9/11)
2011 May 10, Two more top
Turkish opposition politicians resigned, a month before the
country's general election, over secretly filmed tapes posted on the
Internet that reportedly showed them having extramarital affairs.
(AP, 5/10/11)
2011 May 11, Turkey announced
plans to build two earthquake-resistant developments in the Istanbul
area to lure residents away from dangerous neighborhoods.
(AP, 5/11/11)
2011 May 11, In Istanbul 13
European countries signed a Council of Europe convention on
combating violence against women.
(Econ, 5/14/11,
p.68)(https://wcd.coe.int/wcd/ViewDoc.jsp?id=1785485&Site=DC)
2011 May 14, Turkey's military
in Sirnak province killed 12 Kurdish rebels over the last 24 hours
who trying to infiltrate the country from northern Iraq.
(AP, 5/14/11)
2011 May 18, A Turkish website
that posted compromising videos which forced four far-right
politicians to resign threatened to post new sex videos that could
hurt more opposition politicians ahead of next month's election.
(AP, 5/18/11)
2011 May 20, In western Turkey
a 5.9-magnitude earthquake damaged buildings in Simav. At least
three people were killed in the region.
(AP, 5/20/11)
2011 May 21, Six senior
politicians in a Turkish opposition party resigned amid a sex video
scandal that could have far-reaching consequences in elections on
June 12.
(AP, 5/21/11)
2011 May 26, In Turkey a bomb
mounted on a bicycle near a bus stop exploded during morning rush
hour in Istanbul, wounding eight people, including a police officer.
(AP, 5/26/11)
2011 May 31, Turkey's
government defended a new regulation that will filter the Internet
and restrict access to websites that show pornography, bomb-making
and violent content. The new regulation was set to come into effect
in August.
(AP, 5/31/11)
2011 May 31, The Syrian
military used heavy machine guns and artillery in renewed attacks on
Rastan, a town in the country's turbulent heartland. At least one
person was killed. Opponents of the Syrian regime gathered on
Turkey's Mediterranean coast for a conference aimed at overcoming
their differences and bolstering protesters who have endured a
bloody crackdown under President Bashar Assad.
(AP, 5/31/11)
2011 Jun 1, The Syrian
government freed hundreds of political prisoners in an amnesty and
the president set up a committee for national dialogue in an effort
to end the 10-week uprising. Syrian military forces killed 42 people
in raids around Homs. Over 300 Syrian exiles gathered in Antalya,
Turkey, to discuss alternatives to Bashar Assad’s rule.
(AP, 6/1/11)(AP, 6/2/11)(SFC, 6/2/11, p.A2)(Econ,
6/4/11, p.57)
2011 Jun 8, Turkey’s PM Erdogan
said he would scrap the ministry for women along with 7 other
cabinet jobs.
(Econ, 6/11/11, p.59)(http://tinyurl.com/3tw6omd)
2011 Jun 10, Libyan rebels
staged an uprising in the western city of Zlitan. 22 fighters were
reported killed. Turkey’s PM Erdogan said his country has offered to
help Khadafy leave.
(SFC, 6/11/11, p.A4)
2011
Jun 12, In Turkey PM Tayyip Erdogan and his AK party won a decisive
victory over rivals, as Erdogan was re-elected for the third
consecutive time. The AK took nearly 50% of the votes, but failed to
secure a two-thirds majority. This will force it to seek support for
constitutional changes. The Republican People’s Party, the main
opposition won 26%.
(Reuters, 6/12/11)(SFC, 6/13/11, p.A3)(Econ, 6/18/11, p.16)
2011 Jun 13, Police in Turkey
rounded up 32 alleged members of Anonymous, hacker group, which had
recently attacked a couple of official websites.
(Econ, 6/18/11, p.67)
2011
Jun 15, Turkey’s president Tayyip Erdogan held talks with an envoy
of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad as a growing number of Syrians
fled their country seeking safety in refugee camps. Relations
between Turkey and Syria strained, as Turkey wants Syria to stop its
brutal crackdown on protesters.
(Reuters, 6/15/11)
2011 Jun 18, Syrian troops
backed by tanks and firing heavy machine guns swept into a village
near the Turkish border, the latest in a series of intensified army
operations in the northwest where there have been heavy clashes
between loyalist troops and defectors. The number of Syrians who
have taken refuge in Turkey to escape bloody unrest in their country
increased to about 10,100.
(AP, 6/18/11)(AFP, 6/18/11)
2011 Jun 22, In Turkey Hamas
chief Khaled Meshaal held talks with Turkish officials on efforts to
achieve Palestinian unity during a two-day visit to Istanbul.
(AFP, 6/22/11)
2011 Jul 3, Turkey's foreign
minister visited Libya and recognized the rebel leaders as the
country's legitimate representatives and promised them an additional
$200 million in aid.
(AP, 7/3/11)
2011 Jul 4, Turkey froze
Libya's holdings in a Turkish bank, a day after it recognized
Libya's rebel leaders as the country's legitimate representatives
and quietly removed its ambassador from Tripoli.
(AP, 7/4/11)
2011 Jul 14, An umbrella group
that includes Turkey's Kurdish party proclaimed Kurdish autonomy in
Diyarbakir, hours after a clash left 13 soldiers and seven Kurdish
guerrillas dead.
(AP, 7/15/11)
2011 Jul 15, Turkish
prosecutors launched an investigation into a Kurdish proclamation of
autonomy in the country's southeast as the military deployed elite
forces to the region where tensions are running high following the
deadliest clash between troops and rebels in about three years.
(AP, 7/15/11)
2011 Jul 15, A Turkish court
charged 14 suspected al-Qaida militants for allegedly planning to
attack the US Embassy in the Turkish capital.
(AP, 7/16/11)
2011 Jul 16, In Syria security
forces continued a weekslong operation in the restive Idlib
province, near the Turkish border. Authorities raided homes in the
village Kfar Nabl and made scores of arrests. A civilian was killed
in Al-Bukamal when security forces opened fire to break up a
demonstration against the regime of President Assad. 3 security
personnel were killed and two kidnapped in an attack on a government
building. An opposition conference in Turkey, called the National
Salvation Conference, was attended by some 400 dissidents looking to
form a unified opposition to Pres. Assad, whose family has ruled
Syria for more than 40 years.
(AP, 7/16/11)(AP, 7/17/11)
2011 Jul 29, Turkey’s top
commanders suddenly quit to protest the arrest of dozens of generals
as suspects in an alleged plot to overthrow the country's
Islamic-rooted government. Gen. Isik Kosaner resigned as the
military's chief of staff along with the commanders of the navy, the
army and the air force.
(AP, 7/30/11)
2011 Aug 3, Turkey said it
would put 106 more Kurdish politicians on trial for alleged
terrorist propaganda, choosing to go ahead with prosecutions despite
lingering tensions over the trial of dozens of others accused of
fanning separatist violence.
(AP, 8/3/11)
2011 Aug 4, Turkey appointed
commanders to posts left vacant by the resignation of the military's
top brass in a dispute with the government that showcased the
elected leaders' strengthening control over the once-mighty
military.
(AP, 8/4/11)
2011 Aug 17, In Turkey Kurdish
PKK rebels ambushed a military convoy in Cukurca township near the
border with Iraq killing 9 soldiers. Officials vowed strong military
retaliation. Turkey's air force attacked 60 suspected Kurdish rebel
targets in northern Iraq. The military it vowed to continue the
assault until the guerrilla group is "rendered ineffective."
(AP, 8/17/11)(AP, 8/18/11)(Econ, 8/27/11, p.43)
2011 Aug 18, In southern Turkey
the PKK attacked police and military stations in simultaneous
overnight rocket strikes in Siirt province, killing two soldiers and
wounding three civilians. Turkey's air force attacked 28 suspected
Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq, in a second day of
cross-border strikes in retaliation for stepped up attacks by the
guerrillas.
(AP, 8/19/11)
2011 Aug 19, Turkey's military
hit 85 rebel targets with artillery fire. Warplanes bombed 20
suspected Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq in a third day of
cross-border strikes.
(AP, 8/20/11)
2011 Aug 21, Turkish airstrikes
on suspected rebel targets in northern Iraq killed seven Iraqi
civilians, including five children and a woman, in an attack on
Kortak mountain. Police used tear gas and pepper spray to disperse
Kurdish protesters who tried to march to a main square in Istanbul
to denounce the Turkish raids. In demonstrators marched to protest
the PKK.
(AP, 8/21/11)
2011 Aug 23, Turkey's military
said air strikes on suspected Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq
this week have killed an estimated 90 to 100 guerrillas and warned
that it would press ahead with offensives against the group both
inside Turkey and across the border.
(AP, 8/23/11)
2011 Aug 29, Turkey’s military
said its air strikes and artillery fire on suspected Kurdish rebel
targets this month killed up to 160 guerrillas.
(SFC, 8/30/11, p.A2)
2011 Sep 2, Turkey expelled the
Israeli ambassador to Ankara and suspended all military ties with
its one-time ally after a UN report slammed the "excessive" force
used in the May 31, 2010, raid on a Gaza aid flotilla.
(AFP, 9/2/11)
2011 Sep 12, Kurdish rebels
attacked a police station and a paramilitary police headquarters
near Turkey’s border with Iraq killing 5 people including 3
civilians.
(SFC, 9/13/11, p.A2)
2011 Sep 13, Syrian security
forces riding in vehicles mounted with machine-guns raided
neighborhoods outside the capital, Damascus, before dawn as Turkey's
PM Erdogan said he was concerned Syria could descend into a
sectarian civil war. Pro-democracy activists called a "day of anger"
across Syria to protest against Russia's backing for President
Bashar al-Assad. More than 20 people were reported killed throughout
Syria. Syrian troops fired tear gas at a gathering of mourners just
hours after U.S. Ambassador Robert Ford and other Western diplomats
expressed their condolences to the family of a rights advocate
killed last week.
(AP, 9/13/11)(AFP, 9/13/11)(AP, 9/14/11)
2011 Sep 14, Turkey’s foreign
ministry announced that an early warning radar will be stationed in
Kurecik in the southeast as part of NATO's missile defense system.
(AP, 9/14/11)
2011 Sep 16, In Turkey 3
Chechens were gunned down near a park in Istanbul. Chechen groups
blamed Russia's secret service for the killings of the three, who
were allegedly involved with Chechen militants.
(AP, 10/12/11)
2011 Sep 19, Turkey escalated a
dispute with Cyprus over oil and gas drilling in the eastern
Mediterranean, saying that it would send warships to protect its
claims to resources off the coast of the divided island. US energy
firm, Nobel Energy, had just exploratory drilling for oil and gas
off the coast of Cyprus despite strong warnings from Turkey not to
do so.
(AP, 9/19/11)
2011 Sep 20, In Turkey a car
bomb went off near a high school in Ankara, killing 3 people in a
nearby building and wounding 34 others. Soon after 4 women died in
an attack Siirt province.
(AP, 9/20/11)(Econ, 9/24/11, p.63)
2011 Sep 21, Turkey’s Pres.
Erdogan signed a deal with Turkish-controlled north Cyprus to begin
drilling for oil and gas.
(Econ, 9/24/11, p.63)
2011 Sep 21, Turkey reportedly
bombed the main Kurdish rebel base in northern Iraq and chased
rebels in a mountainous area in the southeast in response to
escalated attacks by the autonomy-seeking guerrillas.
(AP, 9/21/11)
2011 Sep 24, Kurdish rebels
attacked a Turkish army outpost, killing 5 soldiers and wounding 10
in the country's southeast. Three rebels also were killed.
(AP, 9/25/11)
2011 Sep 28, In Turkey a
pro-Kurdish party said it is ending its four-month-old boycott of
parliament, even as tensions grew over a surge in attacks by Kurdish
separatist rebels.
(AP, 9/28/11)
2011 Oct 2, Syrian dissidents
meeting in Turkey formally announced the creation of a broad-based
council designed to overthrow President Bashar Assad's regime in
what appeared to be the most serious step yet to unify a fragmented
opposition. The 21-year-old son of Syria's top Sunni Muslim cleric
was killed in an ambush in a restive northern area.
(AP, 10/2/11)(AP, 10/3/11)
2011 Oct 4, Turkish police
detained over 140 pro-Kurdish political activists in a nationwide
sweep. The detainees included a number of elected mayors in the
Kurdish southeast.
(SFC, 10/5/11, p.A2)
2011 Oct 5, Turkey's PM Recep
Tayyip Erdogan said his government would announce a package of
sanctions against neighboring Syria despite a UN resolution blocked
by Russia and China.
(AFP, 10/5/11)
2011 Oct 10, Turkish air raids
in northern Iraq reportedly killed 7 Kurdish rebels including three
senior operatives.
(AP, 10/22/11)
2011 Oct 12, A Turkish court
began questioning a man and three alleged accomplices suspected of
attempting to kill Shamsuddin Batukayev (55), a former Chechen
separatist leader, in Istanbul earlier this week.
(AP, 10/12/11)
2011 Oct 13, Turkey's foreign
minister said that Iraq should move to prevent Kurdish attacks on
his country from Iraqi soil as the two countries renewed their
commitment to fight the rebels.
(AP, 10/13/11)
2011 Oct 18, Turkey shelled
northern Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, in the first report of
Turkish bombardment there in more than two weeks. The shelling began
the previous evening. A roadside blast killed five policemen and 3
civilians in Turkey's southeast Bitlis province.
(AFP, 10/18/11)(AP, 10/19/11)
2011 Oct 19, Turkish soldiers,
air force bombers and helicopter gunships launched an incursion into
northern Iraq, hours after Kurdish rebels killed 24 soldiers and
wounded 18 in attacks along the border. The United States and NATO
both issued statements supporting the offensive, the largest in more
than three years.
(AP, 10/19/11)(AFP, 10/21/11)
2011 Oct 20, About 10,000 elite
Turkish soldiers took part in a ground offensive against Kurdish
rebels in southeastern Turkey and across the border in Iraq, making
it the nation's largest attack on the insurgents in more than three
years.
(AP, 10/20/11)
2011 Oct 20, Albanian port
authorities said 3 sailors died and five others are missing after
their Turkish merchant ship, Reina 1, collided with a passenger
ferry and sank in the Adriatic some 20 miles (30 km) from the
Albanian port of Durres. No injuries were reported on the ferry
Ankara, which had left Durres en route for the Italian port of Bari
with about 200 passengers.
(AP, 10/20/11)
2011 Oct 21, Turkish jets kept
up bombing raids on Kurdish rebel bases in northern Iraq overnight,
as the rebels confirmed that some Turkish troops crossed into Iraq.
Turkey and Iran vowed to collaborate against the PKK and its Iranian
wing, the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan, or PJAK, during a visit
by Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi.
(AFP, 10/21/11)(AP, 10/22/11)
2011 Oct 22, Turkey’s military
said its troops over the last 2 days have killed at least 49 Kurdish
rebels in a valley near the Iraqi border, as hundreds of troops also
pursued Kurdish fighters within northern Iraq.
(AP, 10/22/11)
2011 Oct 23, A powerful
7.2-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Turkey, collapsing about 45
buildings. It was estimated that up to 1,000 people could have been
killed. The worst damage was caused to the town of Ercis, in the
mountainous eastern province of Van where 80 multi-story buildings
collapsed with people trapped in 40 of them. By Nov 4 the death toll
reached 603 with some 2500 injured and thousands homeless.
(AP, 10/23/11)(AP, 10/24/11)(AP, 11/4/11)
2011 Oct 25, In Turkey crowds
of Kurds pelted journalists and police with stones in the quake-hit
city of Van as their anger at the media's coverage of the disaster
boiled over. The stoning of the reporters in the eponymous
provincial capital, which left several people injured, was brought
to a halt only after police used pepper-spray.
(AFP, 10/26/11)
2011 Oct 29, In Turkey a female
suicide bomber killed two people in Bingol, in the southeastern
Kurdish region and wounded 12 others.
(AP, 10/29/11)
2011 Nov 1, Turkey hosted the
presidents of Afghanistan and Pakistan for a trilateral summit
designed to reduce tensions and promote cooperation between the two
neighbors amid stepped-up Taliban attacks.
(AFP, 11/1/11)
2011 Nov 2, In Turkey regional
leaders pledged to find ways to improve security and economic
development in Afghanistan as international combat forces prepared
to leave by the end of 2014. Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his
Pakistani counterpart, Asif Ali Zardari, discussed a joint inquiry
into the Sept. 20 killing by a suicide bomber of Burhanuddin
Rabbani, a former Afghan president and peace council leader.
(AP, 11/2/11)
2011 Nov 9, In eastern Turkey
another earthquake, measuring 5.7, struck 9 miles (16km) south of
Van. A Japanese aid worker was among 39 people killed by the
earthquake. All the fatalities occurred in the Bayram Hotel and the
low-budget Aslan Hotel. It hit the same region slammed by an Oct. 23
temblor that left 600 people dead.
(AP, 11/10/11)(AP, 11/11/11)(AP, 11/13/11)
2011 Nov 12, Turkish commandos
in civilian clothes slipped onto the Kartepe, a hijacked passenger
ferry, and posed as hostages before fatally shooting a suspected
Kurdish rebel carrying explosives in a 12-hour drama that ended
before dawn.
(AP, 11/12/11)
2011 Nov 13, Turkish warplanes
bombed the Qandil border area in Iraqi Kurdistan for about an hour.
(AFP, 11/13/11)
2011 Nov 13, In Syria tens of
thousands of government supporters poured into the streets to
protest an Arab League vote to suspend the country's membership, as
Turkey sent planes to evacuate diplomatic staff and their families
after a night of attacks on embassies. Activists reporting at least
11 people killed in shootings by security forces in several parts of
the country.
(AP, 11/13/11)
2011 Nov 19, In Turkey
delegates at an international conservation meeting agreed on a
measure mandating that silky sharks accidentally caught in fishing
gear be released back into the sea alive. The 48-member
International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas
(ICCAT) failed to reach consensus on other threatened shark species.
To fight illegal fishing, ICCAT members decided that vessels
measuring 12 meters or more, instead of the previous 20 meters or
more, would be inspected on arrival to port.
(AP, 11/19/11)
2011 Nov 20, Turkish President
Abdullah Gul in published comments said there was "no place for
authoritarian regimes" in the Mediterranean region, heaping more
pressure on the embattled Syrian regime.
(AFP, 11/20/11)
2011 Nov 21, Syria's security
forces carried out a "qualitative" operation in the Bayada district
of Homs in which they killed four terrorists and confiscated their
weapons. A "top terrorist" nicknamed Bandar was among them. Syrian
soldiers opened fire on at least two buses carrying Turkish
citizens.
(AP, 11/22/11)
2011 Nov 22, Turkey's PM
Erdogan said that Syria's Pres. Bashar Assad must step down over the
country's crackdown on dissent. 6 children and 5 mutinous soldiers
were among 34 people killed across Syria. 122 countries voted for a
resolution at the UN General Assembly's human rights committee
condemning the government crackdown.
(AP, 11/22/11)(Reuters, 11/23/11)(AFP, 11/23/11)
2011 Nov 23, Turkey's PM
Erdogan apologized for the first time for the killings of nearly
14,000 people in a bombing and strafing campaign to crush a Kurdish
rebellion in the 1930s. He offered his apology for the killings of
13,806 people in the southeastern town of Dersim, now known as
Tunceli, between 1936 and 1939.
(AP, 11/23/11)
2011 Nov 23, Turkish President
Abdullah Gul warned that President Bashar al-Assad's violent
crackdown on an eight-month-old revolt in Syria threatened to "drag
the whole region into turmoil and bloodshed."
(Reuters, 11/23/11)
2011 Nov 30, Turkey slapped
tough economic sanctions on Syria, freezing assets of officials
involved in the government's crackdown on an 8-month-old uprising,
suspending ties with the nation's central bank and banning all
military sales.
(AP, 11/30/11)
2011 Nov 30, In Turkey a
heavily armed man opened fire at Istanbul's Topkapi Palace, wounding
a Turkish soldier and a security guard before police snipers killed
the attacker. Hw was identified as Samir Salem Ali Elmadhavri (36),
a Libyan with Syrian citizenship.
(AP, 11/30/11)
2011 Dec 13, Turkey’s Anatolia
news reported that court has jailed a policeman for four years and
two months over the killing of Festus Okey (21), a Nigerian
immigrant, who was shot Aug 20, 2007, while in custody.
(AP, 12/13/11)(http://www.hyd.org.tr/?pid=515)
2011 Dec 19, A Turkish news
agency reported that security forces may have killed as many as 20
Kurdish separatist rebels in the country's southeast.
(AP, 12/19/11)
2011 Dec 20, Turkish police
detained 48 people, including journalists, as part of a growing
investigation into a Kurdish group that prosecutors accuse of links
to Kurdish rebels.
(AP, 12/20/11)(AP, 12/24/11)
2011 Dec 22, Turkey's PM
Erdogan said his country is recalling its ambassador to France and
halting official contact in retaliation for a vote in the French
Parliament making it a crime to deny the 1915 mass killings of
Armenians was a genocide. The bill, just passed in France's lower
house, still needed approval in the Senate.
(AP, 12/22/11)
2011 Dec 23, Turkey responded
to French genocide allegations with a charge of its own, accusing
France of committing genocide during its colonial occupation of
Algeria. He alleged that beginning in 1945, about 15 percent of the
population of Algeria was massacred by the French. He also said
Algerians were burned in ovens. Most historians contend the Ottoman
killings of up to 1.5 million Armenians constituted the first
genocide of the 20th century.
(AP, 12/23/11)
2011 Dec 24, Turkish
authorities released an AFP photographer, along with 12 other people
who were detained as part of an investigation into a group
prosecutors accuse of having links to Kurdish rebels. A court
ordered 35 other suspects formally arrested pending trial over their
alleged involvement in the Union of Kurdistan Communities.
(AP, 12/24/11)
2011 Dec 28, Turkish warplanes
killed at least 34 people and 59 mules in an air strike on the Iraq
border in an attack which a pro-Kurdish political party described as
a "massacre" of civilians. Ankara's joint military command said in a
statement that its jets bombed an area inside Iraq "regularly used"
by PKK rebels. Those killed were smugglers aged 18-28, who routinely
brought in Iraqi fuel and cigarettes with the full knowledge of
local authorities. On Jan 2 Turkey said it will compensate the
families of the civilians mistakenly killed in the airstrike in
Uludere township.
(AFP, 12/29/11)(AP, 1/3/12)(Econ, 1/7/12,
p.46)(Econ, 6/9/12, p.59)(Econ, 5/9/15, p.49)
2011 Turkey’s population was
about 73 million.
(AFP, 1/18/11)
2012 Jan 3, In Turkey Kenan
Evren (94), a former president (1982-1989), and former air force
commander Tahsin Sahinkaya faced charges of crimes against the
state. A court will now have to decide whether to accept the
indictment and order a trial. Their trial began on April 4.
(AP, 1/3/12)(AP, 4/4/12)
2012 Jan 6, A former Turkish
military chief, Gen. Ilker Basbug (68), suspected of leading an
Internet campaign to stir revolt, was jailed in a sweeping
investigation of alleged conspiracies to topple a civilian
government that has stripped the armed forces of political clout.
(AP, 1/6/12)
2012 Jan 12, A Turkish court
files charges against Britain’s Duchess of York for secretly filming
orphanages in the country in 2008 for a British TV program.
(SFC, 1/13/12, p.A2)
2012 Jan 19, Turkish
authorities exhumed the bodies of three Kurds near the village of
Yagizoymak as part of their investigation into alleged extrajudicial
killings by Turkish security forces in the 1990s. Lawyer Ridvan
Dalmis, who witnessed the excavation, said the remains allegedly are
those of civilians who were killed by security forces in June 1993
and hastily buried by Kurdish villagers before they were forced to
evacuate the area.
(AP, 1/20/12)
2012 Jan 23, Turkey threatened
more sanctions for France if the Senate in Paris votes later today
to make it a crime to deny the 20th-century killing of Armenians by
Ottoman Turks constitutes a genocide. France's parliament approved
the bill later in the day.
(AP, 1/23/12)(AP, 1/24/12)
2012 Jan 24, Turkey warned the
French president against signing a law that makes it a crime to deny
that the killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks nearly a century ago
constituted genocide, saying such a move would deal a heavy blow to
the relations between the two countries.
(AP, 1/24/12)
2012 Feb 7, Turkey's PM Erdogan
announced a new initiative with regional players to halt the
violence in Syria, saying the veto of a UN resolution had given
President Bashar al-Assad a "license to kill."
(AFP, 2/7/12)
2012 Feb 10, Turkey Interior
Minister Idris Naim Sahin said that five Turks, including a former
intelligence officer, were being questioned for allegedly kidnapping
and handing over to Damascus Lt. Col. Hussein Harmoush, a Syrian
army officer, who had sought refuge in Turkey.
(AP, 2/11/12)
2012 Feb 11, Turkish warplanes
bombed suspected Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq.
(AP, 2/12/12)
2012 Feb 13, A clash in
Turkey's mostly Kurdish southeast has left 15 Kurdish rebels and two
Turkish soldiers dead.
(AP, 2/14/12)
2012 Feb 24, In Turkey doctors
at Hacettepe University transplanted two arms and two legs on Sevket
Cavdar (27). He had lost his arms and legs in 1998 when he was
accidentally electrocuted. The world's 1st quadruple limb transplant
soon failed due to tissue incompatibility.
(AP, 2/27/12)
2012 Feb, In Turkey followers
of Fethullah Gulen, a Pennsylvania-base imam, were said to have
infiltrated Turkey’s judiciary and police force. The Gulenists were
reportedly now targeting Turkey’s MIT spy agency.
(Econ, 2/25/12, p.61)(http://tinyurl.com/7fde22d)
2012 Mar 6, Turkish Airlines
started flying into Somalia's war-torn capital, becoming the first
international company to fly passenger planes into Mogadishu in more
than 20 years. Flights were scheduled for twice a week.
(AP, 3/6/12)
2012 Mar 8, Turkey's air force
carried out air strikes on border areas of north Iraq.
(AFP, 3/9/12)
2012 Mar 10, Turkish journalist
Adem Ozkose (34) and cameraman Hamit Coskun (21) reported from Idlib
as Syrian forces with tanks and artillery were preparing to move
against poorly armed rebels there. They were not heard from again
until May 5 when they called their families while under Syrian
detention. On May 11 Iran, acting as diplomatic go-between between
Syria and Turkey, negotiated their release.
(AP, 5/11/12)
2012 Mar 12, Four Turkish
journalists were freed from jail, a year after they were detained in
a case that has raised fears for press freedom in the country. Two
pledged to immediately tackle sensitive subjects again, including
the killing of an ethnic Armenian journalist.
(AP, 3/13/12)
2012 Mar 15, Turkey’s deputy
prime minister said Syria has planted landmines near its border with
Turkey along routes used by refugees fleeing the regime's deadly
crackdown on dissent. The foreign ministry said Around 1,000 Syrian
refugees, including a defecting general, flocked into Turkey in the
last 24 hours.
(AFP, 3/15/12)
2012 Mar 16, Turkey urged its
citizens in Syria to return home, saying some consular services will
be halted in Damascus next week.
(AP, 3/16/12)
2012 Mar 16, In Afghanistan a
Turkish helicopter crashed into a house on the outskirts of Kabul,
killing 12 Turkish soldiers and two Afghan civilians.
(AFP, 3/16/12)
2012 Mar 18, In Turkey
thousands of Kurds massed in Diyarbakir and Istanbul to celebrate
the Kurdish new year (Nowruz). A Kurdish politician and Turkish
policeman died as riot police fired tear gas to disperse the crowds.
(Econ, 3/24/12, p.54)
2012 Mar 22, Turkish PM Recep
Tayyip Erdogan on urged UEFA to award his country the right to host
the 2020 European football championships.
(AFP, 3/22/12)
2012 Mar 23, Turkish police
detained two people of Iranian descent after an attack on the
Iranian embassy in the capital Ankara. The suspects are said to have
carried out the attack because of slow processing of their visa
applications by the embassy.
(AFP, 3/23/12)
2012 Mar 23, Turkish forces
killed 15 female Kurdish rebel fighters in Bitlis province.
(SSFC, 3/25/12, p.A6)
2012 Mar 25, Pres. Obama met
with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan ahead of a nuclear security
conference in South Korea. Obama other key allies considered
providing Syrian rebels with communications help, medical aid and
other "non-lethal" assistance.
(AP, 3/25/12)
2012 Mar 26, Turkey closed its
embassy in Damascus and recalled its ambassador as relations between
the former allies continued to deteriorate.
(AFP, 3/26/12)
2012 Mar 29, Turkish PM Recep
Tayyip Erdogan voiced his country's unwavering support for Tehran's
nuclear ambitions in a meeting with Iran's President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad. Turkey relies on Iran for 30% of its oil imports, and
has refused to go along with sanctions imposed by the US and Europe,
saying it will observe only UN-mandated restrictions on Iran.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Tehran strongly supports
reforms in Syria under Pres. Assad, but visiting Turkish PM Erdogan
said Assad can't be trusted and must step down.
(AFP, 3/29/12)(AP, 3/30/12)
2012 Apr 1, Syria blasted an
international conference on the country's spreading crisis before it
even started in Istanbul, calling it part of an international
conspiracy to kill Syrians and weaken the country. Monitors said at
least 16 people were killed, including eight soldiers who died
during ambushes and gun battles in the east, northwest and near
Damascus. Participants at the 60-nation “Friends of the Syrian
People” meeting said Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries are
creating a multimillion-dollar fund to pay members of the rebel Free
Syrian Army and soldiers who defect from the regime and join
opposition ranks.
(AP, 4/1/12)(AFP, 4/1/12)(SSFC, 4/1/12, p.A5)
2012 Apr 2, In Turkey Neslisah
Osmanoglu (b.1921), an Ottoman princess who married an Egyptian
prince (1940), died. She was twice forced into exile when both royal
households were abolished.
(AFP, 4/3/12)
2012 Apr 4, British officials
said a new batch of counterfeit cancer drug Avastin discovered in
the United States was bought in Turkey and shipped through Britain
by a UK-based business. Avastin, made by Roche, is a complex
injectable biotech drug with annual sales of $6 billion.
(Reuters, 4/4/12)
2012 Apr 5, In south-eastern
Turkey overnight blasts temporarily shut down a pipeline pumping oil
from Iraq. Kurdish rebels were suspected to be behind the
explosions.
(AFP, 4/5/12)
2012 Apr 5, In Syria fierce
clashes between government forces and rebels erupted near Damascus
ahead of an agreed truce. Some 2,500 crossed the border today,
bringing to 24,000 the number of Syrian refugees now in Turkey.
(AFP, 4/5/12)(AP, 4/6/12)
2012 Apr 9, Syrian forces fired
across the border into a refugee camp in Turkey, wounding at least
five people. Lebanese journalist Ali Shaaban, who works as a
cameraman for Al Jadeed TV station, was shot and killed as he was
filming in the northern Wadi Khaled area on the Lebanese side of the
border. 12 members of the Syrian security forces were killed as
clashes ensued in several regions. Human Rights Watch said it has
documented the killings by Syrian forces of 85 civilians, including
women and children, and the summary executions of at least 16
wounded or captured opposition fighters. The Syrian rebel army said
it is ready to respect an April 10 truce brokered by UN-Arab League
envoy Kofi Annan if the regime of President Bashar al-Assad abides
by the peace deal.
(AP, 4/9/12)(AFP, 4/9/12)
2012 Apr 12, Turkish
prosecutors ordered the arrest of dozens of former military
officers, including four retired generals, over their role in
forcing the resignation in 1997 of an Islamist PM Necmettin Erbakan.
(AP, 4/12/12)
2012 Apr 14, Iran and senior
diplomats from the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and
Germany, known as the P5+1, gathered at the negotiating table in
Istanbul for their first meeting in 15 months hoping to ease
tensions over Tehran's nuclear program.
(AFP, 4/14/12)
2012 Apr 18, Turkey said it has
intercepted an Antigua and Barbuda-flagged vessel in the
Mediterranean suspected of carrying weapons and ammunition to Syria.
The "Atlantic Cruiser" belonged to a German company. The ship was
chartered by a Ukrainian firm, which said that the cargo contained
no weapons, but legal goods for civilian use.
(AFP, 4/18/12)(AFP, 4/19/12)
2012 May 10, A Turkish court
placed in custody six active and five retired generals as part of a
widening probe into the 1997 bloodless coup that toppled the
country's first Islamist-led government.
(AFP, 5/10/12)
2012 May 18, Leaders of
Bulgaria, Qatar and Turkey agreed to study joint infrastructure
projects like the construction of a new motorway from Istanbul
across Bulgaria.
(AFP, 5/18/12)
2012 May 19, In northeastern
Turkey a 22-meter (72-foot) high copper statue of Ataturk, the
country's biggest of the iconic figure, was inaugurated in Artvin.
It was a tribute to the near-mystical hold that Ataturk exerts over
his fervent believers, whose admiration is rooted in his success in
imposing secular values on a largely Muslim nation.
(AP, 6/10/12)
2012 May 25, In central Turkey
a car bomb attack killed a policeman and wounded 17 people. The
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) later claimed responsibility.
(AP, 5/27/12)
2012 May 27, In southeast
Turkey Kurdish rebels killed a soldier in a clash, prompting the
military to launch a large-scale offensive in the area.
(AP, 5/27/12)
2012 May 29, Turkey’s PM
Erdogan called for legislation to restrict women’s access to
abortions.
(SFC, 5/30/12, p.A2)
2012 May 30, Turkey said it has
ordered Syrian diplomats to leave the country within 72 hours
following the massacre of more than 100 civilians in Houla which has
triggered global outrage.
(AFP, 5/30/12)
2012 May 31, In Turkey
representatives from 54 countries gathered in Istanbul for a 2-day
conference to find a path towards a better future for Somalia for
which the term "failed state" was coined two decades ago.
(AFP, 5/31/12)
2012 Jun 4, Turkish security
officials said two security personnel were killed when they stepped
on an improvised explosive device laid by PKK militants in the Lice
district of Diyarbakir province. One of the men killed was the
commander of Lice's military police force.
(Reuters, 6/4/12)
2012 Jun 5, Some 85 Syrian
military defectors and their families crossed into Turkey.
(Econ, 7/7/12, p.46)
2012 Jun 12, Turkey announced
plans to introduce elective Kurdish language instruction in schools,
a step aimed at easing tension that Kurdish minority activists
argued didn't go far enough. Activists and Kurdish politicians
insisted on full Kurdish education in schools.
(AP, 6/12/12)
2012 Jun 13, A Turkish foreign
ministry official said around 2,500 Syrians have fled to Turkey in
the last 48 hours amid fresh attacks that even targeted UN
observers.
(AFP, 6/13/12)
2012 Jun 17, In southeastern
Turkey prison inmates set mattresses and blankets alight overnight,
starting a fire that killed 13 prisoners in the mostly-Kurdish and
Arabic-speaking city of Sanliurfa.
(AP, 6/17/12)
2012 Jun 19, In Turkey
thousands of feminists and activists sent a petition to several
government ministries to protest a bill that would ban abortions
beyond the first six weeks of pregnancy.
(AFP, 6/19/12)
2012 Jun 19, Kurdish rebels
attacked Turkish military units with mortars and rocket-propelled
grenades in southeastern Turkey, sparking clashes in which 10 rebels
and eight soldiers died.
(AP, 6/19/12)
2012 Jun 22, Syria’s state-run
news agency, SANA, said terrorist groups had killed and mutilated at
least 25 people in Daret Azzeh, a rebel-held area in the Aleppo
countryside. A video emerged showing more than a dozen bloodied
corpses, some of them piled on top of each other and in military
uniforms, in what the government said was a "massacre" by rebels in
the northern province of Aleppo. Activists reported that thousands
of people rallied in various parts to protest the regime following
afternoon prayers. Syria said it shot down a Turkish military plane
that entered Syrian air space.
(AP, 6/22/12)(AP, 6/23/12)
2012 Jun 24, Turkey’s army said
its warplanes have carried out strikes on suspected Kurdish militant
targets in northern Iraq. Air strikes had hit 9 PKK targets over the
last 3 days. Kurdish rebels killed one policeman and wounded 3
others in a roadside bomb attack.
(AFP, 6/24/12)(SFC, 6/25/12, p.A2)
2012 Jun 25, Dozens of Syrian
soldiers defected overnight to Turkey, crossing the border with
their families. The state-run Anadolu news agency said 33 soldiers
defected, including a general and two colonels. Syrian troops killed
10 "terrorists" in the Damascus suburb of Douma.
(AP, 6/25/12)(AP, 6/26/12)
2012 Jun 26, Turkey's PM
Erdogan vowed to retaliate against Syria for its 'heinous' downing
of one of its warplanes, as the head of NATO said such an attack on
one of its members was unacceptable.
(AFP, 6/26/12)
2012 Jun 27, In eastern Turkey
an explosion targeting a pipeline cut off Iranian natural gas
shipments to the country. The pipeline was expected to be back in
operation within 4 to 5 days. Turkey received 27 million cubic
meters of gas a day via the Iranian pipeline. The gas flow was
reported restored on July 3.
(AFP, 6/28/12)(AFP, 7/3/12)
2012 Jul 20, In Turkey an
explosion and fire shut down twin pipelines that carry oil from Iraq
to the Mediterranean.
(AP, 7/21/12)
2012 Jul 25, Turkey sealed its
border with Syria to trucks, effectively cutting off a trade
relationship once worth almost $3 billion with the embattled nation.
A foreign ministry diplomat said 2 more Syrian brigadier generals
crossed into Turkey, bringing to 27 the number of generals who have
fled the unrest in Syria.
(AP, 7/25/12)(AFP, 7/25/12)
2012 Jul 29, Syrian troops,
backed by air power and tanks, pushed on in the second day of an
assault on Aleppo, sparking international fears of a humanitarian
catastrophe. The Syrian regime accused regional powerhouses Saudi
Arabia, Qatar and Turkey of supporting a plot hatched by Israel to
destroy the country. A group of 12 Syrian officers crossed into
Turkey including a brigadier general who was deputy chief of police
in Syria's Latakia region.
(AFP, 7/29/12)(AP, 7/29/12)(AP, 7/30/12)
2012 Aug 2, Turkish warplanes
and attack helicopters are pounding Kurdish rebel positions in a
major clash in a rugged area near Turkey's borders with Iraq and
Iran. Turkish troops and Kurdish rebels have been clashing in the
area for about two weeks.
(AP, 8/2/12)
2012 Aug 4, Turkish officials
said the military has retired all 40 generals on trial on charges of
plotting to overthrow the Muslim-led government.
(SSFC, 8/5/12, p.A7)
2012 Aug 4, Turkey reported the
defection of another Syrian general, along with five colonels, who
came over the border with a group of refugees.
(AP, 8/4/12)
2012 Aug 5, Turkey’s interior
minister said security forces have killed as many as 115 Kurdish
rebels during a major offensive over the past 2 weeks near the
southeastern town of Semdinli. Rebels fired on military posts in
Hakkari on the Iraq border triggering clashes that left dead 22
rebels, soldiers and village guards.
(AFP, 8/5/12)(SFC, 8/6/12, p.A2)
2012 Aug 6, In southeastern
Turkey an overnight blast interrupted oil flow from Iraq. Kurdish
rebels were suspected to be behind the explosions. The blast hit the
Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline in Mardin province close to the border with
Syria. Repairs were expected to take up to 10 days. The oil flow was
reported restored on August 28.
(AFP, 8/6/12)(AFP, 8/28/12)
2012 Aug 7, In Syria total of
225 people, mostly civilians, were reported killed. A Turkish
government official said 1,328 Syrian refugees had crossed the
border by midmorning, nearly double the number of refugees who
reached Turkey a day earlier.
(AFP, 8/8/12)(AP, 8/7/12)
2012 Aug 9, In Turkey 2
roadside bombs struck a bus carrying troops to a navy base, killing
one soldier and wounding 11 people on the outskirts of the Aegean
resort town of Foca.
(AP, 8/9/12)
2012 Aug 15, In Syria a bomb
attached to a fuel truck exploded outside a Damascus hotel where UN
observers are staying, wounding at least three people. Fierce
fighting erupted between the Syrian army and rebels near the prime
minister's office in Damascus. Activists reported shelling and
clashes in Aleppo. Two Syrian fighter jets bombed the rebel-held
town of Azaz. Human Rights Watch said over 40 people were killed.
757 Syrians fled into Turkey.
(AFP, 8/15/12)(AP, 8/15/12)(AP, 8/16/12)
2012 Aug 20, In Turkey a car
bomb in a southeastern Turkish city of Gaziantap left 9 people dead.
Authorities blamed rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) of
being behind the powerful blast that went off close to a police
station. The PKK denied the attack.
(AFP, 8/21/12)
2012 Aug 23, Turkish media
reported that Kurdish rebels have ambushed a military convoy in the
southeast, setting off clashes that killed 16 militants and five
soldiers.
(AFP, 8/23/12)
2012 Aug 25, Turkish warplanes
bombed areas of northern Iraq in a bid to target rear bases of the
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
(AFP, 8/25/12)
2012 Sep 2, In Turkey Kurdish
militants killed 10 police and soldiers in an assault in Sirnak
province. Some Kurdish guerrillas were also killed.
(SFC, 9/4/12, p.A2)
2012 Sep 5, In western Turkey
an explosion and blaze triggered by an accidentally dropped hand
grenade killed 25 soldiers during a stock check at an ammunition
depot near the town of Afyonkarahisar.
(AP, 9/6/12)
2012 Sep 6, Off the coast of
western Turkey 61 people drowned when a fishing boat carrying
migrants that smugglers had promised refuge in Europe sank after
hitting rocks. At least 46 survivors, mostly from Iraq and Syria,
were able to swim through the Aegean waters to shore 50 meters away.
(AP, 9/6/12)(SSFC, 9/9/12, p.A4)
2012 Sep 10, Turkey’s military
announced that it had conducted air strikes over the past week in
northern Iraq, where Kurdish rebels have bases. Some 25 guerrillas
were reported killed in the operation.
(AP, 9/11/12)
2012 Sep 11, In Turkey a
suicide bomber threw a hand grenade and then blew himself up at the
entrance to a police station in a suburb of Istanbul. One police
officer was killed, and seven others were wounded. Police identified
the bomber as a member of the Revolutionary People's Liberation
Party-Front (DHKP-C).
(AP, 9/11/12)
2012 Sep 12, In Turkey hundreds
of Kurds began a hunger strike in prisons across the country.
(Econ, 11/17/12, p.2)
2012 Sep 15, In southeast
Turkey an attack on a military convoy killed four soldiers and
wounded five in Hakkari province.
(AP, 9/16/12)
2012 Sep 16, In eastern Turkey
suspected Kurdish rebels detonated a landmine along a highway in
Bingol province, killing eight police officers and wounding nine.
Officials in southeastern Hakkari province said a total of 123
"terrorists," a reference to Kurdish rebels, had been killed in
military operations in the past 10 days.
(AP, 9/16/12)
2012 Sep 18, In Turkey
suspected Kurdish rebels in Bingol province attacked a military
convoy with a rocket killing 10 soldiers and wounded over 70 others.
(SFC, 9/19/12, p.A2)
2012 Sep 18, In Syria fierce
clashes broke out between rebels and regime forces battling for
control of a border crossing on the frontier with Turkey. Turkish
authorities told residents to evacuate the area.
(AP, 9/18/12)
2012 Sep 21, A Turkish court
convicted 326 military officers, including the former air force and
navy chiefs, of plotting to overthrow the PM Erdogan’s Islamic-based
government in 2003.
(AP, 9/21/12)(Economist, 9/29/12, p.59)
2012 Sep 26, A Turkish court
issued an order allowing authorities in the country to block
Internet access to the "Innocence of Muslims," an anti-Islam movie
that has sparked violent protests across the Muslim world.
(AP, 9/26/12)
2012 Sep 30, Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged Syria's allies to stop backing
the Assad regime. "We call on Russia, China and Iran, please review
your stance," Erdogan told a conference of his ruling Justice and
Development Party.
(AP, 9/30/12)
2012 Oct 3, Turkish authorities
arrested Ali Harzi for reported links to the Sep 11 attack on a US
consulate in Libya. He was repatriated to Tunisia on Oct 11 and
faced terrorism charges there. Harzi was one of two Tunisians
reportedly arrested in Turkey when they tried to enter the country
with false passports.
(AP, 10/25/12)
2012 Oct 3, Syrian-Turkish
cross-border tensions escalated after a shell fired from inside
Syria landed on a home in the Turkish village of Akcakale, killing
two women and three of their daughters and wounding at least 10
others.
(AP, 10/4/12)
2012 Oct 4, Turkey's Parliament
authorized military operations against Syria and its military fired
on targets there for a second day after deadly shelling from Syria
killed five civilians in a Turkish border town.
(AP, 10/4/12)
2012 Oct 5, Turkish troops
fired at Syria again, responding to another mortar shell from Syria
that struck Turkish territory.
(AP, 10/5/12)
2012 Oct 6, Turkish artillery
fired into Syria for the fourth day in a row, retaliating for mortar
shells that landed in Turkish territory. Rebels clashed with Syrian
government troops in the border area, activists said, as fears
revived that the Syrian crisis could spiral into a regional
conflict.
(AP, 10/6/12)
2012 Oct 7, Turkish artillery
fired toward Syria for a fifth day in a row, minutes after a Syrian
shell landed on Turkish territory.
(AP, 10/7/12)
2012 Oct 7, Turkish jets struck
suspected Kurdish rebel targets in two separate cross-border raids
in northern Iraq.
(AP, 10/8/12)
2012 Oct 8, Turkey's state-run
news agency said a Syrian shell landed on Turkish territory for a
sixth day, but made no mention of any immediate Turkish retaliation.
(AP, 10/8/12)
2012 Oct 9, NATO
Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said NATO is ready to defend
alliance member Turkey amid artillery exchanges along its tense
southeastern border with Syria.
(AP, 10/9/12)
2012 Oct 10, Turkey's military
chief vowed day to respond with more force to any further shelling
from Syria, keeping up the pressure on its southern neighbor a day
after NATO said it stood ready to defend Turkey.
(AP, 10/10/12)
2012 Oct 10, A Syrian Air A320
from Moscow that was forced to land in Ankara. Turkish state-run
television TRT reported the next day that the passenger plane was
carrying military communications equipment. Damascus branded the
incident piracy amid growing tensions between the two countries. The
plane's 37 passengers and crew were allowed to continue to Damascus
after several hours, without the cargo.
(AP, 10/11/12)
2012 Oct 13, Syria's state-run
news agency SANA says Syria has decided to ban Turkish Airlines
flights from Syrian airspace.
(AP, 10/13/12)
2012 Oct 14, Turkish Foreign
Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced that Turkey is barring Syrian
civilian flights from Turkey's airspace, a day after Syria issued
such a ban for Turkish commercial aircraft.
(AP, 10/14/12)
2012 Oct 18, Turkey's state-run
news said security forces have killed 12 Kurdish rebels in clashes
in the southeast, raising the two-day death toll in the fighting to
18.
(AP, 10/18/12)
2012 Oct 20, Turkey's state-run
agency said clashes between Turkish security forces and Kurdish
rebels in Hakkari province, have left nine people dead.
(AP, 10/20/12)
2012 Oct 22, The New York-based
Committee to Protect Journalists said in a report that 76
journalists are in prison in Turkey and at least 61 of them are held
because for "their published work or newsgathering activities."
(AP, 10/22/12)
2012 Oct 29, In Turkey police
used tear gas and water cannons to try to break up a demonstration
by tens of thousands of pro-secular protesters, but the march to
mark the founding of the Turkish republic went on in defiance of a
government ban.
(AP, 10/29/12)
2012 Nov 6, A Turkish court
opened a trial in absentia of four former Israeli military
commanders in the killing of nine people aboard a Turkish aid ship
that tried to break a Gaza blockade in 2010.
(AP, 11/6/12)
2012 Nov 6, Turkey's state-run
news agency reported that seven Syrian generals have defected to
Turkey.
(AP, 11/6/12)
2012 Nov 9, Turkey's state-run
agency said a group of Syrian soldiers, including two generals and
11 colonels, have fled to Turkey with their families.
(AP, 11/9/12)
2012 Nov 9, In Turkey the
office for the governor for Hakkari province said as many as 42
Kurdish rebels have been killed in the past three days in operations
that were backed by airpower.
(AP, 11/10/12)
2012 Nov 10, A Turkish military
helicopter carrying soldiers on a mission against Kurdish rebels
crashed because of bad weather, killing all 17 troops onboard.
(AP, 11/10/12)
2012 Nov 12, A Syrian fighter
jet bombed a rebel-held area near the Turkish border, killing at
least six people and wounding a dozen others. One rocket-propelled
grenade landed in Turkey. A Syrian helicopter bombed rebel positions
in an area further south of Ras al-Ayn and the rebels could be heard
responding with machine guns.
(AP, 11/12/12)
2012 Nov 15, Turkey endorsed
the newly formed Syrian rebel coalition as the legitimate leader of
Syria.
(SFC, 11/16/12, p.A2)
2012 Nov 16, A Syrian general
and a dozen other officers defected with their families to Turkey.
(Reuters, 11/17/12)
2012 Nov 17, Cameraman Cuneyt
Unal, captured while covering fighting in the city of Aleppo, was
released returned to Turkey. Unal and reporter Bashar Fahmi, a
Jordanian citizen of Palestinian origin, had been missing since
August. Both were working for the US-based Alhurra TV and were
believed to have been captured by Syrian government forces.
(AP, 11/17/12)
2012 Nov 21, Turkey's
government requested the deployment of NATO's Patriot surface-to-air
missiles to bolster its defenses along its border with Syria.
(AP, 11/21/12)
2012 Dec 4, Off the coast of
Istanbul a cargo ship sank in a severe storm in the Black Sea and a
Turkish rescue boat searching for its missing crew hit nearby rocks
and also went down. At least three people were killed and 10 others
were missing in the two sinkings.
(AP, 12/4/12)
2012 Dec 6, NATO moved forward
with its plan to place Patriot missiles and troops along Syria's
border with Turkey to protect against potential attacks.
(AP, 12/6/12)
2012 Dec 7, The Dutch
government approved a NATO request to send two batteries of Patriot
missile defense systems to Turkey, following in Germany's footsteps.
(AP, 12/7/12)
2012 Dec 14, The Pentagon said
the US will send two batteries of Patriot missiles and 400 troops to
Turkey as part of a NATO force meant to protect Turkish territory
from potential Syrian missile attack.
(AP, 12/14/12)
2012 Dec 14, A boat capsized
early today off the northeastern island of Lesvos, near the Turkish
coast. Greek coast guard officials found the bodies of 18 Asian
people who were trying to cross illegally into Greece.
(AP, 12/15/12)
2012 Dec 28, Officials at
Turkey's Foreign Ministry said two Syrian air force generals have
defected and crossed the border.
(AP, 12/28/12)
2012 Dec, In Turkey Huda-Par
(Party of Allah) was launched on a platform of Islamic values and
greater rights for the country’s 14 million Sunni Kurds.
(Econ, 11/23/13, p.55)
2012 State-run Turkish Radio
and Television (TRT) withdrew from Eurovision after the contest,
citing low ratings and dissatisfaction with the voting rules.
(AFP, 8/4/18)
2013 Jan 7, In northern Turkey
a gas leak inside a coal mine killed five workers and injured one.
Two other miners are missing and feared dead in Zonguldak province.
(AP, 1/7/13)
2013 Jan 7, The Dutch military
shipped Patriot missiles to Turkey, a fellow NATO member, after the
alliance agreed in December to deploy the anti-missile systems along
Turkey's southern border with Syria. Fighting in Syria continued
unabated.
(AP, 1/7/13)
2013 Jan 14, Turkish jets
struck suspected Kurdish rebel targets in a cross-border raid in
northern Iraq, even as Turkey prepared to start peace talks with the
rebels' imprisoned leader.
(AP, 1/15/13)
2013 Jan 21, Turkey's state-run
news agency said a court has charged 9 lawyers, including prominent
human rights defenders, with membership in an outlawed leftist
militant group and ordered them arrested pending trial.
(AP, 1/21/13)
2013 Jan 21, In Turkey Sarai
Sierra (33) went missing, when she was supposed to return to New
York City but was not on her flight back home. She had arrived in
Istanbul on Jan 7. Her body was discovered Feb 2 evening near the
remnants of ancient city walls. She had suffered a fatal blow to the
head. On March 17 a suspect, identified only as Ziya T, was caught
in Syria in a joint operation by Syrian rebels and Turkish
officials.
(AP, 1/29/13)(AP, 2/3/13)(AP, 3/18/13)
2013 Feb 1, In Turkey a
suspected suicide bomber detonated an explosive device at the
entrance of the US Embassy in Ankara, killing himself and a guard.
(AP, 2/1/13)
2013 Feb 11, In Turkey a car
bomb exploded at the Bab al-Hawa frontier post along Syria's border,
killing 14 people. A Syrian opposition faction later accused the
Syrian government of the bombing, saying it narrowly missed 13
leaders of the group. On March 11 Turkey’s police said five suspects
have been detained.
(AP, 2/11/13)(SFC, 2/12/13, p.A2)(AP, 3/11/13)
2013 Feb 25, In Turkey German
Chancellor Angela Merkel held talks with Turkish leaders amid
growing frustration in Turkey over its slow-moving EU membership and
a perceived reluctance by European nations to crackdown on Turkish
militants operating in their nations.
(AP, 2/25/13)
2013 Feb 28, A Turkish news
agency said police have detained 11 people suspected of al-Qaida
links and seized 25 kg (55 pounds) of plastic explosives. Police
reportedly found charts and photographs of the US Consulate, a
synagogue and a church in Istanbul.
(AP, 2/28/13)
2013 Mar 13, Kurdish rebels
based in northern Iraq freed eight captured Turkish soldiers and
officials as part of peace efforts between Turkey and the rebel
group aimed at ending a decades-long conflict.
(AP, 3/13/13)
2013 Mar 19, In Turkey
assailants fired a rocket at PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan's party
headquarters and hurled two hand-grenades at the Justice Ministry's
parking lot, wounding one person. The outlawed Revolutionary
People's Liberation Party-Front, or DHKP-C, soon said it carried out
the attacks in retaliation for a recent police crackdown on its
members.
(AP, 3/20/13)
2013 Mar 19, In Turkey Mohamed
Mahmoud (27), an Islamic extremist wanted by Germany for allegedly
calling for terrorist attacks, was arrested in Hatay province.
Berlin soon began negotiating his extradition.
(AP, 3/22/13)
2013 Mar 21, Jailed Kurdish
rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan called for an immediate cease-fire and
for thousands of his fighters to withdraw from Turkish territory, a
major step toward ending one of the world's bloodiest insurgencies.
(AP, 3/21/13)
2013 Mar 22, Israel and Turkey
agreed to restore full diplomatic relations after PM Benjamin
Netanyahu apologized in a phone call for a deadly naval raid against
a Gaza-bound international flotilla in a dramatic turnaround partly
brokered by President Barack Obama.
(AP, 3/22/13)
2013 Apr 8, Turkish police used
water cannons, tear gas and pepper spray to disperse thousands of
people protesting outside a court house in support of 275 people who
are on trial for allegedly plotting to overthrow Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government.
(AP, 4/8/13)
2013 Apr 15, A Turkish court
convicted Fazil Say (43), a top pianist and composer, of denigrating
religion through his comments on Twitter. He was given a 10-month
suspended prison sentence.
(SFC, 4/16/13, p.A2)(Econ, 4/20/13, p.58)
2013 Apr 21, In eastern
Afghanistan a Turkish civilian helicopter was forced to make an
emergency landing in a Taliban-controlled area of Logar province.
Insurgents took all 11 people aboard the aircraft hostage, including
8 Turks, one Afghan translator and 2 foreign pilots. Four of the
Turks were freed on May 12.
(AP, 4/22/13)(AP, 5/13/13)
2013 Apr 25, A pro-Kurdish news
agency said Kurdish rebels will start withdrawing thousands of
guerrilla fighters from Turkey on May 8 and retreat across the
border to northern Iraq, in an important milestone toward ending the
nearly three-decade old insurgency that has cost tens of thousands
of lives.
(AP, 4/25/13)
2013 May 9, Iraq rejected a key
element of an accord to bring an end to a long Kurdish uprising in
Turkey — offering refuge to rebel fighters in country's north.
(AP, 5/9/13)
2013 May 11, In Turkey 2 car
bomb explosions in a town across the border from Syria killed 51
people in Reyhanli, Hatay province, a main hub for Syrian refugees.
13 Turkish citizens, believed to have links to the Syrian
intelligence agency, were soon detained.
(AP, 5/11/13)(AP, 5/12/13)(AP, 5/14/13)
2013 May 14, The first Kurdish
fighters crossed from Turkey into northern Iraq as part of a peace
deal to end a long uprising despite Iraqi objections to the
transfer. The Iraqi Cabinet reiterated its rejection of the deal and
of the presence of PKK fighters.
(AP, 5/14/13)
2013 May 17, In Turkey a
container of fuel being smuggled into the country from Syria
exploded, killing 10 people in Tunisma village, Hatay province.
(AP, 5/17/13)
2013 May 20, In Turkey a hot
air balloon collided with another balloon mid-air during a
sightseeing tour in the Cappadocia region and crashed to the ground,
killing two Brazilian tourists and injuring 23 other people on
board.
(AP, 5/20/13)
2013 May 24, Turkey's
parliament passed legislation that would ban all alcohol advertising
and tighten restrictions on the sale of such beverages.
(AP, 5/24/13)
2013 May 25, In Turkey some 100
people kissed for several minutes at a subway stop in Ankara after
subway officials earlier in the week made an announcement asking
passengers "to act in accordance with moral rules" after security
cameras spotted a couple kissing.
(AP, 5/26/13)
2013 May 25, Syria's fractured
political opposition met for a third day in Istanbul, Turkey, to
elect new leaders, try to widen its base and forge a unified
position ahead of possible peace talks with the regime.
(AP, 5/25/13)
2013 May 31, In Turkey riot
police used tear gas and pressurized water in a dawn raid to rout a
peaceful demonstration by hundreds of people staging a sit-in to
prevent the uprooting of trees at Istanbul’s Gezi Park. Some 5,000
people gathered in Ankara in solidarity with those in Istanbul. In
Izmir clashes broke out as thousands also marched in solidarity. The
government planned to build a replica of ottoman-era army barracks
and a mall atop the park.
(AP, 5/31/13)(SFC, 6/1/13, p.A3)(SSFC, 6/9/13,
p.A4)
2013 Jun 1, In Turkey Ethem
Sarisuluk (26) was shot in the head during protests in Ankara. He
was kept alive but later declared brain-dead. A court later released
his alleged killer on the grounds of self-defence.
(Econ, 6/29/13, p.49)(http://tinyurl.com/kztouxn)
2013 Jun 3, Turkey's Pres.
Abdullah Gul defended the right of citizens to protest, in
contrast to the dismissive stance of PM Erdogan, as police used tear
gas for a fourth day in an attempt to disperse demonstrations that
grew out of a sit-in to prevent the uprooting of trees at Istanbul's
main square. A 20-year-old man died in a hospital in Istanbul from
injuries after a vehicle slammed into a crowd of protesters a day
earlier. By now most of Turkey’s 81 provinces had seen protests.
(AP, 6/3/13)(Econ, 6/8/13, p.25)
2013 Jun 4, Turkey's deputy
prime minister Bulent Arinc offered an apology for a violent
crackdown on an environmental protest, in a bid to appease days of
anti-government rallies across the country as hundreds of riot
police deployed around the prime minister's office in Ankara.
(AP, 6/4/13)
2013 Jun 5, Turkish activists
presented a list of demands they said could end days of
anti-government demonstrations, as police detained 25 people they
accused of using social media to stoke the outpouring of anger. A
protester was killed in Antakya from an apparent blow to the head.
(AP, 6/5/13)
2013 Jun 6, In southern Turkey
a police officer died after falling into an underpass while trying
to subdue a protest, bringing the death toll in a week of protests
to three.
(AP, 6/6/13)
2013 Jun 7, Turkey's PM Erdogan
took a combative stance on his return from a visit to Tunisia,
telling supporters who thronged to greet him that the protests that
have swept the country must come to an end.
(AP, 6/7/13)
2013 Jun 8, In Turkey police in
Ankara fired tear gas and used water cannons to disperse thousands
of people protesting near government buildings. Pro- and
anti-government protesters also clashed in Adana.
(AP, 6/9/13)
2013 Jun 11, In Turkey hundreds
of riot police overran improvised barricades at Istanbul's Taksim
Square, firing tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannon in running
battles with protesters who have been occupying the area for more
than a week. The raid came on the 12th day of nationwide protests.
The Turkish Human Rights Foundation raised the number of deaths in
more than a week of protests to four.
(AP, 6/11/13)
2013 Jun 12, In Turkey riot
police clashed in the early hours with demonstrators occupying
Istanbul’s Taksim Square. The government proposed a referendum on
the development project that has triggered the protests. Thousands
of black-robed Turkish lawyers stormed out of their courthouses,
shouting about the rough treatment police dished out to their
colleagues amid Turkey's biggest anti-government protests in years.
(SFC, 6/12/13, p.A3)(AP, 6/12/13)(SFC, 6/13/13,
p.A5)
2013 Jun 13, Turkey’s PM
Erdogan declared "lawbreakers" will be removed from Istanbul's
Taksim Square.” Ethem Sarisuluk (26), who had been on life support
for days, was pronounced dead. He was believed to have been hit in
the head by a tear gas canister on June 1 during protests in Ankara.
This raised the death toll to 5 from the two-week standoff.
(AP, 6/13/13)
2013 Jun 14, Turkey’s state
news reported that as many as 73 Syrian military officers —
including seven generals and 20 colonels — have crossed the border
into Turkey with their families "seeking refuge."
(AP, 6/14/13)
2013 Jun 15, In Turkey
protesters at Istanbul's Gezi Park vowed to press on with their
2-week sit-in, defying government appeals and a warning from Erdogan
for an end to the standoff. Tens of thousands of supporters of PM
Recep Tayyip Erdogan rallied in Sincan, a suburb of Ankara. In the
evening riot police cleared Gezi Park and Taksim Square of thousands
of peaceful protesters in a swift but muscular operation.
(AP, 6/15/13)(AP, 6/16/13)
2013 Jun 16, In Turkey
thousands of defiant protesters attempting to converge on central
Istanbul's Taksim Square were kept away by police firing repeated
rounds of tear gas, as the government maintained a hard line against
rekindled demonstrations. Protesters vowed the group would retake
Gezi Park.
(AP, 6/16/13)
2013 Jun 17, In Turkey labor
unions and political foes of PM Recep Erdogan rallied by the
thousands across the country, hoping to capitalize on weeks of
initially small-scale protest to register broader discontent. The
call to walk off the job had limited fallout beyond the
demonstrations.
(AP, 6/17/13)
2013 Jun 17, In Turkey Erdem
Gunduz, a choreographer, began a silent and motionless stand in
Taksim Square to protest police use of tear gas and water cannon to
clear both the square and Gezi Park of thousands of demonstrators.
(Econ, 6/22/13, p.56)(http://tinyurl.com/kh3yqve)
2013 Jun 18, Turkey’s PM Recep
Tayyip Erdogan defended the nation's police and vowed to increase
their powers to deal with unrest. News reports said police were
carrying out raids and detaining people suspected of involvement in
violence against police. 4 protesters and one police officer have
been killed and Turkey's doctors association said an investigation
was underway into the death of a fifth protester who was exposed to
tear gas.
(AP, 6/18/13)
2013 Jun 22, Turkish police
used water cannon to disperse thousands gathered in Istanbul's
Taksim Square to observe a memorial for four people killed during
recent anti-government protests. The officers later fired tear gas
and rubber bullets, and in some cases beat people with batons, to
scatter demonstrators who regrouped in side streets.
(AP, 6/22/13)
2013 Jun 25, Turkish police
detained at least 20 people allegedly involved in violent protests,
as the country's prime minister continued to lash out at protesters,
and BBC journalist Selin Girit, he claimed were part of a conspiracy
to harm Turkey.
(AP, 6/25/13)(SFC, 6/26/13, p.A2)
2013 Jun 28, Turkish security
forces killed one person and wounded ten when they fired on a group
protesting against the construction of a new gendarmerie outpost in
Kayacik village, Diyarbakir province.
(Reuters, 6/29/13)
2013 Jun 29, In Turkey
thousands of protesters marched to Istanbul's Taksim Square chanting
slogans against the government and police after security forces
killed a Kurdish demonstrator in the southeast.
(Reuters, 6/29/13)
2013 Jun 30, In Turkey police
fired teargas and water cannon to disperse thousands of protesters
in Diyarbakir, the main city in Turkey's Kurdish-dominated
southeast, during demonstrations across the country to pressure the
government to carry out reforms.
(Reuters, 6/30/13)
2013 Jul 4, Syrian opposition
figures met in Turkey to elect a new leadership as President Bashar
Assad claims his opponents have failed to overthrow his regime.
(AP, 7/4/13)
2013 Jul 6, Turkish police
fired teargas and water cannon to disperse hundreds of protesters in
an Istanbul square as they gathered to enter Gezi Park, the center
of protests against PM Tayyip Erdogan last month.
(Reuters, 7/6/13)
2013 Jul 6, In Turkey Ahmad
al-Jarba, a former Syrian political prisoner with close links to
Saudi Arabia, was picked to lead Syria's main Western-backed
opposition group, filling a post long vacant due to divisions among
President Bashar Assad's opponents.
(AP, 7/6/13)
2013 Jul 8, Turkey reopened
Istanbul’s Gezi Park at the heart of last month's demonstrations
against PM Tayyip Erdogan. Protest leaders called a rally there for
this evening in defiance of the city governor. Hours later police
forced people out due to concerns about a planned protest rally.
Clashes ensued in nearby streets before police allowed people back
into the park around midnight.
(AP, 7/8/13)(Reuters, 7/9/13)
2013 Jul 9, In Turkey Gezi Park
in Istanbul, at the center of protests against PM Tayyip Erdogan's
government, reopened after a night of clashes between police and
protesters, but the mood among the small groups of visitors was
calm.
(Reuters, 7/9/13)
2013 Jul 13, Turkey’s state-run
Anadolu news agency said the parliament has amended an internal
armed forces’ regulation that further strips the military of its
political influence.
(SSFC, 7/14/13, p.A5)
2013 Jul 13, Turkish police
fired water cannon and tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters
who gathered to march to Gezi Park, which has been at the heart of
fierce unrest against PM Erdogan's rule.
(Reuters, 7/13/13)
2013 Jul 16, Turkish police
arrested about 30 people in Istanbul after briefly detaining more
than 1,000 in a widening crackdown after weeks of violent
anti-government protests.
(Reuters, 7/16/13)
2013 Jul 16, A man and a
15-year-old boy were killed by stray bullets shot from Syria into a
Turkish border town. Turkish troops returned fire, in the most
serious spillover of violence in weeks.
(Reuters, 7/17/13)
2013 Jul 17, The Turkish
military said a Syrian Kurdish party with links to Kurdish militants
in Turkey has seized control of a Syrian border town after days of
clashes with Islamist fighters.
(Reuters, 7/18/13)
2013 Jul 19, In Turkey a
landslide triggered by heavy rains killed at least five people near
Turkey's border with Syria.
(AP, 7/19/13)
2013 Jul 20, In Turkey police
fired water cannon and tear gas in downtown Istanbul to disperse
anti-government demonstrators after barring them from entering a
park where they had hoped to celebrate the wedding of a couple who
met during last month's widespread protests.
(AP, 7/20/13)
2013 Jul 23, A Turkish border
patrol killed one of eight civilians trying to cross illegally from
Turkey into Syria. The group had been trying to cross from Hatay
province into northwestern Syria and had fired on the Turkish patrol
after the troops had whistled a warning.
(Reuters, 7/23/13)
2013 Jul 27, In Somalia a
Turkish security official and a Somali student were killed in a
terrorist attack on the Turkish consulate and relief mission. Three
suicide bombers also died in the attack in Mogadishu.
(AP, 7/28/13)
2013 Jul 30, Turkish soldiers
shot into the air and fired tear gas to prevent hundreds of people,
many of them believed to be smugglers, from trying to cross into
Turkey from Syria.
(Reuters, 7/30/13)
2013 Aug 3, Turkish police
fired teargas and water cannon to disperse small groups of
anti-government protesters in central Istanbul.
(Reuters, 8/3/13)
2013 Aug 3, A Turkish man,
Ramazan Zeybel (45) was killed by a stray bullet fired from Syria
into the Turkish town of Ceylanpinar.
(Reuters, 8/3/13)
2013 Aug 5, Turkey's former
military chief, retired Gen. Ilker Basbug, was convicted of trying
to overthrow the government in 2002 and sentenced to life in prison.
18 other defendants were sentenced to life in prison, including 10
retired military officers, while 60 other defendants received
sentences ranging from a year to 47 years.
(AP, 8/5/13)(Econ, 8/10/13, p.46)
2013 Aug 6, Eighteen Turkish
soldiers were injured when a group of several thousand alleged
smugglers clashed with the army as they tried to cross into Turkey
from Syria.
(Reuters, 8/6/13)
2013 Aug 9, In Lebanon gunmen
abducted a Turkish Airlines pilot and his assistant in Beirut,
forcing them from a bus as it took them from the airport in the
early hours of the morning. A group claimed responsibility for the
abduction in the name of nine Lebanese Shi'ite Muslims kidnapped
last year in Azaz near the Turkish-Syrian border.
(Reuters, 8/9/13)
2013 Aug 21, In Iraq two bomb
attacks halted the flow of crude oil through a pipeline running from
the Kirkuk oil fields to the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan in Turkey,
causing severe damage.
(Reuters, 8/21/13)
2013 Aug 26, In Turkey Western
powers meeting in Istanbul told the Syrian opposition to expect a
strike against President Bashar al-Assad's forces within days.
(Reuters, 8/27/13)
2013 Sep 2, The first of more
than 100 senior Turkish army officers began testifying in court over
their alleged role in ousting Turkey's first Islamist-led government
in 1997.
(Reuters, 9/2/13)
2013 Sep 6, Turkish PM Tayyip
Erdogan said almost all leaders at the G20 summit in St. Petersburg
accepted the need for an operation to be carried out against Syria
following a chemical weapons attack there last month.
(Reuters, 9/6/13)
2013 Sep 9, Kurdish rebels
announced they are suspending their withdrawal from Turkey into
bases in northern Iraq over what they say is the Turkish
government's failure to advance peace talks aimed at ending a nearly
30-year-old conflict.
(AP, 9/9/13)
2013 Sep 9, In central Turkey
Japanese tourist Mai Kurkiharac (22) was stabbed to death and her
friend seriously wounded in an attack in Cappadocia.
(Reuters, 9/10/13)
2013 Sep 10, Turkish police
fired tear gas and plastic bullets at thousands of people who
gathered in Istanbul to protest the death of a 22-year-old
demonstrator. Ahmet Atakan died in hospital after being hit in the
head by a tear gas canister during clashes between police and around
150 protesters in the southeastern city of Antakya in Hatay
province.
(AFP, 9/10/13)
2013 Sep 16, Turkish warplanes
shot down a Syrian helicopter after it crossed into Turkish
airspace. Syria's army acknowledged the helicopter had strayed into
Turkish airspace for a short time while monitoring "terrorists"
moving across the border into Syria, but said it was an accident and
that the aircraft was on its way back when it was shot down.
(Reuters, 9/16/13)
2013 Sep 20, Turkish
authorities shot and killed one suspect and wounded another after a
rocket attack on a police headquarters in Ankara. The suspects were
believed to be members of the far-left Revolutionary People's
Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C).
(AP, 9/21/13)
2013 Sep 25, In Turkey 18
members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) escaped
overnight from prison in the southeast by digging a 70-meter-long
tunnel. All but one were caught by the next day.
(Reuters, 9/25/13)(Reuters, 9/26/13)
2013 Sep 30, Turkish PM Tayyip
Erdogan announced long-anticipated reforms seen as designed to
salvage a fragile peace process with Kurdish insurgents, including
changes to the electoral system and increasing language rights.
(Reuters, 9/30/13)
2013 Sep 30, Turkish PM Recep
Tayyip Erdogan announced that his government would lift a ban on
wearing headscarves in public institutions as part of reforms to
boost rights.
(AFP, 9/30/13)
2013 Oct 8, Turkey lifted a
90-year-old ban on Islamic headscarves in the civil service as part
of wide-ranging reforms driven by the Islamic-rooted government.
(AFP, 10/8/13)(SFC, 10/9/13, p.A2)
2013 Oct 9, Turkey’s Supreme
Court upheld the convictions of 237 military officers accused of
plotting to overthrow the government in 2003.
(SFC, 10/10/13, p.A4)
2013 Oct 15, Turkey for the
first time fired four artillery rounds against a position near the
town of Azaz, Syria, held by the Islamic State of Iraq and the
Levant (ISIL)," an Al-Qaeda affiliated group, in retaliation for a
mortar round that fell on Turkish territory.
(AP, 10/17/13)
2013 Oct 28, Turkish police
fired water cannon and teargas to break up a protest by around 2,000
people outside an Ankara court over the handling of the trial of a
policeman accused of killing a demonstrator earlier this year.
Officer Ahmet Sahbaz is accused of killing Ethem Sarisuluk, shot
dead June 1 during a wave of nationwide anti-government
demonstrations.
(Reuters, 10/28/13)
2013 Oct 29, Turkey opened its
Marmaray tunnel, the world's first underwater rail link connecting
Asia and Europe. The 8.5 mile tunnel allowed PM Tayyip Erdogan to
realize a project dreamed up by Ottoman sultans more than a century
ago.
(Reuters, 10/29/13)(SFC, 10/30/13, p.A3)
2013 Nov 5, The European Union
resumed membership talks with Turkey. They were stalled for 3½ years
mainly because of the country's ongoing dispute with Cyprus.
(AP, 11/5/13)
2013 Nov 7, Turkish riot police
fired tear gas to disperse Kurdish protesters demonstrating against
government plans to build a wall along part of the border with
Syria.
(AP, 11/7/13)
2013 Nov 10, Turkey and Iraq
pledged greater cooperation on trade and counter-terrorism while
admitting to disagreements over Syria's war during a landmark visit
to Baghdad by the Turkish foreign minister.
(AFP, 11/10/13)
2013 Nov 10, The main
Western-backed Syrian opposition began the 2nd day of a two-day
meeting in Istanbul to decide whether they will attend a proposed
peace conference the US and Russia are trying to convene in Geneva
by the end of this year.
(AP, 11/10/13)
2013 Nov 13, Turkey's
parliament lifted a ban on women lawmakers wearing trousers in the
assembly, in a further liberalization of dress rules following a
landmark decision to allow female deputies to wear the Islamic
headscarf.
(Reuters, 11/14/13)
2013 Nov 16, Masoud Barzani,
the president of Iraqi Kurdistan, called on Turkey's Kurds to back a
flagging peace process with Ankara, making his first visit to
southeastern Turkey in two decades in a show of support for PM
Tayyip Erdogan.
(Reuters, 11/16/13)
2013 Nov 23, Egypt said it was
expelling Turkey's ambassador and accused Ankara of backing
organizations bent on spreading instability - an apparent reference
to the Muslim Brotherhood of ousted Egyptian president Mohamed
Mursi.
(Reuters, 11/23/13)
2013 Nov 27, Turkey and Iraqi
Kurdistan signed a package of landmark contracts that will see the
semi-autonomous region's oil and gas exported via pipelines through
Turkey.
(Reuters, 11/29/13)
2013 Dec 2, Turkey said it
stood by a bilateral oil deal with Iraq's Kurdistan region that
bypassed central government but sought to appease Baghdad by drawing
it into the arrangement.
(Reuters, 12/2/13)
2013 Dec 6, In southeastern
Turkey two Kurdish protesters, aged 34 and 32, were shot dead in a
violent confrontation with police. The clashes were sparked by
claims that Kurdish rebel cemeteries had been destroyed.
(AFP, 12/7/13)
2013 Dec 9, Kurdish rebels
freed four Turkish soldiers abducted in the southeast of the country
in the worst flareup of violence since a fragile ceasefire nine
months ago.
(AFP, 12/9/13)
2013 Dec 10, Officials in
Istanbul, Turkey, said they plan to introduce floating car parks to
try to resolve the chronic traffic problems. They will use
out-of-service ferries anchored in the Bosphorus to create
multi-storey lots near traffic hotspots.
(AFP, 12/10/13)
2013 Dec 16, Turkey’s Hurriyet
Daily News reported that Turkey has shipped 47 tons of weapons to
Syrian rebels since June despite repeated government denials.
(AFP, 12/16/13)
2013 Dec 16, Turkey signed a
long-awaited deal with the European Union to send back people who
enter the bloc illegally from its territory in exchange for talks on
visa-free travel for its citizens.
(AFP, 12/16/13)
2013 Dec 17, Turkish police
detained the sons of three cabinet ministers and several well-known
businessmen as part of investigations into alleged corruption.
Police seized shoeboxes stashed with $4.5 million in cash at the
home of Suleyman Aslan, a state-owned bank's chief executive. Police
arrested some 50 people altogether on suspicion of tender rigging,
covert gold transfers to Iran and bribery.
(Reuters, 12/17/13)(AP, 12/18/13)(Econ, 1/4/14,
p.37)
2013 Dec 18, Turkey's PM Tayyip
Erdogan denounced a corruption crackdown on his allies months ahead
of elections as a "dirty operation" to smear his administration and
undermine the country's progress.
(Reuters, 12/18/13)
2013 Dec 19, In Turkey
Istanbul's most senior police official was dismissed, days after
police launched raids that detained dozens of people.
(AP, 12/19/13)
2013 Dec 20, Turkey’s PM Tayyip
Erdogan pressed a widening purge of the police command, tackling the
biggest challenge of his rule from what he describes as a
foreign-backed conspiracy to undermine him and create a state within
a state.
(Reuters, 12/20/13)
2013 Dec 21, Turkey’s PM Tayyip
Erdogan denounced "international groups" and "dark alliances" for
entangling Turkey in a corruption scandal that has exposed deep
rifts between him and Fethullah Gulen, a US-based Muslim cleric who
helped him rise to power.
(Reuters, 12/21/13)
2013 Dec 22, Turkish media
reported that authorities have removed another 25 police chiefs from
their posts, widening a crackdown on the force since it launched a
corruption investigation that PM Tayyip Erdogan has called a "dirty
operation" against his rule. Turkey's interior minister said he has
offered his resignation to PM Erdogan over a corruption scandal that
has resulted in his son's arrest. Police in Istanbul clashed with
protesters denouncing Erdogan's government over a corruption and
bribery scandal targeting his allies.
(Reuters, 12/22/13)(AP, 12/22/13)
2013 Dec 24, Turkey’s President
Abdullah Gul sought to salve furor over a high-level corruption case
by assuring the public there would be no cover-up and that the
courts were free to investigate.
(Reuters, 12/24/13)
2013 Dec 25, In Turkey three
Cabinet ministers resigned, days after their sons were taken into
custody in a sweeping corruption and bribery scandal that has
targeted PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan's allies in one of the worst
political crises of his more than 10 years in power.
(AP, 12/25/13)
2013 Dec 26, A Turkish
prosecutor said he had been prevented from expanding a corruption
investigation that has touched the heart of the government, alleging
pressure on the judiciary.
(AFP, 12/26/13)
2013 Dec 27, In Turkey three
lawmakers, including a former minister, resigned from the ruling
Justice and Development Party (AKP). A Turkish court blocked a
government attempt to force police to disclose investigations to
their superiors.
(AFP, 12/27/13)(Reuters, 12/27/13)
2013 Dec 31, In Turkey another
lawmaker from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP)
announced his resignation amid a high-level bribery and corruption
probe. Hasan Hami Yildirim had criticised the government forfor
exerting pressure on the judiciary over the corruption.
(AFP, 12/31/13)
2013 Istanbul’s celebrated
Haydarpasa railway station stopped seeing train traffic after being
shut for restoration work and a major upgrade of Turkey's railway
network.
(AFP, 2/15/18)
2014 Jan 3, A Turkish court
ordered the release from jail of two Kurdish lawmakers being tried
for links to militants in a potential boost to a fragile peace
process. Turkish prosecutors said they have charged 36 protesters
with terrorism over mass anti-government demonstrations that swept
the country last year.
(Reuters, 1/3/14)(AFP, 1/3/14)
2014 Jan 4, A Turkish court
ordered the release from jail of three Kurdish lawmakers, in
addition to two freed a day earlier.
(Reuters, 1/4/14)
2014 Jan 7, Turkish PM Tayyip
Erdogan's government purged hundreds of police officers overnight,
as part of a crackdown on a rival he accuses of trying to usurp
state power by tarring him with a specious corruption investigation.
Despite the dismissals police and prosecutors continued arrests,
targeting the state railway company and a western port. Police
detained some 25 people in the city of Izmir for questioning over a
new bribery and fraud investigation.
(Reuters, 1/7/14)(AP, 1/8/14)
2014 Jan 7, Turkey’s Anadolu
state news said military prosecutors have dropped a case against
five officers who were being investigated for negligence in the
military air strike on Dec 11, 2011, that killed 34 smugglers
mistaken for Kurdish rebels, saying there was no ground for any
legal action.
(AP, 1/7/14)
2014 Jan 8, Turkey's deputy
police chief was sacked overnight, the most senior commander yet
targeted in a purge of a force heavily influenced by cleric
Fethullah Gulen PM Tayyip Erdogan accuses of plotting to seize the
levers of state power. The police chief of Izmir was among 16 senior
police officials reassigned to new posts.
(Reuters, 1/8/14)(AP, 1/8/14)
2014 Jan 10, Turkey's top
judicial body hit back at government's plans to curb its powers,
adding fuel to a bitter row over a vast corruption probe engulfing
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
(AFP, 1/10/14)
2014 Jan 11, Turkish
politicians threw punches and water bottles during a debate about
government control over the appointment of judges and prosecutors.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Ankara in
protest against PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government.
(Reuters, 1/11/14)(AFP, 1/11/14)
2014 Jan 14, Turkish PM Recep
Tayyip Erdogan said he was ready to withdraw a contentious bill
aimed at curbing the powers of the judiciary as he battled to
contain the worst crisis of his 11 years in office.
(AFP, 1/14/14)
2014 Jan 14, Turkish
anti-terrorism police carried out raids in six cities, detaining at
least five people with alleged links to al-Qaida.
(AP, 1/14/14)
2014 Jan 15, Turkey's embattled
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared open war on what he
labelled an "empire of fear" created by an Islamic rival at the
heart of a deepening political crisis.
(AFP, 1/15/14)
2014 Jan 17, Turkish
authorities seized the assets of the main opposition candidate for
the post of Istanbul mayor in the run-up to local polls in March.
Turkey's Savings Deposit Insurance Fund announced the decision after
Mustafa Sarigul and nine other people failed to repay a loan worth
$3.5 million (2.6 million euros) dating back to 1998.
(AFP, 1/18/14)
2014 Jan 18, In Turkey riot
police in Istanbul used water canons against hundreds of people
protesting a government plan to expand controls over the public’s
use of the Internet.
(SSFC, 1/19/14, p.A6)
2014 Jan 18, State media said
Turkey has extended a purge of official bodies to the banking and
telecoms regulators and state TV, firing dozens of executives in
moves that appear to broaden PM Tayyip Erdogan's backlash against a
corruption investigation.
(Reuters, 1/18/14)
2014 Jan 23, In central Turkey
at least 21 people were killed when a bus tipped over on an icy
road.
(AFP, 1/23/14)
2014 Jan 28, Turkey's central
bank hiked all of its key interest rates in dramatic fashion at an
emergency midnight policy meeting, ignoring opposition from PM
Tayyip Erdogan as it battles to defend the country's crumbling lira
currency. The key rate rose from 4.5% to 10%.
(Reuters, 1/28/14)(Econ, 2/1/14, p.59)
2014 Jan 29, Turkish PM Tayyip
Erdogan arrived in Iran to bolster trade and energy relations.
(Reuters, 1/29/14)
2014 Jan 30, In Turkey hundreds
of police were transferred from their posts in Ankara and Izmir, and
dozens more were affected in Istanbul and the southeastern city of
Gaziantep. Altogether, more than 5,000 police officers have been
dismissed or transferred since the graft inquiry became public on
December 17 with the arrest of businessmen close to PM Tayyip
Erdogan and three cabinet ministers' sons.
(Reuters, 1/31/14)
2014 Feb 3, Haaretz newspaper
said Israel has offered Turkey $20 million in compensation to the
families of those killed and wounded in its botched 2010 raid on a
Gaza-bound flotilla.
(AFP, 2/3/14)
2014 Feb 5, Turkey's parliament
approved internet controls enabling web pages to be blocked within
hours in what the opposition decried as part of a government bid to
stifle a corruption scandal.
(Reuters, 2/6/14)
2014 Feb 7, Turkish newspaper
Today's Zaman said one of its journalists, Mahir Zeynalov (27) from
Azerbaijan, has been ordered to leave the country for criticizing PM
Tayyip Erdogan on Twitter.
(Reuters, 2/7/14)
2014 Feb 15, Turkey's
parliament approved a law boosting government control over the
appointment of judges and prosecutors, after a heated debate and a
brawl that left one opposition lawmaker hospitalized.
(Reuters, 2/15/14)
2014 Feb 15, In Turkey
thousands of Kurds demonstrated in towns across the south east, some
clashing violently with riot police as they called for the release
of Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan on the 15th anniversary of
his capture.
(Reuters, 2/15/14)
2014 Feb 22, Turkey's interior
ministry said 1,000 police officers have been removed in the wake of
a major corruption probe against key government allies but said
these were only "routine" re-assignments.
(AFP, 2/22/14)
2014 Feb 24, A taped
conversation of Turkey’s PM Erdogan speaking with his younger son
Bilal was posted on You Tube. It dated to Dec 17 when police raided
the homes of several members of Erdogan’s cabinet and business
allies as part of a corruption probe.
(Econ, 3/1/14, p.53)
2014 Feb 25, Turkish PM Recep
Tayyip Erdogan condemned leaked recordings of him and his son
allegedly discussing how to hide large sums of money as a "vile
attack" by rivals, as calls mounted for his beleaguered government
to resign. Riot police fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse
several hundred people protesting against the government at an
Ankara university.
(AFP, 2/25/14)(Reuters, 2/25/14)
2014 Feb 26, Turkey's president
approved a controversial bill limiting the independence of the
judiciary — a law that is widely interpreted as a government
response to corruption allegations brought by prosecutors that have
recently implicated PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Parliament approved a
watered-down version of a new Internet law that would give Turkey's
telecommunications authority the power to shut down websites for
privacy violations, although it would have to obtain court approval
within 24 hours.
(AP, 2/26/14)
2014 Feb 28, Turkey's state-run
news agency said five remaining suspects jailed in a vast corruption
investigation have been released on parole pending trial. Turkey's
main opposition party asked the top court to overturn a law
tightening government control of the judiciary, which it sees as a
bid by PM Tayyip Erdogan to snuff out a corruption scandal.
(AP, 2/28/14)(Reuters, 2/28/14)
2014 Feb 28, Turkey's
parliament passed legislation to shut down private preparatory
schools many of which are an important source of income and
influence for an Islamic cleric PM Tayyip Erdogan accuses of running
a covert campaign to topple him. Lawmakers set a deadline of
September 1, 2015, to close the schools.
(Reuters, 3/1/14)
2014 Feb 28, In southeastern
Turkey suspected PKK gunmen abducted Abdurrahman Ecer (50), the top
elected official of Cigli village.
(Reuters, 3/2/14)
2014 Mar 5, Turkey’s PM Erdogan
confirmed the authenticity of a tape asking his then-justice
minister Sadullah Ergin to pressure a court into convicting media
mogul Aydin Dogan, a long-time foe. The tape included a slight to
the country’s large Alevi community. The tape followed the
publication last month in local daily Taraf of internal government
documents that appeared to show anti-Alevi discrimination in the
recruitment process for civil servants.
(AFP, 3/7/14)
2014 Mar 7, A Turkish court
ordered the release of former army chief Ilker Basbug from a life
sentence.
(Reuters, 3/7/14)
2014 Mar 11, In Turkey police
and protesters clashed in Ankara and Istanbul following the death of
Berkin Elvan, a 15-year-old boy who suffered a head injury during
anti-government demonstrations last summer. Elvan was the sixth
person to die in violence surrounding nationwide protests in late
May and June over Erdogan's plans to tear down a park in central
Istanbul.
(Reuters, 3/11/14)
2014 Mar 12, In Turkey tens of
thousands of mourners chanting anti-government slogans marched
through central Istanbul for the funeral of a teenager wounded in
street protests last summer whose death has sparked renewed unrest
across Turkey. Police clashed with protesters in at least 11 cities
and at least two people were killed.
(Reuters, 3/12/14)(SFC, 3/12/14, p.A2)(AFP,
3/13/14)
2014 Mar 13, Thai authorities
detained 220 suspected Turkish migrants hiding in a secluded camp in
the deep south and believed to be victims of a trafficking ring.
(AP, 3/13/14)
2014 Mar 19, In Turkey Veysi
Erim, a worker at a statistics office in the eastern province of
Kars, shot dead six people before committing suicide.
(Reuters, 3/19/14)
2014 Mar 20, Turkey’s PM Tayyip
Erdogan's defiantly vowed, on the campaign trail ahead of March 30
local polls, to "wipe out" Twitter, whatever the international
community had to say about it.
(Reuters, 3/21/14)
2014 Mar 21, Turkey blocked
access to Twitter after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
threatened to "rip out the roots" of the social network where links
have proliferated to recordings that appear to incriminate him and
other top officials in corruption.
(AP, 3/21/14)
2014 Mar 22, Turkish
authorities sought to tighten a clampdown on Twitter after social
media users easily evaded the government's attempt to block access
to the service.
(AP, 3/22/14)
2014 Mar 23, Turkish fighter
jets shot down a Syrian warplane after it violated Turkey's
airspace. The pilot safely ejected from the aircraft.
(AP, 3/23/14)
2014 Mar 25, Turkish special
forces raided buildings in Istanbul used by suspected members of an
Islamist militant group active in neighboring Syria and Iraq,
leaving three policemen and two suspects wounded.
(Reuters, 3/26/14)
2014 Mar 26, A Turkish court
ordered the telecommunications authority to restore access to
Twitter, issuing an injunction five days after the government
blocked access to the social network.
(AP, 3/26/14)
2014 Mar 27, In Turkey
KanalTurk television station, linked to opponents of PM Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, said authorities have withdrawn its license to broadcast
nationally just days before crucial local elections.
(AP, 3/27/14)
2014 Mar 27, Israel said it
will allow into the Gaza Strip construction materials and electric
equipment to help build a Turkish-sponsored hospital, in a possible
sign of improving ties with Ankara.
(Reuters, 3/27/14)
2014 Mar 30, In Turkey violent
feuds broke out in local elections for village and neighborhood
leaders, leaving 6 people dead in the village of Yuvacik, Sanliurfa
province, and 2 dead in the southern city of Hatay. PM Erdogan’s AK
Party led the polls with 46%, retaining control of the two biggest
cities Istanbul and Ankara and increasing its share of the national
vote.
(AP, 3/30/14)(Reuters, 3/31/14)(SSFC, 4/6/14,
p.A4)
2014 Apr 1, In Turkey riot
police fired water cannon in Ankara to disperse thousands of people
protesting outside the Supreme Electoral Council (YSK) against local
election results which saw the ruling party dominate the electoral
map. Election results in Ankara were particularly close.
(Reuters, 4/1/14)
2014 Apr 3, Turkey's telecoms
authority lifted a two-week-old ban on Twitter, after the
constitutional court ruled the block breached freedom of expression.
(Reuters, 4/3/14)
2014 Apr 4, A Turkish court
ruled that a blanket ban of social-media website YouTube violated
human rights and ordered most of the restrictions be lifted, citing
a top court ruling this week that scrapped a similar ban on
microblogging site Twitter. But the court soon reversed the YouTube
decision, saying the block would remain in place until the audio
recordings allegedly showing top-level security talks on Syria are
removed.
(Reuters, 4/4/14)(AFP, 4/5/14)
2014 Apr 9, Kuwait said three
of its citizens have been kidnapped in Syria and it has asked Turkey
for help in trying to secure their release. Kidnappers asked for a
ransom of 1 million euros ($1.38 million).
(Reuters, 4/10/14)
2014 Apr 10, Turkey’s
government said a charity at which PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan's son
sits on the board received more than $100 million of aid over a
four-year period. The government sought parliamentary approval to
boost the powers of the secret service, a move seen by PM Erdogan's
critics as a bid to tighten his grip on the apparatus of state as he
wages a bitter power struggle.
(AFP, 4/10/14)(Reuters, 4/10/14)
2014 Apr 11, Turkey's
constitutional court dealt another blow to PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan
by annulling sections of a controversial law tightening the
government's control over the judiciary.
(AFP, 4/11/14)
2014 Apr 11, Turkey condemned a
US Senate committee resolution branding the massacre of Armenians by
Ottoman forces during World War One as genocide and warned Congress
against taking steps that would harm Turkish-American ties.
(Reuters, 4/11/14)
2014 Apr 12, Turkey's PM
Erdogan said he will "go after" Twitter, accusing the site of
tax-evasion, after it was used to spread damaging leaks implicating
his inner circle in corruption scandals.
(AFP, 4/12/14)
2014 Apr 21, Turkey's energy
minister said an oil pipeline carrying crude from Iraq's Kirkuk oil
fields to Turkey's Mediterranean port of Ceyhan is unusable because
of persistent militant attacks.
(Reuters, 4/21/14)
2014 Apr 22, Turkey’s PM Recep
Tayyip Erdogan said number of Syrian refugees in Turkey has reached
"almost one million," while pledging to keep accepting those fleeing
the war.
(AFP, 4/22/14)
2014 Apr 23, Turkish PM Tayyip
Erdogan offered what the government said were unprecedented
condolences on Wednesday to the grandchildren of Armenians killed in
World War One by Ottoman soldiers on the eve of the 99th anniversary
of the deeply contested deaths.
(Reuters, 4/23/14)
2014 Apr 26, Turkish President
Abdullah Gul approved a controversial law expanding the powers of
the spy agency, a move critics say will tighten the graft-tainted
government's control over state institutions.
(AFP, 4/26/14)
2014 Apr 29, Turkey’s PM Tayyip
Erdogan said he would ask the United States to extradite Islamic
cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom he accuses of plotting to topple him
and undermine Turkey with concocted graft accusations and secret
wire taps. Gulen has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania
since 1997.
(Reuters, 4/29/14)
2014 Apr, Germany’s Pres.
Joachim Gauck visited Turkey and criticized the erosion of civil
liberties there.
(Econ, 5/24/14, p.45)
2014 May 1, Turkish police
fired tear gas, water cannon and rubber pellets to stop May Day
protesters, some armed with fire bombs, from defying PM Tayyip
Erdogan and reaching Istanbul's central Taksim square.
(Reuters, 5/1/14)
2014 May 2, Turkish media said
prosecutors have dismissed a case against 60 suspects, among them a
former minister's son and a construction tycoon, in the graft
scandal swirling around PM Tayyip Erdogan's inner circle.
(Reuters, 5/2/14)
2014 May 12, The European Court
of Human Rights (ECHR) ordered Turkey to pay 90 million euros ($124
million) in damages for its 1974 invasion of Cyprus, the largest
such ruling in its history. Turkish officials the next day said that
the country will not pay the fine.
(CSM, 5/13/14)
2014 May 13, In western Turkey
at least 282 people were killed underground after an explosion and
fire at the Soma coal mine in Manisa province. The death toll soon
rose to 302, making it the worst industrial accident in Turkish
history.
(AP, 5/13/14)(Reuters, 5/14/14)(Reuters,
5/17/14)(Econ, 11/29/14, p.49)
2014 May 16, Turkish police
fired water cannon and tear gas to disperse a crowd of several
thousand protesters in the town of Soma, where 301 people died in
the country's worst ever mining disaster this week.
(Reuters, 5/16/14)
2014 May 18, Turkish police
detained 24 people, including mining company executives and
personnel, as an investigation into last week's mine disaster in
Soma got underway. The last of 301 victims were buried.
(Reuters, 5/18/14)(SSFC, 5/25/14, p.A6)
2014 May 22, In Turkey violence
erupted when police fired live ammunition as well as tear gas and
rubber bullets to disperse protesters who denounced the death of a
teenage boy who fell into a coma during anti-government unrest last
year. At least one person was killed by gunshot and another died of
wounds from a grenade explosion.
(AFP, 5/23/14)
2014 May 23, Iraq took legal
action against Turkey after Ankara announced that oil from Iraq's
autonomous Kurdish region was being exported to international
markets.
(AFP, 5/23/14)
2014 May 24, A magnitude 6.9
earthquake struck northern Greece and western Turkey. Over 250
people were reported injured.
(SSFC, 5/25/14, p.A4)
2014 May 26, A Turkish court
ordered the arrests of four former Israeli military commanders being
tried in absentia over the killing of 9 people aboard a Turkish aid
ship that tried to break a Gaza blockade on May 31, 2010.
(AP, 5/26/14)
2014 May 27, In Somalia a
Turkish man, Saadettin Dogan, was shot dead in Mogadishu when gunmen
attacked the car he was traveling in with a senior manager from
Turkish Airlines.
(Reuters, 5/27/14)
2014 May 28, In southeast
Turkey Kurdish guerrillas shot dead a state-sponsored militia member
in the southeastern province of Mardin.
(Reuters, 5/29/14)
2014 May 31, Turkish police
shut Gezi Park, the Istanbul square at the center of mass
demonstrations in 2013, to prevent any efforts to mark the
anniversary of the biggest anti-government protests in decades.
(Reuters, 5/31/14)
2014 Jun 7, In Turkey 2 people
were killed in southeast Diyarbakir province as Kurdish protesters,
demonstrating against the construction of new military outposts,
threw petrol bombs at security forces who then opened fire.
(Reuters, 6/8/14)
2014 Jun 9, Iranian President
Hassan Rouhani met with Turkish officials, including PM Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, in the first official Iranian presidential visit to Turkey
since 1996.
(AP, 6/9/14)
2014 Jun 10, In Iraq ISIL
militants seized 48 Turks from the Turkish consulate in Mosul,
including the consul-general, three children and several members of
Turkey's special forces. ISIL, numbering some 7-10 thousand
fighters, was led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
(Reuters, 6/11/14)(SFC, 6/12/14, p.A8)(Econ,
8/2/14, p.41)
2014 Jun 14, Turkey said it has
temporarily pulled its diplomatic staff out of the Libyan city of
Benghazi and urged its nationals to leave the east of the country
amid mounting security concerns.
(AP, 6/14/14)
2014 Jun 18, A Turkish court
convicted the only two surviving leaders of the country's 1980
military coup of crimes against the state and sentenced them to life
imprisonment. Kenan Evren (96), the military chief of staff who led
the takeover and went on to serve as president until 1989, and
Tahsin Sahinkaya (89), a former air force chief, had been on trial
since 2012.
(AP, 6/18/14)(Econ, 6/28/14, p.45)
2014 Jun 18, A criminal court
in Istanbul ordered the release of 230 military officers convicted
of plotting to topple PM Tayyip Erdogan, a day after the country's
top court ruled their trial was flawed. A retrial was ordered.
(Reuters, 6/19/14)(Econ, 6/28/14, p.45)
2014 Jun 18, The Indian
government said 40 Indian construction workers have been seized near
Iraq's second-largest city, Mosul, which ISIL and allied Sunni
fighters captured last week. The Turkish Foreign Ministry said its
diplomats were investigating a Turkish media report that militants
grabbed 60 foreign construction workers, including some 15 Turks,
near the northern Iraqi oil city of Kirkuk.
(AP, 6/18/14)
2014 Jul 1, Turkey's ruling
party nominated PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan to run in Turkey's first
directly elected presidential race in August, announcing his
candidacy to thousands of cheering supporters.
(AP, 7/1/14)
2014 Jul 3, The Islamic State
of Iraq and the Levant marched across eastern Syria near the border
with Iraq, seizing towns, villages and the country's largest oil
field as rival rebel factions gave up the fight. ISIL released 32
Turkish truck drivers who they captured during a lightning offensive
across northern and western Iraq last month.
(AP, 7/3/14)
2014 Jul 5, Turkish media said
Kurdish rebels will begin a stalled withdrawal from Turkey into
their safe haven in northern Iraq after parliament passes reforms
aimed at ending a decades-long insurgency.
(AFP, 7/5/14)
2014 Jul 21, Turkish PM Recep
Tayyip Erdogan said he has stopped talking to US President Barack
Obama on the phone, amid growing strains between Ankara and
Washington over Syria and the Gaza conflict.
(AFP, 7/22/14)
2014 Jul 22, Turkish
authorities arrested dozens of senior police officers in a criminal
probe over alleged illegal wire-tapping and forgery, the latest
crackdown on opponents of PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan ahead of
presidential polls.
(AFP, 7/22/14)
2014 Jul 25, Turkey inaugurated
a high-speed rail service linking the capital Ankara to Istanbul
which will cut travel time between the country's main two cities by
half.
(AP, 7/25/14)
2014 Jul 26, A Turkish court
ordered the formal arrest of 12 more police officers, including the
former head of Istanbul's intelligence unit, pending charges they
may have illegally wiretapped PM Tayyip Erdogan.
(Reuters, 7/26/14)
2014 Aug 5, In Turkey dozens of
police officers were detained in a widening probe of wiretapping
allegedly targeting PM Tayyip Erdogan.
(Reuters, 8/5/14)
2014 Aug 7, Turkish officials
said up to 800 people from Iraq's Yazidi community have fled across
the border to Turkey after escaping a lightning offensive by
jihadists from the Islamic State (IS) group.
(AFP, 8/7/14)
2014 Aug 7, Turkish PM Recep
Tayyip Erdogan branded Amberin Zaman, a prominent female journalist,
a "shameless woman" and told her "to know your place".
(AFP, 8/8/14)
2014 Aug 10, Turkey held
presidential elections. PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan became Turkey’s
first elected president and extended his domination despite warnings
by opponents that the country is moving towards a one-man autocracy.
Erdogan received 52% of the vote marking his 9th electoral victory
during 12 years of power.
(AFP, 8/10/14)(AFP, 8/11/14)(Econ, 8/16/14,
p.42)(Econ, 9/13/14, p.61)
2014 Aug 12, In northern Turkey
a coal mine collapse trapped up to nine people inside.
(AP, 8/12/14)
2014 Aug 19, Turkish President
Abdullah Gul said that Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is set to
take over from Recep Tayyip Erdogan as the country's next prime
minister.
(AFP, 8/19/14)
2014 Aug 24, In southeast
Turkey Kurdish rebels abducted three Chinese workers and attacked a
thermal power plant where they worked. They were seized while
grocery shopping near the town Silopi and security forces soon
launched an operation to rescue them.
(AP, 8/26/14)
2014 Aug 25, In Turkey hundreds
of residents angered by the presence of Syrian refugees clashed with
police in a violent protest in the Ikitelli district of Istanbul.
Syrian refugees in Turkey have now swelled to 1.2 million.
(AFP, 8/25/14)
2014 Aug 28, Turkey's new Pres.
Recep Erdogan took the oath of office. New PM Ahmet Davutoglu
reappointed all key ministers who served under Erdogan,
setting a course of continuity for the new government.
(AP, 8/29/14)(SFC, 8/29/14, p.A2)
2014 Sep 1, Turkish authorities
detained at least 20 police officers in new nationwide raids over an
alleged plot to overthrow the government of President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan. Istanbul prosecutors announced they were dropping all legal
proceedings against 96 people probed as a result of the corruption
allegations, including Erdogan's son Bilal. Turkey's top judge
issued a thinly-veiled warning to Erdogan to refrain from
interfering in the judiciary.
(AFP, 9/2/14)
2014 Sep 3, Turkish policeman
Ahmet Sahbaz was jailed for seven years and nine months after being
convicted of shooting dead protester Ethem Sarisuluk (26), during
2013 anti-government protests. The court had agreed he was provoked
by the protesters.
(AFP, 9/3/14)
2014 Sep 4, In Turkey Gaziantep
province governor Erdal Ata said 19 militants affiliated with the
Islamic State have been arrested. Ata also said police had caught
suspected IS-linked jihadists coming from Europe or Caucasus,
carrying backpacks, at the Gaziantep airport or at the border.
(AFP, 9/4/14)
2014 Sep 10, Turkey’s
parliament approved legislation to tighten the government’s control
over the Internet.
(Econ, 9/13/14, p.61)
2014 Sep 11, Turkey refused to
sign the “Jeddah Communique,” in which various Arab nations promised
to back America’s military action against the Islamic State. On Sep
23 Pres. Erdogan said his country was ready to give necessary
support to attacks on the IS.
(Econ, 9/27/14, p.24)
2014 Sep 18, Turkish PKK
rebels, who have spent three decades fighting for autonomy for
Turkey's Kurds, called for the youth of the country's mostly Kurdish
southeast to join the fight against Islamic State militants in
northern Syria.
(Reuters, 9/18/14)
2014 Sep 19, Turkey reopened
its border with Syria to Kurds fleeing Islamic State (IS) militants,
saying a "worst-case scenario" could drive as many as 100,000 more
refugees into the country.
(AFP, 9/19/14)
2014 Sep 20, Turkish
intelligence agents brought 46 hostages, seized by Islamic State
militants in Mosul on June 11, back to Turkey after more than three
months in captivity.
(Reuters, 9/20/14)
2014 Sep 20, In northern Syria
the Islamic State executed at least 11 civilians, including at least
two boys. It has seized at least 64 villages around Kobani since Sep
16, using heavy arms and thousands of fighters. At least 300 Kurdish
fighters crossed from Turkey into Syria overnight to battle
jihadists from the Islamic State group trying to seize Kobani, a
strategic border town.
(AFP, 9/20/14)(Reuters, 9/21/14)
2014 Sep 21, Kurdish militants
in Turkey issued a new call to arms to defend the border town of
Kobani, Syria, from advancing Islamic State fighters. Turkish
authorities and the UN prepared for a surge in refugees. Clashes
overnight reportedly killed 10 insurgents, bringing the number of IS
fighters killed to at least 39. At least 27 Kurdish fighters have
died.
(Reuters, 9/21/14)
2014 Sep 22, Syrian Kurds
battled to defend Kobani, a key border town from an Islamic State
advance, as Kurdish youths from neighboring Turkey rushed to their
aid, heightening the pressure on Ankara to act against the Islamist
insurgents.
(Reuters, 9/22/14)
2014 Sep 26, Islamic State
fighters tightened their siege of the strategic town of Kobani on
Syria's border with Turkey, pushing back Kurdish forces and sending
at least two shells into Turkish territory.
(Reuters, 9/26/14)
2014 Sep 27, Three Turkish
police were killed after an ambush in the overwhelmingly Kurdish
southeast, in an attack claimed by armed Kurdish militants despite a
one-and-a-half-year ceasefire.
(AFP, 9/27/14)
2014 Sep 29, Turkish tanks and
armored vehicles took up positions on a hill overlooking the
besieged Syrian border town of Kobani as shelling by Islamic State
insurgents intensified and stray fire hit Turkish soil.
(Reuters, 9/29/14)
2014 Oct 1, Turkish Pres.
Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey will fight against Islamic State and
other "terrorist" groups in the region but will stick to its aim of
seeing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad removed from power.
(Reuters, 10/1/14)
2014 Oct 2, The Turkish
government won parliamentary approval to deploy troops against the
Islamic State group.
(AFP, 10/3/14)
2014 Oct 7, Turkey's president
said Kobani was "about to fall" after Islamic State fighters
advanced into the south west of the Syrian Kurdish town, pressing
home a three-week assault has cost a reported 412 lives. More than
2,000 Syrian Kurds including women and children were evacuated from
the town after the latest fighting.
(Reuters, 10/7/14)
2014 Oct 7, In Turkey Kurdish
protesters clashed with police. 20 protesters were killed in the
clashes, mostly between sympathizers of rival Kurdish groups.
Kurdish protesters also forced their way into the European
Parliament in Brussels, part of Europe-wide demonstrations against
the Islamic State group's advance on a town on the Syrian-Turkish
border.
(AP, 10/7/14)(Econ, 10/11/14, p.59)
2014 Oct 7, Cyprus' president
suspended talks on reunifying the ethnically divided island in
response to Turkey's plans to search for oil and gas in waters where
the Cypriot government has already licensed Italy's Eni and South
Korea's Kogas to drill.
(AP, 10/7/14)
2014 Oct 8, In southeast Turkey
at least 21 people were killed in riots, the deadliest street unrest
in years, after the Kurdish minority rose up in fury at the
government's refusal to protect a besieged Syrian town from Islamic
State. US-led air strikes appeared to have pushed Islamic State
fighters back to the edges of Kobani.
(Reuters, 10/8/14)(Reuters, 10/9/14)
2014 Oct 9, Islamic State
fighters seized more than a third of the Syrian border town of
Kobani, as US-led air strikes failed to halt their advance and
Turkish forces nearby looked on without intervening. Two police
officers were shot dead in an apparent attempt to assassinate a
police chief in Turkey’s eastern province of Bingol. Four of the
alleged attackers were later killed and two more caught after a
shootout with security forces. In Gaziantep province 4 people killed
and 20 wounded as armed clashes broke out overnight between
protesters calling for solidarity with Kobani.
(Reuters, 10/9/14)(Reuters, 10/10/14)
2014 Oct 10, In Syria militants
fought deeper into the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani in full view of
Turkish tanks that have done nothing to intervene. At least 31
people have been killed in three days of riots and street violence
across Turkey’s mainly Kurdish southeast.
(Reuters, 10/10/14)
2014 Oct 11, Kurdish forces
defending Kobani urged a US-led coalition to escalate air strikes on
Islamic State fighters who controlled more than a third of the
Syrian town at the border with Turkey. 36 jihadi fighters were
reportedly killed in Kobani.
(Reuters, 10/11/14)(AP, 10/12/14)
2014 Oct 12, US Defense
officials said Turkey will allow American and coalition troops to
use its bases against Islamic State militants in Syria.
(SFC, 10/13/14, p.A2)
2014 Oct 13, Turkish air force
bombed Kurdish fighters furious over Ankara's refusal to help
protect their kin in Syria. Bombs on PKK targets after they
reportedly attacked a military outpost in the Daglica region.
(Reuters, 10/14/14)
2014 Oct 13, Kurdish fighters
engaged in fierce clashes with jihadists on the Turkish border near
Kobane, as Ankara denied allowing Washington to use its bases
against the Islamic State group.
(AFP, 10/13/14)
2014 Oct 17, Prosecutors in
Istanbul ruled that there were no grounds for legal action against
53 suspects, including the sons of two former government ministers
and a prominent Iranian businessman, who were suspected of bribery
and corruption in a case that shook the country in December.
(AP, 10/18/14)
2014 Oct 18, Afghanistan’s
leadership greeted the arrival of Turkish Pres. Recep Tayyip
Erdogan. Pres. Ashraf Ghani and Erdogan signed an agreement on
closer bilateral relationship between the two countries.
(AFP, 10/19/14)
2014 Oct 18, In Syria US-led
coalition jets pounded suspected Islamic State targets at least six
times in Kobani after the fiercest shelling in days by the
insurgents shook the town's center and hit border areas within
Turkey. Syrian government forces shelled neighborhoods in Damascus,
the southern province of Deraa and the central province of Homs.
Islamic State militants fired 44 mortars at Kurdish parts of Kobani.
Two Islamic State car bombs hit Kurdish positions leading to
casualties.
(Reuters, 10/18/14)(AP, 10/19/14)
2014 Oct 20, Turkey said it
would allow Iraqi Kurdish fighters to reinforce fellow Kurds in the
Syrian town of Kobani, while the US air-dropped arms for the first
time to help the defenders resist an Islamic State assault. At least
one cache of the US airdropped weapons were seized by Islamioc State
fighters.
(Reuters, 10/20/14)(SFC, 10/22/14, p.A4)
2014 Oct 22, In southeastern
Turkey suspected Kurdish militants kidnapped 10 power company
workers. A politician from a Kurdish Islamist party was shot dead in
the eastern city of Bingol.
(Reuters, 10/22/14)
2014 Oct 23, Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that 200 Iraqi Kurd peshmerga fighters
would travel through Turkey to join the battle in Kobane, where
about 1,000 IS militants are believed to be fighting. US-led air
strikes in Syria were reported to have killed more than 521
jihadists and 32 civilians over the last month.
(AFP, 10/23/14)(Reuters, 10/23/14)
2014 Oct 24, Turkey's president
said that Ankara would allow hundreds of Syrian rebels to travel to
the embattled border town of Kobani in order to help Kurdish
fighters there fend off an Islamic State onslaught. During a state
visit in Estonia, Erdogan said the Western-backed Free Syrian Army
would send 1,300 fighters to the Syrian town. A spokesman for the
Western-backed Syrian opposition in exile, Kenan Mohammed, said
there were no plans to send fighters to Kobani.
(AP, 10/24/14)
2014 Oct 24, Turkey’s soldiers
shot dead 3 PKK guerrillas after fighters from the outlawed group
set fire to two vehicles and a power plant in the eastern province
of Kars and shot at soldiers who returned fire.
(Reuters, 10/25/14)
2014 Oct 25, In southeastern
Turkey Kurdish militants killed 3 Turkish soldiers.
(Reuters, 10/25/14)
2014 Oct 28, In southern Turkey
a coal mine collapsed, trapping 18 workers underground at the Has
Sekerler mine near the town of Ermenek in Karaman province. The
bodies of the last 5 miners were recovered on Dec 4.
(AP, 10/28/14)(AP, 12/4/14)
2014 Oct 29, Iraqi peshmerga
fighters arrived in southeastern Turkey en route for the Syrian town
of Kobani to try to help fellow Kurds break an Islamic State siege.
The US military conducted 14 air strikes over the last 2 days
against the IS in Syria and Iraq. Eight of the strikes were near
Kobani.
(Reuters, 10/29/14)
2014 Oct 31, In Syria US-led
air strikes hit Islamic State positions around the border town of
Kobani in an apparent bid to pave the way for heavily-armed Kurdish
peshmerga forces to enter from neighboring Turkey.
(Reuters, 10/31/14)
2014 Nov 3, Turkish rescuers
pulled 24 bodies from the sea at the mouth of Istanbul's Bosphorus
strait and rescued seven people after the sinking of a boat carrying
migrants including children. The capsized boat was loaded with 42
illegal migrants from Afghan and Syria.
(Reuters, 11/3/14)(SFC, 11/4/14, p.A2)
2014 Nov 4, Turkish politician
Ahmet Karatas, a member of the opposition Peoples' Democratic Party
(HDP), was stabbed repeatedly in the capital Ankara, in an attack
that his pro-Kurdish party blamed on a government-led 'lynch
campaign' against it.
(Reuters, 11/4/14)
2014 Nov 12, Turkey's national
election board said it has penalized the state-run broadcaster for
favoring President Tayyip Erdogan in its coverage of the country's
first popular vote for head of state.
(Reuters, 11/12/14)
2014 Nov 12, Members of the
nationalist Turkish Youth Union attacked three US sailors on a
crowded street in Istanbul, shouting "Yankee go home", throwing
paint and trying to pull hoods over their heads. Twelve people were
detained but released by an Istanbul court the next day.
(Reuters, 11/14/14)
2014 Nov 13, Turkey said it
will issue work permits for some of the 1.5 million Syrian war
refugees it is hosting, dismissing fears it would harm local
workers.
(AFP, 11/13/14)
2014 Nov 15, Turkish media
reported that Turkey and the United States have agreed a plan under
which some 2,000 fighters from the moderate Syrian opposition would
be trained on Turkish soil.
(AFP, 11/15/14)
2014 Nov 20, Iraq PM Haider
al-Abadi said that Iraq and Turkey have agred on closer security and
intelligence cooperation in the face of threats posed by the Islamic
State group.
(SFC, 11/21/14, p.A4)
2014 Nov 21, In Turkey Marko
Ivkovic (25), a Serbian basketball fan, was killed before a
Euroleague basketball match between Turkish team Galatasaray and
Serbia's Red Star in Istanbul. On Nov 26 Istanbul police arrested a
Turkish man for the stabbing death.
(AP, 11/28/14)
2014 Nov 24, Turkey’s Pres.
Erdogan set off a new controversy, declaring that women are not
equal to men and accusing feminists of not understanding the special
status that Islam attributes to mothers.
(AP, 11/24/14)
2014 Nov 28, Pope Francis
arrived in Turkey to encourage Muslim leaders to take a stronger
stand against extremists who twist religion to justify terrorism. He
condemned the Islamic State group's assault on Christians and other
religious minorities in Iraq and Syria.
(AP, 11/28/14)
2014 Nov 29, The Islamic State
group launched an attack on the Syrian border town of Kobani. The
latest fighting killed at least 8 Kurdish fighters and 17 jihadis.
The US-led coalition launched an airstrike morning on the eastern
side of the town. Turkey denied that IS fighters had used its
territory for the raid.
(AP, 11/29/14)
2014 Dec 3, Human Rights Watch
urged Turkey to remove from its border with Syria landmines which
have killed 3 people and wounded nine among more than 2,000 Syrian
refugees camped in a minefield.
(Reuters, 12/3/14)
2014 Dec 4, Kurdish sources
said a second group of 150 Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga forces has
entered the Syrian border town of Kobani from Turkey to replace a
first group helping Kurdish forces fight off a siege by Islamic
State militants.
(Reuters, 12/4/14)
2014 Dec 6, The leaders of
Greece and Turkey glossed over key differences between the nations
and expressed support for close affairs between the often irritable
neighbors.
(http://tinyurl.com/nbyw5o6)
2014 Dec 13, Mehmet Gormez, the
head of Turkey's Religious Affairs Directorate, came under fire over
reports that a luxury Mercedes had been purchased at public expense
to serve as his official car. This came amid ongoing controversy
over President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's new presidential palace, a
1,150-room complex in Ankara that cost taxpayers $615 million.
(AFP, 12/13/14)(Econ, 2/6/15, SR p.4)
2014 Dec 14, Turkish police
arrested Ekrem Dumanli, the editor of the country's biggest selling
newspaper (Zaman), and at least two dozen other media figures in a
new crackdown on supporters of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's
exiled rival, Fethullah Gulen.
(AFP, 12/14/14)
2014 Dec 16, In Turkey dozens
of football fans who took part in last year's mass anti-government
protests went on trial accused of an attempted coup.
(AP, 12/16/14)
2014 Dec 17, German prosecutors
arrested three Turkish men accused of spying on compatriots in
Germany for Turkish intelligence.
(AP, 12/18/14)
2014 Dec 17, The UN Security
Council renewed for 12 months its authorization for humanitarian
access without Syrian government consent into rebel-held areas of
Syria at four border crossings from Turkey, Iraq and Jordan.
(Reuters, 12/17/14)
2014 Dec 19, A Turkish court
kept Hidayet Karaca, head of Samanyolu Television, and three other
people in custody pending trial on accusations of belonging to a
terrorist group.
(Reuters, 12/19/14)
2014 Dec 24, In Turkey a
16-year-old high school student was arrested in in the central
Anatolian city of Konya for "insulting" President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan by accusing him and his ruling party of corruption. Mehmet
Emin Altunses was released on Dec 26 following a complaint by his
lawyer, but he still faced trial in the future.
(AFP, 12/25/14)(AFP, 12/26/14)
2014 Dec 25, Turkish media
reported that Mustafa Ali Tonbul (17), who survived a severe head
injury from police in last year's anti-government protests, has been
sentenced to more than three months in jail.
(AFP, 12/25/14)
2014 Dec 27, In Turkey 3
people, including a teenager (15), died and three others were
wounded in clashes between Islamists and Kurdish youths in the
southeastern town of Cizre.
(Reuters, 12/27/14)(Reuters, 12/28/14)
2014 Dec 28, The Turkish ship
Gokbel with 11 crew members sank after the collision with the Belize
flagged Lady Aziza in poor visibility a mile from the Italian
Adriatic port of Ravenna. Two people drowned and four were missing
at sea and feared dead.
(Reuters, 12/28/14)
2014 Dec, Turkey’s government
officially declared Fethullah Gulen (74), a Pennsylvania based
Muslim cleric, to be the head of a terrorist organization bent on
establishing a “parallel state.”
(Econ, 2/6/15, SR p.8)
2014 Charles King authored
“Midnight at the Pera Palace: The Birth of Modern Istanbul.”
(Econ, 9/13/14, p.90)
2014 Turkish TV producers
created the 15-part drama “Dragunov,” named after a Soviet-made
sniper rifle. They reportedly hoped it would act as a balm for
Libya’s soul as it struggles in the aftermath of Qaddafi’s rule.
(Econ, 7/19/14, p.42)
2014 Turkish proverb: He who
holds the money is bound to lick his fingers.
(Econ, 7/12/14, p.55)
2015 Jan 1, In Turkey a man
carrying an automatic weapon was detained near the historic
Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul after he threw a grenade at police.
The Turkish far-left group DHKP-C soon claimed responsibility for
the grenade attack.
(Reuters, 1/2/15)
2015 Jan 2, In Turkey the main
Western-backed Syrian opposition group opened a three-day meeting to
discuss a range of issues, including a Russian initiative to hold
peace talks in Moscow to broker a resolution to Syria's civil war.
(AP, 1/2/15)
2015 Jan 5, Police in Turkey
detained 20 more police officers suspected of conducting illegal
wiretaps in a new wave of raids in twelve cities.
(AP, 1/5/15)
2015 Jan 6, In Turkey a female
suicide bomber entered a police station and blew herself up in
Istanbul's historic Sultanahmet district, killing one officer and
wounding another. The leftist Revolutionary People's Liberation
Party-Front, or DHKP-C, said it carried out the attack.
(Reuters, 1/6/15)(AP, 1/7/15)
2015 Jan 9, In Turkey security
forces detained 13 foreigners and a Turkish citizen attempting to
cross into Syria from a village in the southeastern province of
Gaziantep to join the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group.
(AFP, 2/11/15)
2015 Jan 14, A Turkish court
ordered the telecommunications authority to ban access to websites
showing Charlie Hebdo's front cover with the image of the Prophet
Muhammad.
(AP, 1/14/15)
2015 Jan 14, In Turkey, a child
(12) was allegedly shot and killed by security forces in the old
southeastern Kurdish settlement of Cizre. 17 locals have been
reportedly killed in fighting jihadists across the border in the
Syrian town of Kobane.
(Econ, 2/14/15, p.46)
2015 Jan 17, A Turkish
intelligence report said around 3,000 people in Turkey are believed
to be linked to the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group.
(AFP, 1/17/15)
2015 Jan 21, A Turkish court
sentenced two police officers to 10 years in prison each for their
involvement in the beating death of student Ali Ismail Korkmaz (19)
during anti-government protests in 2013. Four other civilian
defendants were sentenced to up to six years. The victim's
supporters said the verdict was too lenient and staged immediate
protests outside and inside the courthouse.
(AP, 1/21/15)
2015 Jan 24, In southeast
Turkey some 70,000 Kurds staged a protest in Diyarbakir against
French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo's cartoon portrayal of the
Prophet Mohammed.
(AFP, 1/24/15)
2015 Jan 28, Turkey informed US
officials that it was revoking the passport of Fethullah Gulen
because it was issued based on a "false statement". Gulen has lived
in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999.
(Reuters, 2/3/15)
2015 Feb 2, In Turkey at least
8 people were killed and many more rescued from high winds and
flooding caused by a huge storm, a southwesterly known locally as a
Lodos.
(Reuters, 2/3/15)
2015 Feb 8, A Turkish court
ordered the arrest of 21 police officers as part of an investigation
into the illegal wiretapping of politicians, civil servants and
businessmen.
(Reuters, 2/8/15)
2015 Feb 9, In Turkey G20
finance ministers met in Istanbul. Britain and the United States
called on leading world powers to overhaul their economies and keep
budgets in line to encourage growth.
(AFP, 2/9/15)
2015 Feb 11, In Turkey female
student Ozgecan Aslan (20) was raped and beaten to death by bus
driver Ahmet Suphi Altindoken (26). Her body was burned in a wooded
area in a bid to hide the evidence but the corpse was found by
police on Feb 13.
(AFP, 2/16/15)
2015 Feb 13, Turkish police
used water cannon in the western coastal city of Izmir to disperse
scores of protesters boycotting schools over the growing influence
of religion in the classroom.
(Reuters, 2/13/15)
2015 Feb 16, Turkey said it was
temporarily closing its embassy in Yemen, the latest foreign mission
to do so following the takeover of power by Shiite Huthi militiamen.
(AFP, 2/16/15)
2015 Feb 16, The Armenian
president asked the country's parliament speaker to withdraw his
signature from a groundbreaking 2009 agreement with Turkey meant to
restore ties between the two nations due to "preconditions" that
Turkey put in place before it ratifies its part of the deal.
(AP, 2/16/15)
2015 Feb 17, Three British
girls (Kadiza Sultana (16) and 15-year-olds Shamima Begum and Amira
Abase) flew from London to Turkey in a suspected bid to join the
Islamic State group. On March 12 Turkey announced the arrest of an
agent who helped the girls cross into Syria. The agent also worked
as a courier to transfer money to jihadists.
(SSFC, 2/22/15, p.A5)(AP, 3/15/15)(AFP, 3/15/15)
2015 Feb 18, The Turkish
parliament descended into chaos when a furious brawl erupted as the
country's ruling party sought to push through a controversial bill
boosting the powers of police in protests.
(AFP, 2/18/15)
2015 Feb 18, In Turkey a
snowstorm in Istanbul grounded planes, halted traffic and forced the
closure of the Bosphorus Strait shipping channel.
(Reuters, 2/18/15)
2015 Feb 19, Turkish media
quoted the national intelligence agency (MIT) as saying that Islamic
State militants have entered Turkey and are plotting to attack
diplomatic missions in Ankara and Istanbul.
(Reuters, 2/19/15)
2015 Feb 19, Turkish
legislators scuffled for a second day in parliament over a new
security bill which critics say aims to crush dissent.
(AP, 2/19/15)
2015 Feb 22, Almost 600 Turkish
troops pushed deep into Syria evacuating Turkish soldiers guarding a
historic tomb who had been stranded in territory controlled by
Islamic State jihadists. They brought back the tomb containing the
remains of Suleyman Shah, grandfather of the Ottoman empire's
founder, Osman I.
(AFP, 2/22/15)
2015 Feb 22, Libya's
internationally recognized government said it will end all contracts
with companies from Turkey, a country it has accused of supporting a
rival administration.
(Reuters, 2/23/15)
2015 Feb 26, Libya's
internationally recognized PM Abdullah al-Thinni said his government
would stop dealing with Turkey as it was sending weapons to a rival
group in Tripoli so "the Libyan people kill each other", ramping up
his rhetoric against Ankara.
(Reuters, 2/27/15)
2015 Feb 28, In Turkey Abdullah
Ocalan, the head of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) imprisoned on
an island near Istanbul, urged separatists to hold a congress on
disarmament in the coming months.
(AFP, 3/1/15)
2015 Feb 28, In Turkey Yasar
Kemal (91), one of the country’s best-known novelists with worldwide
readership, died. His books included of "Memed, My Hawk" (1955) a
story about feudal relations in Turkey's traditional southern
regions. Nine of his novels were made into films. Kemal never
promoted his Kurdish background. In the mid-1990s he was convicted
for an article denouncing racism against minorities in Turkey,
especially Kurds.
(AP, 2/28/15)
2015 Mar 2, Turkey detained an
intelligence agent working for one of the states in the US-led
coalition fighting Islamic State (IS) for helping three British
teenage girls cross into Syria to join the jihadists. This was only
made public on March 12. Kadiza Sultana, 16, and 15-year-olds
Shamima Begum and Amira Abase, crossed into Syria after boarding a
flight from London to Istanbul on February 17.
(AFP, 3/12/15)
2015 Mar 3, Turkey's state-run
news agency said a court has ordered President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
to pay 10,000 Turkish Lira (US$ 4,000) in compensation to artist
Mehmet Aksoy for calling his sculpture — meant to promote
reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia — a "monstrosity." Erdogan
expressed his dislike in 2011 of the giant "Monument to Humanity,"
which was being erected in the eastern city of Kars.
(AP, 3/3/15)
2015 Mar 5, In Turkey Umarali
Kuvatov, leader of a Tajik movement called Group 24, was shot in the
back of the head outside a restaurant in Istanbul. Kuvatov had fled
Tajikistan in 2012 reportedly after a deal with the president’s son
went wrong.
(www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-31760810)(Econ., 3/14/15, p.42)
2015 Mar 11, Turkish
authorities said they have detained 16 Indonesians from three
families who were trying to cross into Syria, a route frequently
used by sympathizers of Islamic State militants.
(Reuters, 3/11/15)
2015 Mar 12, The Turkish
coastguard opened fire to stop a cargo vessel carrying 337 mainly
Syrian migrants heading towards European Union waters and arrested
the suspected traffickers.
(AFP, 3/13/15)
2015 Mar 13, In Turkey three
male British teenagers planning to join Islamic State militants in
Syria were detained in Istanbul.
(Reuters, 3/15/15)
2015 Mar 20, Ukrainian
President Petro Poroshenko said Turkey has offered a $50 million
loan to Ukraine to help cover its budget deficit in a joint press
conference in Kiev with Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan. Turkey
also offered Ukraine $10 million in humanitarian assistance.
(Reuters, 3/20/15)
2015 Mar 21, Jailed Kurdish
rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan called for Kurds to hold a historic
congress to end a decades-long armed struggle against the Turkish
state that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.
(AFP, 3/21/15)
2015 Mar 22, A Turkish
opposition lawmaker said he is helping the families of nine British
medical students and doctors of Sudanese origin believed to have
crossed into Syria from Turkey.
(AP, 3/22/15)(AFP, 3/22/15)
2015 Mar 27, The Turkish
parliament passed a stripped down version of its controversial
homeland security bill that has enraged the opposition, after a
16-hour debate that lasted all night.
(AFP, 3/27/15)
2015 Mar 29, A Turkish court
charged former policemen Sedat Zavar and Ilker Usta with illegally
eavesdropping on President Recep Tayyip Erdogan following their
extradition from Romania.
(AFP, 3/29/15)
2015 Mar 31, In Turkey an
Istanbul court acquitted 236 military officers of charges of
plotting a 2003 coup to overthrow the government of then-PM Recep
Tayyip Erdogan.
(AP, 3/31/15)
2015 Mar 31, In Turkey a
massive power cut caused chaos and shut down public transport across
the country, with the government refusing to rule out that the
electricity system had been the victim of an attack.
(AFP, 3/31/15)
2015 Mar 31, In Turkey two
members of a banned left-wing group, DHKP-C, held prosecutor Mehmet
Selim Kiraz hostage in an Istanbul courthouse for six hours. All
three died in a shootout between the hostage-takers and police.
(AP, 4/1/15)(SFC, 4/7/15, p.A2)
2015 Apr 1, In Turkey a
militant tried to storm the police headquarters in Istanbul. Police
opened fire in response, killing the female assailant who was armed
with grenades and guns. Turkish media named the dead woman as Elif
Sultan Kalsen (28), saying she was a known member of the DHKP-C.
(AFP, 4/2/15)
2015 Apr 2, Turkish police
launched early morning raids against suspected members of an
ultra-leftist group in Istanbul. At least 10 people were arrested in
the raids in the Okmeydani district of Istanbul.
(AP, 4/2/15)
2015 Apr 6, A wooden migrant
boat sank in the Aegean off the Turkish coast of Datca late today.
The Turkish Coast Guard recovered 8 bodies, rescued nine people and
three remained missing.
(AP, 4/7/15)
2015 Apr 7, Turkish President
Tayyip Erdogan and Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani agreed to
boost trade and signed a slew of deals at a meeting, but steered
clear of directly addressing differences over conflict-ridden Yemen.
(Reuters, 4/7/15)
2015 Apr 11, Turkish troops
engaged in clashes with over two dozen rebels from the outlawed
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). 5 Kurdish rebels and a civilian were
reported killed at Yukari Tutek village.
(AFP, 4/11/15)(AP, 4/12/15)
2015 Apr 12, In the Vatican
Pope Francis described the 1915 massacre of as many as 1.5 million
Armenians as "the first genocide of the 20th century" at a 100th
anniversary Mass. Turkey swiftly summoned the Vatican's ambassador
in Ankara to protest.
(Reuters, 4/12/15)
2015 Apr 14, Turkey deported
nine Britons, including the son of a local councilor, two weeks
after arresting them for attempting to cross into Syria.
(AFP, 4/14/15)
2015 Apr 22, Austrian lawmakers
condemned as "genocide" for the first time the massacre of Armenians
by Ottoman Turks during World War I, ahead of the 100th anniversary
of the violence.
(AFP, 4/22/15)
2015 Apr 24, Turkey hosted
leaders from the former Allied powers of World War I to pay tribute
to the tens of thousands killed in the Battle of Gallipoli, drawing
accusations from Armenians that it was deliberately overshadowing
the Yerevan ceremonies.
(AFP, 4/24/15)
2015 Apr 24, In Armenia the
leaders of France and Russia joined ceremonies marking the centenary
of the massacre of some 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman forces.
(AFP, 4/24/15)
2015 Apr 29, A Turkish court
acquitted 26 activists who helped launch mass protests in May-June
2013 against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, after a trial slammed
by rights campaigners.
(AFP, 4/29/15)
2015 Apr 30, Turkish
authorities issued arrest warrants for two judges in a legal
standoff over an order to release 75 suspects detained on suspicion
of plotting to overthrow President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
(AFP, 4/30/15)
2015 May 1, Turkish police
fired tear gas and water cannon at hundreds of stone-throwing May
Day protesters. Left-wing groups and trade unions staged rallies
around the world to mark International Workers Day.
(Reuters, 5/1/15)(AP, 5/1/15)
2015 May 9, Turkish former
president Kenan Evren (97), convicted last year for his key role in
the country's bloody 1980 coup, died in Ankara.
(AFP, 5/10/15)
2015 May 16, Turkish military
jets shot down a Syrian aircraft after it violated Turkey's
airspace.
(Reuters, 5/16/15)
2015 May 18, In Turkey twin
bomb attacks hit the regional headquarters of the main pro-Kurdish
HDP party in two cities, injuring more than half a dozen people and
escalating tensions ahead of June 7 legislative elections.
(AFP, 5/18/15)
2015 May 21, It was reported
that testimony from Turkish gendarmerie officers in court documents
alleged that Turkey's state intelligence agency helped deliver arms
to parts of Syria under Islamist rebel control during late 2013 and
early 2014. The witness testimony contradicted Turkey's denials that
it sent arms to Syrian rebels.
(Reuters, 5/21/15)
2015 May 21, Turkey's main
opposition party unveiled a plan to build a new mega-city in the
center of the country, in a bid to outflank the ambitious
infrastructure projects of the ruling party ahead of elections.
(AFP, 5/21/15)
2015 May 28, A US official said
the US military has started training Syrian opposition fighters in
Turkey to combat Islamic State, an expected expansion of a program
that first launched in Jordan weeks ago.
(Reuters, 5/28/15)
2015 May 29, In Turkey the
opposition daily Cumhuriyet published footage from January 2014
showing Turkish security forces discovering boxes of what it
described as weapons and ammunition being sent to Syria on National
Intelligence Organization (MIT) trucks intercepted near the Syrian
border.
(AFP, 6/2/15)
2015 May 31, In northwestern
Turkey 3 assailants opened fire at a street party celebrating the
wedding of a Roma community couple, killing 3 guests near Bursa.
(AP, 6/1/15)
2015 May, Turkish police
arrested 53 people on suspicion of pimping and prostitution in raids
on 25 addresses in five provinces across the south and southeast,
after receiving reports that patrons of swinger clubs were bringing
prostitutes to the sex parties. On Aug 3 local media said
prosecutors have demanded jail sentences of up to 177 years for 29
people in the southeastern province of Adana suspected of setting up
swingers' clubs.
(AP, 8/3/15)
2015 Jun 2, Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan filed a criminal complaint against the
opposition daily Cumhuriyet newspaper and its editor for publishing
images allegedly showing trucks belonging to the state intelligence
service helping send weapons to rebels in Syria. The New York-based
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and the Paris-based Reporters
Without Borders condemned Erdogan over his recent attacks on the
journalists.
(AFP, 6/2/15)
2015 Jun 3, In Turkey
assailants fired on a campaign vehicle belonging to a pro-Kurdish
party and killed its driver, in the latest violence against
politicians or political parties ahead of the June 7 general
election.
(AP, 6/4/15)
2015 Jun 4, Turkish government
official said more than 3,300 Syrians have crossed into Turkey in
the past two days fleeing fighting between Islamic State militants
and Kurdish forces in northern Syria's Tel Abyad region.
(AP, 6/4/15)
2015 Jun 5, In Turkey two
explosions tore through a rally of the pro-Kurdish Peoples'
Democratic Party (HDP) in Diyarbakir. 2 people were killed and some
200 wounded.
(Reuters, 6/6/15)
2015 Jun 7, Turkey held
parliamentary elections. President Tayyip Erdogan's ruling AK Party
lost its parliamentary majority. The pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic
Party (HDP), crossed a 10 percent threshold to enter parliament for
the first time. The HDP won 13% and an estimated 80 seats. The far
right Nationalist Action Party (MHP) took 16% of the vote and 80
seats. The Republican People’s Party won 25% of the vote and 112
seats.
(Reuters, 6/7/15)(Reuters, 6/8/15)(Econ, 6/13/15,
p.49)
2015 Jun 9, In southeastern
Turkey an Islamic aid group leader was shot dead as he left his
office in the Diyarbakir 3 people were killed in the mainly Kurdish
southeast when a clash broke out after the head of an Islamic aid
group was shot dead outside his office.
(Reuters, 6/9/15)
2015 Jun 11, Turkey said it was
taking measures to limit the flow of Syrian refugees onto its
territory after an influx of thousands more over the last days due
to fighting between Kurds and jihadists.
(AFP, 6/11/15)
2015 Jun 13, Turkish security
forces used water cannon and fired warning shots to push Syrians
away from the frontier as thousands massed at a border crossing to
escape escalating fighting.
(AFP, 6/13/15)
2015 Jun 13, In Azerbaijan
Russian President Vladimir Putin met Turkish counterpart Recep
Tayyip Erdogan for talks expected to touch on energy issues and the
Syria crisis. They met a day after attending the opening ceremony of
the inaugural European Games, hosted by Azerbaijan.
(AFP, 6/13/15)
2015 Jun 14, Syrian state
television said dozens of civilians were wounded when two bombs
exploded in the central city of Homs. Kurdish forces advanced to the
gates of Tal Abyad and clashed with Islamic State jihadists. The
upsurge in violence saw Turkey open its border to fleeing civilians.
(Reuters, 6/14/15)(AFP, 6/14/15)
2015 Jun 16, Turkey accused
Kurdish militia in northern Syria of persecuting civilians and said
it saw signs of "a kind of ethnic cleansing", drawing a parallel to
the actions of Islamic State militants and forces loyal to President
Bashar al-Assad.
(Reuters, 6/16/15)
2015 Jun 17, In Turkey Suleyman
Demirel (b.1924), a former president (1993-2000) and seven-time
prime minister, died in Ankara.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%BCleyman_Demirel)(SFC, 6/18/15,
p.A2)
2015 Jun 19, Turkish
authorities arrested two Georgian citizens who tried to enter the
country with radioactive material, including 1.2 kilos of cesium.
(AP, 6/19/15)
2015 Jun 23, Turkey’s coast
guard rescued 70 migrants off a sinking ship as 6 migrants drowned
in waters off the Greek island of Kos.
(AP, 6/24/15)
2015 Jun 26, Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey will never allow the
establishment of a Kurdish state in Syria after major gains by
Kurdish fighters.
(AFP, 6/27/15)
2015 Jun 28, In Turkey riot
police in Istanbul used teargas and water cannon to disperse
thousands of participants in the Gay Pride parade in the Turkish
after demonstrators began shouting slogans accusing the social
conservative President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of "fascism".
(AFP, 6/28/15)
2015 Jun 30, A total of 173
people, mostly women and children, from the minority Chinese Muslim
community of Uighurs arrived in Turkey from Thailand, where they
were being held after fleeing China. They were being resettled in
the central city of Kayseri, which boasts a strong Uighur community.
(AP, 7/2/15)
2015 Jul 3, Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan inaugurated a mosque on the grounds of his
gigantic palace complex naming it the "Bestepe People's Mosque" and
opened it to the public in an apparent effort to stave off more
criticism over his spending.
(AP, 7/3/15)
2015 Jul 7, Turkey's army said
it had detained 768 people trying to cross illegally from Syria,
including three suspected Islamic State militants, after bolstering
security in border areas near where the radical Islamists hold
ground.
(Reuters, 7/7/15)
2015 Jul 8, In Turkey Cilem
Karabulut (28) killed her husband Hasan Karabulut (33) in the
southern Adana region with a pistol stored at home. She was detained
by police and admitted to murdering her husband out of "honor" after
he repeatedly beat her and tried to force her into prostitution.
(AFP, 7/10/15)
2015 Jul 9, In Turkey
protesters stormed the Thai Consulate in Istanbul early today to
denounce Thailand's decision to deport 109 ethnic Uighur migrants
back to China.
(AP, 7/9/15)
2015 Jul 10, Turkey's state-run
news agency said police have carried out raids in Istanbul and three
other cities, detaining at least 21 people suspected of being
members of the Islamic State extremist group.
(AP, 7/10/15)
2015 Jul 11, Thailand sent
eight more ethnic Muslim Uighur refugees to Turkey, days after the
Thai government faced intense international criticism for deporting
109 refugees back to China despite fears they could face persecution
there. 52 Uighurs remained in Thailand.
(AP, 7/11/15)
2015 Jul 14, Turkey’s PM Ahmet
Davutoglu said the nationalist opposition does not want to share
power in a government with the ruling AK Party, dealing a blow to
his efforts to find a junior coalition partner.
(Reuters, 7/14/15)
2015 Jul 20, In Turkey a
suspected Islamic State suicide bomber killed 33 people, mostly
young students, in an attack on the town of Suruc near the Syrian
border. The students from the Federation of Socialist Youth
Associations had been planning a trip to Kobani to build a library,
plant a forest and build a playground. The bomber was later
identified as Seyh Abdurrahman Alagoaz (20) from Adiyaman.
(AP, 7/20/15)(AFP, 7/21/15)(AFP,
8/14/15)(Econ, 7/25/15, p.40)
2015 Jul 22, Kurdish militants
claimed responsibility for today’s assassination of two Turkish
police officers in what they said was retaliation for the July 20
suspected Islamic State suicide bombing which killed 32 mostly young
students.
(Reuters, 7/22/15)
2015 Jul 23, In Turkey
suspected Islamic State militants fired at a Turkish military
outpost from inside Syrian territory, killing a Turkish soldier and
wounding two others. 5 members of Islamic State were also killed
during the exchange of fire.
(AP, 7/23/15)(Reuters, 7/24/15)
2015 Jul 23, US defense
officials said that Turkey has agreed to allow manned US planes to
stage air strikes against Islamic State militants from an air base
at Incirlik, close to the Syrian border. US drones are already
launched from the base.
(Reuters, 7/24/15)
2015 Jul 24, Turkish warplanes
pounded Islamic State targets in Syria for the first time, with
President Tayyip Erdogan promising more decisive action against both
the jihadists and Kurdish militants at home. Police rounded up
nearly 300 people in raids against suspected Islamic State and
Kurdish militants.
(Reuters, 7/24/15)
2015 Jul 25, Turkish fighter
jets and ground forces hit Islamic State militants in Syria and
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) camps in Iraq overnight, in a campaign
Ankara said would help create a "safe zone" across swathes of
northern Syria. Kurdish militants said the conditions for
maintaining a ceasefire with Turkey were no longer in place, after
Turkish warplanes bombed their stronghold in northern Iraq.
(Reuters, 7/25/15)(AFP, 7/25/15)
2015 Jul 26, In Turkey an
overnight car bomb and roadside explosives hit a passing military
vehicle on a highway near Diyarbakir. Kurdish militants then opened
fire with long-range rifles killing 2 soldiers, At least six people
were detained in the attack.
(Reuters, 7/26/15)
2015 Jul 27, In Turkey a
gendarmerie major in the eastern province of Mus died after being
shot by suspected PKK militants. In the nearby province of Van a
military unit came under fire.
(Reuters, 7/28/15)
2015 Jul 27, In northern Syria
the YPG made further gains against Islamic State, capturing a town
near the Euphrates River after a month-long offensive aimed at
cutting their supply lines. Kurdish fighters in northern Syria
accused the Turkish army of shelling their positions.
(Reuters, 7/27/15)
2015 Jul 27, A senior US
official said United States and Turkey have agreed to work together
to clear the Islamic State group from northern Syria.
(AFP, 7/27/15)
2015 Jul 28, Turkish President
Tayyip Erdogan said it was impossible to continue a peace process
with Kurdish militants and urged parliament to strip politicians
with links to them of immunity from prosecution.
(Reuters, 7/28/15)
2015 Jul 29, Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with top Chinese officials amid tensions
over China's treatment of its Uighur minority and sensitive
negotiations surrounding the possible purchase of a Chinese missile
system.
(AP, 7/29/15)
2015 Jul 29, Turkey said it has
formally signed a deal with the United States opening its Incirlik
air base to the US-led coalition against Islamic State militants. In
exchange the Americans agreed to help establish a 65-mile IS-free
zone along a western section of the Turkish-Syrian border.
(Reuters, 7/29/15)(Econ, 8/1/15, p.42)
2015 Jul 29, Turkish jets
launched their heaviest assault on Kurdish militants in northern
Iraq overnight since air strikes began last week. A Turkish soldier
was killed and three seriously wounded in the eastern province of
Agri in what appeared to be a PKK attack.
(Reuters, 7/29/15)
2015 Jul 29, Turkey’s Deputy PM
Bulent Arinc gave a breakdown of the terror suspects rounded up in
the nationwide police operation, saying that of the 1,300 detained
only 137 were suspected of links to IS. Some 31 have been charged so
far, while 18 were released. In contrast, police detained as many as
847 PKK suspects. A total of 142 have been charged so far, while 120
were released.
(AP, 7/30/15)
2015 Jul 30, In southeast
Turkey Kurdish rebels attacked security forces in two separate
assaults in Simak province, killing 3 soldiers and an officer. One
rebel was also killed. Kurdish rebels raided a Turkish police
station and fired on railway workers in two separate attacks that
left 5 dead.
(AP, 7/30/15)(AP, 7/31/15)
2015 Jul 30, Indonesia and
Turkey agreed to strengthen their intelligence cooperation as a way
to bolster their efforts to combat terrorism and prevent the spread
of radicalism.
(AP, 7/31/15)
2015 Aug 1, Turkey’s official
Anatolia news agency said around 260 members of the outlawed
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) have been killed and hundreds more
wounded in Ankara's week-long campaign of air strikes against
targets of the group inside Turkey and in northern Iraq. Turkish war
planes struck the village of Zarkel (Zergele in Kurdish) in northern
Iraq killed at least 6 people.
(AFP, 8/1/15)(AFP, 8/3/15)
2015 Aug 1, Iraq's Kurdish
regional government called on the Kurdistan Worker's Party to
"withdraw" from Iraq's Kurdish territory to prevent civilian deaths
amid a campaign of Turkish airstrikes targeting the group.
(AP, 8/1/15)
2015 Aug 2, Two Turkish
soldiers were killed and 31 wounded in a suicide bombing overnight,
as violence escalated following Ankara's air bombardment of Kurdish
militants in northern Iraq. A day later the outlawed Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK) claimed responsibility.
(Reuters, 8/2/15)(AFP, 8/3/15)
2015 Aug 4, Two Turkish
soldiers and an armed guard were killed in a blast from a homemade
mine planted by Kurdish militants in Sirnak province. Turkish
warplanes pounded suspected Kurdish rebel targets near Daglica,
Hakkari province, in retaliation to a rebel mortar attack at a
military base which wounded a 6-year-old girl. Kurdish militants
attacked Turkey's Shah Deniz pipeline carrying natural gas from
Azerbaijan, but the blast did not impact supply as flow had already
been halted for maintenance.
(Reuters, 8/4/15)(AP, 8/4/15)
2015 Aug 4, The Arab League
condemned Turkey's actions and called on Ankara to recognize the
sovereignty of Iraq. The Arab League also called on Turkey and Iraq
to increase cooperation in order to try and preserve peace. Qatar
however, distanced itself from the Arab League declaration.
(AFP, 8/5/15)
2015 Aug 5, Turkey said a
US-led coalition will soon launch a "comprehensive battle" against
Islamic State militants from Turkish air bases, but Syria said any
military action not coordinated with Damascus would breach its
sovereignty.
(Reuters, 8/5/15)
2015 Aug 7, In Turkey 5 people
including a Turkish soldier died and several others were injured in
clashes in the restive Kurdish-majority southeast, as violence raged
between Kurdish militants and security forces.
(AFP, 8/7/15)
2015 Aug 7, Turkey’s official
Anatolia news agency reported that the government has frozen the
assets of officials from Yemen's former regime including
ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh, along with Huthi rebel leaders. The
freeze will be in place until February 26, 2016.
(AP, 8/7/15)
2015 Aug 7, In Turkey an
Iranian bus was hit in Dogubayazit district of the eastern Agri
province. The driver was fatally shot in the head. Turkish
authorities blamed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants. The
passengers were unhurt.
(AFP, 8/8/15)
2015 Aug 8, In southern Turkey
Kurdish PKK rebels fired at a police vehicle, killing a policeman
and wounding another.
(AP, 8/9/15)
2015 Aug 9, Turkey’s official
Anatolia news agency reported that 390 members of the outlawed
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) have been killed and hundreds injured
in two weeks of Turkish airstrikes on positions in northern Iraq.
Operations in the eastern Agri province killed 7 PKK militants.
(AFP, 8/9/15)(Reuters, 8/11/15)
2015 Aug 10, In Turkey two
women shot at the US consulate in Istanbul. The Revolutionary
People's Liberation Army-Front (DHKP-C), considered a terrorist
organization by the US and Turkey, said one of its members was
involved in the attack. The bombing of an Istanbul police station
left 4 people dead, 3 of them PKK attackers. At least 8 people were
killed in a wave of separate attacks on security forces.
(Reuters, 8/10/15)(Reuters, 8/11/15)
2015 Aug 11, Turkish warplanes
hit 17 Kurdish militant targets in the southeastern province of
Hakkari over the last 24 hours.
(AP, 8/11/15)
2015 Aug 12, A Turkish soldier
and two fighters from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) were killed
when militants attacked a military outpost in the southeastern
province of Diyarbakir.
(Reuters, 8/12/15)
2015 Aug 13, In Turkey efforts
PM Ahmet Davutoglu to forge a coalition alliance with the country's
pro-secular party failed, edging the country closer toward new
elections.
(AP, 8/13/15)
2015 Aug 14, Turkish state
media said the military has started building a concrete wall along
the border with Syria following a series of attacks. Security forces
said a soldier was killed after a mine laid by militants was
detonated remotely in the eastern province of Bingol. 2 PKK fighters
were killed during an operation in response to the attack.
(AFP, 8/14/15)(Reuters, 8/14/15)
2015 Aug 15, Turkey’s state
news reported that Kurdish rebels detonated a roadside bomb between
the eastern provinces of Bingol and Erzurum as a military vehicle
was passing by, killing 3 soldiers. A police officer was killed
after PKK rebels opened fire near the town of Semdinli.
(AP, 8/15/15)(Reuters, 8/15/15)
2015 Aug 17, Turkey’s Supreme
Court ruled that the Turkish state should cover all the expenses of
cemevis, the prayer houses of the Alevi community, as it does for
mosques, churches and synagogues. Alevis revere Imam Ali, son-in-law
of the Prophet Mohammed. Theirs is a Turkish version of Alawism,
prominent in neighboring Syria.
(AFP, 8/18/15)
2015 Aug 18, In Turkey Muslim
scholars and environmental advocates from about 20 countries called
for a global phase-out of greenhouse gas emissions by mid-century.
(AP, 8/18/15)
2015 Aug 19, Turkish police
arrested two people after a hand grenade was hurled and shots were
fired at officers guarding Istanbul's Dolmabache Palace. In the
southeast PKK militants killed 8 soldiers in a bomb attack in Siirt
province.
(AP, 8/19/15)(Reuters, 8/19/15)
2015 Aug 21, Turkey’s private
Dogan news agency said 12 km (7 miles) of concrete barrier have
already been erected along the border at Reyhanli town, in Hatay
province, a main point for smuggling and border crossing from Syria.
(AP, 8/20/15)
2015 Aug 21, A Turkish captain,
was killed in a rocket and long-range gun attack late today on a
military post in Beytussebap district in southeastern Sirnak
province.
(AFP, 8/22/15)
2015 Aug 22, Turkey's military
said warplanes have conducted new air strikes against Kurdish rebel
targets in northern Iraq, killing 29 militants on Aug 20-21.
(AP, 8/22/15)
2015 Aug 22, Turkey said its
security forces have detained 435 migrants and Syrian refugees along
with three suspected people smugglers, before they embarked on an
attempt to cross the Aegean Sea to Greece.
(AFP, 8/22/15)
2015 Aug 23, In Turkey Kurdish
militants armed with assault rifles attacked a hydroelectric power
station near the southeastern city of Diyarbakir, killing a soldier
and wounding three others.
(Reuters, 8/23/15)
2015 Aug 24, In northeastern
Turkey two buildings collapsed during heavy flooding, killing eight
people in Artvin province.
(Reuters, 8/24/15)
2015 Aug 25, The Turkish
military said 34 militants from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)
were killed in its latest air strikes on the group's camps in
northern Iraq's Qandil mountain region.
(Reuters, 8/25/15)
2015 Aug 26, Turkish PM Ahmet
Davutoglu invited three lawmakers from the pro-Kurdish Peoples'
Democratic Party (HDP) to join an interim government to take Turkey
to November 1 elections.
(AFP, 8/26/15)
2015 Aug 26, In Turkey Jamil
Raadoun, the commander of Sukour al-Ghab from the rebel Free Syrian
Army, died in a bomb attack on his car in the southern province of
Hatay. Raadoun, who defected from the Syrian army early on in the
four-year-old civil war, had been in Turkey for about a year.
(Reuters, 8/26/15)
2015 Aug 27, In southeastern
Turkey 6 people were killed in street fighting between security
forces and Kurdish rebels in a mainly Kurdish town of Yuksekova
after authorities imposed a curfew in the town late the previous
day.
(Reuters, 8/27/15)
2015 Aug 28, Turkish jets took
part in US-led coalition air strikes against Islamic State in Syria
for the first time.
(AP, 8/29/15)
2015 Aug 29, Turkish media
reported that three attacks or clashes between security forces and
Kurdish rebels have killed 5 people and injured 24 others in the
southeast.
(AP, 8/29/15)
2015 Aug 30, In southeastern
Turkey a child, 3 other civilians and 2 police officer were killed
in violence following the breakdown of a ceasefire between the
government and Kurdish militants in Diyarbakir province.
(Reuters, 8/30/15)
2015 Aug 31, Turkish
authorities offered up to 4 million lira ($1.37 million) in rewards
for those who help a crackdown on "terrorists", in a new ruling
published today.
(AFP, 8/31/15)
2015 Sep 1, Turkish police
raided the offices of the Koza Ipek group, a conglomerate linked to
a US-based cleric accused of plotting against President Tayyip
Erdogan.
(Reuters, 9/1/15)
2015 Sep 1, A Turkish soldier
vanished and another was killed in cross-border shooting with
Islamic State fighters near the town of Kilis, close to Syrian
territory that has been under Islamic State control for months.
(Reuters, 9/5/15)
2015 Sep 1, Greek authorities
said a coast guard special unit raid has found a shipment of weapons
on board a foreign-flagged cargo ship sailing near Crete. The ship
was en route from Turkey to Libya. A Turkish foreign ministry
spokesman soon confirmed the cargo included weapons but said it was
fully documented and was destined for the Sudanese police force.
(AP, 9/1/15)(AP, 9/2/15)
2015 Sep 2, An image of Aylan
Kurdi (3), a drowned toddler washed up on the beach in one of
Turkey's prime tourist resorts, swept across social media, after at
least 12 presumed Syrian refugees died trying to reach the Greek
island of Kos.
(Reuters, 9/2/15)(SSFC, 9/6/15, p.A18)
2015 Sep 2, In Iraq gunmen in
military uniform seized 18 Turkish workers from a sports stadium
they were building in northeastern Baghdad. Two of the workers were
freed on Sep 15. The remaining sixteen were freed on Sep 30.
(Reuters, 9/2/15)(AFP, 9/16/15)(AP, 9/30/15)
2015 Sep 3, PM Ahmet Davutoglu
said Turkey will continue to keep its doors open to refugees and
urged European countries to take their share of the burden.
(Reuters, 9/3/15)
2015 Sep 3, Four Turkish police
were killed in a bomb attack on their vehicle in the country's
southeast blamed on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
(AFP, 9/3/15)
2015 Sep 4, Turkey imposed a
curfew on Cizre, a city of 120,000 on the border with Syria and
close to Iraq, in an effort to cripple the PKK. The curfew was
lifted on Sep 12. The government said that up to 32 Kurdish
militants were killed during the curfew and anti-terror operations.
The pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) said 21 civilians
were killed.
(AFP, 9/13/15)
2015 Sep 6, In Turkey the W-20
— a grouping of female leaders — was launched in Ankara, aimed at
boosting the role of women in global economic growth, as G20 finance
ministers and central bank governors met for talks on the global
economy.
(AP, 9/6/15)
2015 Sep 6, In eastern Turkey 2
policeman were killed and three others injured in Diyarbakir when
Kurdish militants clashed with security forces. Kurdistan Workers
Party (PKK) rebels reportedly killed 31 members of the armed forces
in an attack on a convoy and clashes in the mountainous Daglica area
of Hakkari province. Turkey’s army statement said 16 had died.
(Reuters, 9/6/15)(Reuters, 9/7/15)
2015 Sep 7, Turkish warplanes
bombed Kurdish insurgent targets overnight after the militants
staged what appeared to be their deadliest attack since the collapse
of a two-year-old ceasefire in July. 16 Turkish soldiers were killed
in the Kurdish-dominated southeast of the country in an attack
blamed on the PKK.
(Reuters, 9/7/15)(AFP, 9/8/15)
2015 Sep 8, Turkish warplanes
launched a massive air operation against the outlawed Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK) in northern Iraq, killing as many as 40 rebels.
Kurdish militants killed 14 police officers in a bomb attack on a
minibus in a Turkish province bordering Armenia and Iran. Turkish
ground forces crossed into northern Iraq for the first time since
2011 in a "short-term" operation to hunt down Kurdish rebels.
(AFP, 9/8/15) (Reuters,
9/8/15)(AP, 9/8/15)
2015 Sep 10, In Turkey
suspected smugglers opened fire from Syria and shot dead a Turkish
soldier, the second cross-border firefight to have killed a member
of the Turkish security forces in as many weeks.
(Reuters, 9/10/15)
2015 Sep 11, In southeastern
Turkey Kurdish militants fired on a restaurant frequented by police
in Diyarbakir, killing a waiter and wounding three officers after
Turkish jets bombed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) targets in
northern Iraq for a fifth straight night. Media reported that at
least 60 PKK fighters were killed in the air strikes by F-16 and F-4
jets which hit 64 targets in the group's camps across the region.
(Reuters, 9/11/15)
2015 Sep 13, In southeast
Turkey Kurdish militants killed 2 police officers in a car bomb
attack on a checkpoint in Sirnak province. Turkish forces shelled a
mountainous area where PKK fighters had fled after the checkpoint
attack, killing 6 of them. The PKK also launched an attack with
rocket-propelled grenades and rifles in the Silvan district of
Diyarbakir province, killing one police officer and wounding
another.
(Reuters, 9/13/15)
2015 Sep 14, Turkish police
raided the liberal news magazine Nokta (Full Stop) and detained one
of its senior editors over a photomontage on its cover portraying
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan taking a selfie at a soldier's
funeral.
(AFP, 9/14/15)
2015 Sep 15, At least 22
Greece-bound migrants drowned when their boat sank off Turkey.
Police blocked hundreds of others seeking to find an alternative
route to Europe by land.
(AFP, 9/15/15)
2015 Sep 19, Turkey’s state-run
Anatolia news agency reported that Turkish fighter jets carried out
a new barrage of cross-border airstrikes this week against Kurdish
militants in northern Iraq, killing at least 55 rebels.
(AFP, 9/19/15)
2015 Sep 20, In Turkey at least
10,000 demonstrators rallied in central Istanbul for a protest aimed
at denouncing violence by Kurdish rebels.
(AP, 9/20/15)
2015 Sep 20, At least 13
migrants died off the coast of Turkey after the inflatable dinghy
carrying them to Greece collided with a ferry.
(AFP, 9/20/15)
2015 Sep 21, The Turkish
military said it has killed 5 Kurdish rebels in airstrikes on the
southeastern province of Hakkari.
(AP, 9/21/15)
2015 Sep 24, Two Turkish
soldiers and 34 Kurdish rebels were killed in fighting in Sirnak
province.
(AFP, 9/25/15)
2015 Sep 25, In Turkey 4
civilians were killed after they were caught in clashes between
Turkish security forces and Kurdish militants in the southeast.
Turkish military killed more than 30 Kurdish militants in a
cross-border operation.
(AFP, 9/26/15)(Reuters, 9/29/15)
2015 Sep 25, In southern Turkey
13 people were killed in a road accident as millions took to their
cars for the annual Muslim holiday season of Eid.
(Reuters, 9/25/15)
2015 Sep 27, Seventeen migrants
drowned when their boat sank off the Turkish coast while headed for
the Greek island of Kos. 20 people were rescued.
(Reuters, 9/27/15)
2015 Sep 28, In southern Turkey
2 police officers were killed in an attack by suspected PKK
militants in Adana province. 6 PKK militants were killed in
operations carried out in the southeastern province of Hakkari.
(Reuters, 9/29/15)(AP, 9/29/15)
2015 Sep 29, Turkish warplanes
late today struck 24 targets in a bombardment of Kurdistan Workers'
Party (PKK) positions in the southeastern province of Hakkari. 2
soldiers were killed when a bomb buried in the ground went off when
a military vehicle passed by on a road between southeastern towns of
Semdinli and Yuksekova.
(Reuters, 9/30/15)
2015 Oct 1, In Turkey prominent
anti-government journalist Ahmet Hakan was attacked early today
outside his home in Istanbul, raising fears over the security of
media figures who taken a critical line against President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan. Police reportedly detained all four suspects after a
hot pursuit.
(AFP, 10/1/15)
2015 Oct 1, In Turkey 12 people
were killed in Ankara when a bus ploughed into commuters waiting at
a bus stop.
(AFP, 10/1/15)
2015 Oct 2, Turkish security
forces killed more than 10 suspected Kurdish militants amid
intensifying clashes in the country's southeast, while 44 people
were arrested in Istanbul on suspicion of links with the rebels.
Suspected militants of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) abducted
two Turkish soldiers on a highway between the Tunceli and Erzincan
provinces.
(Reuters, 10/2/15)(AFP, 10/3/15)
2015 Oct 4, Turkish warplanes
struck Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) targets in northern Iraq and
eastern Turkey overnight, in a new air operation against the
militant group.
(AFP, 10/4/15)
2015 Oct 7, Turkish officials
said police have seized material allegedly used by Islamic State
militants to produce coins for the group and arrested six foreign
nationals in Gaziantep city.
(AP, 10/8/15)
2015 Oct 8, Turkey appealed to
its NATO allies to shore up missile defenses in the country aimed at
shooting down Syrian rockets, as Germany said again that it will
withdraw its Patriot batteries and the United States was set to do
the same.
(Reuters, 10/8/15)
2015 Oct 8, In southeastern
Turkey a child was killed and three others wounded in the town of
Silvan after munitions they found and were playing with on the
street exploded.
(Reuters, 10/8/15)
2015 Oct 10, In Turkey as many
as 128 people were killed when two suspected suicide bombers hit a
rally of pro-Kurdish and leftist activists outside Ankara's main
train station, in the deadliest attack of its kind on Turkish soil.
On Oct 16 authorities raised the toll to 102. Hours after the
bombing, the PKK ordered its fighters to halt operations in Turkey
unless they faced attack. Turkey targeted the Islamic State in
investigations of the bombing.
(AP, 10/11/15)(Reuters, 10/11/15)(AP, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 11, Thousands of
people took to the streets of Ankara to denounce the government of
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after it said 95 people were killed
in twin suspected suicide bombings on a peace rally a day earlier.
Turkey's pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), one of the
groups that called the peace rally, issued a statement claiming the
actual toll was far higher at 128, giving the names of 120 victims.
2 Turkish soldiers were reported killed during clashes with PKK
militants in the Senkaya district of Erzurum province. The Turkish
army said it killed at least 49 Kurdish rebels in a series of air
strikes on the group's bases in northern Iraq as well as
southeastern Diyarbakir province.
(AFP, 10/11/15)
2015 Oct 12, In Turkey hundreds
of people marched through Istanbul and Ankara to condemn the
slaughter by suicide bombers at a weekend peace rally.
(AP, 10/12/15)
2015 Oct 13, Turkish security
forces killed ten Kurdish militants during ground and air operations
in southeastern Turkey, days after the insurgents called a
unilateral ceasefire.
(Reuters, 10/14/15)
2015 Oct 15, Turkey demanded
that the European Union start easing restrictions next year on Turks
traveling to the European Union if it wants full cooperation to stem
the flow of Syrian refugees.
(Reuters, 10/15/15)
2015 Oct 15, Cyprus decried an
undersea pipeline carrying fresh water from Turkey to the breakaway
Turkish Cypriot north, saying it aims to further cement Ankara's
grip on the ethnically-divided island.
(AP, 10/15/15)
2015 Oct 15, The European Court
of Human Rights ruled Switzerland had violated Turkish politician
Dogu Perincek's right to freedom of speech by convicting him for
denying that the killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915
amounted to genocide.
(Reuters, 10/15/15)
2015 Oct 16, Turkey shot down a
drone in an incident highlighting the dangers of multiple air combat
operations over Syria. Russian warplanes hit areas in support of the
Syrian army's offensive south of Aleppo, around 35 km (20 miles)
from the Turkish border.
(Reuters, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 17, Turkey said 3
soldiers and 28 Kurdish militants have been killed in air strikes
and clashes over the past two days in the predominantly Kurdish
southeast.
(Reuters, 10/17/15)
2015 Oct 17, The Turkish
coastguard said 12 migrants thought to be from Syria and
Afghanistan, including four children and a baby, drowned off the
coast of Turkey as they tried to reach the Greek island of Lesbos.
(Reuters, 10/17/15)
2015 Oct 17, In Turkey a
British woman working for a London-based media charity who was
heading to Iraq was found dead at Istanbul's Ataturk airport. Jackie
Sutton (50) was reportedly found hanged in the toilets. There were
no signs of foul play.
(AFP, 10/19/15)(AP, 10/21/15)
2015 Oct 18, Turkish police
arrested around 50 foreign nationals in Istanbul early today in a
sweep targeting jihadists of the Islamic State group suspected of
involvement in last weekend's Ankara suicide bombings.
(AFP, 10/18/15)
2015 Oct 18, In Turkey 2
soldiers were killed when rebels set off a remote-controlled mine
targeting an army vehicle in the eastern province of Tunceli.
Security officials said 4 government soldiers and about 20 Kurdish
rebels have been killed in several days of clashes in the
mountainous Daglica region.
(AFP, 10/18/15)
2015 Oct 19, Turkey’s PM Ahmet
Davutoglu confirmed that one of the suicide bombers in the Oct 10
attack in Ankara had been officially identified through DNA testing.
(AFP, 10/19/15)
2015 Oct 23, The United States,
Russia, Turkey and Saudi Arabia met in Vienna to explore a political
solution to the Syrian civil war despite the basic US-Russian
disagreement over Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's fate.
(AP, 10/23/15)
2015 Oct 25, Turkish military
shot at Kurdish forces deployed in the town of Tal Abyad, Syria,
using mostly machine guns. There were no casualties in the shooting
and the Kurdish forces didn't return fire.
(AP, 10/27/15)
2015 Oct 26, Two Turkish
policemen and 7 Islamic State suspects were killed in a shootout in
the southeastern city of Diyarbakir. About 15 suspected militants
were detained and the government labeled the raid as an important
blow to an IS cell.
(AFP, 10/2615)(AP, 10/27/15)
2015 Oct 27, Turkish
authorities took over the management of 22 companies including
newspapers and TV stations linked to a US-based cleric and
arch-enemy of President Tayyip Erdogan, intensifying a crackdown
days ahead of an election. Police used tear gas to disperse hundreds
of people protesting against the government's move to seize control
of Koza-Ipek Holding.
(Reuters, 10/27/15)(AP, 10/27/15)
2015 Oct 28, In Turkey Istanbul
police used tear gas in a dawn raid on the headquarters of Koza-Ipek
Holding, a major media company linked to a government critic,
enforcing a court order to seize the business just days before
Turkey holds a national election. Riot police firing tear gas and
water cannon stormed two opposition-linked television stations and
forced them off air.
(AP, 10/28/15)(AFP, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 29, Turkish media said
12 people have died and dozens have been hospitalized over the last
three days after being poisoned by bootleg alcohol. Istanbul police
detained 15 people in connection with the production and sale of the
illegally produced raki.
(Reuters, 10/29/15)
2015 Oct 29, The United States
and its allies conducted 11 air strikes against Islamic State
militants in Iraq and one in Syria.
(Reuters, 10/30/15)
2015 Oct 29, The US Pentagon
said Ahmed Abdel Aziz (45) has been sent back to his native
Mauritania after 13 years in custody at Guantanamo. He was never
charged with a crime.
(AP, 10/29/15)
2015 Oct 29, In Central African
Republic 4 people were killed by mobs in Bangui. 3 Muslims were
attacked as they left the city's only Muslim enclave, PK5, to enter
the Christian sixth district. Witnesses said 2 of them were killed
immediately and their bodies chopped into small pieces. A third man
escaped but was then stoned to death by a crowd. A Christian was
killed later in the morning as he entered PK5.
(Reuters, 10/29/15)
2015 Oct 29, China’s Communist
Party said it will ease family planning restrictions to allow all
couples to have two children after decades of a strict one-child
policy, a move aimed at alleviating demographic strains on the
economy.
(Reuters, 10/29/15)
2015 Oct 29, The EU said it
will suspended most sanctions against Belarus for four months as of
Oct 31, citing "improving relations" after authoritarian President
Alexander Lukashenko released all remaining political prisoners.
(Reuters, 10/29/15)
2015 Oct 29, German police said
they have searched the homes of 13 people as part of an
international swoop on users of the mobile phone malware DroidJack,
which allows cybercriminals to assume control of Android smartphones
without users being aware.
(AFP, 10/29/15)
2015 Oct 29, Berlin police
arrested a 32-year-old man suspected of abducting a 4-year-old
migrant boy after a child's body was found in his car. Mohamed
Januzi of Bosnia disappeared on Oct. 1 while waiting outside the
offices of the government program for social care with his mother
and two siblings. Police the next day said Silvio S. had confessed
during questioning to killing both Mohamed Januzi, and six-year-old
Elias from Potsdam, who went missing in July. On July 26, 2016,
Silvio S. was jailed for life.
(Reuters, 10/29/15)(AP, 10/30/15)(Reuters,
7/26/16)
2015 Oct 29, Authorities on the
Greek island of Lesbos searched for 38 people believed still missing
after the sinking of a wooden boat carrying migrants. Greece rescued
144 refugees and recovered the bodies of 22, including 4 infants and
9 children, after their boats sank in two separate incidents in the
Aegean sea.
(AP, 10/29/15)(Reuters, 10/30/15)
2015 Oct 29, In Iraq a barrage
of rockets hit Camp Liberty, a former US military base near Baghdad
housing an opposition Iranian refugee group (MEK). 3 Iraqi soldiers
were killed and at least 20 Iranian exiles.
(SFC, 10/30/15, p.A2)
2015 Oct 29, Israeli security
forces shot dead 2 Palestinian assailants in Hebron in the occupied
West Bank following knife attacks on Israeli soldiers.
(Reuters, 10/29/15)
2015 Oct 29, Lebanese customs
officials discovered 230 kg of Captagon amphetamine pills hidden
inside tables prepared for export to the Gulf state of Qatar from
Beirut international airport.
(Reuters, 10/30/15)
2015 Oct 29, Moldova's
parliament backed a motion of no-confidence in the ruling
pro-European coalition, increasing political turmoil following the
fraudulent disappearance of $1 billion from the banking system. The
vote signaled an end to the short-lived government of PM Valeriu
Strelet.
(Reuters, 10/29/15)
2015 Oct 29, Prominent Moroccan
academic and rights activist Maati Monjib announced he had ended a
three-week hunger strike after the judiciary lifted a travel ban
against him.
(AFP, 10/29/15)
2015 Oct 29, Four African
migrants drowned and up to 35 were missing after their boat sank in
the Mediterranean in the early hours around 40 miles (65 km) north
of the Moroccan coast.
(Reuters, 10/30/15)
2015 Oct 29, Myanmar police
arrested Kyaw Ko Ko (34), the leader of a student movement crushed
in March, after he spent more than six months in hiding, amid
increasing signs of a crackdown on dissent ahead of a Nov. 8
election.
(Reuters, 10/29/15)
2015 Oct 29, In Russia 5 people
were killed in a night-time blast of household gas in an apartment
block in the Khabarovsk region of the country's Far East.
(AP, 10/30/15)
2015 Oct 29, Saudi blogger Raif
Badawi (31), who was sentenced to 1,000 lashes and 10 years in
prison for insulting Islam, was awarded the European Parliament's
prestigious Sakharov human rights prize.
(AFP, 10/29/15)
2015 Oct 29, The British-based
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said there had been 595 deaths
in Syria from Russian air strikes since September 30. Russian
warplanes renewed strikes, including in the central province of Homs
and the northwestern province of Idlib.
(AFP, 10/29/15)
2015 Oct 29, Turkish media said
12 people have died and dozens have been hospitalized over the last
three days after being poisoned by bootleg alcohol. Istanbul police
detained 15 people in connection with the production and sale of the
illegally produced raki.
(Reuters, 10/29/15)
2015 Oct 29, In southern Turkey
Syrian activists Ibrahim Abdelqader, aka Ibrahim Abdul-Qadir (22),
and Fares Hamadi (20), journalists for the "Raqqa is being
slaughtered silently" collective, were murdered by Islamic State
operatives in Sanliurfa.
(AP, 10/30/15)(AP, 12/17/15)(AP, 8/14/17)
2015 Oct 29, Ukrainian armed
forces and pro-Russian insurgents exchanged 20 prisoners in a
goodwill gesture designed to get peace talks aimed at ending the
18-month crisis back on track.
(AFP, 10/29/15)
2015 Oct 29, In Ukraine a
series of blasts ripped through the military complex in
government-controlled Svatove, a town around 100 km (62 miles) from
the front line with pro-Russian separatists in eastern Luhansk
region. 2 civilians were killed and the incident was being
investigated as a "terrorist act."
(Reuters, 10/30/15)
2015 Oct 31, The US-led
coalition conducted nine air strikes against Islamic State targets
in Syria and 16 in Iraq. Air strikes by Turkish and US aircraft in
Syria killed more than 50 Islamic State militants and wounded around
30.
(Reuters, 11/1/15)
2015 Nov 1, Turkey held
parliamentary elections. The AKP won 49% of the vote, consolidating
support from the right to claw back a parliamentary majority that
will bolster Pres. Tayyip Erdogan's grip on power.
(AFP, 11/1/15)(Reuters, 11/2/15)(Econ, 11/7/15,
p.48)
2015 Nov 2, Turkish airstrikes
hit shelters, underground bunkers and weapon emplacements belonging
to the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, in six locations in
northern Iraq, including the Qandil mountains where the rebel
leadership is based.
(AP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 2, The Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) charged in a damning
report that Turkey's election was marred by a media crackdown,
violence and other security concerns.
(AFP, 11/2/15)
2015 Nov 3, Turkish police
detained 44 suspects including high-ranking bureaucrats and police
officers as part of a probe into supporters of a US-based cleric
accused of plotting to bring down President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
(AFP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 3, Turkish authorities
arrested two editors of a political weekly on charges of inciting an
armed uprising against the government for suggesting on the
magazine's front page that the aftermath of Turkey's election would
mark the start of a civil war.
(AP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 3, Turkish security
forces backed by helicopters imposed a curfew in parts of a town in
the largely Kurdish southeast, where three people were killed in
clashes.
(Reuters, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 4, Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for a new constitution that would give
him greater powers, heightening opposition fears over authoritarian
rule.
(AFP, 11/4/15)
2015 Nov 4, In Turkey 2
soldiers and 15 Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants were killed
fighting near the village of Daglica by the Iraqi border. A
20-year-old man was shot dead in the town of Silvan, where
authorities ordered a round-the-clock curfew in three neighborhoods
for a second successive day
(Reuters, 11/4/15)
2015 Nov 5, Turkey, said it was
planning to soon launch a military campaign against IS. Turkey
shares an 800-km (500-mile) border with northern Syria.
(AFP, 11/5/15)
2015 Nov 5, In southeastern
Turkey 18 people were killed in clashes with the military, lifting
this week's death toll to almost 40 in the mainly Kurdish area and
dampening prospects for a ceasefire.
(Reuters, 11/5/15)
2015 Nov 5, Kurdish militants
scrapped a month-old ceasefire in Turkey, a day after President
Tayyip Erdogan vowed to "liquidate" them.
(Reuters, 11/5/15)
2015 Nov 6, Turkish Airlines
canceled flights to Sharm al-Sheikh in Egypt on Friday and Saturday
nights over security concerns.
(Reuters, 11/6/15)
2015 Nov 6, The US military
deployed six F-15C fighter jets to Turkey's southern Incirlik air
base to help defend Turkish airspace against potential intruders.
(AP, 11/6/15)
2015 Nov 9, In Turkey a taxi
driver was killed and five other people, including a police officer,
were wounded when security forces clashed with Kurdish militants in
the southeastern town of Silvan.
(Reuters, 11/9/15)
2015 Nov 9, Turkish media
reported that anti-terrorist police have detained 38 foreigners,
including women and children, who were reportedly seeking to join
the Islamic State group in Syria. The suspects included nationals
from Iraq, Iran, Indonesia and several central Asian nations.
(AFP, 11/9/15)
2015 Nov 10, The EU accused
Ankara of backsliding on rule of law, rights and the media and urged
it to react swiftly, in a sensitive report on Turkey's candidacy for
the bloc that Brussels had delayed until after elections.
(AFP, 11/10/15)
2015 Nov 10, Kurdish rebels
detonated a bomb on a road in southeast Turkey, wounding six
soldiers riding inside an armored military vehicle. 3 policemen were
killed when PKK militants detonated an improvised explosive device
on a road near the town of Silopi, in Sirnak province.
(AP, 11/10/15)(AP, 11/11/15)
2015 Nov 11, In Turkey a
soldier was killed in a clash with Kurdish militants in the town of
Silvan, in Diyarbakir province. PKK rebels detonated a car bomb on a
road in the town of Dargecit, Mardin province, as an armored police
vehicle was passing by. The explosion killed a road-sweeper and
wounded a police officer.
(AP, 11/11/15)
2015 Nov 11, A wooden boat
carrying dozens of migrants sank off the Turkish coast, killing 14
people including 7 children.
(AP, 11/11/15)
2015 Nov 13, Turkish officials
said 14 people have been killed in clashes between Kurdish rebels
and security forces days before a G-20 summit in Turkey.
(AP, 11/13/15)
2015 Nov 14, Turkish security
forces killed 4 suspected IS militants near the Syrian border in the
southeastern province of Gaziantep.
(AFP, 11/18/15)
2015 Nov 15, In Turkey a
suicide bomber opened fire on police and then blew himself up during
their raid on a suspect Islamic State militant hideout near the
border with Syria, injuring five police officers.
(AP, 11/15/15)
2015 Nov 15, Speaking at a G20
leaders summit in Turkey US President Barack Obama vowed to step up
efforts to eliminate Islamic State in Syria and prevent it from
carrying out attacks like those in Paris, while European leaders
urged Russia to focus its military efforts on the radical Islamists.
Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed on the need for
UN-sponsored peace talks and a ceasefire to resolve years of war in
Syria.
(Reuters, 11/15/15)(AFP, 11/15/15)
2015 Nov 17, Turkish security
forces killed one suspected Islamic State (IS) militant seeking to
cross into Turkey from Syria and arrested 21 others.
(AFP, 11/18/15)
2015 Nov 20, Turkish media
reported that authorities have seized close to the Syrian border a
record haul of almost 11 million pills of the synthetic stimulant
drug captagon which is believed to play a crucial part in Syria's
civil war. It has been repeatedly dubbed as the drug fueling Syria's
civil war since its production provides income for the warring
factions and also keeps fighters awake and energized over long
periods.
(AFP, 11/20/15)
2015 Nov 20, Turkish army
warplanes carried out a wave of air strikes on northern Iraq hitting
23 suspected targets of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
(AFP, 11/21/15)
2015 Nov 21, A Turkish official
said a Belgian man of Moroccan origin has been arrested on suspicion
of involvement in Islamic State's Nov 13 attacks in Paris that
killed 130 people. Ahmet Dahmani (26) was arrested at a luxury hotel
in the southern coastal city of Antalya after traveling from
Amsterdam on Nov 14.
(Reuters, 11/21/15)
2015 Nov 21, Turkish warplanes
struck Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant targets, part of an
air and ground offensive against the group in southeast Turkey,
where some areas have been under curfew for as long as ten days.
(Reuters, 11/22/15)
2015 Nov 21, Syrian rebels
backed by Turkey and the United States seized two villages from
Islamic State (IS) jihadists close to the Turkish border after
fierce fighting.
(AFP, 11/21/15)
2015 Nov 24, Turkish PM Ahmet
Davutoglu unveiled a new cabinet stacked with loyal allies of
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, including his son-in-law who was
named energy minister.
(AFP, 11/24/15)
2015 Nov 24, Turkey shot down a
Russian warplane near the Syrian border, saying it had repeatedly
violated its air space, one of the most serious publicly
acknowledged clashes between a NATO member country and Russia for
half a century. The pilot was shot dead by rebels as he parachuted
to the ground.
(Reuters, 11/24/15)(Reuters, 11/25/15)
2015 Nov 25, The surviving crew
member of a Russian warplane shot down by Turkey said the plane
received no warnings from the Turkish Air Force and did not fly over
Turkish air space. Navigator Konstantin Murakhtin was rescued by
Russian and Syrian special forces after ejecting from the plane. The
US said data showed the Russian aircraft had transited Turkish
airspace.
(Reuters, 11/25/15)(SFC, 11/26/15, p.A4)
2015 Nov 26, Russia threatened
economic retaliation against Turkey and said it was still awaiting a
reasonable explanation for the shooting down of its warplane, but
Turkey dismissed the threats as "emotional" and "unfitting".
(Reuters, 11/26/15)
2015 Nov 27, Turkish media said
the government has "temporarily" suspended air strikes against
Islamic State targets in Syria after the downing of a Russian
warplane on the Syrian border sparked a major row with Moscow.
(AFP, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 27, In Turkey hundreds
of protesters gathered outside the Istanbul office of an opposition
newspaper, accusing the government of silencing critics and
attempting to cover-up a scandal after two journalists were jailed
on terror and espionage charges for their reports on alleged Turkish
arms smuggling to Syria.
(AP, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 27, Russia said it
would suspend its visa-free regime for Turkish nationals from
January 1 as it retaliates against Ankara for the downing of a
Russian warplane.
(AFP, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 27, At least six
children drowned in two separate incidents when their boats sank off
Turkey while trying to make the risky crossing to Greece.
(AFP, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 28, Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed "sadness" over Turkey's downing of a
Russian warplane that has severely strained relations. Erdogan said
the climate change summit in Paris next week could be a chance to
repair relations with Moscow.
(AFP, 11/28/15)(Reuters, 11/28/15)
2015 Nov 28, In southeastern
Turkey police killed Tahir Elci, a prominent Kurdish lawyer, during
a shootout between police and militants. The pro-Kurdish HDP Party
called it a "planned assassination" and urged people to take to the
streets in protest. Police fired water cannon and tear gas to
disperse around 2,000 people marching in Istanbul's Taksim Square
after Elci was shot dead in Diyarbakir. Shortly before Elci's
killing, two police officers were shot dead after they stopped a
"suspicious vehicle" in a nearby street.
(Reuters, 11/28/15)(Reuters, 11/30/15)
2015 Nov 29, Turkey recovered
the body of Russian pilot Oleg Peshkov from northern Syria and
presented it to Russian diplomats, five days after shooting down his
warplane in an incident that wrecked relations between the two
countries.
(Reuters, 11/29/15)
2015 Nov 29, Turkish PM Ahmet
Davutoglu struck a deal with EU leaders to prevent migrants from
traveling to Europe in return for 3 billion euros (dollars) in cash,
a deal on visas and renewed talks on joining the 28-nation bloc.
(Reuters, 11/30/15)
2015 Nov 30, Turkish
authorities rounded up some 1,300 migrants that they said were
planning to sail to Greece from hideouts near secluded Aegean
beaches and forests.
(Reuters, 11/30/15)
2015 Nov 30, Russia said it
will restrict imports of Turkish fruit and vegetables as part of a
package of new sanctions following the downing of a Russian warplane
by Turkey last week. Turkish PM Ahmet Davutoglu said his country
would not apologize to Russia for shooting down the warplane and
said he hoped Russia would reconsider sanctions.
(AP, 11/30/15)
2015 Dec 1, In Turkey 6
children died in a fire that broke out at a school teaching the
Quran in the southeastern province of Diyarbakir.
(AP, 12/1/15)
2015 Dec 1, NATO allies sought
to strengthen Turkey's defenses along its Syrian border after the
United States withdrew its missile defense battery for
modernization.
(Reuters, 12/1/15)
2015 Dec 2, Russia's defense
ministry said it had proof that Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and
his family were benefiting from the illegal smuggling of oil from
Islamic State-held territory in Syria and Iraq.
(Reuters, 12/2/15)
2015 Dec 3, A Turkish court
sentenced three men to life in prison over the Feb 11 murder and
attempted rape of female student Ozgecan Aslan (20.
(AFP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, Turkey said it has
agreed with Azerbaijan to accelerate the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline
(TANAP), with an aim to have the gas projected completed before the
planned 2018.
(Reuters, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, The foreign
ministers of Turkey and Russia met in Belgrade in the first
high-level bilateral talks since the downing of a Russian warplane
by Turkish jets sparked an unprecedented crisis.
(AFP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, Russian Energy
Minister Alexander Novak told reporters work on Turkish Stream, a
pipeline intended to pump Russian gas into southeastern Europe via
Turkey while bypassing Ukraine, had been suspended.
(Reuters, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 4, Turkish media said
authorities have rounded up in the past four days nearly 3,000
migrants planning to cross the Aegean Sea to EU member Greece.
(AFP, 12/4/15)
2015 Dec 4, Turkish media said
more than 100 Turkish soldiers have been deployed to an area near
the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, which is under Islamic State
control, to replace a unit providing training to Iraqi troops.
(AFP, 12/4/15)
2015 Dec 5, In Turkey 3 members
of the security forces were killed in clashes with militants the
mainly Kurdish southeast.
(Reuters, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 5, Iraqi President
Fouad Massoum called the deployment of several hundred Turkish
troops inside Iraq near the northern city of Mosul "a violation of
international norms and law".
(Reuters, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 7, Turkey said it
would not withdraw hundreds of soldiers who arrived last week at a
base in northern Iraq, despite being ordered by Baghdad to pull them
out within 48 hours.
(AP, 12/7/15)
2015 Dec 7, Lawyers hired by
the Turkish government filed a civil suit against cleric Fethullah
Gulen, a political enemy of President Tayyip Erdogan, in a US court
alleging human rights abuses. Gulen has lived in Pennsylvania since
1999.
(Reuters, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 8, Six Afghan children
drowned after a rubber dinghy carrying migrants to Greece sank off
Turkey's Aegean coast.
(AP, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 9, Turkey said its
fighter jets carried out a new barrage of air strikes against
Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq overnight.
(AFP, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 10, A Turkish news
agency said authorities have begun constructing a wall along a 82-km
(50-mile) stretch of Turkey's border with Syria that is under the
control of the Islamic State group on the Syrian side.
(AP, 12/10/15)
2015 Dec 11, President Tayyip
Erdogan declared he would not bow to Iraqi demands he withdraw
Turkish troops from a camp close to the Islamic State-held city of
Mosul. Baghdad said it would ask the UN Security Council to order
them to leave.
(Reuters, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 11, Turkey issued
arrest warrants for US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen and 66 others,
pressing President Tayyip Erdogan's campaign to root out the
influence of the former ally he accuses of trying to topple him.
(Reuters, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 11, Turkey's state-run
news agency said the country's communications authority has imposed
a 150,000 Turkish Lira (US$51,000) fine on Twitter for failing to
remove content it said praised terror and incited violence.
(AP, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 12, Thousands of
Iraqis protested against Ankara's deployment of troops to a base
near the northern city of Mosul.
(Reuters, 12/12/15)
2015 Dec 13, Russia warned
Turkey to stop staging what it called provocations against its
forces in or near Syria after one of its warships fired warning
shots at a Turkish vessel in the Aegean to avoid a collision.
(Reuters, 12/13/15)
2015 Dec 14, Turkey said it
withdrew some of its soldiers from a camp in Iraq, days after Iraq
had demanded that Turkish troops immediately leave its territory.
(AP, 12/14/15)
2015 Dec 14, In southeastern
Turkey 2 protesters were killed in clashes with police in the mainly
Kurdish city of Diyarbakir amid growing tensions over a days-long
curfew.
(AFP, 12/14/15)
2015 Dec 15, In Turkey 8
Kurdish militants were killed in Cizre after they shot at the
soldiers during an operation. A roadside bomb ripped through an
armored vehicle and killed 3 policemen in the southeastern province
of Diyarbakir.
(Reuters, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 16, Turkey's
ambassador to Qatar said Turkey will establish a military base in
Qatar as part of a defense agreement aimed at helping them confront
common enemies.
(Reuters, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 16, Turkish security
forces stepped up operations targeting Kurdish militants in
southeastern towns, as pro-government media detailed plans for a
10,000-strong force to restore state control in the region.
(Reuters, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 17, Turkey said its
security forces have killed 25 Kurdish militants this week as they
battle suspected members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party
(PKK) in the two flashpoint towns of Cizre and Silopi.
(AFP, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 18, Turkish security
forces pressed on with a relentless operation to root out Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK) rebels from two urban centers in the troubled
southeast that has left at least 55 militants dead and angered
Kurdish representatives.
(AFP, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 18, A Turkish
government official said authorities at Istanbul's main airport have
detained two people suspected of attempting to smuggle 148 blank
European passports concealed in pizza-making equipment.
(AP, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 19, Turkey said 69
Kurdish insurgents and two Turkish soldiers have been killed in four
days of fighting across the southeast as security forces ramp up
operations against the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
(Reuters, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 19, Turkey said it
would "continue" to pull its troops out of northern Iraq after US
President Barack Obama urged President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to do so
in order to de-escalate tensions with Baghdad over the deployment.
(AFP, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 19, Turkish media
reported that 18 people drowned overnight when their boat sank in
the Aegean Sea as it was heading for the Greek island of Kalymnos.
(AFP, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 20, In southeastern
Turkey armed clashes persisted, where an operation by Turkish forces
intensified on the sixth day of a campaign that security sources
said had resulted in the death of 110 Kurdish militants. Turkish
police fired tear gas to disperse several hundred protesters in
Istanbul's main Taksim square demonstrating against security
operations and curfews in the southeast.
(Reuters, 12/20/15)
2015 Dec 22, Turkish tanks
pounded Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) targets in Cizre. The army
said it has killed 127 Kurdish militants in a week.
(Reuters, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 22, Turkish police
killed two female "terrorists" in a pre-dawn raid on a cell of
suspected militants in Istanbul.
(AFP, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 22, Eleven migrants
bound for EU member Greece, including 3 children, drowned off the
Turkish coast.
(AFP, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 23, In Turkey a female
cleaner was killed and another wounded after an explosion near a
plane at Istanbul's second international airport. A mortar attack
was the cause of a deadly incident at Sabiha Gokcen airport.
(AFP, 12/23/15)(AFP, 1/7/16)
2015 Dec 24, Turkey said
another 19 people, including 6 children, drowned in the waters of
the Aegean off the coast of the Turkish city of Izmir after their
boat capsized.
(AP, 12/24/15)
2015 Dec 24, Turkish Internet
servers suffered a powerful cyberattack, slowing banking services
and fanning fears that it could be a politically motivated attack
from abroad.
(AFP, 12/25/15)
2015 Dec 25, In Turkey a
three-month-old baby and her grandfather were killed when they
became caught in the crossfire between security forces and Kurdish
rebels in Cizre.
(AFP, 12/27/15)
2015 Dec 27, In Turkey 3
soldiers were killed in a roadside bombing by the outlawed Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK) in the town of Cizre in the Kurdish majority
southeast.
(AFP, 12/27/15)
2015 Dec 27, In Turkey Naji
Jerf, a Syrian journalist and filmmaker who documented atrocities by
the Islamic State, was killed in Gaziantep. On Jan 10 state media
reported the arrest of three people in relation to the killing.
(SFC, 12/25/15, p.A2)(AFP, 1/10/16)
2015 Dec 28, A Turkish court
remanded in custody a 17-year-old construction worker on charges of
"insulting" Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Facebook.
(AFP, 12/28/15)
2015 Dec 28, In Syria buses and
ambulances carrying around 450 fighters and civilians evacuated from
two besieged areas crossed into Turkey and Lebanon.
(Reuters, 12/27/15)
2015 Dec 29, Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused the leader of the main Kurdish party
Selahattin Demirtas (42) of "treason" over his call for autonomy for
the country's Kurdish minority.
(AFP, 12/29/15)
2015 Dec 29, In Turkey a former
soccer referee won a court case against Turkey's football federation
which he has accused of outing him as a homosexual and stripping him
of his license to referee games because of his sexual orientation.
The court ordered the federation to pay Halil Ibrahim Dincdag 23,000
lira (US$8,000) in compensation.
(AP, 12/29/15)
2015 Dec 31, In Turkey hundreds
of flights were cancelled from Istanbul's two main airports after
the city was hit by a picturesque but troublesome snowfall.
(AFP, 12/31/15)
2015 Sean McMeekin authored
“The Ottoman Endgame: War Revoloution and the Making of the Modern
Middle East.”
(Econ, 10/31/15, p.80)
2015 Eugene Rogan authored “The
Fall of the Ottomans: The Great War in the Middle East.”
(Econ., 3/7/15, p.85)
2015 Thomas de Waal authored
“Great Catastrophe: Armenians and Turks in the Shadow of Genocide.”
(Econ., 4/18/15, p.75)
2015 Turkish businessman
Akin Ipek, who built a multi-billion-dollar fortune in Turkey based
on gold mining, left the country after relations between the
government and followers of US-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen
soured.
(AP, 4/9/19)
2016 Jan 1, Turkish media
reported that 2 police officers, a soldier and 12 Kurdistan Workers'
Party (PKK) fighters were killed in the southeast in the last 48
hours in operations to push back the militant group.
(Reuters, 1/1/16)
2016 Jan 3, In Turkey more than
200 people in Istanbul protested peacefully against curfews and
operations in mainly Kurdish cities and towns in the southeast,
where security forces and Kurdish militants are locked in an
intensifying conflict.
(AP, 1/3/16)
2016 Jan 4, Turkish security
sources said 2 civilians, 2 soldiers and a police officer have been
killed in the southeast over the last 24 hours as military
operations to root out armed fighters focused on urban centers
across the mainly Kurdish region. 3 female Kurdish political
activists were killed in fighting in curfew-hit Silopi town as the
authorities press an offensive against the outlawed Kurdistan
Workers Party (PKK).
(Reuters, 1/4/16)(AFP, 1/6/16)
2016 Jan 5, Turkey’s military
said security forces have killed at least 14 militants in the mainly
Kurdish southeast over the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 1/5/16)
2016 Jan 5, In Turkey the
bodies of 36 migrants, at least seven of them children, were found
at two sites along the Aegean coast after they apparently tried to
cross to the nearby Greek island of Lesbos.
(AP, 1/5/16)
2016 Jan 5, Turkish forces,
acting on a tip, conducted an operation on a Bolivian-flagged ship
in international waters off the coast of Libya and seized 13 tons of
marijuana. It was Turkey's first anti-narcotics operation in
international waters.
(AP, 1/6/16)
2016 Jan 7, In Iraq clashes
between a joint Turkish-Iraqi force and Islamic State militants near
the Bashiqa camp training camp outside the city of Mosul reportedly
left at least 18 IS fighters dead. The commander of the training
camp, Maj Gen. Mohammed Yahya, said there were no such clashes.
(AP, 1/8/16)
2016 Jan 8, Turkish police
detained six people including local officials from the pro-Kurdish
People's Democratic Party (HDP) in a raid on one of its Istanbul
offices.
(Reuters, 1/8/16)
2016 Jan 8, Turkey’s armed
forces killed 16 PKK fighters in the town of Cizre, near the Syrian
border. Another two rebels were killed in the historical Sur
district of Diyarbakir.
(Reuters, 1/9/16)
2016 Jan 9, In Turkey 16 rebels
were killed in the towns of Cizre and Silopi, near the Syrian and
Iraqi borders, and another four were killed in Sur.
(Reuters, 1/10/16)
2016 Jan 10, In Turkey a
soldier and a police officer were killed in Diyarbakir when they
came under explosives and rifle fire in a clash with rebels in which
14 security personnel were also wounded. Police killed a further 12
PKK members after finding them in a house in the southeastern city
of Van overnight.
(Reuters, 1/10/16)
2016 Jan 12, In Turkey a
suicide bomber thought to have crossed recently from Syria killed
himself and 10 German tourists, in Istanbul's historic heart. PM
Ahmet Davutoglu blamed the attack on the Islamic State. Finger
prints soon identified the bomber as Saudi-born Syrian Nabil Fadli.
An 11th German victim died of wounds on Jan 26.
(Reuters, 1/12/16)(Reuters, 1/13/16)(SSFC,
1/17/16, p.A5)(AFP, 1/28/16)
2016 Jan 14, Turkey said that
seven people have been detained in connection with the Jan 12
suicide bombing in Istanbul's historic district that killed 10
German tourists. PM Ahmet Davutoglu said Turkish ground forces have
pounded Islamic State jihadists in Iraq and Syria with intense
shelling of some 500 IS positions over the last 48 hours.
(Reuters, 1/14/16)(AFP, 1/14/16)
2016 Jan 14, In southeast
Turkey Kurdish militants attacked a police station overnight with a
truck bomb, killing 6 people including a baby and two toddlers in
Cinar.
(Reuters, 1/14/16)
2016 Jan 14, Turkish
authorities discovered the bodies of seven would-be migrants to
Greece on western Turkish beaches.
(AFP, 1/14/16)
2016 Jan 15, Turkey announced
that it is to grant work permits to Syrian refugees, in a key move
which could allow Syrians to build more prosperous and stable lives
in the country.
(AFP, 1/15/16)
2016 Jan 15, Turkish police
detained more than a dozen academics who signed a petition
criticizing the military crackdown in the Kurdish-dominated
southeast that angered President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, triggering
new alarm about freedom of expression in the country.
(AFP, 1/15/16)
2016 Jan 18, In Turkey at least
one person was killed and one more seriously wounded when a rocket
fired from a jihadist-controlled area in Syria slammed into a
schoolyard in the border town of Kilis. Turkey’s Anadolu Agency said
the three officers succumbed to their wounds after being hit by a
roadside bomb in Sirnak's Idil district, near the Syrian and Iraqi
borders. Kurdish militants were blamed.
(AFP, 1/18/16)(AP, 1/18/16)
2016 Jan 20, German and Turkish
police announced major coordinated raids against a criminal
trafficking network that used unseaworthy ships to send more than
1,700 refugees to Europe.
(AFP, 1/20/16)
2016 Jan 22, At least 46
people, including 17 children, drowned when their boats capsized off
two Greek islands near the Turkish coast.
(Reuters, 1/22/16)(SFC, 1/23/16, p.A2)
2016 Jan 23, A Turkish soldier
was killed in a clash between the security forces and the outlawed
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in the southeastern town of Cizre. 7
PKK members were reported "neutralized".
(Reuters, 1/23/16)
2016 Jan 25, Turkey's foreign
minister said any participation of Kurdish forces in planned Syria
peace talks would be dangerous and spell the end of the UN-led
initiative.
(AP, 1/25/16)
2016 Jan 26, Turkey’s security
forces killed 11 PKK members in the town of Cizre, near the Syrian
border, and nine more in Sur. 3 soldiers were killed in a militant
attack in Sur.
(Reuters, 1/27/16)
2016 Jan 27, In southeastern
Turkey thousands of people fled a district of the mainly Kurdish
city of Diyarbakir after authorities fighting Kurdish militants
there expanded a 24-hour curfew to include five more neighborhoods.
(AP, 1/27/16)
2016 Jan 30, Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan embarked on a major tour of Latin American
countries in a bid to expand Ankara's ties outside its traditional
sphere of influence.
(AFP, 1/30/16)
2016 Jan 30, Turkey said
another Russian warplane violated its airspace a day earlier despite
several warnings President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Moscow that
it would be forced to "endure the consequences" if its jets continue
to violate Turkish airspace, after Ankara reported a new border
infringement incident by a Russian plane.
(AP, 1/30/16)
2016 Jan 30, At least 37 people
drowned and 75 others were rescued after a boat carrying migrants to
Greece sank off Turkey's western coast.
(AFP, 1/30/16)
2016 Feb 2, In Turkey Ismail
Akkol of the outlawed Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front
(DHKP-C) was detained with another militant on suspicion of planning
a suicide bombing in the capital Ankara. On Feb 4 charged the
radical leftwing militant was charged over the 1996 assassination of
industrialist Ozdemir Sabanci.
(AFP, 2/4/16)
2016 Feb 2, Nine people,
including two babies, were found drowned off the coast of western
Turkey after a boat carrying people to Greece partly capsized.
(Reuters, 2/2/16)
2016 Feb 4, Turkish PM Ahmet
Davutoglu said tens of thousands of Syrians are moving toward the
Turkish border from the Syrian city of Aleppo due to increased
aerial bombardment.
(Reuters, 2/4/16)
2016 Feb 7, Aid trucks and
ambulances entered Syria from Turkey to deliver food and supplies to
tens of thousands of people fleeing an escalating government assault
on Aleppo, as air strikes targeted villages on the road north to the
Turkish border.
(Reuters, 2/7/16)
2016 Feb 8, Twenty-four
migrants, including 11 children, drowned in the Aegean Sea as they
tried to cross from Turkey to Greece.
(AFP, 2/8/16)
2016 Feb 9, Turkish soldiers
spotted seven PKK militants entering Sirnak province's Cizre
district from Syria and, as they clashed, one soldier was killed and
one wounded. Military officials have detained a group of 34 people
at the border with Syria and seized luggage containing four suicide
vests and explosives.
(Reuters, 2/10/16)
2016 Feb 10, Turkey’s state-run
Anadolu Agency reported that one police officer was killed and
another wounded when PKK rebels launched a rocket attack on an
armored vehicle in Sirnak.
(Reuters, 2/10/16)(AP, 2/10/16)
2016 Feb 11, Turkey said that
its security forces have completed their operations against
militants in Cizre after weeks of fighting. Turkish security forces
killed 27 militants in the mainly Kurdish southeast.
(Reuters, 2/12/16)
2016 Feb 12, A Turkish deputy
prime minister said up to 40,000 refugees have settled in camps on
the Turkish border inside Syria in the latest wave of migration.
(Reuters, 2/12/16)
2016 Feb 13, Turkish Foreign
Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Saudi Arabia will send aircraft to
NATO-member Turkey's Incirlik air base for the fight against Islamic
State militants in Syria.
(Reuters, 2/13/16)
2016 Feb 14, The Turkish army
shelled positions held by Kurdish-backed militia in northern Syria
for a second day, killing two fighters.
(Reuters, 2/14/16)
2016 Feb 15, Turkish security
forces hit Kurdish militia targets in Syria for the third day in a
row after a border security outpost on the border was attacked this
morning.
(Reuters, 2/15/16)
2016 Feb 17, Police in
northeastern Turkey clashed for a 2nd day with hundreds of activists
and local residents trying to prevent the construction of a copper
mine in the mountainous Cerattepe area.
(AP, 2/17/16)
2016 Feb 17, In Turkey a car
laden with explosives detonated next to military buses as they
waited at traffic lights near the armed forces' headquarters,
parliament and government buildings in the administrative heart of
Ankara. 28 people were killed. Within hours, Turkish warplanes
bombed bases in northern Iraq of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK),
which PM Davutoglu accused of collaborating in the car bombing. A
Turkey-based Kurdish militant group later claimed responsibility. A
29th victim died of his wounds on Feb 23.
(Reuters, 2/18/16)(AP, 2/23/16)
2016 Feb 18, Six Turkish
security force members were killed and one soldier was seriously
wounded in a blast in the mainly Kurdish southeast.
(Reuters, 2/18/16)
2016 Feb 19, Two Turkish
soldiers and one police officer were killed in an attack by Kurdish
militants in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir.
(Reuters, 2/19/16)
2016 Feb 24, Turkish military
helicopters killed 9 Kurdish militants in strikes near the
southeastern Idil district of Sirnak province.
(Reuters, 2/24/16)
2016 Feb 25, NATO envoys set
out how ships already sent to the Aegean will pass reconnaissance to
Turkish and Greek coastguards and the EU border agency Frontex, as
well as returning to Turkey any migrants in distress that NATO crews
rescue.
(Reuters, 2/25/16)
2016 Feb 26, Turkey freed Can
Dundar, editor-in-chief of Cumhuriyet, and Ankara bureau chief Erdem
Gul, imprisoned for their reports on alleged government
arms-smuggling to Syria, hours after the Constitutional Court ruled
that their rights were violated. Both journalists faced possible
life sentences at a trial due to start on March 25 and are banned
from leaving the country.
(AP, 2/26/16)(AP, 2/28/16)
2016 Feb 27, Turkish police
fired water cannon and tear gas to disperse thousands of protesters
who demonstrated against a three-month military crackdown backed by
a curfew in the mainly Kurdish southeastern city of Diyarbakir.
(AFP, 2/27/16)
2016 Feb 28, Turkish President
Tayyip Erdogan said he did not respect or accept a constitutional
court ruling that the detention of two journalists from a leading
opposition newspaper had violated their rights.
(Reuters, 2/28/16)
2016 Feb 28, Turkish security
said a police officer was killed and two wounded when suspected
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants fired a rocket at their
armored vehicle in the town of Nusaybin near the southeastern border
with Syria.
(Reuters, 2/28/16)
2016 Feb 29, Turkey's justice
minister said as many as 1,845 cases have been opened against people
accused of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan since he came to
office in 2014.
(AP, 3/2/16)
2016 Feb 29, A Turkish stock
exchange filing said authorities have shut down media businesses
seized last year from Koza Ipek Holding, a conglomerate linked to a
US-based preacher accused of plotting against President Tayyip
Erdogan.
(Reuters, 3/1/16)
2016 Feb 29, Turkish armed
forces shelled positions of the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria in
coordination with the US-led international anti-jihadist coalition.
(AFP, 2/29/16)
2016 Mar 1, Russia called for
the Syrian-Turkish border to be closed, saying arms were being
hidden in humanitarian aid convoys and channeled to fighters of
Islamic State and its allies.
(Reuters, 3/1/16)
2016 Mar 2, In southeastern
Turkey residents of Cizre began returning home after authorities
partially lifted a curfew in place since December for a
controversial operation against Kurdish rebels which left many homes
devastated. 3 soldiers and 10 Kurdish PKK militants were killed in
clashes in Mardin province and Diyarbakir.
(AFP, 3/2/16)(Reuters, 3/3/16)
2016 Mar 3, Turkish police
killed two female leftist militants who hurled grenades and opened
fire at an Istanbul police station. The women were identified as
members of the banned Revolutionary People’s Liberation Army
(DHKP-C).
(AFP, 3/3/16)(SFC, 3/4/16, p.A2)
2016 Mar 4, In southeastern
Turkey Kurdish rebels detonated a car bomb near a police station,
killing two police officers and wounding some 35 people.
(AP, 3/4/16)
2016 Mar 4, An Istanbul court
ordered into administration the Zaman daily newspaper, sharply
critical of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, adding to growing alarm
over freedom of expression in the country.
(AFP, 3/4/16)
2016 Mar 4, A Turkish court
sentenced two Syrians to four years in jail over the drowning of
five people including toddler Aylan Kurdi, the image of whose dead
body sparked global sympathy last September over the fate of
migrants.
(Reuters, 3/4/16)
2016 Mar 4, Turkey’s PM Ahmet
Davutoglu visited Tehran with six ministers and discussed a
high-speed rail link that might bridge Lake Van and triple bilateral
trade.
(Econ, 4/2/16, p.51)
2016 Mar 4, Russia's Defense
Ministry said Turkey is shelling Kurdish units fighting against the
Nusra Front in Syria, while columns of trucks with various cargo and
weapons for rebels cross into Syria from Turkey daily.
(Reuters, 3/4/16)
2016 Mar 5, Turkish police
fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse protesters outside the
country's biggest newspaper, Zaman, after authorities seized control
of it in a crackdown on a religious group whose leader the
government accuses of treason.
(Reuters, 3/5/16)
2016 Mar 5, Iran and Turkey
said they aim to triple their annual trade to $30 billion within two
years as Turkish PM Ahmet Davutoglu met Iran's first vice president
Eshaq Jahangiri in Tehran. The two countries remained at odds over
fighting in Syria.
(AFP, 3/5/16)
2016 Mar 6, A day after
Turkey's top-selling newspaper Zaman was taken over by the state, it
dropped its criticisms of the government and published flattering
stories on President Tayyip Erdogan.
(Reuters, 3/6/16)
2016 Mar 6, The Turkish Coast
Guard rescued 15 people and recovered 18 bodies in the Aegean Sea
near the town of Didim. At least 25 people drowned including 3
children.
(Reuters, 3/6/16)(SFC, 3/7/16, p.A3)
2016 Mar 7, Turkey offered the
EU greater help to stem a flood of migrants into Europe but demanded
more money, faster accession talks and quicker visa-free travel for
its citizens in exchange. EU leaders reached a tentative outline for
a possible deal with Ankara and hoped to finalize a deal at 2-day
summit beginning on March 17.
(Reuters, 3/7/16)(SFC, 3/8/16, p.A4)
2016 Mar 7, In southeastern
Turkey 13 Kurdish militants were killed when a firefight broke out
in the town of Idil. Two Turkish soldiers were killed in the last 24
hours, one in Idil and the other in Sur, a historic district in
Diyarbakir.
(Reuters, 3/7/16)
2016 Mar 7, An official in YPG,
the Syrian Kurdish militia, said that Turkey was firing artillery
shells at its fighters in northern Aleppo province.
(Reuters, 3/7/16)
2016 Mar 8, In southern Turkey
2 people, including a young child, were killed and another two
people were wounded when the town of Kilis came under repeated
rocket fire from across the Syrian border.
(Reuters, 3/8/16)
2016 Mar 8, Today marks the
108th annual International Women's Day. A rally in Istanbul ended
violently when Turkish police fired rubber bullets into a crowd of
hundreds of people and detained at least one woman.
(CSM, 3/8/16)
2016 Mar 9, Turkey ended its
3-month military operation against militants in mainly Kurdish city
of Diyarbakir.
(AP, 3/9/16)
2016 Mar 9, The Turkish
military carried out air strikes against Kurdish rebel targets
across the border in northern Iraq, killing at least 67 militants.
(AP, 3/12/16)
2016 Mar 9, Turkey's coastguard
intercepted dozens of mostly Syrian migrants in coves along the
Aegean coast as they continued to attempt perilous sea crossings to
Greece despite Ankara's efforts to stem the flow under a deal with
the European Union.
(Reuters, 3/9/16)
2016 Mar 9, Five Afghans,
including two children and a six-month old baby, drowned late today
in the Aegean trying to reach Greece as Turkey starts to implement
an EU agreement to curb illegal migration.
(Reuters, 3/10/16)
2016 Mar 10, In southeastern
Turkey 7 Kurdish militants were killed in a gun battle in
Diyarbakir.
(Reuters, 3/10/16)
2016 Mar 13, Turkey slapped a
curfew on two border towns in the Kurdish-dominated southeast ahead
of a looming military "clean-up" operation as it eased a lockdown in
Diyarbakir. 37 people were killed in an Ankara car bombing that
security officials said involved a female fighter of the Kurdistan
Workers Party (PKK).
(AFP, 3/13/16)(Reuters, 3/14/16)
2016 Mar 13, Russia accused
Turkey of sending its military across the Syrian border to prevent
Kurdish groups there from consolidating their positions.
(AP, 3/13/16)
2016 Mar 14, Turkey detained
four suspects over the previous day’s suicide car bombing in Ankara,
as warplanes pounded Kurdish rebel bases in northern Iraq over the
attack. At least 45 Kurdish rebels were killed in the air strikes.
Turkey declared a round-the-clock curfew in the southeastern town of
Sirnak in order to carry out operations against Kurdish militants in
the area.
(AFP, 3/14/16)(Reuters, 3/14/16)(AP, 3/15/16)
2016 Mar 16, Turkish police
detained eight lawyers as part of a crackdown on pro-Kurdish
activists. At least 47 suspects were detained in anti-terror
operations across the country.
(AFP, 3/16/16)(AP, 3/16/16)
2016 Mar 18, EU leaders
approved a controversial deal with Turkey intended to halt illegal
migration flows to Europe in return for financial and political
rewards for Ankara.
(Reuters, 3/18/16)
2016 Mar 19, In Turkey a
suicide bomber killed himself and four others in a central Istanbul
shopping and tourism district, wounding at least 36 people in the
fourth such attack in the country this year. Mehmet Ozturk (b.1992),
a Turkish member of the Islamic State militant group, was
responsible for the bombing that killed 3 Israelis and an Iranian.
(Reuters, 3/19/16)(Reuters, 3/20/16)
2016 Mar 19, US FBI agents
arrested Reza Zarrab (33), a Turkish-Iranian gold-trader married to
a Turkish pop star, in Miami on charges he helped Iran process
millions of dollars of transactions when it faced US sanctions for
its nuclear program. Prosecutors later alleged that Zarrab had paid
tens of millions to three Turkish ministers and the head of Halkbank
tens of millions in bribes. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and
former Attorney General Michael Mukasey were later hired to help
defend Zarrab.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reza_Zarrab)(Reuters, 9/25/16)(Econ,
6/11/16, p.55)(AP, 4/3/17)
2016 Mar 21, Three Turkish
soldiers were killed in a bomb attack on their military vehicle in
the southeastern town of Nusaybin near the Syrian border. 23 Kurdish
militants were killed in clashes in Nusaybin, Yuksekova and Sirnak.
(Reuters, 3/21/16)(Reuters, 3/22/16)
2016 Mar 21, In Turkey
thousands of people gathered in the mainly Kurdish of Diyarbakir to
celebrate the Newroz spring festival. The celebrations were banned
in Ankara and in Istanbul, where security forces rounded up 164
people, including 12 minors, ahead of the festivities.
(AP, 3/21/16)
2016 Mar 22, In Turkey Kurdish
militants killed 5 members of government security forces in three
separate bomb attacks near the Syrian and Iranian borders.
(Reuters, 3/22/16)
2016 Mar 23, Turkish F-16 and
F-4 jets raided 11 targets of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK,
including ammunition depots, bunkers and shelters late today.
(AP, 3/24/16)
2016 Mar 24, In Turkey 3
military police were killed and 22 injured in a car bombing on a
barracks in in Mermer, Diyarbakir province, suspected to be the work
of the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
(AFP, 3/25/16)
2016 Mar 26, Turkish Air Force
jets joined coalition forces in attacking Islamic State targets in
northern Iraq, hours after a Turkish soldier was killed at a
military base in the region from rockets fired by the extremist
militants.
(AP, 3/26/16)
2016 Mar 29, In Turkey a fire
at a refugee camp near the border with Syria killed three Syrian
children and wounded six other people near the town of Derik, Mardin
province.
(AP, 3/29/16)
2016 Mar 29, Turkey’s security
forces killed 14 "terrorists" — a military reference to the outlawed
Kurdistan Workers' Party — in Mardin province, five in Sirnak and
four in Hakkari. A total of 347 militants have been killed in those
three regions since the start of security operations in July.
(AP, 3/30/16)
2016 Mar 31, In Turkey a car
bomb attack killed 7 police officers and wounded 27 other people in
the southeastern city of Diyarbakir. The outlawed Kurdistan Workers
Party (PKK) soon claimed responsibility. On April 2 a suspect, named
as A.C., was detained in the Kocakoy district of Diyarbakir.
(Reuters, 4/1/16)(AFP, 4/2/16)
2016 Mar 31, In Germany
satirist Jan Boehmermann explained that he wanted to clarify the
boundaries of free speech law and declaimed a series of fictional
passages on TV depicting Turkey’s Pres. Recep Tayyip Erdogan
engrossed in a series of athletically challenging sexual activities
with barnyard animals.
(Econ, 4/16/16, p.43)
2016 Mar 31, Syrian President
Bashar al-Assad told Russia's RIA news agency that the army of
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan is fighting in Syria.
(Reuters, 3/31/16)
2016 Mar 31, US President
Barack Obama reaffirmed the US commitment to Turkey's security
during a meeting with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, while also
discussing both countries' efforts to fight Islamic State.
(Reuters, 3/31/16)
2016 Apr 1, Turkish warplanes
carried out air strikes in northern Iraq, destroying ammunition
depots and shelters in an areas where the outlawed Kurdistan Workers
Party (PKK) has camps.
(Reuters, 4/1/16)
2016 Apr 4, The Turkish
military carried out airstrikes in northern Iraq against targets
belonging to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
(Reuters, 4/5/16)
2016 Apr 4, It was reported
that hackers have posted a database online the seems to contain the
personal information of nearly 50 million Turkish citizens.
(SFC, 4/5/16, p.A2)
2016 Apr 4, Greece shipped 202
migrants back to Turkey, the first wave of deportations under a
hugely controversial deal aimed at easing Europe's worst postwar
migration crisis.
(AFP, 4/4/16)(Econ, 4/9/16, p.52)
2016 Apr 5, Turkish police
detained almost 70 businessmen, local officials and teachers in a
new nationwide sweep against supporters of Pres. Erdogan's arch foe.
(AFP, 4/5/16)
2016 Apr 7, In Turkey Mustafa
Tanriverdi, who headed a factory run by the state-owned Mechanical
and Chemical Industry Corporation, was arrested in Ankara as he left
a restaurant after arranging to sell the designs to an official of a
US-based company for a total of 1.2 million Turkish lira ($420,000).
(AP, 4/8/16)
2016 Apr 10, In Turkey the 13th
annual meeting of the 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
(OIC) opened in Istanbul.
(AFP, 4/10/16)
2016 Apr 12, Two Turkish
soldiers were killed and more than 50 people wounded when a car bomb
exploded at a military post in the restive Kurdish-dominated
southeast.
(AP, 4/12/16)
2016 Apr 12, The Turkish army
hit Islamic State targets in northern Syria, in response to
cross-border rocket fire that struck a border town in southeastern
Turkey for the second day in a row.
(Reuters, 4/12/16)
2016 Apr 12, Syrian journalist
Mohammed Zahir al-Sherqat died from wounds after being shot April 10
in the Turkish city of Gaziantep. The shooting attack was claimed by
the Islamic State.
(SFC, 4/13/16, p.A2)
2016 Apr 13, Turkey's armed
forces launched new artillery strikes on jihadist positions in
Syria, after three days of deadly fire on a Turkish border town that
has left residents on edge.
(AFP, 4/13/16)
2016 Apr 14, Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Muslim nations have agreed to establish a
Turkey-based body to fight terrorism, as he urged the countries'
leaders to examine the root causes of the migration crisis.
(AP, 4/14/16)
2016 Apr 16, In Turkey Iranian
President Hassan Rouhani met with Pres. Recep Tayyip Erdogan. They
vowed to boost trade between their two countries at talks following
the lifting of most international sanctions on Tehran.
(AFP, 4/16/16)
2016 Apr 18, Turkish police
detained at least 105 people, including top construction executives,
in a new crackdown on supporters of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's
arch foe, the US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen.
(AFP, 4/18/16)
2016 Apr 18, In Turkey rocket
projectiles fired from Syria killed 4 Syrians, three of them
children, in the Turkish border town of Kilis.
(AP, 4/18/16)
2016 Apr 19, Turkish
authorities detained 38 people suspected of "framing" soccer team
Fenerbahce's players and directors in a match-fixing investigation
in 2011.
(AP, 4/19/16)
2016 Apr 20, Turkish warplanes
struck militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) targets in northern
Iraq.
(Reuters, 4/20/16)
2016 Apr 21, Turkey's supreme
court of appeals overturned the convictions of 275 people, including
a former military chief, who allegedly plotted to overthrow the
country's Islamist-leaning government. The decision opens the way
for a re-trial and their possible acquittal.
(AP, 4/21/16)
2016 Apr 21, Turkish warplanes
struck militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) targets in
southeastern Turkey.
(Reuters, 4/21/16)
2016 Apr 22, Disgraced tycoon
Asil Nadir (74), jailed for stealing millions from his Polly Peck
empire, was released from a Turkish prison just one night after
being extradited from Britain. The Turkish Cypriot was convicted in
2012 of purloining nearly £29 million (37 million euros) -- the
equivalent of more than £70 million in today's terms -- from the
major UK conglomerate in the late 1980s.
(AFP, 4/22/16)
2016 Apr 23, Turkey said six
foreign nationals were taken into custody in an overnight raid
against Islamic State in the central Anatolian city of Konya.
(Reuters, 4/23/16)
2016 Apr 23, German Chancellor
Angela Merkel and top European Union officials arrived near Turkey's
border with Syria in a bid to bolster a troubled migration deal with
Turkey as they face increasing pressure to reassess the agreement.
(AP, 4/23/16)
2016 Apr 24, Two rockets hit
the Turkish town of Kilis near the Syrian border, wounding 16 people
a day after the government promised to protect the area from
repeated attacks by Islamic State militants.
(Reuters, 4/24/16)
2016 Apr 25, Turkey said it has
deported more than 3,300 foreigners suspected of links to jihadi
groups, particularly Islamic State militants, and another 41,000
foreigners have been barred from entering the country as part of its
fight against the militant group.
(AP, 4/25/16)
2016 Apr 25, Turkey's military
said it has destroyed Islamic State's missile launcher in Syria some
20 km from the border town of Kilis which has been repeatedly his by
rockets from the border. 2 Turkish soldiers were killed and four
wounded in an armed attack by Kurdish militants in the southeastern
town of Nusaybin near the Syrian border.
(Reuters, 4/25/16)
2016 Apr 27, In Turkey a woman
suicide bomber blew herself up in Bursa, killing herself and
wounding at least 10 people.
(AFP, 4/27/16)
2016 Apr 28, In Turkey an
Istanbul court sentenced two prominent journalists to two years
behind bars for illustrating their columns with a cartoon of the
Prophet Mohammed published by French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo.
(AFP, 4/28/16)
2016 Apr 30, The Turkish
military says it conducted overnight airstrikes against Kurdish
rebels in northern Iraq and southeast Turkey.
(AP, 4/30/16)
2016 May 1, Turkish police
clamped down on unauthorized protests during a tense May Day in
Istanbul, using tear gas and water cannon against demonstrators and
imposing a heavy security blanket on the city.
(AFP, 5/1/16)
2016 May 1, In Turkey a car
bomb struck the entrance of a police station in the southern city of
Gaziantep, killing 2 officials and injuring 23 other people. 3
Turkish soldiers were killed and 14 others wounded in an attack in
the Kurdish-dominated southeast blamed on militants from the
outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
(AP, 5/1/16)(AFP, 5/1/16)(Econ, 5/21/16, p.48)
2016 May 2, Turkish warplanes
pounded Kurdish rebel positions in northern Iraq, killing 18
militants.
(AP, 5/3/16)
2016 May 4, Turkey said its
warplanes have destroyed targets belonging to the militant Kurdistan
Workers Party (PKK) in southeast Turkey.
(Reuters, 5/4/16)
2016 May 4, The European
Commission, the executive arm of the 28-nation EU, gave conditional
backing for Turks to get visa-free travel as part of a deal to solve
the migrant crisis.
(AFP, 5/4/16)
2016 May 5, In Turkey Ahmet
Davutoglu announced that he was stepping down as leader of the
ruling AK Party and therefore as prime minister, bowing to President
Tayyip Erdogan's drive to create a powerful executive presidency.
(Reuters, 5/5/16)
2016 May 6, Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned the European Union that Ankara will not
change its anti-terrorism law, despite it being a condition laid
down by Brussels to ensure visa-free travel for Turks.
(AFP, 5/6/16)
2016 May 6, The US government
said it has suspended millions of dollars in funding to several
organizations providing aid for Syria after discovering they were
systematically overpaying Turkish companies for basic goods with the
collusion of some of their staff.
(AFP, 5/10/16)
2016 May 7, Turkish artillery
fired at the Islamic State group across the border in Syria, killing
55 militants and destroying three rocket launchers and three
vehicles.
(AP, 5/8/16)
2016 May 8, In southeastern
Turkey 9 PKK members were killed in the towns of Nusaybin and
Sirnak.
(Reuters, 5/9/16)
2016 May 9, A Turkish soldier
was killed in clashes in Nusaybin, located at the Syrian border and
under a round-the-clock curfew since mid-March, as fighting
continued in both Nusaybin and Sirnak throughout the day.
(Reuters, 5/9/16)
2016 May 10, In southeastern
Turkey 3 people were killed and 23 wounded when a bomb-laden car
detonated near a police vehicle in the strife-hit city of
Diyarbakir. The state-run Anadolu news agency said the attack was
carried out by the PKK.
(Reuters, 5/10/16)(SFC, 5/11/16, p.A2)
2016 May 12, In Turkey 15
militants were killed in clashes in Sirnak province. 4 suspected
bomb makers were killed and 23 people were wounded when an explosion
ripped through a village in the southeast as PKK militants loaded
explosives onto a small truck. Authorities later identified the
remains of 13 people from two families killed from more than 15 tons
of explosives in the truck raising the death toll to 16.
(Reuters, 5/13/16)(AP, 5/17/16)
2016 May 13, In Turkey 6
soldiers were killed and eight were wounded in clashes with
militants in the southeastern Hakkari province near the border with
Iraq. A military helicopter sent to the area crashed due to a
technical fault killing 2 pilots. 6 PKK militants were also killed
in an operation in that region.
(Reuters, 5/13/16)(SFC, 5/14/16, p.A3)
2016 May 13, Turkish fighter
jets carried out nine airstrikes against Kurdish rebels in the
southeast of the country and northern Iraq. The warplanes reportedly
destroyed 98 targets of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party.
(AP, 5/14/16)
2016 May 14, Turkey’s state-run
Anadolu Agency reported that Turkish military and US-led coalition
forces killed 45 Islamic State militants in shelling and an air
strike north of the Syrian city of Aleppo.
(Reuters, 5/14/16)
2016 May 15, A Turkish soldier
and six members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) were
killed in the largely Kurdish southeast. The Turkish military killed
16 Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters in an operation backed by
air power near the Iranian border.
(Reuters, 5/15/16)(Reuters, 5/16/16)
2016 May 15, Turkish and US-led
coalition forces struck Islamic State targets north of the Syrian
city of Aleppo, killing 27 fighters. The United States and its
allies conducted 14 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 5/16/16)
2016 May 18, Turkish warplanes
hit PKK targets overnight in southeast Turkey and northern Iraq,
killing at least 10 fighters. 4 Turkish soldiers were killed and
nine wounded when a bomb was detonated as their vehicle traveled
past in the mainly Kurdish southeast of the country. Earlier today a
soldier was killed in Nusaybin, situated at the Syrian border some
500 km (310 miles) away, when militants opened fire on him.
(Reuters, 5/18/16)
2016 May 19, Turkey's ruling
party named Transport Minister Binali Yildirim, a loyal ally of
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as the new prime minister.
(AFP, 5/19/16)
2016 May 20, Turkey's
parliament approved a bill to amend the constitution to strip
lawmakers of immunity, a move that paves the way for trials of
several pro-Kurdish and other legislators. The bill put 138
lawmakers, the vast majority of them from two opposition parties, at
risk of prosecution. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed the bill
on June 7.
(AP, 5/20/16)(AFP, 6/8/16)
2016 May 22, Turkey's Transport
Minister Binali Yildirim was formally appointed as head of the
ruling party and as the new prime minister, strengthening the grip
on power of his mentor President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
(AFP, 5/22/16)
2016 May 22, Turkish
authorities lifted a long-standing curfew from parts of a historic
neighborhood in the mainly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir.
(AP, 5/22/16)
2016 May 23, In Turkey a new
fund which aims to raise more than $3.8 billion for children's
education in war zones and natural disasters was launched at the
first ever World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul.
(Reuters, 5/23/16)
2016 May 27, US-led coalition
airstrikes and Turkish artillery fire against the Islamic State
group in Syria killed 104 militants.
(AP, 5/28/16)
2016 May 31, In Turkey a court
convicted Merve Buyuksarac (27), a former Miss Turkey (2006), of
insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan through social media
postings and gave her a 14-month suspended sentence.
(AP, 5/31/16)
2016 May 31, Turkey's President
Recep Teyyep Edorgan arrived in Uganda to promote trade and tourism
opportunities between the two countries.
(AP, 6/1/16)
2016 Jun 2, Turkey recalled its
ambassador to Germany in protest against a parliament resolution
declaring the 1915 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman forces a
"genocide" at a time when Europe is looking for Ankara's help in the
migrant crisis.
(Reuters, 6/2/16)
2016 Jun 3, A court in Turkey
sentenced a Turkish man, Erdal E. (29), to 108 years in jail for
sexually assaulting at least eight Syrian children while working as
a cleaner at the refugee camp in Nizip in the southern Gaziantep
province near the Syrian border.
(AFP, 6/4/16)
2016 Jun 3, In Somalia Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan opened a new Turkish embassy in
Mogadishu on his third visit to the country.
(AP, 6/3/16)
2016 Jun 4, Turkey’s military
said cross-border shelling by the Turkish army and air strikes by
US-led coalition aircraft have killed 14 Islamic State militants in
Syria.
(AP, 6/4/16)
2016 Jun 4, Turkish warplanes
struck Kurdish militant targets in northern Iraq and southeast
Turkey and the army killed 27 fighters near its borders with Iraq
and Iran.
(Reuters, 6/5/16)
2016 Jun 5, In Turkey more than
1,000 people attended a rally of a pro-Kurdish, opposition party in
Istanbul to protest against the abolition of immunity of some
Turkish members of parliament.
(AP, 6/5/16)
2016 Jun 5, In southern Turkey
a bus carrying school children, teachers and parents plunged into an
irrigation canal in Osmaniye province, killing 14 people including 6
children.
(AP, 6/6/16)
2016 Jun 6, Turkey’s state-run
Anadolu news agency reported that shelling by Turkey's military and
attacks by US-led coalition aircraft have killed 7 Islamic State
militants in Syria.
(Reuters, 6/6/16)
2016 Jun 7, In Turkey a
rush-hour explosion killed 11 people and wounded 36 others in an
attack on a bus carrying riot police in Istanbul. Police detained
four people in connection with the attack.
(AP, 6/7/16)
2016 Jun 8, In Turkey a Kurdish
rebel suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle outside a
police headquarters near the border with Syria in Midyat, Mardin
province. The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group claimed
responsibility for the bombing that killed six people.
(AP, 6/8/16)(Reuters, 6/9/16)
2016 Jun 8, In Syria US-led
coalition airstrikes and Turkish artillery fire against Islamic
State group targets reportedly killed 18 militants.
(AP, 6/9/16)
2016 Jun 8, RIA news agency,
citing the Russian coordination center in Syria, reported that
Russia's Defense Ministry has spotted the movement of over 160 Nusra
Front fighters from Turkey into Syria to reinforce "terrorists"
around the city of Aleppo.
(Reuters, 6/8/16)
2016 Jun 9, Turkey suspended
the sale of fertilizers containing nitrate that are used to make
explosives following car bombings this week that killed 17 people.
(SFC, 6/10/16, p.A2)
2016 Jun 10, Turkey's Justice
Ministry said it has sent dozens of cases involving 57 lawmakers to
public prosecutors after the president lifted their legal immunity.
Most of the lawmakers at risk of prosecution belong to the
pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party, HDP, or the opposition
Republican People's Party.
(AP, 6/10/16)
2016 Jun 10, In southern Turkey
a truck slammed into a van carrying agricultural laborers, killing
at least 10 people and injuring four others near the town of Eregli,
in Konya province.
(AP, 6/10/16)
2016 Jun 11, Turkish warplanes
killed 13 suspected Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants in the
southeast province of Diyarbakir.
(Reuters, 6/11/16)
2016 Jun 12, In Turkey an
explosion in central Istanbul killed one person and injured another.
A gas leak was suspected.
(Reuters, 6/12/16)
2016 Jun 13, In Turkey a
car-bomb attack apparently targeting court officials in the
mainly-Kurdish southeast region injured at least 9 people in Ovacik,
Tunceli province.
(AP, 6/13/16)
2016 Jun 13, In Turkey Ahmed
Abdulkader, a Syrian journalist campaigning against Islamic State,
was shot in the head by two Islamic State militants riding a
motorcycle and is being treated in the intensive care unit of
Sanliurfa state hospital.
(Reuters, 6/13/16)
2016 Jun 13, In Germany the
chief editor of Turkish newspaper Hurriyet was presented with a
Freedom of Speech award by German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle
as concerns grow over press freedom in Turkey.
(AFP, 6/13/16)
2016 Jun 17, In Turkey the
governor of Istanbul banned gay, lesbian and transgender individuals
from holding pride parades at their usual venue, citing security
concerns.
(AP, 6/17/16)
2016 Jun 18, Turkish fighter
jets hit 16 PKK targets early today in the district of Lice,
including shelters and ammunition depots.
(AP, 6/18/16)
2016 Jun 18, At least 8 Syrian
refugees, including four children were allegedly shot dead by border
guards while trying to cross the frontier into Turkey’s Hatay
province.
(AP, 6/19/16)
2016 Jun 18, In Syria US-led
coalition jets and Turkish artillery killed 13 Islamic State
militants.
(Reuters, 6/18/16)
2016 Jun 19, In Turkey riot
police in Istanbul fired rubber bullets and tear gas to prevent a
"Trans Pride" event taking place during Ramadan.
(AFP, 6/20/16)
2016 Jun 26, Talks between
Turkey and Israel to normalize relations advanced in talks as
officials said a deal had been reached to end a rift dating back to
2010.
(Reuters, 6/27/16)
2016 Jun 27, Russia said
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has written to Russian leader
Vladimir Putin to apologize over the shooting down of a Russian air
force jet by Turkey's military last November.
(Reuters, 6/27/16)
2016 Jun 28, A Turkish official
said military rules of engagement have been adjusted to allow NATO
allies to carry out more patrol flights along its border with
northern Syria. NATO was told about the move around three weeks ago.
(Reuters, 6/28/16)
2016 Jun 28, In Turkey a police
officer was killed and seven people were wounded in the southeastern
province of Diyarbakir when a bomb exploded as an armored police
vehicle was passing.
(Reuters, 6/28/16)
2016 Jun 28, In Turkey three
suspect Islamic State suicide bombers killed 41 people with gunfire
and explosives at the Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport. Turkish Airlines
resumed services in and out of Europe's third-busiest airport within
12 hours. The death toll soon rose to 44 as some of the wounded
died. The suicide bombers were later identified as Russian, Uzbek
and Kyrgyz nationals.
(Reuters, 6/29/16)(AP, 6/30/16)(Reuters, 6/30/16)
2016 Jun 28, Turkey and Israel
signed a deal to restore ties after a six-year rift. Terms of the
deal included the transfer of $20 million by Israel to a
humanitarian fund that will compensate families of Turkish nationals
killed and wounded during a 2010 raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla.
(Reuters, 6/28/16)(SSFC, 7/3/16, p.A6)
2016 Jun 29, In southeast
Turkey a roadside bomb planted by Kurdish PKK militants ripped apart
a military armored vehicle, killing 2 soldiers and wounding three
others.
(Reuters, 6/29/16)
2016 Jun 30, Turkey's
parliament approved sweeping plans late to restructure the high
courts, in a victory for President Tayyip Erdogan that critics say
will allow him to remove troublesome judges and tighten his grip
over the judiciary.
(Reuters, 7/1/16)
2016 Jul 1, A Turkish official
said Mehmet Sirin Kaya, a mastermind of the February 17 suicide
attack against military personnel in Ankara, has been killed in
counter-terrorism operations in the Lice district of Diyarbakir
province.
(AFP, 7/1/16)
2016 Jul 2, Turkey’s President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Syrians could eventually be granted
Turkish citizenship "if they want it", in remarks which were met
with anger from opposition politicians and social media users.
(AP, 7/11/16)
2016 Jul 3, Turkey delivered
humanitarian aid and other non-military products to Gaza. The
Panama-flagged Lady Leyla landed in the Israeli port of Ashdod with
11,000 tons of supplies, including food packages of flour, rice, and
sugar, as well as 10,000 toys.
(SFC, 7/4/16, p.A2)
2016 Jul 4, Turkey charged
thirteen suspects, including three foreign nationals, in connection
with the June 28 suicide assault.
(AFP, 7/5/16)
2016 Jul 5, Turkey’s Dogan news
agency reported that seventeen people including 11 Russians have
been charged over the Istanbul airport attack, bringing to 30 the
total number charged in connection with the suicide assault.
(AFP, 7/5/16)
2016 Jul 6, In Turkey 2 Syrians
accidentally blew themselves up while handling explosives in a house
in the southern border town of Reyhanli.
(Reuters, 7/7/16)
2016 Jul 8, Turkish fighter
jets struck Kurdish militant targets in southeastern Hakkari
province and northern Iraq. The Turkish Army reportedly "neutralized
17 separatist terror organization members" in Hakkari province and
two militants in Van province.
(Reuters, 7/8/16)(AP, 7/9/16)
2016 Jul 9, In southeastern
Turkey Kurdish militants carried out a car bomb attack on a military
outpost and then opened fire on the facility, killing two soldiers
and a civilian and wounding dozens in the town of Cevizlik.
(Reuters, 7/9/16)
2016 Jul 10, In Turkey two
Kurdish militant bomb attacks ripped through a military outpost and
an army vehicle, killing 5 members of the armed forces in Hakkari
province.
(Reuters, 7/10/16)
2016 Jul 11, Turkey’s President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan defended his plan to give Syrian refugees
Turkish citizenship in comments published today, arguing the country
has ample space after a backlash against the suggestion.
(AP, 7/11/16)
2016 Jul 11, Human Rights Watch
said Turkey's government is blocking access to independent
investigations into alleged mass abuses against civilians in
southeast Turkey, where security forces are fighting Kurdish
militants.
(Reuters, 7/11/16)
2016 Jul 15, Turkey foiled a
coup attempt by a faction of the army against President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan's rule. 161 people, not including the putschists, were
reported killed in the coup attempt, with 2,839 soldiers detained on
suspicion of involvement. More than 230 people were killed among
them 145 civilians who had taken to the streets to confront the
rebellious soldiers.
(AFP, 7/16/16)(Econ, 7/23/16, p.14)
2016 Jul 15, In Turkey Gen.
Zekai Aksakalli ordered Sgt. Omer Halisdemir to kill Brigadier
General Semih Terzi, one of the suspected coup ringleaders. By
shooting Terzi dead outside special forces headquarters in Ankara,
Halisdemir broke the putschists' chain of command although he was
subsequently killed by the plotters.
(Reuters, 8/21/17)
2016 Jul 16, Turkish
authorities imposed a security lockdown at the Incirlik air base in
the southern province of Adana. Many international flights to Turkey
were cancelled despite efforts by the Ankara authorities to get life
back to normal following an abortive coup attempt. NTV reported that
Turkish authorities have arrested 10 members of the Council of
State, the country's top administrative court, and were searching
for 140 members of the court of cassation in a probe related to the
failed overnight coup. NTV also reported that authorities have
removed 2,745 judges from duty.
(AFP, 7/16/16)(Reuters, 7/16/16)
2016 Jul 16, Turkish military
helicopter landed in Greece carrying eight officers seeking asylum
after a coup bid. Greece arrested all eight men.
(AFP, 7/16/16)(Reuters, 7/16/16)
2016 Jul 17, The Turkish
government accelerated its crackdown on alleged plotters of the
failed coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, with the justice
minister saying that 6,000 people had been detained in the
investigation, including three of the country's top generals and
hundreds of soldiers.
(AP, 7/17/16)
2016 Jul 17, The US-led
coalition against the Islamic State (IS) group resumed air strikes
from a Turkish air base that were suspended after a failed military
coup d'etat.
(AFP, 7/17/16)
2016 Jul 18, Turkey launched
fresh raids and sacked almost 9,000 officials in a relentless
crackdown against suspects behind an attempted coup that left over
300 people dead, as Western allies warned against reinstating the
death penalty. Turkish PM Binali Yildirim said a total of 232
individuals were killed during the failed coup attempt. He put the
total numbers of detentions since July 15 at 7,543, including 6,030
military.
(AFP, 7/18/16)(TIME, 7/18/16)
2016 Jul 18, In Turkey an
unknown assailant shot deputy mayor Cemil Candas of Istanbul's Sisli
district in the head and he was in a critical condition.
(Reuters, 7/18/16)
2016 Jul 19, Turkey’s education
ministry said 15,200 state education employees have been suspended
after last week's attempted coup. Turkey's High Education Board
ordered the resignation of 1,577 deans at all universities.
(AFP, 7/19/16)(Reuters, 7/19/16)
2016 Jul 19, Turkey's central
bank cut a key interest rate for the fifth month in a row, days
after an attempted coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
triggered concerns over the country's economic outlook.
(AP, 7/19/16)
2016 Jul 19, WikiLeaks released
nearly 300,000 emails from Turkey’s AK Party dating from 2010 to
July 6 this year. Obtained before the attempted coup, the date of
their publication was brought forward "in response to the
government's post-coup purges". In response Turkey blocked access to
the WikiLeaks website.
(Reuters, 7/20/16)
2016 Jul 20, Turkey’s
government declared a state of emergency for at least three months.
State-run Anadolu news agency said the country's defense ministry
has sacked at least 262 military court judges and prosecutors. An
investigation was launched on all military judges and prosecutors as
authorities continued with a crackdown on people suspected of
backing a failed military coup, which the government has blamed on a
US-based cleric.
(AP, 7/20/16)(Econ, 7/23/16, p.14)
2016 Jul 20, Turkish
broadcaster NTV said Turkey’s military has carried out air strikes
against members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in
northern Iraq, killing 20 militants.
(Reuters, 7/20/16)
2016 Jul 21, Turkey said it
will follow France's example in suspending temporarily the European
Convention on Human Rights following its declaration of a state of
emergency.
(Reuters, 7/21/16)
2016 Jul 21, A Greek court
sentenced eight Turkish military officers, who fled last week's
failed coup, to suspended two-month prison terms. The officers have
requested asylum and will remain in police custody until their cases
on that issue are heard in August.
(AFP, 7/21/16)
2016 Jul 22, The UN World
Tourism Organization signed an agreement with Turkey to help the
country boost its ailing tourism sector, which has suffered due to a
string of bombings and a failed coup.
(AFP, 7/22/16)
2016 Jul 23, Turkey pushed on
with a sweeping crackdown against suspected plotters of its failed
coup. Using new emergency powers, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's
cabinet decreed that police could now hold suspects for one month
without charge, and announced it would shut down over 1,000 private
schools it deems subversive.
(AFP, 7/24/16)
2016 Jul 23, Turkey said it
has detained Hails Hanci a senior aide to the US-based cleric
Fethullah Gulen, whom it blames for the coup attempt aimed at
ousting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Hanci was described as a
"right-hand man" of Gulen and responsible for transferring funds to
him. Gulen has denied being behind the failed coup.
(AFP, 7/23/16)
2016 Jul 23, In Turkey Muhammed
Wisam Sankari, a gay Syrian refugee, went missing. His body was
found mutilated and beheaded two days later in central Istanbul.
(AP, 8/4/16)
2016 Jul 25, Turkish Airlines
said it has terminated the contracts of 211 employees, joining a
government purge of people suspected of links to a US-based cleric.
Turkey also ordered the detention of 42 journalists, drawing fire
from the European Union.
(AP, 7/25/16)(Reuters, 7/25/16)
2016 Jul 26, Turkey detained
prominent journalists and two top generals serving abroad in a
widening of the relentless legal crackdown after the July 15 coup
that has caused growing alarm in the West.
(AFP, 7/26/16)
2016 Jul 26, Two Turkish
soldiers were killed in separate incidents involving Kurdish
militants in the Kurdish southeast region.
(Reuters, 7/26/16)
2016 Jul 27, Turkish
authorities issued warrants for the detention of 47 former
executives or senior journalists at the Zaman newspaper, which was
associated with the US-based Muslim cleric who the government says
is behind Turkey's failed July 15 coup.
(AP, 7/27/16)
2016 Jul 29, Turkey’s Interior
Minister Efkan Ala said authorities have detained more than 18,000
people following the July 15-16 failed coup attempt.
(Reuters, 7/29/16)
2016 Jul 29, In Turkey 8
government soldiers were killed in a clash with Kurdish militants at
a checkpoint in the southeastern Hakkari province. A subsequent
operation against the Kurdish rebels left eight Kurds dead.
(AP, 7/30/16)
2016 Jul 30, A senior Turkish
official said the country’s National Intelligence Organisation (MIT)
intercepted encrypted messages sent by followers of US-based
Fethullah Gulen well before the July 15 coup attempt, giving Ankara
names of tens of thousands within the preacher's network.
(AFP, 7/30/16)
2016 Jul 30, In Turkey 27
fighters from the Kurdish Workers' Party, or PKK, were killed in
Hakkari province when Turkish troops launched an air-and-ground
operation against groups of PKK fighters attempting to infiltrate.
(AP, 7/30/16)
2016 Jul 31, Turkey's
government dismissed 1,389 military personnel, including a top aide
to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for suspected links to the
Islamic preacher Gulen.
(AFP, 7/31/16)(Reuters, 8/1/16)
2016 Jul 31, In Turkey 4
government soldiers were killed in two separate clashes with
militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
(Reuters, 7/31/16)
2016 Jul 31, In Germany
thousands of demonstrators from the Turkish community turned out in
Cologne to show their support for Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan
at a rally that ratcheted up diplomatic tensions between Ankara and
Berlin. Germany is home to around 3 million people of Turkish
origin. A regional court ruled, however, that no messages from
speakers elsewhere, such as politicians in Turkey, could be shown on
a video screen at the rally.
(Reuters, 7/31/16)(AP, 8/1/16)
2016 Jul, Turkey closed 131
media outlets late this month linked to the Gulen community
(cemaat).
(Econ, 8/6/16, p.39)
2016 Aug 1, Turkish special
forces captured overnight eleven rebel commandos who tried to seize
or kill President Tayyip Erdogan during the failed July 15 coup.
(Reuters, 8/1/16)
2016 Aug 2, Turkey’s President
Tayyip Erdogan said the country’s intelligence apparatus will be
restructured following a failed military coup last month because it
was under the control of the US-based cleric blamed for staging the
putsch.
(Reuters, 8/2/16)
2016 Aug 4, A court in Turkey
issued a formal warrant for the arrest of US-based Muslim cleric
Fethullah Gulen, who the government accuses of being behind the
failed July 15 coup that left more than 270 people dead.
(AP, 8/4/16)
2016 Aug 5, Turkey's ruling AK
Party ordered a internal purge of members with links to Fethullah
Gulen, the US-based cleric whom the government holds responsible for
last month's failed coup. Industry Minister Faruk Ozlu said 167
staff from the Scientific and Technological Industry Minister have
been dismissed.
(Reuters, 8/5/16)
2016 Aug 7, In Turkey hundreds
of thousands gathered in Istanbul summoned by President Tayyip
Erdogan to denounce a failed coup.
(Reuters, 8/7/16)
2016 Aug 9, Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin held
their first meeting since the two leaders began healing a bitter
feud over Ankara's downing of a Russian warplane.
(AFP, 8/9/16)
2016 Aug 10, In Turkey Kurdish
rebels attacked soldiers near the border with Iraq, killing four of
them in Sirnak province. Evening bomb blasts in two cities in the
southeast killed 9 civilians and wounded dozens.
(AP, 8/10/16)(Reuters, 8/11/16)
2016 Aug 11, Turkish police
detained 17 suspected militants in a sweep in Istanbul that included
a raid on offices of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party
(HDP), hours after twin bomb attacks hit the mainly Kurdish
southeast.
(Reuters, 8/11/16)
2016 Aug 11, Turkey's foreign
minister said two Turkish military attaches in Greece fled to Italy,
others were caught overseas and some diplomats were on the run after
being recalled as part of an inquiry into last month's failed
military coup.
(Reuters, 8/11/16)
2016 Aug 11, Turkish jets
raided suspected Kurdish rebel targets across the border in northern
Iraq, following a wave of attacks that killed at least 12 people.
(AP, 8/11/16)
2016 Aug 12, Turkey said
thirty-two of 208 diplomats recalled by the government after a
failed coup last month are still at large and Ankara has received
information that they have fled to various countries.
(Reuters, 8/12/16)
2016 Aug 15, Turkish police
raided offices at three Istanbul courthouses after detention
warrants were issued for 173 judicial personnel as part of an
investigation into last month's failed coup attempt.
(Reuters, 8/15/16)
2016 Aug 15, Can Dundar, the
editor-in-chief of Turkey's top opposition daily Cumhuriyet,
announced he was stepping down, saying he no longer had faith in the
judiciary after the failed coup. Dundar was believed to be in
Germany. An Istanbul court had in May sentenced Can Dundar to five
years and 10 months in prison for allegedly revealing state secrets
in a story that infuriated President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
(AFP, 8/15/16)
2016 Aug 16, Turkish police
launched simultaneous raids on 44 companies in Istanbul and had
warrants to detain 120 company executives as part of the
investigation into last month's attempted military coup.
(Reuters, 8/16/16)
2016 Aug 17, Turkey said it
will release some 38,000 prisoners under a penal reform as the
arrests of tens of thousands of people suspected of links to last
month's attempted coup burden overstretched jails. A car bomb killed
2 police officers and a civilian in Van province.
(Reuters, 8/17/16)(Reuters, 8/18/16)
2016 Aug 18, Turkey ordered the
seizure of the assets of 187 businessmen suspected of links to
US-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen, accused by Ankara of
masterminding last month's attempted coup. Police detained 10 senior
figures of the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front
(DHKP-C), a far-left militant group that has in the past targeted
Turkish and US interests.
(AFP, 8/18/16)(Reuters, 8/18/16)
2016 Aug 18, In Turkey 3 police
officers were killed and 170 people wounded by a car bomb at a
police station in the eastern city of Elazig.
(Reuters, 8/18/16)
2016 Aug 19, Turkey detained
dozens of academics suspected of backing Fethullah Gulen, the
alleged mastermind of last month's failed coup, while pressing ahead
with raids on businesses linked to the US-based Muslim preacher.
(AFP, 8/19/16)
2016 Aug 19, The Turkish
parliament approved a deal to normalise ties with Israel after a
delay caused by last month's attempted coup. Under the deal, Israel
will pay Turkey $20 million (17.7 million euros) in compensation for
a botched Israeli commando raid on a Gaza-bound Turkish aid ship in
2010 that left 10 Turks dead.
(AFP, 8/20/16)
2016 Aug 20, Turkish PM Binali
Yildirim said Turkey will take a more active role in addressing the
conflict in Syria in the next six months to prevent the war-torn
country being divided along ethnic lines.
(Reuters, 8/20/16)
2016 Aug 20, In southeastern
Turkey an apparent suicide bombing at an outdoor wedding party in
Gaziantep killed killed 51 people, including 22 children. Turkey
blamed the Islamic State. By August 22 death the toll rose to 54.
(AP, 8/21/16)(Reuters, 8/22/16)
2016 Aug 22, Turkish officials
said 2 security force members and 5 PKK militants were killed in
clashes and attacks in three eastern areas over the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 8/22/16)
2016 Aug 23, Turkish media
reported that a military vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive
device in southeast Sirnak province, killing two soldiers.
(Reuters, 8/23/16)
2016 Aug 23, Turkey's artillery
shelled Islamic State group targets across the border in Syria for a
second consecutive day. Two mortar shells fired from Syria hit the
border town of Karkamis. Three rocket shells fired from Syria hit
the border town of Kilis.
(AP, 8/23/16)(Reuters, 8/23/16)
2016 Aug 24, Turkish
counter-terror police launched dawn raids targeting Islamic State
members across Istanbul.
(Reuters, 8/24/16)
2016 Aug 24, Turkish tanks and
armoured vehicles crossed into the Islamic State group-held border
district of Jarablus with air cover from the US-led coalition in
“Operation Euphrates Shield.” The Syrian government and Syrian
Kurdish officials condemned the incursion.
(AFP, 8/24/16)(Reuters, 8/24/16)(Reuters,
8/25/16)
2016 Aug 25, At least nine more
Turkish tanks entered northern Syria as part of an operation aimed
at driving Islamic State out of the border area around Jarablus and
stopping Kurdish militia fighters from seizing territory.
(Reuters, 8/25/16)
2016 Aug 26, In Turkey 11
police officers were killed and 78 people injured in a suicide truck
bombing in Cizre. The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) claimed
responsibility.
(AFP, 8/26/16)
2016 Aug 26, Turkish
counterterrorism police conducted simultaneous operations at 20
locations early today, detaining 17 suspected IS members. Police
"liberated" over two dozen students in one of their schools.
(AP, 8/26/16)
2016 Aug 26, Istanbul
inaugurated the $3 billion Selim Bridge, named after the
16th-century Ottoman sultan. The third bridge spanning the Bosphorus
Strait was touted as the world's widest suspension bridge, featuring
10 lanes including two rail lines and spanning over 1,400 meters.
(AP, 8/26/16)
2016 Aug 27, Turkish
authorities arrested three former top diplomats over the failed July
15 coup, including a senior official who brokered a meeting between
the then premier and the US-based preacher blamed for the plot.
(AFP, 8/27/16)fs
2016 Aug 27, Turkey sent more
tanks into Syria to bolster a military offensive against jihadists
and Kurdish fighters. One Turkish soldier was killed and three more
wounded in a rocket attack by Kurdish militia on two tanks taking
part in the offensive.
(AP, 8/27/16)(AFP, 8/27/16)
2016 Aug 28, Turkey's army and
its allies thrust deeper into Syria, seizing territory controlled by
Kurdish-aligned forces on the fifth day of a cross-border campaign
that a monitoring group said had killed at least 35 villagers.
(Reuters, 8/28/16)
2016 Aug 29, Turkey’s military
said its armed forces carried out 57 artillery strikes on 16
militant targets in northern Syria over the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 8/29/16)
2016 Sep 1, Turkey's NTV
television reported that the country’s top judicial board has
dismissed 543 more judges and prosecutors, the latest purge of
officials suspected of sympathizing with those behind a July 15
failed coup. The government's Official Gazette announced that nearly
43,000 people have been expelled from their jobs in public
institutions for alleged ties to terror organizations endangering
national security since the failed coup.
(Reuters, 9/1/16)(AP, 9/2/16)
2016 Sep 2, Turkey's Anadolu
state-run news agency said one Turkish soldier was killed and six
wounded in clashes with Kurdish militants. 20 Kurdish fighters were
also reported killed during the clashes in Hakkari province that
included Turkish airstrikes.
(AP, 9/2/16)
2016 Sep 21, In Turkey Osman
Nuri Caliskan (41), reportedly mentally disturbed and wielding a
knife, tried to storm the Israeli embassy in Ankara but was shot
before reaching the building.
(Reuters, 9/21/16)
2016 Sep 21, Italian
prosecutors said they have dropped a money laundering case against
the son of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan. The allegation that
Bilal Erodogan, 35, was involved in money laundering while studying
in Italy last year was first made by Murat Hakan Uzan, an exiled
member of one of Turkey's richest families and an opponent of the
president.
(Reuters, 9/21/16)
2016 Sep 22, In Turkey six
people were wounded when a rocket fired from an area of Syria under
the control of Islamic State hit the border town of Kilis.
(Reuters, 9/22/16)
2016 Oct 2, In northern Syria
at least 21 Syrian rebels fighting alongside Turkish troops against
the Islamic State were killed by landmines laid by the jihadist
group.
(AFP, 10/3/16)
2016 Oct 3, Turkish military
officials said 15 Syrian opposition fighters were killed and about
35 wounded over the last 24 hours in fighting to capture seven
residential districts south of the town of al-Rai.
(AP, 10/3/16)
2016 Oct 10, In Turkey Russia’s
President Vladimir Putin met counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in
Istanbul, pushing forward ambitious joint energy projects on his
first visit to Turkey since a crisis in ties. Erdogan and Putin
reached a deal to proceed on the Turkish Stream project to carry
Russian natural gas to Turkey and on to the EU.
(AFP, 10/10/16)(SFC, 10/11/16, p.A2)
2016 Oct 12, In Syria rebels
supported by Turkish tanks and US-led coalition air strikes pushed
toward the Islamic State stronghold of Dabiq. Turkey’s military said
clashes and air strikes over the past 24 hours have killed 47
jihadists. An airstrike hit the biggest market on the rebel-held
side of Aleppo, killing at least 15 people and leveling buildings.
Shelling on government-held parts of Aleppo killed 8 people.
(Reuters, 10/12/16)(AP, 10/12/16)(Reuters,
10/13/16)
2016 Oct 16, In Syria
Turkish-backed Syrian opposition forces captured the town of Dabiq
from the Islamic State group as government forces reversed recent
rebel advances in the center of the country.
(AP, 10/16/16)
2016 Oct 22, Turkey's Pres.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the country will be expanding its
operations in north Syria, including entering the cities of al-Bab,
Manbij and Raqqa.
(AP, 10/22/16)
2016 Oct 31, Turkish police
detained the chief editor and at least 12 senior staff of Turkey's
opposition Cumhuriyet newspaper, in a widening crackdown on
dissenting voices.
(AP, 10/31/16)
2016 Nov 3, In Turkey hundreds
of academics, students and union members staged a protest against a
government purge of thousands of educational staff since the
attempted military coup in July.
(Reuters, 11/3/16)
2016 Nov 4, In Turkey a car
bomb attack in Diyarbakir killed at least nine people. The attack
came just hours after authorities detained at least 12 pro-Kurdish
lawmakers for questioning in terror related probes. PM Binali
Yildirim said the bombing was carried out by the Kurdistan Workers
Party (PKK). Two more people soon succumbed to their wounds. A news
outlet linked to the Islamic State said its fighters staged the
bombing that killed 11 people.
(AP, 11/4/16)(AFP, 11/5/16)
2016 Nov 5, Turkey's military
said it hit 71 Islamic State targets in Syria over the last 24
hours, intensifying strikes against the militant group.
(Reuters, 11/5/16)
2016 Nov 5, In Turkey an
Istanbul court ordered the imprisonment of nine staff from the
opposition Cumhuriyet newspaper. Authorities detained nine officials
from the country's main pro-Kurdish opposition party. Police used
water cannon and tear gas against crowds of protesters in Istanbul,
in an attempt to block them from marching to the office of an
opposition newspaper whose staff had been arrested.
(AFP, 11/4/16)(Reuters, 11/5/16)
2016 Nov 5, In southeastern
Turkish two children were killed when a bomb planted by the outlawed
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) exploded in the province of Sirnak.
(Reuters, 11/5/16)
2016 Nov 6, Turkey's main
pro-Kurdish party said it was pulling out of parliament after nine
of its MPs including the two co-leaders were arrested in an
unprecedented crackdown. The state-run Anadolu Agency said police
have detained 15 suspects in an operation involving raids across the
southeastern province of Adana targeting the Kurdistan Workers Party
(PKK) militant group.
(AFP, 11/6/16)(Reuters, 11/6/16)
2016 Nov 15, Israel appointed
an ambassador to Turkey, its first since both countries recalled
their envoys five years ago amid a spat over a deadly Israeli raid
on a Turkish vessel trying to reach the Gaza Strip.
(AP, 11/15/16)
2016 Nov 16, Pakistan ordered
400 Turkish nationals to leave the country ahead of a visit by
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
(AP, 11/17/16)
2016 Nov 17, Turkish police
detained the pro-Kurdish co-mayor of the southeastern city of Van,
expanding a crackdown on municipal chiefs throughout the region that
has sparked international concern.
(AFP, 11/17/16)
2016 Nov 17, In Turkey a copper
mine collapsed near the town of Sirvan, Siirt province. At least 6
miners were killed and 10 remained missing. Six people were later
detained in the investigation of the mine collapse.
(AP, 11/18/16)(AP, 11/19/16)(AP, 11/20/16)
2016 Nov 18, In Turkey 76
academics were detained at a university in Istanbul as part of the
ongoing investigation into the movement allegedly responsible for an
attempted coup. Detention warrants were issued for 103 employees
Yildiz Technical University on charges of "membership in an armed
terrorist organization."
(AP, 11/18/16)
2016 Nov 18, A bill in Turkey
that would overturn men's convictions for child sex assault if they
marry their victim provoked fury with critics accusing the proposals
of encouraging rape.
(AFP, 11/18/16)
2016 Nov 19, In Turkey
two homemade pipe bombs were thrown by two children around about 12
or 13 years old during a performance by singer Aleyna Tilki at a
cafe in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir. Six people were
injured, none seriously.
(AP, 11/20/16)
2016 Nov 19, A Turkish soldier
was killed and two others wounded in a bomb attack by Islamic State
militants near the northern Syrian city of al-Bab.
(AP, 11/20/16)
2016 Nov 21, Turkish
authorities detained Ahmet Turk (74), a Kurdish politician and mayor
in the southeastern province of Mardin. He was reported released on
Feb 3 because of deteriorating health.
(Reuters, 2/3/17)
2016 Nov 22, Turkish President
Tayyip Erdogan said government-backed forces have besieged the
Islamic State-held Syrian town of al-Bab from the west and have set
their sights on Manbij for their next offensive.
(Reuters, 11/22/16)
2016 Nov 22, Turkish
authorities issued an arrest warrant for Salih Muslim, a leader of
the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), in relation to a
February bomb attack on military buses in Ankara. The arrest papers
also mentioned 47 other people, including leading members of the
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group.
(Reuters, 11/22/16)
2016 Nov 22, Turkey dismissed
15,000 more state employees, from soldiers and police officers to
tax inspectors and midwives, and shut 375 institutions and several
news outlets, deepening purges carried out since a failed coup.
(Reuters, 11/22/16)
2016 Nov 22, The leaders of the
European Parliament's two largest groups called for the EU to halt
membership talks with Turkey because of its post-coup purges.
(Reuters, 11/22/16)
2016 Nov 23, Turkish-backed
Syrian opposition forces clashed with Kurdish-led forces in northern
Syria, where both are fighting the Islamic State group.
Kurdish-affiliated forces entered the IS-held town of Arima, near
al-Bab.
(AP, 11/23/16)
2016 Nov 24, In southern Turkey
a car bomb exploded in the car park of the governor's office in
Adana killing two people and wounding 33. Police shot and captured a
suspect. The Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK) later claimed
responsibility.
(AFP, 11/24/16)(AP, 11/24/16)(Reuters, 11/29/16)
2016 Nov 24, The European
Parliament voted to freeze membership talks with Turkey over its
"disproportionate" post-coup crackdown, further escalating tensions
with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
(AFP, 11/24/16)
2016 Nov 24, In northern Syria
three Turkish soldiers were killed in what the military said was a
suspected Syrian air strike. Turkey said it would retaliate.
(Reuters, 11/24/16)
2016 Nov 25, Turkish media
reported one soldier killed and five lightly wounded in the fight
against the Islamic State group in al-Bab, northern Syria. Four
opposition fighters were also reported killed in the clashes.
(AP, 11/25/16)
2016 Nov 26, Turkey's state-run
news agency said a Turkish soldier was killed and three wounded in
an attack during an anti-IS operation in north Syria, raising to
five the number of Turkish troops killed in Syria this week. Turkish
warplanes destroyed 12 Islamic State targets during the offensive.
(AP, 11/26/16)(Reuters, 11/26/16)
2016 Nov 26, Turkish
authorities detained two reporters working for the BBC and Voice of
America in the town of Sirvan, the latest journalists taken into
custody in the government's sweeping crackdown following July's
failed coup.
(AP, 11/27/16)
2016 Nov 27, The Turkish army
said 22 pro-Ankara Syrian rebels were hit by an Islamic State (IS)
gas attack east of Al Rai in northern Syria, the first time Turkey
has accused the jihadists of chemical warfare.
(AFP, 11/27/16)
2016 Nov 28, Two Turkish
soldiers were reported killed after clashing with Kurdish militants
in the eastern province of Tunceli.
(Reuters, 11/28/16)
2016 Nov 29, In Turkey a deadly
fire at a dormitory for schoolgirls left 12 people dead in the
southern region of Adana. Twelve people were detained the next day
as anger grew over possible negligence that caused the tragedy.
(Reuters, 11/30/16)
2016 Nov, In Turkey pro-Kurdish
Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) co-leader Selahattin Demirtas was
detained on charges of links to Kurdish militants. He was detained
along with another nine HDP lawmakers and his female co-leader Figen
Yuksekdag.
(AFP, 1/17/17)
2016 Dec 2, Pres. Recep Tayyip
Erdogan urged his citizens to give up the dollar and euros at a time
the economy is teetering. Erdogan called on Turkish citizens to
convert savings held in foreign currencies into gold and Turkish
lira to help boost the ailing currency, which recently dropped above
3.5 lira per dollar, the weakest exchange rate in more than a
decade.
(http://tinyurl.com/j9uebpr)(AP, 12/8/16)
2016 Dec 3, The Turkish
military said it has killed 20 fighters from the outlawed Kurdistan
Workers Party (PKK) after they tried to attack army bases in the
southeastern Hakkari province.
(Reuters, 12/3/16)
2016 Dec 5, Officials said a
Greek court has refused to extradite the first three of eight
Turkish servicemen who fled to Greece after the failed July 15
military coup.
(AP, 12/5/16)
2016 Dec 6, A Greek court
agreed to extradite three Turkish servicemen who were part of an
eight-person helicopter crew that fled to Greece after a failed
military coup, a decision that came a day after it refused to send
three others back to Turkey.
(AP, 12/6/16)
2016 Dec 7, NATO’s top military
officer said that about 150 Turkish officers have been recalled or
retired from the alliance’s high command since Turkey’s July 15
failed coup.
(SFC, 12/8/16, p.A2)
2016 Dec 8, A Greek court
rejected Turkey's extradition request for the last two of eight
Turkish servicemen who fled to Greece after a failed July military
coup.
(AP, 12/8/16)
2016 Dec 9, Turkish jets
carried out air strikes against Kurdish militants in the Gara region
of northern Iraq and killed 19 militants.
(Reuters, 12/9/16)
2016 Dec 10, Turkey said its
warplanes have destroyed 39 Islamic State targets and killed four
militants in northern Syria.
(Reuters, 12/10/16)
2016 Dec 10, In Turkey twin
bombings killed at least 44 people and wounded 155 outside an
Istanbul soccer stadium. The Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK) soon
claimed responsibility and the Turkish government vowed vengeance.
(Reuters, 12/11/16)(Reuters, 12/12/16)
2016 Dec 12, Turkey detained
over 200 people including dozens of officials from pro-Kurdish
parties and struck Kurdish militants in Iraq in response to this
weekend's twin bombings claimed by a radical Kurd separatist group.
(AFP, 12/12/16)
2016 Dec 13, Turkish police
detained two female pro-Kurdish lawmakers as a crackdown intensified
after a deadly Istanbul bombing that raised questions about Ankara's
strategy in fighting separatist militants. Turkey's Interior
Ministry said 568 people have been detained on account of their
alleged affiliation with the PKK.
(AFP, 12/13/16)(AP, 12/13/16)
2016 Dec 17, In Turkey a
suicide car bomber set off an explosion that demolished a public bus
transporting off-duty soldiers in the central province of Kayseri,
killing 14 troops and wounding 55 others. In response dozens of
nationalist protestors stormed the headquarters of the pro-Kurdish
Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) in Kayseri. Turkish authorities
detained seven people and searched for another five in relation to
the attack. The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons, or TAK, later claimed
responsibility.
(AP, 12/17/16)(AFP, 12/17/16)(Reuters,
12/17/16)(AP, 12/20/16)
2016 Dec 17, Turkey’s military
said its warplanes have pounded Islamic State targets in northern
Syria in the last 24 hours, killing at least 20 militants.
(Reuters, 12/17/16)
2016 Dec 19, In Turkey Russian
ambassador Andrey Karlov was shot and killed by Mevlut Mert Altintas
(22) at an art gallery in Ankara. Altintas, who had worked for
Ankara riot police, was killed minutes later by Turkish special
forces. Turkish authorities later alleged that Karlov's killer had
links to Fethullah Gulen, a US-based Muslim cleric, accused of
masterminding the failed July 2016 coup. On Nov 23, 2018, a Turkish
prosecutor charged 28 suspects including US-based Muslim preacher
Fethullah Gulen, over the murder of the Russian ambassador.
(Reuters, 12/20/16)(AP, 4/2/18)(AFP, 11/23/18)
2016 Dec 20, Turkish officials
inaugurated the Eurasia Tunnel, crossing the Bosporus Strait,
linking the European and Asian sides of Istanbul.
(AP, 12/20/16)
2016 Dec 20, In Syria President
Bashar al-Assad's army closed in on the last rebel enclave in
Aleppo. Russia, Iran and Turkey said they were ready to help broker
a Syrian peace deal. They adopted a document they called the "Moscow
Declaration", which set out the principles that any peace agreement
should follow.
(Reuters, 12/20/16)
2016 Dec 21, In northern Syria
clashes escalated around the town of al-Bab with Turkish soldiers
and 138 jihadists killed.
(Reuters, 12/24/16)
2016 Dec 22, Turkey's defense
minister said the number of Turkish soldiers killed in recent
attacks by Islamic State militants near the northern Syrian town of
al-Bab has risen to 16, adding that three other soldiers were
seriously wounded. He said a total of 35 Turkish soldiers have been
killed since the start of Turkey-backed rebels' incursion into
northern Syria that began on August 24.
(Reuters, 12/22/16)
2016 Dec 22, The Islamic State
released the video late today which purports to show the burning of
two Turkish soldiers captured near the northern Syrian town of
al-Bab. The two soldiers went missing in the area of al-Dana,
northwest of al-Bab, in late November.
(AP, 12/23/16)
2016 Dec 23, Turkish warplanes
pounded the extremist-held Syrian town of al-Bab.
(AP, 12/23/16)
2016 Dec 24, Turkish
authorities said they are investigating some 10,000 people on
suspicion of using social media to support terrorism. Turkish
authorities have formally arrested 1,656 people in the past six
months for allegedly supporting terrorist organizations or insulting
officials on social media.
(Reuters, 12/24/16)(AP, 12/24/16)
2016 Dec 24, Turkey’s military
said 68 Islamic State militants have been "neutralized" in fighting
and air strikes near al-Bab over the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 12/24/16)
2016 Dec 28, Turkish state
media said Turkey and Russia have agreed a ceasefire for all of
Syria that should come into force at midnight, but rebel groups said
no such official truce had been agreed.
(AFP, 12/28/16)
2016 Dec 28, Turkish security
said one Turkish soldier and two Kurdish militants died as a result
of clashes overnight in the eastern province of Tunceli.
(Reuters, 12/28/16)
2016 Dec 29, An Istanbul court
ordered the release of Asli Erdogan, one of Turkey's most celebrated
novelists after over four months in jail on charges of terror
propaganda, along with Necmiye Alpay, an internationally prominent
linguist and author of widely praised translations of Western novels
into Turkish. She has been held behind bars for 120 days. Zana Kaya,
editorial director of the pro-Kurdish newspaper Ozgur Gundem was
also ordered released. Authorities detained prize-winning journalist
Ahmet Sik in a separate case over a succession of tweets and
articles for an opposition daily.
(AFP, 12/29/16)
2016 Dec 30, A Turkish
parliamentary commission cleared a set of draft constitutional
amendments that would greatly expand the powers of Pres. Recep
Tayyip Erdogan.
(AP, 12/30/16)
2016 Dec 30, In southern Turkey
police detained some 40 suspected Islamic State group militants in
raids in Adana.
(AP, 12/30/16)
2016 Dec 30, The Turkish
military said Russian fighter jets have hit three Islamic State
targets around the northern Syrian town of al-Bab over the past 24
hours.
(Reuters, 12/30/16)
2016 Kaya Genc authored “Under
the Shadow: Rage and Revolution in Modern Turkey.”
(Econ, 11/12/16, p.74)
2016 Surveys in 2017 said some
6,000 millionaires had left Turkey this year.
(Econ, 3/11/17, p.52)
2017 Jan 1, In Turkey 39 people
were killed and dozens wounded when a gunman stormed the popular
Reina nightclub in Istanbul and sprayed bullets at revelers
celebrating the New Year. The gunman was later identified as an
Uzbek jihadist with the IS code name of Ebu Muhammed Horasani.
(AFP, 1/1/17)(AFP, 1/8/17)
2017 Jan 5, Two senior Turkish
military officers were jailed for life for involvement in July's
failed coup attempt that killed almost 250 people, marking the first
conviction related to the putsch.
(Reuters, 1/5/17)
2017 Jan 5, In western Turkey a
car bombing outside a courthouse in Izmir killed two people. The
Kurdish PKK militant group was suspected. Turkish police shot dead
two assailants. A day later police detained 18 people in connection
to the attack.
(Reuters, 1/5/17)(SFC, 1/7/17, p.A2)
2017 Jan 7, Turkey ordered the
dismissal of almost 8,400 civil servants and the closure of over 80
associations, including sports clubs, in the latest round of purges
after the July failed coup.
(AFP, 1/7/17)
2017 Jan 7, Turkish PM Binali
Yildirim commenced a two-day visit to Iraq, the first since the two
governments quarreled over the presence of unauthorized Turkish
troops in northern Iraq.
(AP, 1/7/17)
2017 Jan 7, In Turkey a heavy
snowstorm paralyzed life in Istanbul, with hundreds of flights
cancelled and the Bosporus closed to shipping traffic.
(AFP, 1/7/17)
2017 Jan 9, Turkish Airlines
canceled 277 domestic and international flights to and from
Istanbul's two airports due to heavy snow.
(AP, 1/9/17)
2017 Jan 10, In Turkey a man
suspected of trying to force his way into a police station in
Gaziantep, a city near the Syrian border, was shot dead.
(AFP, 1/10/17)
2017 Jan 12, Turkish lawmakers
brawled and threw chairs as parliament approved three more articles
in a hugely controversial bill bolstering the powers of President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
(AFP, 1/12/17)
2017 Jan 15, Turkey's state-run
news agency said nine Turkish colonels have been detained in
northern Cyprus as part of the investigation into the movement
allegedly responsible for a failed coup in July.
(AP, 1/15/17)
2017 Jan 16, In Turkey
Abdulkadir Masharipov, the Uzbek gunman who carried out the New
Year’s attack on Istanbul’s Reina nightclub, was detained in
Istanbul.
(AP, 1/17/17)
2017 Jan 16, In southeastern
Turkey a roadside bomb in a pre-dominantly Kurdish city killed three
policemen and wounded three others.
(AP, 1/16/17)
2017 Jan 16, A Turkish cargo
jet crashed near Kyrgyzstan's Manas airport, killing at least 37
people including 4 crew members. Most of the dead were residents of
a village struck by the Boeing 747 as it tried to land in dense fog.
23 of 43 houses in the village were destroyed.
(Reuters, 1/16/17)(SFC, 1/17/17, p.A3)
2017 Jan 16, Lawyers at a UN
court urged Turkey to release Judge Aydin Sedaf Akay, who is being
held in connection with July's coup attempt, saying his detention
was delaying a Rwandan politician's conviction for genocide.
(Reuters, 1/17/17)
2017 Jan 17, In Syria Russian
warplanes carried out air strikes on Islamic State targets south of
al-Bab in coordination with Turkey.
(Reuters, 1/18/17)
2017 Jan 18, Turkey's
parliament embarked on a second round of voting on a contentious
package of constitutional amendments that would give President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan's office new executive powers.
(AP, 1/18/17)
2017 Jan 18, Turkish police
rounded up 27 people linked to Abdulkadir Masharipov, the suspected
gunman in Istanbul’s New year’s Eve nightclub attack.
(SFC, 1/19/17, p.A2)
2017 Jan 19, Turkey’s
government extended emergency for another three months.
(Econ, 1/21/17, p.41)
2017 Jan 20, In Turkey rocket
attacks hit the Istanbul police headquarters and the offices of the
ruling AK Party. There were no reports of casualties.
(Reuters, 1/22/17)
2017 Jan 21, Turkey parliament
adopted a block of constitutional amendments intended to cement
Pres. Erdogan’s grip over the country.
(Econ, 2/4/17, p.46)
2017 Jan 21, Turkish
broadcaster Haberturk said prosecutors have issued arrest warrants
for more than 400 people, including soldiers and security officers,
in 48 provinces across the country following July's failed coup.
Zulfukar Sukru Kanberoglu of the TMSF fund was one of 367 people
dismissed from state institutions under the latest four decrees,
which also reinstated 124 civil servants.
(Reuters, 1/21/17)(Reuters, 1/23/17)
2017 Jan 22, Turkish
authorities said they have captured two men believed to be among
those responsible for rocket attacks on the Istanbul police
headquarters and the offices of the ruling AK Party on Jan 20. One
of the assailants was captured by police early today, while the
other was shot dead later in the day in the northwestern province of
Tekirdag. Police identified them as a members of the outlawed
Revolutionary People's Liberation Army-Front (DHKP-C).
(Reuters, 1/22/17)
2017 Jan 23, In Kazakhstan
indirect 2-day talks began in Astana between the Syrian government
and rebels. The talks were hosted by Russia, Turkey and Iran.
(Reuters, 1/23/17)(Econ, 1/28/17, p.39)
2017 Jan 23, In Tanzania
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan asked Pres. John Magufuli to
take action against the network of an exiled cleric he blames for
last year's failed coup.
(AFP, 1/23/17)
2017 Jan 24, Turkey said it
would not hand over al-Bab to Syrian forces after driving out
Islamic State. The Turkish-backed rebels are closer to doing so than
the Syrian army, having already reached the town's outskirts.
(Reuters, 1/25/17)
2017 Jan 24, In Mozambique
Turkish Pres. Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on leader Filipe Nyusi to
take action against the exiled cleric he blames for last year's
failed coup.
(AFP, 1/24/17)
2017 Jan 24, In Kazakhstan
Russia, Turkey and Iran backed a shaky truce between Syria's warring
parties and agreed to monitor its compliance. On the ground rebels
faced continued fighting on two fronts, which could undermine the
deal.
(Reuters, 1/24/17)
2017 Jan 25, Syrian government
forces and their allies drove Islamic State militants out of several
villages northeast of Aleppo over the last 24 hours. One Turkish
soldier was killed and five were wounded in a clash with Islamic
State militants near al-Bab.
(Reuters, 1/25/17)
2017 Jan 26, Greece's Supreme
Court ruled against the extradition of eight Turkish soldiers who
fled to Greece in July after a failed coup attempt in Turkey, a
decision which angered Ankara and further strained relations between
the two neighbors. Turkey issued an arrest warrant for the eight
former army officers.
(Reuters, 1/26/17)(AFP, 1/26/17)
2017 Jan 27, Turkey's top
diplomat threatened punitive measures against Greece, including
scrapping an agreement on the return of migrants, after the Greek
Supreme Court ruled against extraditing eight Turkish officers who
escaped from their country by helicopter after the failed coup
attempt.
(AP, 1/27/17)
2017 Jan 28, In Turkey British
PM Theresa May signed a $125 million defense equipment deal with
Turkey and promised to push for more trade between the NATO allies,
but cautioned Ankara on human rights following last year's failed
coup.
(Reuters, 1/28/17)
2017 Jan 28, Germany confirmed
that high-ranking Turkish soldiers, who worked at NATO facilities in
Germany but were suspended after the failed coup in Turkey in July,
have requested asylum. Der Spiegel and broadcaster ARD reported that
about 40, mostly high-ranking Turkish soldiers, have requested
asylum.
(Reuters, 1/28/17)
2017 Jan 29, In northern Syria
a Turkish soldier was killed in clashes with Islamic State militants
near al-Bab.
(Reuters, 1/29/17)
2017 Jan 31, Turkey arrested
two MPs from the main pro-Kurdish party, including its chief
spokesman, the latest move in a crackdown on the group ahead of a
vote on changing the constitution.
(AFP, 1/31/17)
2017 Feb 2, In Turkey German
Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Turkey to uphold democracy as the
country heads toward a critical referendum on boosting the powers of
the presidency, while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan took
offense at her reference to "Islamist terror," saying the words
cannot be placed together.
(AP, 2/2/17)
2017 Feb 4, The Turkish
military said it has hit 59 Islamic State targets and killed 51
militants in northern Syria as part of its ongoing incursion.
(Reuters, 2/4/17)
2017 Feb 5, Turkish police
detained 448 suspected Islamic State group members in nationwide
raids just over a month after an attack on an Istanbul nightclub
claimed by the jihadists.
(AFP, 2/5/17)
2017 Feb 5, The website of
Austria's parliament was brought down for 20 minutes. A Turkish
hackers' group, Aslan Neferler Tim (ANT), or Lion Soldiers Team,
whose website says it defends the homeland, Islam, the nation and
flag, without any party political links, claimed the attack.
(Reuters, 2/7/17)
2017 Feb 6, Turkey said it has
now detained nearly 750 suspects in a police operation against the
Islamic State group.
(AP, 2/6/17)
2017 Feb 8, Turkey said Syrian
rebels backed by the Turkish military have captured the outskirts of
the Islamic State-held city of al-Bab in northern Syria.
(Reuters, 2/8/17)
2017 Feb 8, Turkish presidency
sources said President Tayyip Erdogan and US President Donald Trump
agreed in an overnight phone call on joint action against Islamic
State in the Syrian towns of Raqqa and al-Bab, both held by the
militants.
(Reuters, 2/8/17)
2017 Feb 9, Turkish officials
said police have detained four Islamic State group suspects who were
allegedly planning to carry out a "sensational" attack and seized 24
suicide attack belts during an anti-terror operation in Gaziantep.
(AP, 2/9/17)
2017 Feb 9, In northern Syria a
Russian warplane "accidentally" hit a building on with Turkish
soldiers inside, killing at least three troops and wounding 11 near
al-Bab. Russia intervened to halt a clash between Syrian government
forces and Turkey-backed Syrian rebels, the first confrontation
between them as both sides fight Islamic State in the area.
(AP, 2/9/17)(Reuters, 2/10/17)
2017 Feb 10, In Turkey police
used tear gas to disperse protesters trying to enter Ankara
University to denounce a government decree that dismissed 330
academics. At least five protesters were detained.
(AP, 2/10/17)
2017 Feb 11, In northern Syria
Turkish troops and Syrian rebels entered the Islamic State-held town
of Al-Bab, as government forces moved closer to the jihadist
bastion. one Turkish soldier was killed and another wounded in
clashes with IS fighters.
(AFP, 2/11/17)
2017 Feb 11, In France some
15,000 people marched in the eastern city of Strasbourg demanding
that Turkey release Kurdish separatist leader Abdullah Ocalan, as
Europe's Kurds held their biggest annual gathering.
(AFP, 2/11/17)
2017 Feb 12, Turkey's president
said his troops and allied Syrian fighters have reached the heart of
the Islamic State stronghold of al-Bab in northern Syria and will
eventually march on the extremists' de facto capital, Raqqa.
(AP, 2/12/17)
2017 Feb 14, Turkish PM Binali
Yildirim said Turkey-backed rebels have largely taken control of
Syria's al-Bab from Islamic State militants, but a war monitoring
group said the jihadists still controlled most of the town.
(Reuters, 2/14/17)
2017 Feb 14, Turkey's President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan met Saudi Arabia's top leadership during a
visit to further strengthen ties as part of a Gulf tour ahead of
Syria peace talks.
(AFP, 2/14/17)
2017 Feb 17, Turkey's military
said it was close to taking Syria's al-Bab from Islamic State, but a
war monitor said the jihadists still controlled 90 percent of the
town itself and that shelling and air strikes had killed dozens of
civilians in recent days. Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said
Turkish shelling and air strikes had killed 45 civilians, including
18 children, during the past 48 hours.
(Reuters, 2/17/17)
2017 Feb 17, In Turkey
publishers closed down Girgir magazine, established in 1972 and a
once top-selling satirical magazine, following a Moses cartoon that
was deemed to be offensive to Jews and Muslims.
(AP, 2/17/17)
2017 Feb 17, In Turkey a car
bomb exploded near the lodgings of judges and prosecutors in the
mainly Kurdish town of Viransehir in Sanliurfa province. 26 people
were soon detained following the attack.
(AP, 2/18/17)
2017 Feb 20, Turkey dismissed
227 more judges and prosecutors as part of investigations into last
July's failed coup, meaning close to 4,000 members of the judiciary
have now been purged.
(Reuters, 2/20/17)
2017 Feb 21, In Turkey Figen
Yuksekdag, the co-chair of the opposition pro-Kurdish party, lost
her seat in parliament after an appeals court confirmed her
conviction on terrorism-related charges. The party has appealed to
the European Court of Human Rights seeking the lawmakers' release,
so that they may be allowed to campaign ahead of a referendum on
expanding President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's powers.
(AP, 2/21/17)
2017 Feb 22, Turkey’s defense
ministry officials said they will allow female soldiers to wear a
headscarf with their uniforms, marking a symbolic shift for a
military that has traditionally seen itself as a guardian of state
secularism.
(Reuters, 2/22/17)
2017 Feb 24, Two Turkish
soldiers were killed while clearing mines in the town of Tadef south
of al-Bab, Syria.
(Reuters, 2/24/17)
2017 Feb, Turkish authorities
arrested Deniz Yucel, a journalist for Germany’s Die Welt newspaper,
on charges of propaganda in support of a terrorist organization and
inciting the public to violence. Yucel, a dual Turkish and German
national, was initially detained after he reported on emails that a
leftist hacker collective had purportedly obtained from the private
account of Berat Albayrak, Turkey's energy minister and Erdogan's
son-in-law.
(Reuters, 3/19/17)
2017 Mar 1, Iranian President
Hassan Rouhani and Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan agreed to
improve ties, including in the fight against terrorism, on the
sidelines of an economic cooperation summit in the Pakistani capital
Islamabad.
(Reuters, 3/1/17)
2017 Mar 1, In northern Syria
the Turkish army and allied Syrian rebels attacked villages held by
US-allied militias near the city of Manbij. Russian-backed Syrian
government forces and their allies recaptured the historic Palmyra
citadel, on the city's western outskirts, from Islamic State
fighters.
(Reuters, 3/1/17)
2017 Mar 3, Turkey accused
Germany of scandalous behavior in cancelling rallies of Turkish
citizens in two German towns due to be addressed by Turkish
ministers and said Berlin provided a "shelter" for people committing
crimes against his country.
(Reuters, 3/3/17)
2017 Mar 4, A Syrian military
jet crashed in Turkey’s southern border province of Hatay. The pilot
was rescued after a nine hour search and had "a few" broken bones
and was receiving treatment at a local hospital, but wasn't in
critical condition.
(AP, 3/5/17)
2017 Mar 6, Turkish security
forces launched one of their largest "anti-terrorist" operations in
recent years in the restive south-east against Kurdish militants.
(AFP, 3/6/17)
2017 Mar 7, In Turkey the top
generals of the Turkish, Russian and US military met in Antalya in a
bid to step up coordination in Syria and avoid clashes between rival
forces in the fight against IS.
(AFP, 3/7/17)
2017 Mar 8, US-based Mercy
Corps, one of the largest humanitarian organizations delivering aid
to Syria, said Turkey has ordered it to immediately shut down its
Turkish operations.
(Reuters, 3/8/17)
2017 Mar 10, In Turkey seven
people were killed including four Russians when a privately-owned
helicopter crashed in Istanbul after hitting a television tower.
(AFP, 3/10/17)
2017 Mar 10, In Austria four
planned Turkish political meetings were canceled in the latest signs
of unease across Europe over a series of campaign events to rally
support among expatriate Turks for President Tayyip Erdogan.
(Reuters, 3/11/17)
2017 Mar 10, The UN accused
Turkish security forces of committing serious abuses during
operations against Kurdish militants in the southeast after a
ceasefire collapsed in July 2015.
(AFP, 3/10/17)
2017 Mar 11, Turkish
journalists and opposition lawmakers protested in Istanbul against
the detention of reporters, as a crackdown on the media has
accelerated after the failed coup against President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan.
(AFP, 3/11/17)
2017 Mar 11, The Netherlands
barred Turkey's foreign minister from landing in Rotterdam in a row
over Ankara's political campaigning among Turkish emigres, and
President Tayyip Erdogan retaliated, branding his NATO partner a
"Nazi remnant". Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency said family
minister Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya will travel to the Dutch city of
Rotterdam by land. Dutch authorities expelled Kaya for seeking to
woo the vote of expatriate Turks for a key referendum at home.
(Reuters, 3/11/17)(AFP, 3/12/17)
2017 Mar 12, Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on international organizations to "raise
their voices" against the Netherlands after it escorted a minister
out of the country and prevented another one from landing in the
country.
(AP, 3/12/17)
2017 Mar 14, The small western
German state of Saarland said it is banning political campaigning by
foreign politicians saying internal Turkish conflicts have no place
in Germany.
(Reuters, 3/14/17)
2017 Mar 14, Hundreds of
Twitter accounts were hijacked amid the ongoing diplomatic feud
between Turkey and two European nations, Germany and the
Netherlands. Most if not all high-profile accounts soon returned to
normal.
(AP, 3/15/17)
2017 Mar 15, Turkey said its
red meat association has ordered a consignment of prize Dutch cattle
to be sent back to the Netherlands, saying it no longer wants to
farm the cows due to the diplomatic crisis between the countries.
(AFP, 3/15/17)
2017 Mar 16, Turkish police
detained two suspected members of the Islamic State group who were
allegedly planning a "sensational attack" similar to the massacre at
an Istanbul nightclub on New Year's night.
(AFP, 3/16/17)
2017 Mar 18, Turkish media said
authorities have detained 740 people for suspected links to the
outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) over the last three days.
(Reuters, 3/18/17)
2017 Mar 18, In Germany around
9,000 Kurdish supporters demonstrated in Frankfurt against Turkish
President Tayyip Erdogan and an April referendum that would give him
sweeping new powers.
(Reuters, 3/18/17)
2017 Mar 21, In Turkey tens of
thousands of people celebrated the New Year festival of Newroz in
the overwhelmingly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir, even as police killed
a man who claimed to be carrying a bomb.
(AFP, 3/21/17)
2017 Mar 22, Turkey fired into
Kurdish-controlled Syria after saying one of its soldiers was killed
in Hatay province by a sniper from across the border in Afrin.
(Reuters, 3/22/17)
2017 Mar 22, Norway granted
political asylum to a group of Turkish military officers based in
Norway who had refused to return home after the failed July 15 coup
attempt.
(AP, 3/22/17)
2017 Mar 24, Five children were
among 11 Syrians killed after their plastic boat sank off Turkey's
Aegean coast.
(Reuters, 3/24/17)
2017 Mar 28, German prosecutors
announced an investigation into claims that Turkish agents are
spying on alleged followers of exiled preacher Fethullah Gulen in
Germany.
(AFP, 3/28/17)
2017 Mar 31, In Turkey a court
in Istanbul released singer Atilla Tas and 20 others from jail
pending an outcome of their trial on terrorism charges. Five of them
will remain in prison while two of the defendants are at large and
being tried in absentia.
(AP, 3/31/17)
2017 Mar 31, In Turkey
Selahattin Demirtas, the jailed leader the pro-Kurdish People's
Democratic Party (HDP), said he has begun a hunger strike to protest
prison conditions.
(AP, 3/31/17)
2017 Apr 1, Turkey's foreign
minister said tens of thousands of displaced Syrians and refugees
have returned to an area controlled by Turkey and Turkish-backed
opposition fighters in northern Syria. US-backed Kurdish-led
fighters pressed their offensive in the north near a town held by
the Islamic State group.
(AP, 4/1/17)
2017 Apr 6, Turkey said that
autopsies of Syrian victims from the April 4 assault in Syria's
Idlib province show they were subjected to chemical weapons.
Russia's Defense Ministry said the toxic agents were released when a
Syrian airstrike hit a rebel chemical weapons arsenal and munitions
factory on the town's eastern outskirts.
(AP, 4/6/17)
2017 Apr 6, Dutch public
broadcaster NOS reported that as many as 100 Dutch citizens of
Turkish descent are being prevented from leaving Turkey. NOS said
those affected, many of whom had been to Turkey on holiday or to see
their families, had all been publicly critical of President Tayyip
Erdogan.
(Reuters, 4/6/17)
2017 Apr 9, Italian Gabriele
Del Grande (34) was clapped in cuffs by Turkish police during
interviews with people who had fled Syria for a book he is writing
on the conflict and the birth of the Islamic State (IS) group.
Grande was released after two weeks and returned home on April 24.
(AFP, 4/19/17)(AP, 4/24/17)
2017 Apr 9, In central Turkey a
hot air balloon hit a high-voltage transmission line and crashed in
Cappadocia, killing a French tourist and injuring at least seven
people.
(AP, 4/9/17)
2017 Apr 11, Turkey said that
tests proved the deadly nerve agent sarin was used in a suspected
chemical attack in northwestern Syria which killed 87 people on
April 4.
(AFP, 4/11/17)
2017 Apr 11, In Turkey a police
officer and two civilian employees were killed in an attack at a
police station in the mainly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir. Authorities
said it was carried out with a ton of explosives planted inside a
tunnel. A day later Kurdish rebels claimed responsibility.
(AP, 4/12/17)
2017 Apr 13, A panel of United
Nations human rights experts condemned Turkey for violating the
right to work and education through blanket dismissals of civil
servants and school teachers under a state of emergency.
(AP, 4/13/17)
2017 Apr 16, Turkey held a
bitterly-contested referendum on whether to give Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan expanded powers. Final results later showed
51.41 percent of voters had backed the referendum with an 87.45%
turnout.
(AFP, 4/16/17)(AP, 4/17/17)(SFC, 4/28/17, p.A2)
2017 Apr 16, In southeastern
Turkey Kurdish militants killed a guard in an overnight attack on a
vehicle carrying a district official from the ruling AK Party.
(Reuters, 4/16/17)
2017 Apr 17, Turkey's
government extended the state of emergency to July 19. The main
opposition party urged the country's electoral board to cancel the
results of a landmark referendum that granted sweeping new powers to
the nation's president, citing what it called substantial voting
irregularities. A mission of observers from the 47-member Council of
Europe said Turkey’s April 16 referendum was an uneven contest.
(AP, 4/17/17)(Reuters, 4/17/17)(Econ, 4/22/17,
p.44)
2017 Apr 17, Turkey's
pro-Kurdish opposition said that the number of unstamped ballots
counted as valid in the April 16 referendum had been enough to swing
the outcome of the vote and decried what it described as a "coup" by
electoral authorities.
(Reuters, 4/17/17)
2017 Apr 17, US President
Donald Trump congratulated Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on his
referendum campaign in a phone call and vowed close cooperation on
Syria, Iraq and the fight against Kurdish militants.
(Reuters, 4/18/17)
2017 Apr 19, Turkey's electoral
board rejected petitions by opposition parties to annul the outcome
of a recent referendum on expanding presidential powers because of
voting irregularities. Some 38 members of the political opposition
were arrested in dawn raids.
(AP, 4/19/17)(AFP, 4/19/17)(SFC, 4/20/17,
p.A2)(Econ, 4/22/17, p.44)
2017 Apr 18, In Turkey a police
helicopter carrying officers, a judge and a soldier crashed due to
bad weather in a mountainous southeastern region, killing all 12
people on board.
(AP, 4/18/17)
2017 Apr 19, Turkey's electoral
board rejected petitions by opposition parties to annul the outcome
of a recent referendum on expanding presidential powers because of
voting irregularities. Istanbul police detained 16 leftist activists
involved in demonstrations against the 'Yes' victory in the
referendum on expanding President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's powers.
(AP, 4/19/17)(AFP, 4/19/17)
2017 Apr 21, Turkey’s main
opposition party took its petition to annul the referendum on
boosting the president's powers to the nation's highest
administrative court.
(AP, 4/21/17)
2017 Apr 21, Two Turkish
soldiers died and two more were wounded in a clash with Kurdish
militants in a rural area of southeast Turkey near the Iraqi border.
The military said six militants from the Kurdistan Workers Party
(PKK) had been "neutralized" in the ensuing operation in Sirnak
province.
(Reuters, 4/21/17)
2017 Apr 24, A migrant boat
from Turkey sank in the eastern Aegean Sea and left at least 16
people dead, including two children. Two people were rescued.
(AP, 4/24/17)
2017 Apr 25, Turkish warplanes
killed at least 28 Kurdish fighters in strikes in Syria and Iraq,
where the Kurds are key players in the battle against the Islamic
State group.
(AFP, 4/25/17)(AFP, 4/26/17)
2017 Apr 25, The 47-member
Council of Europe put Turkey on a watchlist over the crackdown on
dissent since last year's coup attempt, rights violations and
concerns about President Tayyip Erdogan's increased grip on power.
(Reuters, 4/25/17)
2017 Apr 25, A Greek court
ruled against the extradition of three of eight Turkish soldiers who
fled to Greece last July following a failed coup attempt against the
Ankara government.
(Reuters, 4/25/17)
2017 Apr 26, Turkish police
launched simultaneous operations across the country, detaining more
than 1,000 people with suspected links to US-based cleric Fethullah
Gulen. Warrants were issued for the detention of some 2,200 other
suspects.
(AP, 4/26/17)
2017 Apr 26, Turkey's main
opposition party said it would challenge the outcome of the
country's April 16 referendum on expanding the president's powers at
the European Court of Human Rights a day after a high court rejected
its appeal.
(AP, 4/26/17)
2017 Apr 26, Turkish warplanes
hit Kurdish militant targets in northern Iraq and killed six
militants, in a second day of cross-border raids.
(Reuters, 4/26/17)
2017 Apr 28, Turkey's military
said that one of its outposts in the southeastern town of
Ceylanpinar bordering Syria came under rocket attack early today
from Syrian territory held by the Kurdish militia YPG. The army
returned fire killing 11 YPG militants.
(AP, 4/28/17)
2017 Apr 29, Turkey's military
reportedly killed 14 members of the militant Kurdistan Workers Party
(PKK) in air strikes in northern Iraq.
(Reuters, 4/29/17)
2017 Apr 29, Turkey Blocks, an
internet censorship monitor, said users in Turkey have been unable
to access all language editions of Wikipedia since 8 a.m. (0500 GMT)
today. Access to Wikipedia was blocked in Turkey for content
presenting the country as supporting terror.
(AP, 4/29/17)
2017 Apr 29, In Turkey the head
of an Iranian satellite television network was shot dead in Istanbul
together with a business partner. GEM TV founder Saeed Karimian was
sentenced last year in absentia to six years in prison by a Tehran
court. Karimian and an associate were driving in Istanbul's Maslak
neighborhood after 8 p.m. (1.00 p.m. ET) when their car was blocked
by a jeep and shots were fired.
(Reuters, 4/30/17)
2017 May 1, Turkish police
fired tear gas and plastic bullets at protesters seeking to march to
Istanbul's Taksim Square to celebrate May Day, in defiance of an
official ban.
(AFP, 5/1/17)
2017 May 2, Turkey's Pres.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan rejoined the ruling Islamic-rooted Justice and
Development Party (AKP) he co-founded in a step on his path toward
solidifying his grip on power, following his narrow victory in last
month's referendum.
(AP, 5/2/17)
2017 May 4, Iran, Russia and
Turkey signed an agreement calling for the setting up of four
"de-escalation zones" in war-torn Syria at the cease-fire talks in
Kazakhstan and said that President Bashar Assad's air force would
halt flights over the designated areas in the country's north,
center and south. Members of the Syrian opposition delegation
shouted in protest and walked out of the conference room in Astana.
The opposition said it could not accept creating safe zones in Syria
because it threatens the country's territorial integrity and said it
would also not recognize Iran as a guarantor of the peace plan.
(AP, 5/4/17)(Reuters, 5/4/17)
2017 May 5, Turkish televisions
reported that the government has dismissed 107 judges and
prosecutors over alleged links to a failed coup in July last year,
further widening a purge during which it dismissed around 145,000
civil servants, security personnel and academics. Detention warrants
were issued for the dismissed judges and prosecutors.
(Reuters, 5/5/17)
2017 May 5, In France the
Cartooning for Peace group, founded by French cartoonist Plantu,
said cartoonists were increasingly becoming the victims of
repressive crackdowns on free speech. Ten countries including
Russia, Turkey and India were condemned for censoring, locking up or
threatening cartoonists in a new report published by the group.
(AP, 5/5/17)
2017 May 6, Turkey’s state-run
Anadolu news agency said warrants were issued for 17 judges and six
prosecutors for "membership in an armed terror organization." They
are suspected of being followers of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen
who the government says is behind the July 15 coup attempt.
(AP, 5/6/17)
2017 May 8, Istanbul-based
French freelance journalist Mathias Depardon was taken into custody
by police in Batman province. He was held at a deportation center in
the border province of Gaziantep and on May 24 began a hunger strike
to protest his detention.
(Reuters, 5/24/17)
2017 May 8, In Malaysia the
wife of a Turkish businessman detained in Malaysia last week for
alleged terrorism offences made a tearful appeal to the government
to release him. Ihsan Aslan was arrested together with another
Turkish national, Turgay Karaman, last week under a security law
which allows detention without trial for 28 days. Two days later
Turkish academic Ismet Ozcelik was also detained. Rights groups
feared Malaysia may be responding to pressure from Turkey.
(AFP, 5/8/17)
2017 May 10, Turkey said it has
signed a memorandum of understanding with Pakistan for the sale of
four Turkish made corvette warships and 52 Pakistan-made training
planes for Ankara's armed forces.
(Reuters, 5/10/17)
2017 May 10, Turkey warned the
United States that a decision to arm Kurdish forces fighting Islamic
State in Syria could end up hurting Washington, and accused its NATO
ally of siding with terrorists.
(Reuters, 5/10/17)
2017 May 12, Turkish police
detained Oguz Guven, the editor of pro-secular Cumhuriyet
newspaper's online edition, for a news article on the death of
prosecutor Mustafa Alper in a traffic accident on May 10. Alper,
chief prosecutor of Denizli province in southwest Turkey, had filed
the first indictment against the network of US-based cleric
Fethullah Gulen following last summer's coup attempt.
(AP, 5/12/17)
2017 May 12, In Turkey the
domed Zeynel Bey Tomb, weighing 1,100 tons, was moved in one piece
in four hours, traveling two km (more than a mile) on a large
wheeled platform to make way for a hydroelectric dam on the Tigris
river. The monument, around 550 years old, was located in the
ancient settlement of Hasankeyf, where the majority of villages and
historic sites are at risk of being submerged in water when the
Ilisu Dam is completed.
(AP, 5/12/17)
2017 May 12, Malaysia said it
had deported three Turkish men to Ankara over suspected links to a
group blamed by Turkey for a failed coup last year. Authorities had
detained school principal Turgay Karaman (43), businessman Ihsan
Aslan (39) and academic Ismet Ozcelik (58) last week, saying they
posed a threat to national security.
(Reuters, 5/12/17)
2017 May 13, In Turkey at least
23 people died and 11 others were in critical condition after a tour
bus tipped over, fell 15 meters (50 feet) down a cliff and then hit
a car on a serpentine mountain road in Mugla province.
(AP, 5/13/17)
2017 May 15, In Turkey Oguz
Guven, the editor of the opposition Cumhuriyet newspaper's online
edition, was formally arrested after being detained on May 12.
(AP, 5/16/17)
2017 May 16, President Donald
Trump held his first face-to-face meeting with Turkey's president
amid accusations that Trump gave Russian officials classified
intelligence from a foreign ally. Trump and Erdogan vowed to repair
the a relationship battered by years of disputes over Syria’s civil
war and its various fighting groups. Elsewhere in DC Turkish
security guards beat Armenian and Kurdish protesters.
(AP, 5/16/17)(SFC, 5/17/17, p.A2)(Econ 5/20/17,
p.45)
2017 May 19, In Turkey
detention warrants were issued against the nationalist Sozcu
newspaper's owner and three others were for committing crimes on
behalf of the network of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen without
being members.
(AP, 5/19/17)
2017 May 20, Turkey’s
opposition Sozcu newspaper carried empty columns with writers' names
and also left the weather blank in a "May 19 Press Freedom Special
Edition".
(AP, 5/20/17)
2017 May 20, Turkey's
pro-Kurdish party elected a new co-leader to replace Figen
Yuksekdag, who has been in jail on terrorism charges since November
and was stripped of her parliamentary status three months ago.
Serpil Kemalbay was chosen as joint leader, alongside Selahattin
Demirtas, who is also in prison over terrorism-related charges but
remains a member of parliament.
(Reuters, 5/20/17)
2017 May 21, Turkey’s Pres.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that a state of emergency, introduced
as a temporary measure after last year’s failed coup, would continue
until the country achieved “welfare and peace.”
(SFC, 5/22/17, p.A2)
2017 May 21, Turkish police in
Ankara killed two suspected members of the Islamic State jihadist
group believed to have been planning an attack in the capital.
(AFP, 5/21/17)
2017 May 22, Turkey and Russia
signed a memorandum on lifting trade restrictions against each
other, after Ankara and Moscow agreed at a meeting this month to
settle trade disputes.
(Reuters, 5/22/17)
2017 May 22, Turkish police
detained overnight literature professor Nuriye Gulmen and primary
school teacher Semih Ozakca, who have been on hunger strike for more
than two months protesting against a government crackdown in which
they lost their jobs following last year's failed coup.
(Reuters, 5/22/17)
2017 May 25, Four Turkish
soldiers and a village guard were killed in two separate clashes
with Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants in eastern Turkey.
Three PKK militants, believed to be preparing for an attack, were
killed in air strikes targeting the Metina region of northern Iraq.
(Reuters, 5/25/17)
2017 May 27, Turkish President
Tayyip Erdogan said the European Union had presented Turkey with a
new 12-month timetable for renewing their relations. Erdogan said
Turkey and the EU had agreed on giving a new impetus to relations
and added Turkey's foreign and EU affairs ministries would work
towards the timetable.
(Reuters, 5/27/17)
2017 May 27, In Turkey two
journalists from a pro-secular opposition newspaper have been
arrested and accused of aiding a terror organization. The
nationalist Sozcu newspaper published today’s edition with the
headline "A dark day for Turkish media and journalism," protesting
the arrests of online editor Mediha Olgun and reporter Gokmen Ulu.
(AP, 5/27/17)
2017 May 27, In Turkey an air
strike in the southeastern province of Van late today killed 10 PKK
militants.
(Reuters, 5/28/17)
2017 May 28, Turkey's military
killed 13 members of the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in
air strikes in northern Iraq.
(AP, 5/28/17)
2017 May 31, In Turkey three
soldiers were killed in clashes with Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)
militants in the southeastern province of Diyarbakir. Earlier in the
day, the army said airplanes had killed two PKK militants in the
Lice district of Diyarbakir.
(Reuters, 5/31/17)
2017 May 31, A Turkish military
helicopter crash killed all 13 personnel on board. Kurdish militants
soon claimed responsibility.
(SFC, 6/3/17, p.A2)
2017 Jun 2, Turkish police and
coast guards seized more than a ton of heroin in a raid on the
Commander Tide ship, a Congo-flagged ship in international waters.
Nine crew members were detained.
(AP, 6/7/17)
2017 Jun 3, In Turkey Birol
Erdem, who currently advises PM Binali Yildirim, was taken into
custody in Ankara along with his wife. They are being investigated
for their suspected membership in Gulen's movement, which Turkey
considers a terror group.
(AP, 6/3/17)
2017 Jun 4, Turkey's state-run
news reported that PM Binali Yildirim said the battle to capture the
Islamic State group's Syrian bastion Raqa started late on June 2. He
appeared to contradict comments a day earlier from the Kurdish-Arab
alliance battling the jihadists that the push into the northern
Syrian city would "begin in a few days".
(AFP, 6/4/17)
2017 Jun 4, Turkish security
forces killed eight militants from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers
Party (PKK) in eastern Kars province.
(Reuters, 6/4/17)
2017 Jun 5, Turkey said it
would strip citizenship from 130 people suspected of militant links,
including the US-based cleric it blames for orchestrating last
July's failed coup, unless they return to the country within three
months.
(Reuters, 6/5/17)
2017 Jun 7, Chancellor Angela
Merkel's Cabinet decided to pull German troops and reconnaissance
aircraft out of Turkey's Incirlik air base after Turkish officials
refused to let lawmakers visit them. The 270 troops and 7 planes
participating in the international coalition against the Islamic
State group will redeploy to Jordan.
(AP, 6/7/17)
2017 Jun 9, In southeastern
Turkey two suspected Kurdish rebels opened fire on a car belonging
to a local mayor, then blew up their vehicle near a military police
station. One person was killed and four people were wounded in the
attacks and one of the assailants was killed in Batman province.
(AP, 6/9/17)
2017 Jun 9, French photographer
Mathias Depardon was reported freed after a month in custody in
Turkey.
(AP, 6/9/17)
2017 Jun 12, An earthquake with
a preliminary magnitude of 6.2 shook western Turkey and the Greek
island of Lesbos, injuring at least 10 people and damaging
buildings.
(AP, 6/12/17)
2017 Jun 13, Turkey's PM Binali
Yildirim said his country wants to continue membership talks with
the European Union, in an effort to ease months of tension.
(AP, 6/13/17)
2017 Jun 14, A Turkish court
sentenced a Republican People's Party (CHP) lawmaker to 25 years
jail for leaking classified material to the press, the first time a
main opposition party deputy has been arrested in an ongoing
crackdown. CHP lawmaker Enis Berberoglu was immediately placed under
arrest at the Istanbul criminal court.
(AP, 6/14/17)
2017 Jun 14, A Turkish court in
Ankara sentenced Aydin Sefa Akay, a Turkish national and UN judge,
to seven and a half years in prison for "membership in an armed
terror group." The conviction drew a rebuke the next day from the UN
court he works for.
(AP, 6/15/17)
2017 Jun 15, Turkey's main
opposition party set off on a 425-km (265 mile) march from the
capital to an Istanbul prison to protest the conviction of one of
lawmaker Enis Berberoglu. Thousands began walking from Ankara, with
police at the scene.
(AP, 6/15/17)
2017 Jun 16, Turkey's main
opposition leader, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, accused Pres. Recep Tayyip
Erdogan of staging a "second coup" with the crackdown that followed
last July's failed putsch, as he pressed on with a protest march to
Istanbul from Ankara.
(AFP, 6/16/17)
2017 Jun 17, In Turkey 731
soldiers at a western base were sent to the hospital with food
poisoning. 21 people from the company that provided the food were
soon detained.
(AP, 6/18/17)
2017 Jun 18, Turkish troops
began taking part in joint training exercises in Qatar, as a
diplomatic crisis in the Gulf enters its third week.
(AP, 6/19/17)
2017 Jun 19, Greece's PM Alexis
Tsipras told visiting Turkish counterpart Binali Yildirim that
airspace violations over the Aegean must stop as they increase the
risk of a military accident in the sea between the two uneasy
neighbors and NATO allies.
(AP, 6/19/17)
2017 Jun 22, Turkish defense
ministry sources said the US has told Turkey it will take back
weapons supplied to the Kurdish YPG militia in northern Syria after
the defeat of Islamic State seeking to address Turkish concerns
about arming Kurds on its border.
(Reuters, 6/22/17)
2017 Jun 22, Turkey sent a
first ship loaded with aid for its embattled regional ally Qatar,
which has been hit by sanctions from Gulf powers led by Saudi
Arabia.
(AFP, 6/22/17)
2017 Jun 23, Turkey rejected a
call from four Arab states to shut down its military base in Qatar,
saying the base was a guarantor of security in the Gulf and demands
for its closure represented interference in its ties with Doha.
(Reuters, 6/23/17)
2017 Jun 24, Istanbul's
governor banned a gay and transgender pride march for a second year
running, citing security concerns after threats from an
ultra-nationalist group. It was due to take place in the city on
June 25.
(Reuters, 6/24/17)
2017 Jun 25, In Turkey
activists for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex rights said
they will march for LGBT pride in Istanbul, despite a ban by the
governor. Turkish police thwarted the parade attempt. 44 people were
detained during the march.
(AP, 6/25/17)(AFP, 6/25/17)(AP, 6/26/17)
2017 Jun 28, Turkey’s military
said its forces retaliated with an artillery barrage overnight and
destroyed Kurdish YPG militia targets after the group's fighters
opened fire on Turkey-backed forces in northern Syria.
(Reuters, 6/28/17)
2017 Jun 30, In Turkey Orhan
Mercan, the AKP's deputy head in the Lice district of Diyarbakir
province, was shot in front of his home this evening and died of his
wounds in hospital. Turkey blamed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)
militants.
(Reuters, 7/2/17)
2017 Jun, In Turkey a
counterterror captured Abdulkerim Cakar (32), the alleged commander
of an Adana-based IS cell, and 10 others. Their testimony led to the
August arrest of Russian national Renad Bakiev, who planned a drone
attack on US aircraft at Turkey's Incirlik air base.
(AP, 8/10/17)
2017 Jul 1, In Turkey militants
killed Aydin Ahi, deputy head of the AKP in the Ozalp district of
Van province. Turkey blamed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants.
An airstrike by the Turkish military killed five PKK militants
preparing an attack on an army base in Mardin province. In separate
air strikes the army also five PKK fighters in southeast Bingol
province and another four militants in the Metina region of northern
Iraq. Another three PKK militants were killed in clashes in
the southeastern provinces of Diyarbakir, Hakkari and Sirnak.
(Reuters, 7/2/17)
2017 Jul 2, Turkish police
chased away a small group of transgender activist who tried to march
to Istanbul’s main square despite an official ban on the event.
Seven people were detained.
(SFC, 7/3/17, p.A2)
2017 Jul 4, Turkish Transport
Minister Ahmet Arslan said the United States is set to lift a ban on
carrying large electronic devices, such as laptops, in the cabin of
US-bound flights from Turkey's main international airport.
(AFP, 7/4/17)
2017 Jul 5, Turkish police
detained six suspected members of the Islamic State extremist group
planning a bomb attack on an opposition protest march.
(AFP, 7/5/17)
2017 Jul 5, Turkish and
Emirates Airlines said the United States has lifted the in-cabin ban
on laptops and other large electronic devices on US-bound flights
from Dubai and Istanbul.
(Reuters, 7/5/17)
2017 Jul 5, The head of the
Syrian Kurdish YPG militia said that Turkish military deployments
near Kurdish-held areas of northwestern Syria amounted to "a
declaration of war", signaling the risk of a major confrontation.
(Reuters, 7/5/17)
2017 Jul 6, The European
Parliament called for Turkey's European Union accession talks to be
suspended if Ankara fully implements plans to expand President
Tayyip Erdogan's powers, in a vote which Turkey dismissed as flawed
and wrong.
(Reuters, 7/6/17)
2017 Jul 7, Turkey's main
opposition leader said his three-week "justice march" from Ankara to
Istanbul had helped Turks "cast off a shirt of fear" under emergency
rule, and vowed to stiffen his party's challenge to the government
once the protest ends.
(Reuters, 7/7/17)
2017 Jul 7, Turkey’s state-run
Anadolu news agency said police detained overnight 29 suspected
Islamic State militants in Istanbul, 22 of them foreign nationals,
believed to be preparing to travel to Syria.
(Reuters, 7/7/17)
2017 Jul 9, In Turkey hundreds
of thousands of people rallied in Istanbul at the culmination of
25-day march that has grown into the biggest protest against a
government crackdown following last July's failed military coup.
(Reuters, 7/9/17)
2017 Jul 9, Germany began to
pull its troops out of Turkey’s Incirlik air base where they have
supported international operations against Islamic State following a
row with Ankara over access.
(Reuters, 7/9/17)
2017 Jul 10, Turkey’s state
media reported that the government has detained 42 staff of two
Istanbul universities including a prominent academic as part of an
investigation into the group blamed for last year's failed coup.
Anadolu news agency also said authorities have issued a total of 72
arrest warrants for people suspected of links to the group of
US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen.
(AFP, 7/10/17)
2017 Jul 11, Turkish
authorities issued detention warrants for 105 information technology
experts suspected of aiding last year's failed coup. Turkey kicked
off a week of events commemorating the July 15 anniversary of the
thwarted coup and remembering about 250 people who were killed.
Officers launched raids against IS across 29 different provinces,
detaining 233 suspects.
(AP, 7/11/17)(AP, 7/12/17)
2017 Jul 12, Turkish police
killed five suspected Islamic State jihadists in the central
province of Konya.
(AFP, 7/12/17)
2017 Jul 13, Turkish police
detained Ali Avci, the producer of a film on the life of President
Tayyip Erdogan, accusing him of ties to the Muslim cleric Ankara
says orchestrated last year's attempted coup. Anti-terror police
seized Avci at his Istanbul home and also seized another man
identified as a fugitive sought for being a user of ByLock, an
encrypted messaging app.
(Reuters, 7/13/17)
2017 Jul 15, In Turkey
thousands of people marched from several Istanbul neighborhoods to
converge at the iconic July 15 Martyrs' Bridge in a "national unity
march" to commemorate the one year anniversary of Turkey's failed
coup attempt.
(AP, 7/15/17)
2017 Jul 17, Turkish-backed
rebels clashed with Kurdish fighters from a US-backed alliance in
northwestern Syria in escalating violence between the two sides.
(Reuters, 7/17/17)
2017 Jul 18, Turkey announced a
new school curriculum that excluded Charles Darwin's theory of
evolution, feeding opposition fears President Tayyip Erdogan is
subverting the republic's secular foundations.
(Reuters, 7/18/17)
2017 Jul 18, A Turkish court
jailed Amnesty International's Turkey director Idil Eser and five
other human rights activists pending trial for allegedly aiding an
armed terror group.
(AP, 7/18/17)
2017 Jul 18, In Turkey people
had to swim to safety in the flooded streets of Istanbul after heavy
rain and storms brought chaos to the city and caused shipping
traffic on oil and grain routes through the Bosporus Strait to be
suspended for some hours.
(Reuters, 7/18/17)
2017 Jul 21, A magnitude 6.7
earthquake killed two people on the Greek holiday island of Kos,
also causing disruption in the Turkish tourist hub of Bodrum, whee
80 people were injured. A Turkish and a Swedish tourist, aged 39 and
22 years, died when the roof of a popular bar collapsed.
(Reuters, 7/21/17)(AFP, 7/21/17)
2017 Jul 24, Turkey's president
has arrived in Qatar on the final leg of a Gulf tour aimed at
forging a resolution to the diplomatic standoff gripping the nation
and four fellow Arab countries.
(AP, 7/24/17)
2017 Jul 25, Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged all Muslims to visit and protect
Jerusalem after violence broke out over metal detectors that Israel
installed and later removed from the Temple Mount, a sensitive holy
site in the city.
(AFP, 7/25/17)
2017 Jul 27, Turkey's
parliament stripped two pro-Kurdish lawmakers of their parliamentary
status, further reducing the presence of the HDP, the second-largest
opposition party in the general assembly.
(Reuters, 7/27/17)
2017 Jul 28, Turkish
authorities detained former national team soccer player Bekir
Irtegun (33) as part of the sweeping crackdown following last year's
failed coup attempt.
(Reuters, 7/28/17)
2017 Jul 28, Turkish
authorities arrested British citizen Joe Robinson (24) while he was
holidaying on the country's western coast on charges of working with
a Kurdish militia. Robinson had served with British forces in
Afghanistan in 2012 and travelled to Syria in 2015 to work as a
combat medic in the YPG.
(AFP, 7/29/17)
2017 Jul 28, Britain lifted a
ban on passengers carrying electronic devices in the cabin on some
flights to the UK from Turkey after new security measures were
introduced, saying other restrictions would be looked at on a case
by case basis.
(Reuters, 7/28/17)
2017 Jul 29, In Turkey seven
staff from the opposition newspaper Cumhuriyet walked free from jail
after over eight months behind bars, expressing hope four colleagues
still in prison would be released soon. Those freed were released
under judicial control, meaning they will have to report regularly
to the authorities and remain charged.
(AFP, 7/29/17)
2017 Jul 29, Hundreds of
Turkish women marched in Istanbul to protest against the violence
and animosity they face from men demanding they dress more
conservatively.
(Reuters, 7/30/17)
2017 Jul, In Turkey a
heavily-pregnant Syrian refugee was raped and bludgeoned to death by
rock-wielding attackers at her home, just days before she was due to
give birth. Her 10-month-old baby boy was strangled to death in a
brutal double murder that sparked shock and outrage.
(AFP, 9/22/17)
2017 Aug 1, A Turkish military
vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device in southeast
Diyarbakir province, killing two soldiers. Separately three PKK
militants were killed in the southeastern province of Tunceli after
being identified by a drone.
(Reuters, 8/1/17)
2017 Aug 2, Turkey's top
military body replaced the land, air and naval commanders of the
military at a critical meeting just over a year after the failed
coup bid.
(AP, 8/2/17)
2017 Aug 3, In China Turkey's
top diplomat vowed to root out militants plotting against China,
signaling closer cooperation against suspected Uighur militants
hailing from China's far west who have long been a sore point in
bilateral relations.
(AP, 8/3/17)
2017 Aug 3, Spanish police
arrested Hamza Yalcin, a Turkish-Swedish reporter and writer in
Barcelona, on an international arrest order from Turkey for alleged
terrorism.
(AP, 8/8/17)
2017 Aug 8, A Turkish media
report said Turkey has begun construction of a wall along the
country's frontier with Iran, mimicking the Turkish barrier along
the Syrian border.
(AP, 8/8/17)
2017 Aug 10, Turkish police
said authorities have detained Renad Bakiev, a Russian national, and
suspected Islamic State group militant for allegedly planning a
drone attack on US aircraft at Turkey's Incirlik air base.
(AP, 8/10/17)
2017 Aug 11, Turkish police
detained Muaz El Ahsin while he was trying to cross into the country
illegally. A court soon charged Ahsin with murder for allegedly
slitting the throats of Syrian journalists Ibrahim Abdul-Qadir and
Fares Hamadi on October 29, 2015.
(AP, 8/14/17)
2017 Aug 13, In Turkey police
Officer Sinan Acar (24) was stabbed to death by a suspected member
of the Islamic State (IS) group, who had been arrested for allegedly
planning a suicide attack. The suspected IS member was shot dead on
the spot by other police officers.
(AFP, 8/14/17)
2017 Aug 19, Spanish police in
Granada arrested German-Turkish author Dogan Akhanli after Turkey
issued an Interpol warrant for the writer, a critic of the
government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Akhanli was
conditionally released the next day following a court hearing, but
ordered to stay in Madrid while Turkey's extradition request is
considered.
(Reuters, 8/19/17)(AP, 8/20/17)
2017 Aug 21, In southeastern
Turkey a US MQ-1 Predator drone crashed. The cause of the
crash was being investigated.
(Reuters, 8/21/17)
2017 Aug 25, In Turkey an
emergency decree published today said over 900 public sector
officials have been dismissed in the latest wave of the purge that
followed last year's failed coup. A second decree said the National
Intelligence Organization (MIT), which was previously under the
prime minister, would now report to the president, expanding
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's powers over public institutions.
(AFP, 8/25/17)
2017 Aug 26, Qatar said that
Turkey has arrested five people in connection with the alleged hack
of Doha's state news agency, an incident which sparked the current
Gulf political crisis. The alleged hack of the QNA website took
place on May 24, attributing explosive political remarks to Qatar's
Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani.
(AFP, 8/26/17)
2017 Aug 27, Ebrahim Yazdi
(85), a dissident Iranian politician and a former foreign minister
(1979), died at the age of 85 in Izmir, Turkey, where he was being
treated for complications from cancer after being denied a US visa
for follow-up treatment in Houston.
(AP, 8/31/17)
2017 Sep 6, President Tayyip
Erdogan said Turkey will provide 10,000 tons of aid to help Rohingya
Muslims who have fled violence in Myanmar.
(Reuters, 9/6/17)
2017 Sep 6, Turkish police shot
dead an Islamic State militant who was set to carry out a suicide
bomb attack on a police station in the Mediterranean city of Mersin.
(Reuters, 9/6/17)
2017 Sep 8, Turkey's
pro-Kurdish political party announced the release from prison of
lawmaker Ayhan Bilgen, a former spokesman for the People's
Democratic Party (HDP), pending a trial on terror charges.
(AP, 9/8/17)
2017 Sep 9, Turkey said its
security forces have killed 99 Kurdish militants, including a
high-ranking one, in operations in the southeast over the last two
weeks.
(Reuters, 9/9/17)
2017 Sep 11, German Foreign
Minister Sigmar Gabriel said Berlin had suspended major arms exports
due to deteriorating human rights in Turkey and increasingly
strained ties between the NATO allies.
(Reuters, 9/12/17)
2017 Sep 12, Turkey’s Pres.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced a deal to purchase a Russian
surface-to-air missile system.
(SFC, 9/13/17 p.A2)
2017 Sep 12, Turkish
authorities detained on "terror" charges at least 15 lawyers from
the legal association representing two imprisoned teachers on a
hunger strike to protest their sacking in an ongoing purge.
(AFP, 9/12/17)
2017 Sep 14, Turkish police
detained 24 protesters outside a courthouse where two dismissed
public employees, who had launched a hunger strike, are on trial on
terror charges. Academic Nuriye Gulmen and teacher Semih Ozakca were
detained in May on the 76th day of their hunger strike.
(AP, 9/14/17)
2017 Sep 15, Turkey detained
Celal Celik, the main opposition leader's lawyer, for alleged links
to the network accused of carrying out last year's failed coup, in a
widening government crackdown.
(Reuters, 9/15/17)
2017 Sep 15, Turkey’s foreign
ministry said Russia, Iran and Turkey have agreed to post observers
on the edge of a de-escalation zone in northern Syria's Idlib
region, which is largely controlled by Islamist militants.
(Reuters, 9/15/17)
2017 Sep 16, Turkey’s official
news reported that police have detained 74 people believed to be
members of the Islamic State group in simultaneous operations in 15
locations in Istanbul.
(SSFC, 9/17/17 p.A3)
2017 Sep 19, Nigeria
intercepted 470 rifles from Turkey, which had been falsely declared
as elbow joints for plumbing. That shipment was uncovered barely a
week after a 20-foot container-load of 1,100 pump-action rifles was
impounded at the same port. According to Nigeria Customs Service a
total of 2,671 action pump rifles allegedly imported from Turkey
have been seized in Lagos since January.
(AFP, 9/22/17)
2017 Sep 21, A Turkish court
jailed on terror charges 14 lawyers representing two detained
teachers who have been on hunger strike for six months after being
sacked in a mass crackdown.
(AFP, 9/21/17)
2017 Sep 21, The foreign
ministers of Turkey, Iran and Iraq voiced concerns that a Kurdish
referendum on independence would endanger gains Iraq has made
against Islamic state, and reiterated worries of potential new
conflicts in the region and agreed to consider counter-measures
against the planned independence referendum.
(Reuters, 9/21/17)
2017 Sep 22, Turkey reported
that veteran Syrian opposition activist Aroubeh Barakat and her
journalist daughter Halla Barakat (22) were found stabbed to death
at their apartment in Istanbul, in a crime supporters decried as an
"assassination" to avenge their work.
(AFP, 9/22/17)
2017 Sep 22, Miss Turkey
organizers dethroned Itir Esen (18), a day after she won the contest
and the right to represent Turkey at the Miss World contest in
China, over a social media posting that was deemed insulting to the
memory of the 250 people killed while opposing last year's failed
military coup.
(AP, 9/22/17)
2017 Sep 22, At least 21 people
drowned and 5 others were missing after a fishing boat carrying
migrants sunk off Turkey's Black Sea coast. Forty migrants were
rescued.
(AFP, 9/22/17)(SFC, 9/23/17 p.A2)
2017 Sep 23, Turkey said it
would take security and other steps in response to a planned
independence referendum in northern Iraq's Kurdish region that it
called a "terrible mistake", as a Kurdish delegation was in Baghdad
for talks on the crisis.
(AP, 9/23/17)
2017 Sep 23, Turkey's official
news agency said Istanbul police have detained 36 people at 15
different addresses as alleged members of the Islamic State group.
(AP, 9/23/17)
2017 Sep 25, Turkey took the
Kurdish television channel Rudaw off its satellite service TurkSat,
in the country's first response to a Kurdish independence referendum
in northern Iraq. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that
Ankara would close its border with Iraq's Kurdistan region over an
independence referendum and threatened the Iraqi Kurds with blocking
their key oil exports.
(Reuters, 9/25/17)(AFP, 9/25/17)
2017 Sep 26, Turkish President
Tayyip Erdogan said Iraqi Kurds would go hungry if his country halts
the flow of trucks and oil across the border with northern Iraq and
warned that all military and economic measures were on the table
against its neighbor.
(Reuters, 9/26/17)
2017 Sep 27, Turkey said it
will suspend flights to the northern Iraqi cities of Erbil and
Sulaimaniya starting on 1500 GMT on Sep 29, in response to a Kurdish
independence referendum held earlier this week.
(Reuters, 9/27/17)
2017 Sep 28, Turkey advised its
citizens to leave Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region before
flights to the area are suspended. Turkey said it had stopped
training peshmerga forces in northern Iraq in response to a Kurdish
independence vote there. Turkey also threatened potentially
crippling restrictions on oil trading with Iraqi Kurds.
(AP, 9/28/17)(Reuters, 9/28/17)
2017 Sep 28, President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan told the United States that Turkey could release a
jailed American pastor if Washington handed over the
Pennsylvania-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen who Ankara blames
for last year's failed coup. US pastor Andrew Brunson has been held
by Turkish authorities since October 2016 on charges of being a
member of Gulen's group.
(AFP, 9/28/17)
2017 Sep 28, Russia’s Pres.
Vladimir Putin visited Turkey for talks that focused on Iraq, Syria
and bilateral trade.
(SFC, 9/29/17, p.A2)
2017 Sep 30, Turkey's President
Tayyip Erdogan said Iraqi Kurdish authorities would pay the price
for an independence referendum which was widely opposed by foreign
powers.
(Reuters, 9/30/17)
2017 Sep 30, Turkish police
arrested a suspect in the killing of a Syrian opposition activist
and her journalist daughter in Istanbul. Security cameras led police
to a Syrian citizen in the western province of Bursa. The main
suspect is allegedly the grandson of Arouba Barakat's uncle. Police
also detained the suspect's former roommate, another Syrian. The
main suspect travelled from Bursa to Istanbul on Sept. 19 by boat
and took public transportation to the district where the victims
lived. He returned to Bursa the following day.
(AP, 9/30/17)
2017 Sep 30, The Turkish
government opened a military training base, its largest in Africa,
in the Somali capital, Mogadishu.
(AP, 9/30/17)
2017 Oct 3, Iraq's autonomous
Kurdistan region said it is calling presidential and parliamentary
elections for Nov. 1, as the Kurdish leadership cements its case for
independence. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey would
impose further sanctions on northern Iraq over the vote.
(Reuters, 10/3/17)
2017 Oct 4, A Turkish court
found 42 former soldiers guilty of trying to kill President Tayyip
Erdogan during last year's failed coup, and handed most of them life
sentences in the highest profile case related to the attempted
putsch so far.
(Reuters, 10/4/17)
2017 Oct 4, The presidents of
Iran and Turkey vowed during talks in Tehran to work closely
together to prevent the disintegration of Iraq and Syria and to
oppose the Iraqi Kurds' drive for independence.
(Reuters, 10/4/17)
2017 Oct 5, Turkey’s President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned that Turkey would "soon" close its
border crossing with Iraqi Kurdistan and airspace after the disputed
referendum on independence. Turkey's state-run news agency said
security forces have killed five suspected Kurdish militants in an
operation close to a tourist resort near the Mediterranean coast.
Two militants escaped.
(AFP, 10/5/17)(AP, 10/5/17)
2017 Oct 6, In Turkey
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro met with Pres. Recep Tayyip
Erdogan for talks on bilateral relations and international issues.
(AP, 10/6/17)
2017 Oct 7, Turkey's
president announced that the country has launched a "serious"
operation in Syria's northwestern Idlib province with Turkey-backed
Syrian opposition forces, following international efforts for
de-escalation in the war-torn country.
(AP, 10/7/17)
2017 Oct 7, In Turkey a tourist
bus tipped over after hitting a palm tree on a traffic island in the
southern Antalya province, killing three German tourists.
(AP, 10/7/17)
2017 Oct 8, Turkish forces
shelled areas along its border with Syria's northwestern province,
an area dominated by al-Qaida-linked militants. President Tayyip
Erdogan said Turkey was implementing a deal agreed with Russia and
Iran to reduce violence in Syria's northern province of Idlib, in
cooperation with Free Syrian Army rebel fighters.
(AP, 10/8/17)(Reuters, 10/8/17)
2017 Oct 8, The Istanbul
prosecutor's office charged Amnesty International's Turkey chief and
10 others for allegedly belonging to and aiding terror groups with
the completion of an indictment.
(AP, 10/8/17)
2017 Oct 8, The US embassy in
Turkey said it was suspending visa services while it assessed
Turkey's commitment to the safety of its missions and its staff
after the arrest of Metin Topuz, a Turkish US consulate worker over
allegations that he had links to US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah
Gulen.
(Reuters, 10/10/17)(SFC, 10/10/17, p.A3)
2017 Oct 9, In Turkey an
appeals court annulled the 25-year prison sentence of opposition
lawmaker Enis Berberoglu, but he will remain in custody and face a
retrial.
(Reuters, 10/9/17)
2017 Oct 10, Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan held talks with Serbia's president as Ankara
stepped up efforts to increase its clout in the Balkans.
(AP, 10/10/17)
2017 Oct 10, Turkey’s President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed that Turkish officials would boycott the
US ambassador to Ankara, stepping up one of the worst rows in
decades between the two NATO allies.
(AP, 10/10/17)
2017 Oct 10, Turkey’s police
launched operations in seven provinces to catch 70 active duty
officers, from the air force, navy, army, and gendarmerie, over
suspected links to cleric Fethullah Gulen's movement. Police in
Ankara used tear gas to disperse crowds hoping to commemorate the
second anniversary of a terror attack that killed 102 people.
(AP, 10/10/17)
2017 Oct 10, Iraq's Oil
Ministry ordered the restoration of an oil pipeline from the city of
Kirkuk to Turkey that would bypass the country's northern Kurdish
region in the wake of the area's pro-independence referendum.
(AP, 10/10/17)
2017 Oct 11, In Turkey an
explosion in a storage tank at the Tupras refinery killed four
people in the western province of Izmir. Authorities the next day
detained seven people over the blast, of which four have been
formally arrested and three released on probation.
(Reuters, 10/13/17)
2017 Oct 13, Spain's government
says that Turkish-born writer Dogan Akhanly, who has German
citizenship, won't be extradited to Turkey for his alleged
involvement with an outlawed group.
(AP, 10/13/17)
2017 Oct 14, Turkish
authorities issued detention warrants for 100 former police officers
and have so far detained 63 of them, as part of a widening crackdown
since last year's failed coup attempt. The suspects were believed to
be users of ByLock, an encrypted messaging app which the government
says was used by the network of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen.
(Reuters, 10/14/17)
2017 Oct 16, Turkey announced
that it is closing its airspace to flights to and from Iraq's
semi-autonomous Kurdish region and have Baghdad take control of the
Iraqi side of its main border crossing.
(AP, 10/16/17)(Reuters, 10/16/17)
2017 Oct 16, Turkey’s interior
ministry said security forces detained 1,210 people over the last
week for suspected links to militant groups or last year's failed
coup.
(Reuters, 10/16/17)
2017 Oct 16, Two Turkish
soldiers were killed in the southeastern province of Hakkari after
an improvised explosive device detonated.
(Reuters, 10/16/17)
2017 Oct 17, In southern Turkey
a bomb exploded as a bus carrying police was passing by in Mersin.
(AP, 10/17/17)
2017 Oct 17, In Turkey seven
miners were killed and another was missing after part of a coal mine
collapsed in the southeastern province of Sirnak.
(Reuters, 10/17/17)
2017 Oct 17, Officials said an
EU-funded project that provides cash assistance to the most
vulnerable refugee families in Turkey has reached 1 million
beneficiaries a year after its launch.
(AP, 10/17/17)
2017 Oct 17, In Warsaw Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with his Polish counterpart, his
first official bilateral visit to an EU country since the failed
2016 coup in Turkey. President Andrzej Duda said he hopes Turkey
will eventually join the EU. They discussed defense cooperation
through NATO, and the issue of energy as both countries count on
coal for part of their energy needs.
(AFP, 10/17/17)
2017 Oct 18, Turkish police
detained prominent activist and businessman Osman Kavala at
Istanbul's Ataturk Airport.
(Reuters, 10/19/17)
2017 Oct 19, Turkey’s Recep
Tayyip Erdogan and visiting Nigerian Pres. Muhammadu Buhari vowed to
ramp up security and economic cooperation between Ankara and
Africa's most populous nation.
(AP, 10/19/17)
2017 Oct 20, The European Union
said it will cut some of the money earmarked for Turkey to join the
bloc, reflecting increasingly sour ties with Ankara but stopping
short of killing membership bid of the country it still sees as a
strategic partner.
(Reuters, 10/20/17)
2017 Oct 23, In Turkey Ankara
Mayor Melih Gokcek announced that he would step down on Oct. 28
following a meeting with Pres. Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Gokcek became
the fifth elected mayor to leave office under pressure from Pres.
Erdogan.
(SFC, 10/24/17, p.A2)
2017 Oct 23, A Turkish military
vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device in the
southeastern province of Hakkari, killing one soldier.
(Reuters, 10/23/17)
2017 Oct 25, In Turkey Meral
Aksener, a former interior minister seen as a potentially strong
challenger to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, delivered a defiant
speech in Ankara promising a "strong, happy" Turkey at the official
launch of the Iyi ("Good") Party.
(AFP, 10/25/17)
2017 Oct 25, Crimean Tatar
activists Ilmi Umerov and Ahtem Chiygoz, who opposed to Moscow's
annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region, were released from prison and
flown to Turkey. Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko thanked Turkey's
president for helping broker the release.
(AP, 10/25/17)(Reuters, 10/27/17)
2017 Oct 26, A Turkish court in
Izmir ordered Taner Kilic, the head of Amnesty International in
Turkey, to remain in pre-trial detention, after he denied
allegations of links to the Muslim cleric Ankara blames for last
year's failed coup.
(AFP, 10/26/17)
2017 Oct 27, In Myanmar
reporters Lau Hon Meng from Singapore and Mok Choy Lin from Malaysia
were arrested in Naypyidaw for flying a drone over a parliament
building while on assignment for Turkish state broadcaster TRT.
(AFP, 10/28/17)
2017 Oct 28, Turkey arrested 49
alleged members of the Islamic State group, some of whom were
suspected of planning an attack the next day on celebrations for the
94th anniversary of Republic Day.
(AFP, 10/28/17)
2017 Oct 29, Turkey’s state-run
Anadolu Agency said police have detained 143 people over suspected
links to Islamic State in anti-terror operations in eight cities
over the weekend.
(Reuters, 10/29/17)
2017 Oct 30, In Turkey Ahmet
Edip Ugur, mayor of the northwestern province of Balikesir,
announced he had quit his post and left President Tayyip Erdogan's
ruling AK Party after pressure and threats "beyond unbearable",
becoming the sixth mayor in recent weeks to fall victim of a purge
of local government.
(AP, 10/31/17)
2017 Nov 1, The 78-meter
(256-foot) Turkish-flagged Bilal Bal cargo ship, which had 10 crew
members aboard, disappeared in the Black Sea after issuing a
distress signal. Divers on Nov. 3 located two bodies.
(AP, 11/3/17)
2017 Nov 2, Turkey’s President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed into law controversial legislation to
let state-approved clerics conduct marriage ceremonies, a move
critics claim risks undermining Turkey's secular foundations.
(AFP, 11/3/17)
2017 Nov 2, Turkey’s defense
industry executive board said it is planning 22 new defense projects
worth a total of $5 billion and spanning the development of air
defense missile systems, ammunition and arms systems.
(Reuters, 11/2/17)
2017 Nov 2, In southeastern
Turkey clashes between Turkish security force members and Kurdish
militants in three mainly Kurdish provinces killed eight security
force members and 31 militants.
(AP, 11/2/17)
2017 Nov 3, The Greek coast
guard rescued 15 people after a boat carrying migrants from Turkey
sank off the island of Kalymnos. At least three people died and
several more were believed to be missing.
(AP, 11/3/17)
2017 Nov 6, President Tayyip
Erdogan announced plans to demolish the Ataturk Culture Center in
Istanbul, named after the founder of modern secular Turkey, in a
move critics see as another attempt by the Islamist-rooted ruling
party to roll back secularism. The AKM has been closed to the public
for the past 10 years over disagreements regarding its renovation
and infrastructure.
(Reuters, 11/6/17)
2017 Nov 6, The United States
embassy in Turkey confirmed that it has resumed processing visas at
its missions on a "limited basis".
(Reuters, 11/6/17)
2017 Nov 7, A Turkish court
rejected an appeals court order to retry Enis Berberoglu, a lawmaker
from the main opposition party, upholding his 25-year jail term.
(Reuters, 11/7/17)
2017 Nov 8, A Turkish court
ordered the release of opposition newspaper journalist Bekir Gokmen
Ulu from the Sozcu daily, accused of links to the group blamed by
the government for last year's failed coup.
(AFP, 11/8/17)
2017 Nov 9, Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused the main opposition party of moving
away from the country's moral values after a small opposition-run
municipality installed a quota for LGBTI candidates running for a
neighborhood committee.
(AP, 11/9/17)
2017 Nov 9, Turkish media
reported that police have detained 165 people over suspected links
to Islamic State in Ankara and have arrest warrants for a total of
245 suspects in the capital and surrounding province.
(Reuters, 11/9/17)
2017 Nov 10, Turkey's official
news agency said police have detained at least 100 people suspected
of links to the Islamic State group.
(AP, 11/10/17)
2017 Nov 10, In Turkey six
women in a jail in the eastern province of Elazig went on hunger
strike to protest against a rule obliging them to wear an ID while
outside their living quarters. Four more women joined them on Dec.
10. On Dec. 30 The Diyarbakir Bar said the prisoners were losing
weight and starting to have serious health problems.
(Reuters, 12/30/17)
2017 Nov 10, The Wall Street
Journal reported that Special Counsel Robert Mueller was
investigating an alleged plot involving former US National Security
Adviser Michael Flynn and his son to forcibly remove cleric
Fethullah Gulen and hand him over to Ankara for as much as $15
million.
(AP, 11/12/17)
2017 Nov 12, Turkey dismissed
as "ludicrous and groundless" a report that Turkish officials may
have discussed kidnapping US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen in
exchange for millions of dollars.
(AP, 11/12/17)
2017 Nov 12, Turkey said its
purchase of Russian S-400 surface-to-air missiles has been
completed. Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli said Ankara is still
discussing a further deal with a European consortium to help it
develop its own missile defense system.
(Reuters, 11/12/17)
2017 Nov 13, Russian President
Vladimir Putin hosted Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan for
talks focusing on the situation in Syria.
(AP, 11/13/17)
2017 Nov 14, In Kuwait Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held talks with Emir Sheikh Sabah
al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, as a crisis that has split Qatar from its Gulf
neighbors entered its sixth month.
(AFP, 11/14/17)
2017 Nov 15, Turkish
authorities in Ankara banned a German gay film festival the day
before it was due to start, citing public safety and terrorism
risks.
(Reuters, 11/19/17)
2017 Nov 15, Syrian rebel
officials said a senior commander has defected to Turkey from the
US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a leading combatant in the
fight against Islamic State. Brigadier General Talal Silo handed
himself in at dawn to the Free Syrian Army (FSA), an adversary of
the SDF, and was escorted to Turkey.
(Reuters, 11/15/17)
2017 Nov 16, Turkey detained
136 people, including former police, teachers and soldiers, in four
separate operations over suspected links to last year's attempted
military coup.
(Reuters, 11/16/17)
2017 Nov 16, In Turkey four
militants were killed in the southeastern province of Tunceli.
(Reuters, 11/16/17)
2017 Nov 16, In northern Iraq
two Turkish soldiers were killed and one was wounded in northern
Iraq's Avasin Basyan region by Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)
militants.
(Reuters, 11/16/17)
2017 Nov 17, President Tayyip
Erdogan said Turkey is pulling 40 soldiers out of a NATO exercise in
Norway, after his name appeared in a list of enemies on a poster at
the drill, an incident that drew an apology from both the military
alliance and Oslo.
(Reuters, 11/17/17)
2017 Nov 18, Turkish
prosecutors launched an investigation into two US prosecutors
involved in trying a Turkish-Iranian businessman for violating US
sanctions against Iran. Gold trader Reza Zarrab (34) is charged in
the US for evading sanctions on Iran.
(AP, 11/18/17)
2017 Nov 18, The Turkish
capital Ankara banned the public showing of films and exhibitions
related to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) issues.
(Reuters, 11/19/17)
2017 Nov 18, Naim Suleymanoglu
(50), a Bulgarian-born Turkish weightlifter who won three Olympic
gold medals and was known as "Pocket Hercules," died following a
liver transplant last month. He won three straight Olympic gold
medals for Turkey between 1988 and 1996.
(AP, 11/18/17)
2017 Nov 19, In Turkey top
diplomats from Iran, Russia and Turkey met in Antalya to discuss the
civil war in Syria ahead of a three-way summit in the Russian city
of Sochi Nov. 22.
(AFP, 11/19/17)
2017 Nov 20, Turkish
authorities issued arrest warrants for 107 teachers for suspected
ties to the US-based cleric Ankara blames for orchestrating last
year's coup.
(Reuters, 11/20/17)
2017 Nov 20, Turkey said Syrian
Kurdish fighters have attacked a Turkish observation post in the
northern Syrian province of Idlib with mortar rounds. There were no
casualties.
(AP, 11/20/17)
2017 Nov 21, A Syrian Kurdish
militia accused Turkish forces of "aggression and escalation" in the
Afrin region, which it controls, on Syria's northwestern border with
Turkey.
(Reuters, 11/21/17)
2017 Nov 22, Vladimir Putin
called for "concessions and compromise" from all parties in Syria's
six-year conflict as he kicked off a key summit in Sochi with the
leaders of Turkey and Iran aimed at reviving stuttering peace
negotiations.
(AFP, 11/22/17)
2017 Nov 24, Turkey said that
US President Donald Trump told President Tayyip Erdogan he had
issued instructions that weapons should not be provided to Kurdish
YPG fighters in Syria, and that the Turkish government hoped to see
that order carried out.
(Reuters, 11/24/17)
2017 Nov 24, US President
Donald Trump said that he had informed Turkey's President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan in a call that Washington is adjusting military
support to partners on the ground in Syria.
(Reuters, 11/25/17)
2017 Nov 24, In Turkey an
Istanbul district authority banned a one-day festival that had been
set to showcase short films on gay issues the next day, claiming the
event posed a threat to public order.
(AFP, 11/25/17)
2017 Nov 27, Turkish and
Sudanese intelligence agencies returned to Turkey Memduh Cikmaz, a
man believed to be a financier for the US-based cleric accused of
orchestrating a failed coup in Turkey, following his capture in
Sudan.
(Reuters, 11/27/17)
2017 Nov 29, Turkish police
staged an operation to detained 360 people, including 333 soldiers,
as part of a probe into the Gulen network in the armed forces.
(AFP, 11/30/17)
2017 Nov 29, In NYC
Turkish-Iranian mogul Reza Zarrab (34) admitted he bribed former
Turkish economy minister Zafer Caglayan in order to facilitate
illegal gold transactions with Iran. His testimony implied that
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan knew how he and defendant Mehmet
Hakan Atilla, deputy chief executive of Turkish lender Halkbank,
circumvented sanctions on Iran and laundered money from Iranian
petroleum sales.
(AFP, 12/1/17)
2017 Nov 30, Turkey’s
parliament, dominated by ruling party members, rejected an
opposition motion for an inquiry into allegations that Pres.
Erdogan’s family members have evaded taxes by transferring millions
of dollars to offshore accounts.
(SFC, 11/30/17, p.A2)
2017 Nov 30, Turkish police
detained 50 people including soldiers and air force pilots in raids
in 11 cities against those accused of links to the group blamed for
last year's failed coup.
(AFP, 11/30/17)
2017 Nov 30, Turkish lender
Aktif Bank said it had not violated any US or international
sanctions, after it was mentioned in the US case regarding Iran
sanctions violations.
(Reuters, 11/30/17)
2017 Dec 1, Turkish media
reported that Istanbul police have detained 62 foreigners suspected
of having links to the Islamic State group in overnight raids.
(AFP, 12/1/17)
2017 Dec 1, Turkey’s Hurriyet
daily said authorities have issued an arrest warrant for Graham
Fuller, a former officer of the US Central Intelligence Agency
(CIA), over suspected links to last year's failed coup. Hurriyet
also said prosecutors had also issued an arrest warrant for Henri
Barkey, a prominent Turkey scholar based in the United States, on
suspicion of involvement in planning the coup.
(Reuters, 12/1/17)
2017 Dec 1, Turkey's official
Anadolu Agency said that Istanbul prosecutors have demanded the
seizure of the assets of gold trader Reza Zarrab and 22 others as
they investigate claims of "espionage for a foreign country" and an
"attempt to smuggle assets."
(AP, 12/2/17)
2017 Dec 1, Turkish academic
Nuriye Gulmen, on hunger strike for nearly nine months to protest
her dismissal after last year's failed coup, was released from jail.
She had been sentenced to six years and three months in prison for
"membership in an armed terror group," referring to a left-wing
militant group.
(AP, 12/2/17)
2017 Dec 3, Turkish President
Tayyip Erdogan said businessmen who attempted to move assets abroad
were "traitors", and called on his cabinet to block any such moves.
(Reuters, 12/3/17)
2017 Dec 4, A Greek court
ordered the detention of nine Turkish citizens pending trial for
terrorism-related offences, including links to a banned militant
group behind a series of suicide bombings in Turkey.
(AP, 12/4/17)
2017 Dec 5, Turkey’s state
media said 17 suspects have been detained in an investigation into
Reza Zarrab, a Turkish-Iranian gold trader who was once a close ally
of the government but is now testifying against officials as a star
witness in a high profile US case. Pres. Erdogan said that the case
was a "plot" aimed at hurting Turkey.
(AFP, 12/5/17)
2017 Dec 5, Turkish prosecutors
launched an investigation following media reports that 11 members of
a Turkish folk dancing group were seeking asylum in Hungary.
(AP, 12/5/17)
2017 Dec 7, In Turkey
Selahattin Demirtas, the jailed co-leader of the pro-Kurdish
opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), was remanded in prison
for at least two more months at the opening of his trial on
terrorism-related charges.
(Reuters, 12/7/17)
2017 Dec 8, Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with members of Greece's Muslim minority,
ending a landmark visit to Greece that sharply divided opinion in
the country and saw tensions in relations resurface.
(AP, 12/7/17)
2017 Dec 11, Turkey's armed
forces said its warplanes hit Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) targets
in northern Iraq and killed 17 of the group's militants.
(Reuters, 12/11/17)
2017 Dec 13, Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan convened in Istanbul an emergency summit of the
world's main pan-Islamic body, the Organization of Islamic
Cooperation (OIC). Islamic leaders urged the world to recognize
occupied East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine, as Palestinian
president Mahmoud Abbas warned the United States no longer had any
role to play in the peace process.
(AFP, 12/13/17)
2017 Dec 17, Turkey's president
slammed a US-backed Syrian Kurdish militant group and said he'll
clear his country's border with Syria of "terrorists”.
(AP, 12/17/17)
2017 Dec 18, Turkish
authorities issued detention warrants for 106 people believed to
have worked as matchmakers for a network accused of orchestrating
last year's failed military coup.
(Reuters, 12/18/17)
2017 Dec 18, German government
officials said Turkey has released German journalist Mesale Tolu
after nearly eight months in prison on the condition that she does
not leave the country.
(AP, 12/18/17)
2017 Dec 20, Turkey's state-run
news agency said prosecutors are seeking more than four years in
prison for NBA player Enes Kanter on charges of insulting President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Kanter, who is in the United States, would be
tried in absentia.
(AP, 12/20/17)
2017 Dec 20, In Bangladesh
Turkey's visiting PM Binali Yildirim dubbed the killing of minority
Muslim Rohingyas in Myanmar by its security forces "genocide" and
urged the international community to ensure their safety back home.
(Reuters, 12/20/17)
2017 Dec 21, Turkish police
said they had rescued thousands of artefacts dating back to
Anatolian, Greek and Egyptian civilizations in the largest operation
to combat smuggling of ancient treasures in the country's history.
(Reuters, 12/21/17)
2017 Dec 24, Turkey's PM Binali
Yildirim said that Turkey would employ an additional 110,000 public
servants in 2018 including teachers, medical and religious
personnel.
(Reuters, 12/24/17)
2017 Dec 24, In Turkey two
government decrees published in the Official Gazette said 2,756 more
people have been fired from the public service sector for alleged
links to terror groups. The Gazette also said the government has
closed down two local newspapers, 14 associations and one health
clinic. At least 115 people who were previously dismissed were
reinstated to public sector jobs.
(AP, 12/24/17)
2017 Dec 25, In Turkey two
soldiers were killed and another was wounded in an attack by
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants in the southeastern province
of Hakkari. Separately, one soldier was killed and two others were
wounded in northern Iraq when a grenade detonated by accident.
(Reuters, 12/25/17)
2017 Dec 25, A judge ejected
Ahmet Sik, one of Turkey's most respected investigative journalists
from court, and ruled that he and three other suspects should remain
in jail, in the controversial trial of staff from the main
opposition newspaper.
(AFP, 12/25/17)
2017 Dec 25, Serbia extradited
to Turkey a Kurdish political activist, defying a recommendation by
the UN Committee against Torture. Cevdet Ayaz had requested asylum
in Serbia earlier this year after fleeing Turkey, where he had been
sentenced to 15 years in prison over alleged activities against the
constitution.
(Reuters, 12/26/17)
2017 Dec 26, Myanmar police
said they would drop pending charges against two journalists working
for Turkey's state broadcaster, their interpreter and driver, who
were jailed in November for violating an aircraft law by filming
with a drone.
(Reuters, 12/26/17)
2017 Dec 26, Sudan's foreign
minister said Turkey will rebuild the ruined Ottoman port city of
Suakin on Sudan's Red Sea coast and construct a naval dock to
maintain civilian and military vessels. The restoration was agreed
during a visit to the ancient port by Turkish President Tayyip
Erdogan.
(AP, 12/26/17)
2017 Dec 27, Turkish President
Tayyip Erdogan called Syrian Pres. Bashar al-Assad a terrorist and
said it was impossible for Syrian peace efforts to continue with
him.
(Reuters, 12/27/17)
2017 Dec 27, Turkish
prosecutors said they will review legal cases against 11,480 people
after finding they had been re-directed unwittingly to the ByLock
messaging app linked to suspects in last year's failed coup.
(Reuters, 12/27/17)
2017 Dec 27, Turkey’s state-run
Anadolu news agency said police had arrest warrants for a total of
171 academics and staff from Istanbul's former Fatih University,
which was regarded as having close ties to US-based Islamic preacher
Fethullah Gulen.
(Reuters, 12/27/17)
2017 Dec 27, Russia said it
will supply Turkey with four batteries of S-400 surface-to-air
missiles for $2.5 billion under a deal that is almost complete. The
deal has caused concern in the West because Turkey is a member of
NATO, but the Russian missile system cannot be integrated into
NATO's military architecture.
(Reuters, 12/27/17)
2017 Dec 28, Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan denied that his country is constructing a naval
base on Sudan's Red Sea coast, saying Turkey plans to restore
Ottoman-era ruins in the area.
(AP, 12/28/17)
2017 Dec 28, Turkey’s state
media said police have detained 120 people with suspected links to
Islamic State (IS) in the countdown to New Year's Eve, part of a
tightening of security one year after a gunman killed 39 people in
an Istanbul night club.
(Reuters, 12/28/17)
2017 Dec 28, The United States
and Turkey lifted all visa restrictions after Washington said Ankara
had kept to assurances no further U.S. mission staff would be
targeted for performing official duties, following detention of two
earlier this year.
(Reuters, 12/28/17)
2017 Dec 29, Turkey and Russia
signed an accord for Moscow to supply Ankara with S-400
surface-to-air missile batteries, finalizing a deal set to deepen
military ties between NATO member Turkey and the Kremlin.
(Reuters, 12/29/17)
2017 Dec 29, Turkish police
detained 75 suspected Islamic State members in two operations, after
arresting about 120 such suspects across Turkey a day earlier,
tightening security ahead of the New Year.
(Reuters, 12/29/17)
2017 Dec 29, Turkish media
outlets reported that authorities have begun freeing some suspects
arrested for involvement in a coup attempt after they found that
thousands had been unwittingly re-directed to a messaging app used
by the plotters.
(Reuters, 12/29/17)
2017 Dec 31, Turkish
authorities, fearing an attack over the New Year, detained 20
suspected IS members in Istanbul, 15 of them foreigners, who are
believed to have spent time in Syria or Iraq. Three Syrians, an
Iraqi and a Russian Chechen were detained in Ankara.
(AFP, 12/31/17)
2017 Dec 31, Greece dismissed
Turkish anger over its decision to grant asylum to a soldier who
Ankara accuses of involvement in the abortive coup against President
Tayyip Erdogan in July 2016. The soldier was one of eight who fled
after the July 15 coup attempt.
(Reuters, 12/31/17)
2018 Jan 3, In NYC Mehmet Hakan
Atilla (47), a deputy general manager of Turkey’s state-run
Halkbank, was found guilty of five counts including bank fraud.
Atilla was found guilty of conspiracy to defraud the US. He was
acquitted of a money laundering charge.
(AP, 1/4/18)
2018 Jan 4, It was reported
that Turkey's broadcasting watchdog has fined a TV station nearly
one million lira ($266,000) over footage of young girls dancing in
shorts in a talent competition after viewers complained of "child
abuse".
(Reuters, 1/4/18)
2018 Jan 5, In France protests
over press freedom and the deteriorating state of human rights in
Turkey greeted Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as he arrived
in Paris for talks with President Emmanuel Macron.
(AP, 1/5/18)
2018 Jan 6, Germany and
Turkey's foreign ministers agreed to pull out all the stops to
improve ties that have soured due to disputes over Ankara's
post-coup crackdown and the arrests of German citizens in Turkey,
but they stressed differences remain.
(Reuters, 1/6/18)
2018 Jan 8, Turkey said
it will extend a state of emergency imposed after the July 2016 coup
attempt for another three months.
(Reuters, 1/8/18)
2018 Jan 8, Greece won a
temporary injunction suspending the asylum status granted to a
Turkish soldier who fled with seven others to the country after a
botched coup attempt against Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in
2016.
(Reuters, 1/8/18)
2018 Jan 11, Turkey’s
Constitutional Court ordered the release of journalists Mehmet Altan
and Sahin Alpay, ruling their rights had been violated. The two, in
prison for more than year, have been accused of links to terrorist
groups and attempting to overthrow the government, charges they
deny.
(Reuters, 1/11/18)
2018 Jan 11, President Tayyip
Erdogan said Turkey will not extradite any suspects to the United
States if Washington does not hand over the cleric Ankara blames for
orchestrating a failed 2016 military coup.
(Reuters, 1/11/18)
2018 Jan 13, Turkey's Pres.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey will oust Kurdish militants from
Afrin, northern Syria, as the military shelled the area from across
the border.
(AP, 1/13/18)
2018 Jan 13, In northern Turkey
a plane with 168 people aboard skidded off a runway onto a seaside
cliff after landing at the Trabzon airport late today, but no one
was injured in what one passenger called a "miracle".
(AFP, 1/14/18)
2018 Jan 14, Turkey's Pres.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the country will launch a military assault
on a Kurdish enclave in northern Syria "in the coming days" and
urged the US to support its efforts.
(AP, 1/14/18)
2018 Jan 15, Turkey announced
the route for a planned canal that would reduce shipping traffic on
the busy Bosphorus Strait and transform the European half of
Istanbul into an island.
(Reuters, 1/15/18)
2018 Jan 15, It was reported
that the US-led coalition, that has been fighting Islamic State in
Syria since 2014, is building a new 30,000-strong border force with
its Syrian militia allies in the north. Turkish President Tayyip
Erdogan said the US was trying to create a "terror army" and pledged
to crush the new force before it came into existence.
(Reuters, 1/15/18)
2018 Jan 17, A Turkish Air
Force cargo plane crashed in southwest Turkey during a training
flight, killing two pilots and a technician on board.
(AP, 1/17/18)
2018 Jan 19, Turkish artillery
fired into Syria's Afrin region in what Ankara said was the start of
a military campaign against the Kurdish-controlled area. Turkish
newspapers said 20 buses carrying Free Syrian Army rebels crossed
from Turkey into a Turkish-controlled part of northern Syria, on
Afrin's eastern flank.
(Reuters, 1/19/18)
2018 Jan 20, The Turkish
military launched operation "Olive Branch", its second major
incursion into Syrian territory during the seven-year civil war.
Turkish jets bombed the Kurdish-controlled city of Afrin in northern
Syria. Afrin is now home to at least 800,000 civilians, including
many who arrived fleeing the fighting in other parts of Syria.
(AP, 1/20/18)(AFP, 1/22/18)
2018 Jan 20, In Turkey eleven
people were killed and 44 injured in Eskisehir province when an
intercity bus taking families bound for a half-term skiing trip
crashed into trees while travelling on a motorway to Bursa.
(AP, 1/20/18)(SSFC, 1/21/18, p.A4)
2018 Jan 21, Turkish warplanes
hit 45 targets in northern Syria's Afrin region. Turkish ground
forces pushed into Afrin province, after launching artillery and air
strikes on a US-backed Kurdish militia it aims to sweep from its
border.
(Reuters, 1/21/18)
2018 Jan 21, In Syria a rebel
commander said around 25,000 Free Syrian Army rebels are joining the
Turkish military operation in northern Syria with the goal of
recapturing Arab towns and villages seized by the YPG Kurdish
militia almost two years ago.
(Reuters, 1/21/18)
2018 Jan 21, A missile fired
across the border from Syria hit the Turkish border town of
Reyhanli, killing a Syrian national and wounding 32 people.
(Reuters, 1/21/18)
2018 Jan 21, An avalanche in
Turkey's southeastern province of Bitlis killed five soldiers and
injured another twelve during a military operation.
(Reuters, 1/21/18)
2018 Jan 21, France called for
an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council over Syria following
a Turkish incursion into northern Syria's Afrin province.
(Reuters, 1/21/18)
2018 Jan 22, Turkey intensified
its offensive against Kurdish militia targets in Syria as President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed there would be no stepping back in a
campaign that has stoked concern among Ankara's allies and
neighbors.
(AFP, 1/22/18)
2018 Jan 22, A 2nd Turkish
soldier was killed in action in Turkey's military offensive on a
Kurdish-held enclave in northern Syria. Turkish shelling killed
three people in the Syrian town of Ras al-Ayn.
(AP, 1/23/18)(Reuters, 1/23/18)
2018 Jan 22, In Cyprus dozens
of people waving the Turkish flag smashed windows and hurled stones,
eggs and other items at the office of Afrika, A left-wing Turkish
Cypriot newspaper in Nicosia. Editor Sener Levent said Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had incited supporters to attack the
publication's office because the paper had criticized Ankara's
military offensive in Syria.
(AP, 1/22/18)
2018 Jan 22, The spokesman for
the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militia alliance said the death
toll from a Turkish offensive in the Afrin region of northwestern
Syria stands at 18 civilians, including women and children.
(Reuters, 1/22/18)
2018 Jan 23, Turkey arrested
dozens of people overnight for "spreading terrorist propaganda"
about its Syrian incursion, raising to nearly 100 the number of such
detainees, including politicians, journalists and activists.
(Reuters, 1/23/18)
2018 Jan 23, Turkey shelled
Qamishli and other towns along the Syrian-Turkish border as Turkish
forces press into a Syrian Kurdish enclave for the fourth straight
day. 24 civilians, 24 Kurdish fighters, and 25 Turkish-backed Syrian
militiamen have been killed in the clashes in Afrin since January
20.
(AP, 1/23/18)
2018 Jan 24, Turkey's president
vowed to expand its operation against Kurdish forces in northern
Syria toward the town of Manbij, which would bring Turkish troops
and their Syrian allies closer to US forces supporting the Kurds
against the Islamic State group.
(AP, 1/24/18)
2018 Jan 24, In Cyprus some 350
Kurds burned images of the presidents of Turkey and Russia as they
marched on the US and Russian embassies in Nicosia to protest
Turkey's "invasion" of a Kurdish enclave in northern Syria.
(AP, 1/24/18)
2018 Jan 24, Two rockets fired
from Syria’s Afrin region hit a mosque and a home in the Turkish
border town of Kilis. At least 13 people were hurt.
(Reuters, 1/24/18)
2018 Jan 25, Turkey and Austria
vowed to work to improve relations battered by the opposition of the
new conservative far-right Austrian government coalition to Ankara
ever joining the EU. Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl held
talks in Istanbul with Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu, in the
first high-level contact between the two sides since the new
Austrian government came to power.
(AFP, 1/25/18)
2018 Jan 25, It was reported
that Germany's caretaker government has decided to put on hold any
decision on upgrading German-made tanks in Turkey as requested by
its NATO ally Ankara.
(Reuters, 1/25/18)
2018 Jan 26, Turkish teachers
Nuriye Gulmen and Semih Ozakca ended an almost 11-month hunger
strike, vowing legal action to get their jobs back after their
appeal against dismissal under the government's state of emergency
decree was rejected.
(Reuters, 1/26/18)
2018 Jan 27, Turkey said the
United States has pledged to stop supplying weapons to a Kurdish
militia in Syria, calling on Washington to immediately remove its
troops from a Syrian town of Manbij that Turkish forces plan to
target.
(Reuters, 1/27/18)
2018 Jan 28, Turkey seized a
strategic outpost from Kurdish militia in Syria. Turkish air strikes
killed three people in one family early in Afrin. President Tayyip
Erdogan said that Turkey will "clean" its entire border with Syria
in a sign that the Turkish offensive on the Syrian Kurdish YPG group
in northern Syria's Afrin region could be extended further. The
Syrian government said that Turkish shelling of the Kurdish-held
Afrin region of Syria had seriously damaged the ancient temple of
Ain Dara.
(AFP, 1/28/18)(Reuters, 1/28/18)
2018 Jan 29, Turkey’s
government said more than 300 people have been detained for social
media posts criticizing its military offensive in Syria, a day after
President Tayyip Erdogan accused doctors who opposed the campaign of
betrayal.
(Reuters, 1/29/18)
2018 Jan 30, Turkey detained 11
top members of the country's main medical association, including its
chief, in a nationwide sweep after they criticized Ankara's
offensive against Kurdish militia in Syria.
(AFP, 1/30/18)
2018 Jan 30, The Turkish
Football Federation (TFF) said German-Kurdish player Deniz Naki
(28), previously convicted of support for Kurdish separatists in
Turkey, has been banned for life and charged 273,000 liras ($72,000)
for "separatist and ideological propaganda".
(AP, 1/30/18)
2018 Jan 31, An Istanbul court
ordered the release of Taner Kilic, the head of rights group Amnesty
International in Turkey, who had been held on terror charges that
his supporters long dismissed as "baseless".
(AFP, 1/31/18)
2018 Jan 31, A Turkish court
sentenced two Syrians, Atala el-Hasan el-Mayyup and Fevzi Muhammed
Ali, and a Turkish man, Halil Dervis, to multiple life sentences in
connection with a bombing that killed 12 German tourists in Istanbul
on Jan 12, 2016.
(Reuters, 1/31/18)
2018 Jan 31, In Syria the head
of the Afrin city hospital supplies are dwindling in the main
hospital, which has taken in 48 people killed and 86 wounded in
recent Turkish attacks. Kurdish authorities in Afrin district called
for Bashar al-Assad's government to send troops to help defend them
from a six-day-old Turkish assault. Rockets fired from northern
Syria into the Turkish border town of Reyhanli killed a teenage girl
and wounded another person. The Kurdish militia accused Turkey of
firing Katyusha rockets into Afrin, and reported that at least 12
people were wounded from the shelling that targeted the neighborhood
of Ashrafieh.
(AP, 1/31/18)(Reuters, 1/31/18)
2018 Feb 1, A Turkish court
overturned its decision to release the chairman of the local arm of
Amnesty International, in a case that has caused international
outrage.
(Reuters, 2/1/18)
2018 Feb 1, Syrian government
forces pushed into an opposition stronghold in Idlib province, as
Turkish troops and allied Syrian fighters battled with Kurdish
militants in a nearby area. Syria’s government described a Turkish
offensive in the Afrin region as an illegal "aggression" and said it
would deal with it accordingly.
(AP, 2/1/18)(Reuters, 2/1/18)
2018 Feb 2, Turkish authorities
detained 13 people for supporting the country's main medical
association whose top members are in custody for criticizing
Ankara's offensive against a Syrian Kurdish militia.
(AFP, 2/2/18)
2018 Feb 2, In Turkey two
people were killed after rockets were fired at two border towns in
Hatay province from the Syrian Kurdish enclave of Afrin across the
border.
(AP, 2/2/18)
2018 Feb 2, Weekly magazine Der
Spiegel reported that Germany has granted asylum to four Turkish
soldiers, including one Ankara accuses of playing a leading role in
the failed military coup of July 2016, in a new setback for
relations between the two countries.
(Reuters, 2/2/18)
2018 Feb 2, A Greek court ruled
against the extradition of a Turkish man wanted by Ankara over links
to a banned militant group blamed for suicide bombings in Turkey.
The court said Mehmet Dogan (60), although still being held in
Greece, had been granted political asylum in France.
(AP, 2/2/18)
2018 Feb 3, The Turkish
military said two of its soldiers have been killed in Syria and a
third was killed on the Turkish side of the border in an attack by
Syrian Kurdish militiamen. Five more Turkish soldiers were killed in
a single attack on a tank.
(AP, 2/3/18)(AFP, 2/3/18)(SSFC, 2/4/18, p.A4)
2018 Feb 3, Human Rights Watch
said Turkish guards at the border with Syria are indiscriminately
shooting at and summarily returning asylum seekers attempting to
cross into Turkey.
(Reuters, 2/3/18)
2018 Feb 5, Turkey’s government
said 573 people have been detained so far for social media posts and
protests criticizing its military offensive in Syria.
(Reuters, 2/5/18)
2018 Feb 5, Turkey’s army said
it has set up a military post southwest of the Syrian city of
Aleppo, the deepest position they have established so far inside
northwest Syria under a deal with Russia and Iran aimed at reducing
violence there.
(Reuters, 2/5/18)
2018 Feb 5, In Lebanon hundreds
of Kurds protested against Turkey's military offensive in Syria's
Kurdish enclave of Afrin.
(AFP, 2/5/18)
2018 Feb 5, In northwestern
Syria a Turkish soldier was killed in a rocket and mortar attack as
Turkish forces were setting up a military post in Idlib province,
the largest remaining stronghold of opposition to Pres. Bashar
al-Assad.
(Reuters, 2/6/18)
2018 Feb 5, At the Vatican
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with Pope Francis to
discuss the status of Jerusalem, human rights and refugees while
Kurdish and Italian protesters clashed with police a short distance
from Vatican City.
(AP, 2/5/18)
2018 Feb 6, In Syria shells hit
a camp for internally displaced Syrians near the Syrian-Turkey
border in Idlib province, killing at least one person. The Kurdish
YPG said in a statement posted on its social media networks that
Turkey was behind the attack and that accusations that the YPG had
carried it out were lies.
(Reuters, 2/6/18)
2018 Feb 7, A Turkish court
sentenced 64 military academy officers and trainees to life in
prison for involvement in a failed military coup in 2016. Another
100 defendants were acquitted.
(Reuters, 2/7/18)
2018 Feb 7, A senior Turkish
official said that the country has fulfilled all 72 requirements set
by the EU to secure visa-free travel for Turkish citizens to the
28-nation bloc.
(AP, 2/7/18)
2018 Feb 9, The United States
said it had imposed sanctions on three people and three companies in
the Philippines, Turkey and Somalia that supported the Islamic State
militant group, including a business that procured parts for
unmanned aircraft.
(Reuters, 2/9/18)
2018 Feb 9, It was reported
that Turkey has launched a domestic messaging app to rival
Facebook's popular WhatsApp Messenger service, raising concerns
among government critics that Ankara could use the new platform to
tighten surveillance and bolster an 18-month-old crackdown.
(Reuters, 2/9/18)
2018 Feb 9, Turkish warplanes
bombarded Kurdish militia targets in Syria's Afrin region. A monitor
said the strikes killed seven fighters and two civilians. A Kurdish
official and top member of Afrin's civil administration, Hevi
Mustafa, said the Turkish offensive had killed 160 people so far.
(Reuters, 2/9/18)
2018 Feb 9, Turkish warships
stopped a rig belonging to the Italian energy firm ENI as it headed
toward an area southeast of Cyprus.
(AP, 2/11/18)
2018 Feb 10, Turkey’s state-run
Anadolu news agency said Turkish police have detained 48 suspected
Islamic State members who were preparing to launch an attack.
(Reuters, 2/10/18)
2018 Feb 10, A Turkish military
helicopter was "downed" and two soldiers killed in northern Syria
during Ankara's offensive on Syrian Kurdish militia there. Kurdish
fighters downed the chopper in Raju, northwest Afrin.
(AP, 2/10/18)
2018 Feb 10, In Syria 11
Turkish soldiers were killed. Two of them were aboard a Turkish
attack helicopter that crashed while on a mission over Afrin.
(AP, 2/11/18)
2018 Feb 11, Turkey continued
its operations in northern Syria, targeting YPG areas with air and
artillery strikes. Turkey's military announced the death of another
soldier in its operation against a Syrian Kurdish militia. The
announcement brought to 31 the number of Turkish soldiers killed
since the operation started on Jan. 20.
(AP, 2/11/18)
2018 Feb 12, A dispute between
Turkey and the United States over control of the northern Syrian
town of Manbij has put the NATO allies on opposing sides of the
conflict's front line, deepening a diplomatic rift ahead of a visit
to Turkey by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
(Reuters, 2/12/18)
2018 Feb 13, Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a warning to neighboring Greece, Cyprus
and international companies exploring for gas in the eastern
Mediterranean not to "step out of line" and encroach on Turkey's
rights.
(AP, 2/13/18)
2018 Feb 13, Turkey's
anti-terrorism police detained Serpil Kemalbay, a former leader of
the country's pro-Kurdish party, for opposing Ankara's military
offensive in Syria. This came days after prosecutors issued
detention warrants for her and 16 other activists.
(AP, 2/13/18)
2018 Feb 13, In northwestern
Turkey three people died and four were missing after a refugee boat
carrying eight people capsized in the Maritsa river that flows
between Turkey and Greece.
(AP, 2/13/18)
2018 Feb 13, Shells hit the
center of a Syrian Kurdish enclave where Turkey is carrying out an
offensive, landing near the area's only hospital and killing one
person.
(AP, 2/13/18)
2018 Feb 16, In Turkey US
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut
Cavusoglu announced the creation of new "mechanisms" to improve
relationships, starting with the question of American support for
Kurdish rebels in northern Syria.
(AP, 2/16/18)
2018 Feb 16, A Turkish court
sentenced six journalists, including two prominent brothers, to life
in jail for aiding plotters of a 2016 failed coup, a sharp
turnaround after the country's highest court ordered one of the men
released. Mehmet Altan, an economics professor and journalist, and
his brother Ahmet, also a journalist, were accused of giving coded
messages on a television talk show a day before the abortive
military putsch. Nazli Ilicak, another well known journalist, was
also among the sentenced.
(Reuters, 2/16/18)
2018 Feb 16, A Turkish court
freed German-Turkish journalist Deniz Yucel pending trial after
indicting him for alleged security offences.
(Reuters, 2/16/18)
2018 Feb 16, In Syria six
civilians suffered breathing difficulties and other symptoms
indicative of poison gas inhalation after an attack launched by
Turkey on the Kurdish-controlled enclave of Afrin.
(AP, 2/17/18)
2018 Feb 19, In Greece
seventeen Turkish nationals landed on a beach on an island close to
Turkey. Greek media said they had asked for political asylum.
(Reuters, 2/20/18)
2018 Feb 19, Turkey's foreign
minister warned that Turkey's military would confront any Syrian
government forces entering the northwest Afrin province to protect
Kurdish YPG fighters.
(Reuters, 2/19/18)
2018 Feb 19, Syrian media
reported that militias allied to the Syrian government will enter
the Afrin region to help Kurdish forces end a Turkish offensive.
(Reuters, 2/19/18)
2018 Feb 20, Turkey's state-run
news agency said pro-Syrian government forces have turned back 10 km
(6 miles) from Afrin city following shelling by the Turkish
military.
(AP, 2/20/18)
2018 Feb 22, Turkey said it
will not allow Cyprus' government to carry out a "unilateral" gas
search off the east Mediterranean island as long as breakaway
Turkish Cypriots don't also reap the benefits.
(AP, 2/22/18)
2018 Feb 22, The Turkish army
struck a convoy entering Syria's Kurdish-held Afrin region, which
Ankara said carried fighters and weapons, but Kurdish forces said
was made up of civilians entering with food and medicine. At least
ten people were wounded and one passenger was killed.
(Reuters, 2/23/18)
2018 Feb 22, In northern Syria
hundreds of people gathered in the main square in the town of Afrin
celebrating the arrival of hundreds of pro-government fighters into
the area. Turkish warplanes could be heard flying overhead making
some of those gathering to flee the area.
(AP, 2/22/18)
2018 Feb 23, In Turkey a court
in Istanbul ruled that three academics who signed a peace petition
committed terror propaganda. The court originally sentenced the
three to 15-month prison terms but revised the sentences to five
years of probation because of the defendants' good behavior and lack
of prior records.
(AP, 2/23/18)
2018 Feb 24, Czech authorities
arrested Saleh Muslim (67), a top Kurdish politician, at the behest
of Turkey, where a court has charged him with sedition.
(Reuters, 2/25/18)
2018 Feb 25, An Iraqi judiciary
spokesman said a local court has sentenced 16 Turkish women to death
by hanging for joining Islamic State. All the verdicts are subject
to appeal.
(Reuters, 2/25/18)
2018 Feb 26, Turkey formally
asked for the extradition of one of the most prominent leaders of
the Syrian Kurds, who was detained by Czech police at the weekend at
Ankara's request.
(AFP, 2/26/18)
2018 Feb 27, A Czech court
released prominent Syrian Kurdish leader Saleh Muslim, wanted by
Turkey on terror charges, prompting outrage in Ankara which said the
move showed "support for terrorism".
(AFP, 2/27/18)
2018 Feb 28, Turkish television
anchor Ahmet Keser was charged with inciting hatred over comments
defending Turkey's Syria operation, saying if the military had
wanted to kill civilians it would have started with
staunchly-secular areas in Istanbul.
(AFP, 2/28/18)
2018 Feb, In Turkey a man
entered a child’s house in Adana during a wedding outside the home
and reportedly raped a sleeping girl (4). He was beaten as he fled
unclothed and relatives of the girl tried to burn his house down.
The suspect was arrested. The attack ignited a national discourse
about child abuse.
(SFC, 3/5/18, p.A4)
2018 Mar 1, Turkey’s state
broadcaster faced accusations of imposing censorship reminiscent of
a military coup after admitting it had banned over 200 songs from
being played on air.
(AFP, 3/1/18)
2018 Mar 1, Armenia scrapped a
peace agreement it signed with Turkey in 2009 in what turned out to
be a failed attempt to normalize relations between the two
countries.
(Reuters, 3/1/18)
2018 Mar 2, Turkey arrested two
Greek soldiers for allegedly entering a Turkish military zone and on
suspicion of attempted espionage. Greece said the two soldiers on a
patrol of the Greek-Turkish border accidentally strayed into Turkey
because of bad weather.
(AP, 3/2/18)
2018 Mar 2, The Arab world's
largest private broadcaster stopped showing Turkish television
programs, as tensions rose between Ankara and some Arab states.
Dubai-based MBC Group is which is controlled by Saudi businessman
Walid al-Ibrahim and other Saudi investors.
(Reuters, 3/5/18)
2018 Mar 2, Turkey requested
that German authorities detain and extradite wanted Syrian Kurdish
politician Salih Muslim, the former co-chair of the Democratic Union
Party, or PYD.
(AP, 3/5/18)
2018 Mar 3, Turkey's PM Binali
Yildirim said Turkish troops have captured a strategic village in
the Kurdish-held enclave in northwestern Syria, tightening the grip
on the area in the sixth week of its offensive on the area. Turkish
air strikes killed at least 36 pro-regime fighters backing Kurdish
militia in Syria's northwestern Kurdish enclave of Afrin.
(AP, 3/3/18)(AFP, 3/3/18)
2018 Mar 5, Turkish police
detained four Iraqi nationals on suspicion of planning an attack on
the US Embassy in Ankara, hours after the mission temporarily closed
due to a security threat.
(Reuters, 3/5/18)
2018 Mar 5, In northwest Syria
at least 13 civilians were killed in Turkish shelling on the town of
Jindaris, as Turkish forces try to press their advances on the
Kurdish-held Afrin enclave. Another 3 civilians were killed in
Turkish shelling near Rajo, also in Afrin.
(AP, 3/5/18)
2018 Mar 6, Greece rejected a
Turkish extradition request for Naci Ozpolat (48), the second of
nine Turkish citizens who were arrested on terror charges in Athens,
days before a visit by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
(AP, 3/6/18)
2018 Mar 6, In Syria a
US-backed alliance of Syrian fighters announced it would redeploy
around 1,700 members from front lines against the Islamic State
group to the Kurdish enclave in Afrin under Turkish attack.
(AFP, 3/6/18)
2018 Mar 6, Turkey said it is
working to set up camps to settle 170,000 displaced people near the
northwestern Syrian city of Idlib and in Turkish-controlled areas to
the east of it.
(Reuters, 3/6/18)
2018 Mar 7, Turkish President
Tayyip Erdogan and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani agreed in a
phone call to speed up efforts for the implementation of a ceasefire
in Syria’s eastern Ghouta region.
(Reuters, 3/7/18)
2018 Mar 7, Turkey’s police in
the southern city of Adana detained 13 Islamic State suspects,
including 12 Syrian nationals, who were allegedly plotting attacks
on a number of buildings in the city, including the US Consulate.
(AP, 3/7/18)
2018 Mar 8, Turkish media
reported that the government has asked Sweden to arrest Syrian
Kurdish leader Saleh Muslim, Ankara’s third attempt to get a
European state to detain and extradite him in just over a week. A
Swedish source said Muslim had been in Stockholm but had already
left the country.
(Reuters, 3/8/18)
2018 Mar 8, Turkish troops and
allied Syrian opposition forces entered the town of Jinderes, in the
southwest of the Afrin enclave, where they were engaged in street
clashes with Syrian Kurdish forces.
(AP, 3/8/18)
2018 Mar 9, President Tayyip
Erdogan said Turkey's military and rebel allies have besieged the
northern Syrian town of Afrin and were nearing its town center.
Turkey now controls five out of seven of the settlements in the
northwest Afrin region.
(Reuters, 3/9/18)
2018 Mar 9, Turkish state news
said prosecutors have issued arrest warrants for 243 people,
including 92 teachers, in operations targeting suspected followers
of the Muslim cleric the government blames for a failed 2016 coup.
(Reuters, 3/9/18)
2018 Mar 9, Turkey’s highest
court overruled a five-year jail sentence against prominent
journalist Can Dundar, saying he should face up to 20 years in
prison on espionage charges. Dundar and his colleague from the
Cumhuriyet newspaper, Erdem Gul, were both sentenced in 2016 to five
years in prison for publishing a video purporting show Turkey's
intelligence agency trucking weapons into Syria. They were later
released pending appeal.
(Reuters, 3/9/18)
2018 Mar 9, Turkish Airlines
confirmed plans to buy at least 50 wide-body aircraft from Airbus
and Boeing as the flag carrier ramps up its ambitions ahead of a
move to a new Istanbul airport.
(AFP, 3/10/18)
2018 Mar 10, Turkish forces and
allied Syrian rebels battling Kurdish militia in northern Syria
advanced to less than two km from the flashpoint town of Afrin.
Turkey and allied Syrian opposition factions now held 60 percent of
the Afrin region.
(AP, 3/10/18)
2018 Mar 10, Syrian government
forces succeeded in their deepest push yet into the eastern suburbs
of Damascus, cutting off a major highway that made it hard to move
between three parts of the rebel-held area, and inflicting a major
blow to opposition fighters who have vowed not to surrender.
(AP, 3/10/18)
2018 Mar 11, Turkish warplanes
reportedly destroyed at least 18 targets belonging to the outlawed
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in northern Iraq over the last 24
hours.
(Reuters, 3/11/18)
2018 Mar 11, In Iran a private
Turkish jet carrying a group of young women flying from the United
Arab Emirates to Istanbul crashed into a mountain in Shahr-e Kord,
killing all eleven people on board.
(SFC, 3/12/18, p.A2)
2018 Mar 12, In Syria thousands
of people fled the northwestern town of Afrin as Turkish troops and
Turkey-backed opposition fighters inch closer to completely
besieging it.
(AP, 3/12/18)
2018 Mar 13, Turkey's military
said Turkish troops and allied Syrian opposition fighters have begun
a siege of the Syrian Kurdish-held town of Afrin.
(AP, 3/13/18)
2018 Mar 13, Turkey's
parliament passed a law revamping electoral regulations, backing
legislation the opposition said could open the door to fraud and
jeopardize the fairness of 2019 polls, and triggering a brawl on the
floor of the chamber.
(Reuters, 3/13/18)
2018 Mar 13, In central Turkey
a passenger bus hit a truck and burst into flames, killing at least
11 people, including a number of children.
(AP, 3/13/18)
2018 Mar 14, Turkey turned up
the heat on Syria's Afrin, launching deadly strikes on Damascus
loyalists deployed around the Kurdish enclave and closing in on its
main city. Turkish bombing raids killed 10 fighters loyal to the
regime.
(AFP, 3/14/18)
2018 Mar 14, In Turkey
Alessandro Fiori (33) of Milan was last spotted on a CCTV camera in
Istanbul's busy Beyoglu district. His phone, wallet and other
belongings were found later in a hotel trash bin.
(AP, 3/27/18)
2018 Mar 14, A Greek court
rejected a Turkish extradition request for Halaz Secer (21). She was
among nine suspected Turkish militants arrested in Athens ahead of
an official visit by Turkey's president late last year.
(AP, 3/14/18)
2018 Mar 15, In northern Syria
hundreds of residents of the Kurdish enclave under Turkish assault
trickled out of Afrin's center toward neighboring villages amid an
intensifying offensive. Senior Kurdish official Omar Alloush, who
played a key role with the United States in implementing its
post-Islamic State policy in northern Syria, was found dead in his
apartment in northern Syria.
(AP, 3/15/18)
2018 Mar 16, A Greek court
dismissed a Turkish demand for the handover of eight Turkish
soldiers accused by Ankara of having played a direct role in the
abortive coup against President Tayyip Erdogan in 2016.
(Reuters, 3/16/18)
2018 Mar 16, In Syria thousands
of civilians fled from besieged enclaves on opposite ends of the
country as two major battles in the multi-sided civil war entered
decisive phases. Air strikes killed at least 76 people in eastern
Ghouta. Turkish and allied Syrian rebel forces shelled the northern
Kurdish-held town of Afrin heavily, killing 36 people and forcing
2,500 people to flee. A Turkish bombing raid struck the Afrin's main
hospital, killing 16 civilians. Turkey's military denied hitting the
hospital.
(AP, 3/16/18)(AFP, 3/17/18)
2018 Mar 17, In Turkey
prominent journalist Sahin Alpay (74), accused of supporting
Turkey's failed coup, was released from prison after a court ruling.
The Anadolu news agency said he has been banned from leaving his
house and the country.
(AP, 3/17/18)
2018 Mar 18, Turkish forces and
their Syrian rebel allies swept into the northwestern Syrian town of
Afrin, raising their flags in the town center and declaring full
control after an eight-week campaign to drive out Kurdish YPG
forces. The Kurdish administration of the Afrin region indicated
that Kurdish-dominated forces fighting Turkey-backed groups in the
area will shift from direct confrontation to guerrilla tactics.
(Reuters, 3/18/18)
2018 Mar 19, President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan vowed to expand Turkey's Syria campaign to other
Kurdish-held areas up to the Iraqi border, a day after ousting
Kurdish militia from their former enclave of Afrin.
(AFP, 3/19/18)
2018 Mar 20, Turkish
authorities detained more than 100 suspected Kurdish militants on
suspicion of planning illegal demonstrations or plotting attacks for
the Newroz spring festival.
(Reuters, 3/20/18)
2018 Mar 20, Turkey's state-run
news agency reported that American pastor Andrew Brunson has been
charged in Turkey with engaging in espionage and having links to
terror groups, crimes that carry a potential sentence of up to 35
years in prison.
(AP, 3/20/18)
2018 Mar 20, The UN called on
Turkey to end its 20-month-old state of emergency and accused Ankara
of mass arrests, arbitrary sackings and other abuses.
(Reuters, 3/20/18)
2018 Mar 21, Turkish lawmakers
passed a new law giving the communications watchdog the power to
block internet broadcasts, raising fears of a new curb on freedom of
expression.
(AFP, 3/22/18)
2018 Mar 22, Turkey's Hurriyet
newspaper reported that singer and actress Zuhal Olcay has been
sentenced to 10 months in prison for insulting President Tayyip
Erdogan during a performance in 2016.
(Reuters, 3/22/18)
2018 Mar 22, Turkish jets
attacked suspected Kurdish rebel camps across the border in northern
Iraq, in an operation that reportedly "neutralized" nine militants.
(AP, 3/22/18)
2018 Mar 22, In northern Syria
three Turkish soldiers were killed in an explosion in the town of
Afrin during a mission to clear it of explosives believed to have
been left behind by retreating Syrian Kurdish fighters.
(AP, 3/22/18)
2018 Mar 23, Turkish
authorities began rounding up 155 suspected followers of the cleric
Fethullah Gulen. The roundup included warrants for 55 employees in
13 provinces of Isik Publications, a publishing company that printed
Gulen's books. Warrants were also issued for 38 former police
officers in six provinces who were accused of being members of
Gulen's purported network. Police also targeted 62 executives of
five labor unions in a third operation spread across seven
provinces.
(Reuters, 3/23/18)
2018 Mar 23, Turkey opened its
airspace to flights from northern Iraq's Erbil. Flights from
Sulaimaniya were not included in the plan.
(Reuters, 3/23/18)
2018 Mar 23, Gabon authorities
in Libreville arrested three Turkish nationals, who were directors
of schools linked to Gulen. They were soon returned to Turkey in an
operation led by the Turkish intelligence agency.
(AP, 4/10/18)
2018 Mar 23, The Kurdish PKK
rebel group said it is withdrawing from the town of Sinjar in
northern Iraq, a move that follows threats of attack from Turkey.
(AP, 3/23/18)
2018 Mar 27, Cypriot President
Nicos Anastasiades hailed as "unprecedented" the EU's condemnation
of Turkey for blocking his government's search for offshore oil and
gas.
(AFP, 3/27/18)
2018 Mar 27, Iraqi PM Haider
al-Abadi said government armed forces will prevent Kurdish militants
based in northern Iraq from staging cross-border attacks against
Turkey.
(AP, 3/27/18)
2018 Mar 29, Turkish state-run
news agency Anadolu said that six Turkish nationals arrested in
Kosovo over links to schools financed by the Fethullah Gulen
movement that Ankara blames for a failed 2016 coup have been
extradited to Turkey.
(Reuters, 3/28/18)
2018 Mar 29, Turkish newspaper
Haberturk said the body of Alessandro Fiori (33) of Milan has been
found washed ashore in Istanbul's Sarayburnu district, two weeks
after he went missing. It appeared Fiori had received a blow to the
head but that it was not clear if he had been struck or had suffered
a fall.
(AP, 3/28/18)
2018 Mar 29, In eastern Turkey
a road accident on a highway linking Igdir province with neighboring
Kars province killed 17 people, mostly migrants, who had crossed
into the country illegally.
(AP, 3/30/18)
2018 Mar 30, President Tayyip
Erdogan said Turkey has started preparations to clear northern
Syria's Ayn al-Arab, Ras al-Ain and Tel Abyad regions from militants
up to the Iraqi border, adding that it would also clear militants
from Iraq.
(Reuters, 3/30/18)
2018 Apr 2, Turkey's Haberturk
newspaper said the government has ordered the arrest of US-based
Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen and seven others over the 2016
assassination of the Russian envoy to Turkey, a day before Russian
Pres. Vladimir Putin visits the country.
(Reuters, 4/2/18)
2018 Apr 3, In Turkey Russian
President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
remotely gave the go-ahead for the construction of the $20 billion
Russian-built Akkuyu nuclear plant on the Mediterranean coast at
Akkuyu.
(AP, 4/3/18)
2018 Apr 4, Turkey, Iran and
Russia pledged to accelerate efforts to bring stability to Syria,
following a summit meeting in Ankara.
(Reuters, 4/4/18)
2018 Apr 4, Greece's defense
minister described Turkey as an "enemy that continues to provoke us"
and announced that he has ordered additional military personnel to
move to islands in the eastern Aegean Sea.
(AP, 4/4/18)
2018 Apr 5, In Turkey a gunman
shot dead four academics at their university whom he saw as
supporters of a Muslim cleric accused by the government of being
behind a failed coup in 2016.
(Reuters, 4/5/18)
2018 Apr 5, A top Turkish
official said the country's intelligence agency has snatched around
80 Turkish citizens who the government wanted for alleged links to
the country's 2016 failed coup in covert operations in 18 countries.
(AP, 4/5/18)
2018 Apr 5, Shares in Turkey's
majority state-owned Halkbank rose as much as 18 percent after US
prosecutors sought a 20 year jail term for a Halkbank executive
convicted of helping Iran evade US sanctions.
(Reuters, 4/5/18)
2018 Apr 5, Cyprus said it will
lodge protests over the construction of Turkey's first nuclear power
plant a few dozen kilometers from the island nation. One worry
raised is that the Akkuyu area, where the plant is to be built, is
earthquake-prone.
(AP, 4/5/18)
2018 Apr 7, Turkey's interior
ministry said authorities will deport close to 600 illegal Afghan
migrants in eastern Turkey back to Kabul this weekend.
(Reuters, 4/7/18)
2018 Apr 7, Turkey's military
said some 108 Kurdish militants have been "neutralized" in
operations targeting southeast Turkey and northern Iraq over the
past week.
(AP, 4/7/18)
2018 Apr 13, A Turkish court
sentenced 21 people to life sentences in prison over the so-called
"post-modern" coup that in 1997 toppled Turkey's first Islamist-led
government. Among those who were handed life sentences were Gen.
Ismail Hakki Karadayi, who was chief of general staff between 1994
and 1998, and his deputy at the time, Gen. Cevik Bir.
(Reuters, 4/13/18)
2018 Apr 13, Turkey's state-run
Anadolu news agency said prosecutors have ordered the detention of
140 people including serving army officers over alleged links to the
US-based preacher accused of orchestrating an attempted coup in
2016.
(Reuters, 4/13/18)
2018 Apr 16, Supporters of
Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) staged
sit-in demonstrations across all of the country's 81 provinces to
protest the state of emergency that was declared after a coup
attempt in 2016.
(AP, 4/16/18)
2018 Apr 17, Turkish President
Tayyip Erdogan and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani agreed in
a telephone call to maintain the cooperation between Turkey, Iran
and Russia for a political solution to the conflict in Syria.
(Reuters, 4/17/18)
2018 Apr 18, Turkish parliament
approved the extension for another three months of the state of
emergency. The main opposition party called for an immediate end to
a state of emergency imposed in the wake of a 2016 coup attempt,
after President Tayyip Erdogan declared presidential and
parliamentary elections would be brought forward by more than a
year.
(Reuters, 4/18/18)
2018 Apr 18, Turkey's Defense
Minister Nurettin Canikli said authorities have identified 3,000
people within the armed forces believed to be linked to the cleric
Ankara blames for a 2016 failed coup, adding the individuals would
be dismissed in the coming days.
(Reuters, 4/18/18)
2018 Apr 19, Turkey's
parliament said it had stripped two lawmakers from the pro-Kurdish
opposition HDP of their parliamentary status, further reducing the
party's strength in the assembly two months ahead of elections.
(Reuters, 4/19/18)
2018 Apr 19, Greece's highest
court approved the release from custody of one of eight Turkish
servicemen who have applied for asylum in Greece after fleeing
Turkey following a failed 2016 coup in the neighboring country.
(AP, 4/19/18)
2018 Apr 22, More than a dozen
Turkish opposition lawmakers switched parties in a show of
solidarity as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's rivals scramble to
challenge him in a surprise snap election that could solidify his
rule. The snap presidential and parliamentary elections called for
June 24 last week caught Turkey off guard.
(AP, 4/22/18)
2018 Apr 25, Turkish opposition
newspaper Cumhuriyet's chairman Akin Atalay was released after
serving over 500 days in prison. The following day he joined a
protest for free press and justice outside an Istanbul court.
(AFP, 4/26/18)
2018 Apr 28, Turkey's state-run
Anadolu news agency said authorities have detained 63 people
suspected of links to a network accused of orchestrating a failed
coup and were hunting for 40 others.
(Reuters, 4/28/18)
2018 Apr 28, In Moscow Russian,
Iranian and Turkish foreign ministers talked up their successes in
brokering a political solution to the Syrian conflict.
(AFP, 4/28/18)
2018 May 1, In Turkey police
detained dozens of demonstrators during May Day events around
Istanbul, most of them protesters who tried to march toward the
city's symbolic main square in defiance of a ban.
(AP, 5/1/18)
2018 May 2, Turkey lashed out
at a debt downgrade by ratings agency S&P as dubiously timed
less than two months ahead of elections and based on lackluster
analysis.
(AFP, 5/2/18)
2018 May 3, Turkish
caricaturist Musa Kart (64) of the opposition newspaper Cumhuriyet,
facing more than three years in jail, won the International Press
Drawing Prize, an award given every two years to leading
cartoonists, especially those working under authoritarian regimes.
(Reuters, 5/3/18)
2018 May 5, In Turkey four
opposition parties announced a political alliance ahead of the
country's June 24 national election, aiming to mount a meaningful
challenge to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party.
(AP, 5/5/18)
2018 May 6, Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan promised new military operations against
Kurdish militants along its border in Syria and Iraq as he presented
his election manifesto.
(AP, 5/6/18)
2018 May 7, In Turkey jailed US
pastor Andrew Brunson denied terrorism and spying charges in a court
and called them "shameful and disgusting".
(Reuters, 5/7/18)
2018 May 16, A US judge ordered
Turkish banker Mehmet Hakan Atilla to spend 32 months in prison,
including 14 months he has already served after his arrest last year
during a business trip to New York on behalf of Halkbank. The
sentence means Atilla can return to Turkey in about a year.
(AP, 5/17/18)
2018 May 18, Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan hosted Muslim leaders for an Istanbul summit to
condemn Israel over the killing of Gaza protesters.
(AFP, 5/18/18)
2018 May 20, Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Bosnia to hold his only election
rally outside Turkey, while other EU countries have banned such
events ahead of Ankara's presidential and parliamentary elections
next month.
(AFP, 5/20/18)
2018 May 21, A Turkish
court sentenced 104 people to life in prison for involvement in a
failed military coup in 2016. Another 21 people were given 20 years
in prison for insulting the president, while 31 others were
sentenced to 10 years and six months for "membership of a terrorist
organization".
(Reuters, 5/21/18)
2018 May 23, Turkey's embattled
lira lost over three percent in value to hit new historic lows
against the US dollar. Over the last month alone, the lira has lost
over 18 percent in value against the dollar as fears grow over the
health of the Turkish economy which is dogged by double-digit
inflation despite high growth.
(AFP, 5/23/18)
2018 May 24, In Turkey a blast
at a state-owned explosives factory on the outskirts of Ankara
killed one worker and injured four others.
(AP, 5/24/18)
2018 May 24, In Turkey rapper
Sercan Ipekcigolu (27), better-known as rapper "Ezhel," was detained
by narcotics police in Istanbul late today and was later charged
with encouraging the use of drugs.
(AP, 5/25/18)
2018 May 24, The United States
imposed sanctions on several Iranian and Turkish companies and a
number of aircraft in a move targeting four Iranian airlines.
(Reuters, 5/24/18)
2018 May 25, Turkish police
said at least 51 suspected Islamic State militants have been
detained in simultaneous raids around Istanbul.
(AP, 5/25/18)
2018 May 26, In Syria's
northeastern city of Qamishli hundreds demonstrated in response to a
call by Kurdish authorities for global protests against Turkey's
military presence in the flashpoint Afrin region.
(AFP, 5/26/18)
2018 May 30, Turkey's state-run
Anadolu news agency said Turkey and the United States agreed on a
three-step plan for withdrawing the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia from
Syria's Manbij.
(Reuters, 5/30/18)
2018 Jun 1, Turkey's President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the ride hailing app Uber is "finished" in
Turkey, following intense pressure from Istanbul taxi drivers for
the service to be banned.
(AFP, 6/2/18)
2018 Jun 2, Turkey's military
said overnight air strikes by Turkish warplanes had "neutralized" at
least 15 militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in
northern Iraq as well as in Turkey's eastern provinces of Tunceli
and Siirt. Two Turkish soldiers were reported killed and one soldier
severely wounded after a rocket attack by the PKK to a military
construction vehicle in northern Iraq.
(Reuters, 6/2/18)
2018 Jun 3, Turkey's state
media reported that nine migrants, including six children, seeking
to head to Europe in a speedboat drowned today when their vessel
sank off Turkey's Mediterranean coast. Five were rescued and one
person was still missing.
(AFP, 6/3/18)
2018 Jun 4, Turkey and the
United States endorsed a roadmap for the northern Syrian city of
Manbij and underlined their mutual commitment to its implementation
following a meeting of their foreign ministers in Washington.
(Reuters, 6/4/18)
2018 Jun 4, A Greek lawyer
representing eight Turkish servicemen who fled to Greece seeking
asylum after the 2016 failed coup in Turkey says all his clients
have been freed pending a ruling on their applications.
(AP, 6/4/18)
2018 Jun 7, Turkey said it has
suspended its migrant readmission deal with Greece, days after
Greece released from prison four Turkish soldiers who fled there
after a 2016 attempted coup.
(Reuters, 6/7/18)
2018 Jun 7, Turkey's central
bank increased its key interest rate for the third time in under two
months to fight inflation and support the currency. The rate rose
from 16.5 percent to 17.75 percent.
(AP, 6/7/18)
2018 Jun 7, Turkey said it has
stopped filling the Ilisu dam on the Tigris River until July to help
Iraq overcome water shortages.
(Reuters, 6/7/18)
2018 Jun 8, Turkey's defense
minister said Turkish and US soldiers will patrol the key northern
Syrian town of Manbij as part of a deal reached this week for the
withdrawal of a Syrian Kurdish militia.
(AP, 6/9/18)
2018 Jun 8, Austria's
right-wing government announced plans to shut seven mosques in what
it said was "just the beginning" of a push against radical Islam and
foreign funding of religious groups. Austria said it could expel up
to 60 Turkish-funded imams and their families and would shut down
seven mosques as part of a crackdown on "political Islam,"
triggering fury in Ankara.
(Reuters, 6/8/18)(AFP, 6/8/18)
2018 Jun 10, Turkey's military
said it hit more than a dozen Kurdish militant targets in air
strikes in the Qandil mountains of northern Iraq.
(Reuters, 6/11/18)
2018 Jun 13, Turkish and US
officials meeting in Germany reached an agreement on the Syrian town
of Manbij, which has been a source of tension between the NATO
allies. The "Manbij Implementation Plan" would be discussed by
senior officials from the two countries, but no details were
provided.
(AP, 6/14/18)
2018 Jun 14, Human Rights Watch
said that Turkey-backed rebels in northwest Syria's Afrin have
seized, looted and destroyed Kurdish civilians' property after
taking control of the region in March.
(Reuters, 6/14/18)
2018 Jun 18, Turkish and US
soldiers started independent patrols in northern Syria along the
line separating Turkish-controlled areas from the town of Manbij
where Ankara says Kurdish militia fighters are based.
(Reuters, 6/18/18)
2018 Jun 19, Turkish rapper
Ezhel, aka Sercan Ipekcioglu (27), who faced 10 years of jail on
charges of encouraging drug use in his lyrics, was acquitted at the
first session of his trial in Istanbul.
(Reuters, 6/19/18)
2018 Jun 19, Three Turkish
soldiers were killed in bomb attacks blamed on the PKK in the
southeastern provinces of Siirt and Sirnak.
(AP, 6/20/18)
2018 Jun 20, In southeastern
Turkey Kurdish militants fired on military vehicles, killing two
soldiers and wounding another. Turkey's warplanes carried out air
strikes in northern Iraq, killing 10 militants in the Avasin-Basyan
and Sinat Haftanin areas and destroying weapon stores and shelters.
(Reuters, 6/20/18)
2018 Jun 21, Turkey's Pres.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkish warplanes recently struck Iraq's
Qandil mountain while a group of 35 senior militants were holding a
meeting.
(AP, 6/21/18)
2018 Jun 23, Turkish private
broadcaster CNN Turk said police have detained 47 people in an
operation targeting alleged supporters within the army of a network
accused by Ankara of orchestrating a failed military coup two years
ago. The operation, which began on June 19, targeted 124 people
accused of being followers of US-based Muslim preacher Fethullah
Gulen.
(Reuters, 6/23/18)
2018 Jun 23, Libya's UN-backed
government in Tripoli said three Turkish workers who were kidnapped
last year in a southern Libyan town have been released.
(AP, 6/24/18)
2018 Jun 24, Turkey held
presidential and parliamentary elections, with Pres. Recep Tayyip
Erdogan seeking a new mandate and control over parliament in the
face of a revitalized opposition and weakening economy. Erdogan won
the landmark elections that also saw his Islamist-rooted AK Party
and its nationalist allies secure a majority in parliament. Erdogan
had 52.59% against Ince's 30.64%, while the AKP took 42.5 percent in
the parliamentary vote and its MHP nationalist allies secured 11 %.
(AFP, 6/24/18)(Reuters, 6/25/18)(SFC, 7/4/18,
p.A2)
2018 Jun 27, Turkey's state-run
news agency said at least six people have been killed in two car
bomb attacks in a northern Syrian enclave controlled by Turkish
troops and allied Syrian opposition fighters.
(AP, 6/27/18)
2018 Jun 27, A Turkish court
ruled that journalist Mehmet Altan be released, four months after he
was sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of aiding a failed
military coup.
(Reuters, 6/27/18)
2018 Jun 29, Turkey formally
arrested Eren Erdem, a former opposition lawmaker, over alleged
links to the Gulen movement, the group blamed for the 2016 attempted
coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
(AFP, 6/29/18)
2018 Jun 30, The Turkish
military carried out airstrikes in northern Iraq's Avasin Basyan
region, killing four Kurdish militants.
(Reuters, 6/30/18)
2018 Jul 1, Turkey's military
said eight Kurdish militants have been killed in air strikes in
northern Iraq and southeastern Turkey this weekend.
(Reuters, 7/1/18)
2018 Jul 1, In Turkey hundreds
LGBTI activists gathered for a Pride march in Istanbul despite a
local ban in effect since 2015.
(SFC, 7/2/18, p.A3)
2018 Jul 3, In southern Turkey
a gunman killed the deputy head of the Trade and Industry Chamber
for the city of Osmaniye. The organization's president was wounded
in the attack.
(AP, 7/3/18)
2018 Jul 5, A Greek committee
granted asylum to a Turkish soldier who fled to Greece with seven
other officers after a failed coup attempt against Turkish President
Tayyip Erdogan in 2016.
(Reuters, 7/5/18)
2018 Jul 6, Turkey ordered the
detention of 331 soldiers in two operations targeting alleged
supporters of the US-based Islamic cleric who Ankara says
orchestrated an attempted coup two years ago.
(Reuters, 7/6/18)
2018 Jul 6, In Turkey a court
in Istanbul convicted six journalists of terror-related charges,
sentencing them to lengthy prison terms in a case that had
heightened concerns over freedoms of expression and media. The court
acquitted five other journalists of the now-defunct Zaman newspaper.
(AP, 7/6/18)
2018 Jul 6, Turkey's state-run
news agency said authorities have arrested brothers Ayman Barzan and
Hariam Barzan, both British citizens of Iraqi heritage, for
allegedly engaging in "terror propaganda" on behalf of outlawed
Kurdish rebels.
(AP, 7/6/18)
2018 Jul 8, Turkish authorities
ordered the dismissal of more than 18,500 state employees, including
police officers, soldiers and academics, ahead of the expected end
of a two-year state of emergency this month.
(AP, 7/8/18)
2018 Jul 8, In western Turkey
at least 10 people were killed when a multiple cars of a train
derailed in Tekirdag province.
(SFC, 7/9/18, p.A2)
2018 Jul 9, In Turkey Recep
Tayyip Erdogan was sworn in as the first president under a new
governing system that gives him sweeping executive powers. Under the
new system, Erdogan will run the executive branch and also lead his
party in parliament.
(AP, 7/9/18)
2018 Jul 11, Turkish police
detained controversial Islamic televangelist Adnan Oktar and were
seeking hundreds of people linked to him for alleged crimes
including forming a criminal gang, fraud, blackmail and sexual
abuse.
(AP, 7/11/18)
2018 Jul 11, Turkish
authorities detained 16 people in the mainly Kurdish southeast for
suspected links to terrorism. Three of the detained were French
nationals.
(Reuters, 7/12/18)
2018 Jul 12, Turkey's new
parliament elected as speaker former prime minister Binali Yildirim
(62), a loyalist of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan whose post was
abolished after elections last month.
(AFP, 7/12/18)
2018 Jul 12, A Turkish court
sentenced 72 defendants to life in prison for their role in killing
34 people when rogue soldiers seized control of a suspension bridge
in Istanbul two years ago during an attempted coup. Another Turkish
court sentenced eight former managers of conglomerate Boydak
Holding, once among Turkey's biggest firms, to lengthy prison terms
for links to Fethullah Gulen.
(Reuters, 7/12/18)
2018 Jul 15, Turkey issued
presidential decrees reshaping key political, military and
bureaucratic institutions as part of the transformation to a
powerful executive presidency triggered by last month's election.
(Reuters, 7/15/18)
2018 Jul 15, Israel deported
Ebru Ozkan, a week after indicting her for smuggling money and goods
to the Palestinian Islamist militant group while visiting as a
tourist. On July 26 The Washington Post reported that Trump had
asked Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu during a July 14 phone call to
let Ozkan go in what the White House envisaged as an indirect trade
for Pastor Andrew Brunson. Ankara said it had not agreed to any
Ozkan-Brunson swap.
(Reuters, 7/27/18)
2018 Jul 16, The Trump
administration said it's filing a challenge at the WTO against
China, the European Union, Canada, Mexico and Turkey for tariffs
they imposed against the US in retaliation to earlier US actions.
(AP, 7/17/18)
2018 Jul 18, Turkey's President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan filed complaints against the main opposition
party leader and 72 legislators accusing them of insults for posting
and sharing a cartoon on social media that depicts him as a variety
of different animals.
(AP, 7/18/18)
2018 Jul 18, Turkey's main
opposition leader, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, was fined for defaming
President Tayyip Erdogan and his family over claims about
international money transfers. The ruling, ordering a 359,000 lira
($75,000) payment to the president and his close circle, marked the
largest sum yet.
(Reuters, 7/18/18)
2018 Jul 18, A Turkish court
decided to keep Andrew Brunson, a Christian pastor from North
Carolina, in jail dashing hopes that he could be released during his
trial on terrorism and spying charges, a case that has deepened a
rift with NATO ally Washington.
(Reuters, 7/18/18)
2018 Jul 18, Nineteen people
died when a boat carrying 150 migrants sank off the coast of
northern Cyprus and rescuers were searching for 25 other people. 103
migrants were rescued by boats and helicopters of the Turkish and
northern Cypriot coast guards.
(Reuters, 7/18/18)
2018 Jul 19, Turkish
authorities formally arrested Adnan Oktar, a controversial Islamic
televangelist and cult leader, on charges that include forming a
criminal gang, blackmail and sexual abuse of minors. At least 168 of
Oktar's followers were also formally arrested on the same charges.
(AP, 7/19/18)
2018 Jul 19, Greek police boats
began searching along the Evros River on the Greek-Turkish border
for a Turkish woman and her three young children missing since the
boat they were using to cross the border capsized.
(AP, 7/20/18)
2018 Jul 20, The Netherlands
and Turkey said they were resuming full diplomatic ties for the
first time since Dutch officials barred two Turkish ministers from
attending an election rally in 2017.
(AFP, 7/20/18)
2018 Jul 22, About 2,400
swimmers took part in the Samsung Bosphorus Cross-Continental Swim,
organized by the Turkish Olympic Committee, for the 30th race since
the tradition began in 1989.
(AFP, 7/22/18)
2018 Jul 24, Turkey's President
Tayyip Erdogan said an Israeli law declaring that only Jews have the
right of self-determination legitimizes oppression and shows that
Israel is a fascist and racist country where the spirit of Adolf
Hitler has re-emerged.
(Reuters, 7/24/18)
2018 Jul 24, Turkey's currency
tumbled amid growing questions over the central bank's ability to
set policy without interference from the increasingly powerful
office of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The central bank decided
to not raise rates, defying broad expectations in the markets for an
increase of at least one percentage point to its one-week repo rate,
from 17.75 percent.
(AP, 7/24/18)
2018 Jul 24, In Turkey a
four-storey residential building in central Istanbul, built in 1994,
collapsed into a cloud of dust in front of watching media, after
several hours perching on a ledge following heavy rains that
destroyed its foundation.
(AFP, 7/24/18)
2018 Jul 24, Israel's PM
Benjamin Netanyahu said Turkey was becoming a "dark dictatorship" as
he hit back at Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's harsh
criticism of a "racist" new Israeli law.
(AFP, 7/24/18)
2018 Jul 25, Turkey's interior
ministry revoked the cancellation of 155,350 passports following the
end of two-year-old state of emergency.
(Reuters, 7/25/18)
2018 Jul 25, A Turkish court
ruled that American pastor Andrew Brunson be transferred from jail
to house arrest, after nearly two years in detention on terrorism
charges in a case which has strained ties between Ankara and
Washington.
(Reuters, 7/25/18)
2018 Jul 25, Russia said it has
sent working groups to Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey to help coordinate
the return of refugees to Syria.
(AP, 7/25/18)
2018 Jul 26, Pres. Donald Trump
said the US will hit Turkey with large sanctions over detained
American Pastor Andrew Brunson.
(SFC, 7/27/18, p.A2)
2018 Jul 27, In Mongolia
Turkish teacher Veysel Akcay (50) was allegedly kidnapped in
Ulaanbaatar and taken to the city's airport. He was released after
authorities temporarily grounded an airplane. Akcay, who has lived
in Mongolia for 24 years, is associated with the network of US-based
Muslim cleric, Fethullah Gulen, which Turkish authorities hold
responsible for a failed 2016 coup in Turkey.
(AFP, 7/28/18)
2018 Jul 29, Turkey's coast
guard rescued nine people overnight, but six people including three
babies died when an inflatable boat carrying 16 people capsized off
the coast of western Turkey.
(Reuters, 7/29/18)
2018 Jul 31, The Turkish
central bank sharply hiked its inflation forecast for 2018 to well
over 13 percent, putting new pressure on the embattled lira and
raising fears over the extent of price pressure in the economy.
(AFP, 7/31/18)
2018 Aug 1, Cyprus' government
said it is asking the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe (OSCE) to help defend two Turkish Cypriot journalists
investigated in Turkey over an article deemed "insulting" to that
country.
(AP, 8/1/18)
2018 Aug 1, The US White House
announced that it will impose sanctions on two Turkish officials
over the case of detained American pastor Andrew Craig Brunson.
(SFC, 8/2/18, p.A5)
2018 Aug 2, Turkey's Treasury
and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak said US sanctions imposed on
Turkey over the trial of an American pastor accused of backing
terrorism are unacceptable and will have limited impact on the
Turkish economy.
(Reuters, 8/2/18)
2018 Aug 3, A Turkish court
jailed nine defendants for life for twin bombings in the capital
Ankara in 2015 that killed more than 100 people.
(AP, 8/3/18)
2018 Aug 3, Official Turkish
statistics showed that local inflation rose again last month to
nearly 16 percent, increasing pressure on the central bank to hike
interest rates.
(AFP, 8/3/18)
2018 Aug 4, Turkey's Pres.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the assets of two US officials will be
frozen in retaliation for US sanctions against Turkey's justice and
interior ministers over the detention of American pastor Andrew
Craig Brunson.
(AP, 8/4/18)
2018 Aug 6, The Turkish lira
hit new record lows against the dollar and euro as strains caused by
a diplomatic spat with the United States compounded concerns over
domestic economic policy.
(AFP, 8/6/18)
2018 Aug 10, Turkey's President
Tayyip Erdogan told his citizens to exchange gold and dollars into
lira. The currency dove more than 18 percent on the day and more
than 40 percent this year to a new record low after Trump took steps
to punish Turkey in a wide-ranging dispute.
(AP, 8/10/18)
2018 Aug 10, US President
Donald Trump said he had authorized higher tariffs on imports from
Turkey, imposing a 20 percent duty on aluminum and 50 percent one on
steel. The Turkish currency quickly plunged further against the
dollar.
(Reuters, 8/10/18)(AP, 8/10/18)
2018 Aug 13, Turkey's central
bank took action to free up cash for banks as the country grapples
with a currency crisis sparked by concerns over President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan's economic policies and a trade and diplomatic
dispute with the United States.
(AP, 8/13/18)
2018 Aug 14, Turkey's Pres.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country would boycott US electronic
goods like the iPhone in retaliation for punitive sanctions from
Washington, as the Turkish lira finally clawed back some ground
after going into a tailspin over the tensions.
(AFP, 8/14/18)
2018 Aug 14, Turkish police
arrested Ilhami A. (46), a German citizen, while he was visiting his
mother in her home town Saribasak in a largely Kurdish region of
eastern Turkey. Public broadcaster ARD later said the man had been
accused of "terrorist propaganda" after criticizing the Turkish
government on social media. There were currently seven other German
citizens arrested in Turkey on political grounds.
(Reuters, 8/16/18)
2018 Aug 15, Turkish officials
said Qatar has pledged $15 billion of direct investments for Turkey
as it struggles with a currency crisis.
(AP, 8/15/18)
2018 Aug 15, Turkey doubled
tariffs on some US imports including alcohol, cars and tobacco in
retaliation for US moves, but the lira rallied further after the
central bank's liquidity moves had the effect of supporting the
currency.
(Reuters, 8/15/18)
2018 Aug 15, A Turkish court
ordered the release from prison of Taner Kilic, the local honorary
chair of Amnesty International.
(Reuters, 8/15/18)
2018 Aug 15, Greece hailed a
"day of joy" as two Greek soldiers held in a Turkish prison for more
than five months on espionage charges were released in a surprise
move by Ankara.
(AP, 8/15/18)
2018 Aug 16, Turkish officials
said four soldiers have been killed in violence in the southeast
where troops are battling Kurdish rebels, three of them as a result
of a friendly fire in Adiyaman province.
(AP, 8/16/18)
2018 Aug 20, In Turkey shots
were fired at the US Embassy in Ankara early today. Two people were
detained and confessed to the shooting.
(SFC, 8/21/18, p.A4)
2018 Aug 25, Turkish
authorities banned a protest vigil marking the forced disappearances
of hundreds of people in the country's southeast decades ago. The
Saturday Mothers activist group was set to hold its 700th meeting in
Istanbul. The group has gathered since 1995 to demand justice for
those who disappeared during the ongoing conflict between Turkish
security forces and Kurdish insurgents.
(AP, 8/25/18)
2018 Aug 26, Turkish President
Tayyip Erdogan vowed to bring peace and safety to Iraq and areas in
Syria not under Turkish control and said terrorist organizations in
those areas would be eliminated.
(Reuters, 8/26/18)
2018 Aug 26, German journalist
Mesale Tolu, who was on trial in Turkey on terror-related charges,
returned to Germany after a Turkish court ruled that she could leave
the country.
(AP, 8/26/18)
2018 Aug 31, Turkey designated
the insurgent group Tahrir al-Sham as a terrorist organization,
according to a presidential decision published today, as Damascus
prepared for a military assault in northwest Syria where the group
holds sway.
(Reuters, 8/31/18)
2018 Aug 31, President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey will buy some of Russia's
highly-sophisticated air defence systems "in the shortest time" -- a
purchase that has alarmed Ankara's NATO partners.
(AFP, 8/31/18)
2018 Aug 31, Turkey raised tax
on foreign currency deposits in a bid to prop up the tumbling lira,
in a presidential decision published in the official gazette.
(AFP, 8/31/18)
2018 Sep 3, Turkey reported its
highest inflation rate in 15 years fuelled by a spectacular drop in
the Turkish lira, as analysts predicted that worse is probably to
come.
(AFP, 9/3/18)
2018 Sep 4, Turkey told the
United States that Kurdish militants must completely abandon Syria,
as violence in the rebel-held northern Syrian enclave of Idlib
escalated.
(Reuters, 9/4/18)
2018 Sep 7, Turkey's foreign
ministry said the country and the Netherlands have taken a further
step in normalizing relations by re-appointing ambassadors to each
other's capitals.
(AP, 9/7/18)
2018 Sep 7, A court in Istanbul
has convicted a former co-chairman of Turkey's main pro-Kurdish
political party of "engaging in terror propaganda." The court
sentenced Selahattin Demirtas to more than four years in prison
after finding him guilty.
(AP, 9/7/18)
2018 Sep 7, Turkish filmmaker
Ali Avci was convicted of membership of a terrorist group for a
feature film that portrayed President Tayyip Erdogan having a gun
pointed at his head as his family lay dead all around him.
(Reuters, 9/7/18)
2018 Sep 7, The Istanbul-based
Ecumenical Patriarchate said it is sending two bishops to Ukraine
"within the framework of the preparations for the granting of
autocephaly to the Orthodox Church in Ukraine." The patriarchate's
leader is considered the "first among equals" of Eastern Orthodox
clerics.
(AP, 9/8/18)
2018 Sep 7, Meeting in Tehran
the presidents of Turkey, Iran and Russia failed to agree on a
ceasefire that would forestall a Syrian government offensive in
rebel-held Idlib province. They agreed in a final statement that
there could be no military solution to the conflict and it could
only end through a negotiated political process. But as Syrian
government and Russian warplanes mounted air strikes in Idlib, Putin
and Rouhani pushed back against Erdogan's call for a truce.
(Reuters, 9/7/18)
2018 Sep 7, Hundreds of Syrians
took to the streets in the country's last major rebel bastion of
Idlib, calling on neighboring Turkey to help prevent a regime
assault on their region. Air strikes targeted positions belonging to
rebel groups in the northern Hama and southern Idlib provinces.
Russian air strikes killed five people in Idlib.
(AFP, 9/7/18)(Reuters, 9/7/18)
2018 Sep 10, In Poland Europe's
largest human rights conference, organized by the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), opened in Warsaw.
Turkey's government was the only country not attending because it
was not allowed to prevent the participation of non-governmental
organizations.
(AP, 9/11/18)
2018 Sep 11, In Geneva the UN
envoy for Syria hosted key diplomats from Iran, Russia and Turkey to
discuss work toward rewriting the country's constitution, amid
concerns about a possibly devastating military offensive on
rebel-held Idlib province.
(AP, 9/11/18)
2018 Sep 12, A Turkish security
official said Turkish intelligence has seized Yusuf Nazik (34) in
Latakia, Syria. He has reportedly confessed to coordinating the May
11, 2013, bombing that killed 53 people in the southern border town
of Reyhanli.
(AP, 9/12/18)
2018 Sep 12, Rebel sources in
Syria said Turkey has stepped up arms supplies to help them stave
off an expected offensive by the Syrian army and its Russian and
Iran-backed allies in the northwest near the Turkish frontier.
(Reuters, 9/13/18)
2018 Sep 13, Turkey's central
bank raised its key interest rate sharply, from 17.75 percent to 24
percent, to contain inflation and stem the currency crisis that has
been destabilizing the country this summer.
(AP, 9/12/18)
2018 Sep 13, Turkey sent in
military reinforcements to beef up its positions inside Syria's last
rebel bastion Idlib.
(AP, 9/12/18)
2018 Sep 14, Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan reproached the central bank for sharply raising
interest rates, saying the country would "see the results" of the
bank's independence.
(AP, 9/14/18)
2018 Sep 14, Turkish security
forces fired tear gas at construction workers at Istanbul's new
airport who were protesting dangerous working conditions at the site
as it prepares to open for business next month.
(AFP, 9/14/18)
2018 Sep 15, Turkish unions
said hundreds of workers on the construction site of Istanbul's
third airport, one of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's mega
development projects, have been arrested for protesting at the
number of work-related deaths and poor conditions.
(AFP, 9/15/18)
2018 Sep 15, Turkey freed 160
workers late today out of almost 600 who were arrested following a
protest over work-related deaths and poor conditions at the
construction site for Istanbul's third airport.
(AFP, 9/16/18)
2018 Sep 17, It was reported
that Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan has defended his decision to
accept a luxury plane from Qatar at a time of economic hardship,
saying it was a gift, not a purchase, and that it had been donated
to the Turkish state, not to him personally.
(Reuters, 9/17/18)
2018 Sep 17, Turkish activists
and the opposition expressed outrage after a court jailed 24 workers
ahead of a trial over their actions in protests against labor
conditions at Istanbul's giant new airport.
(AFP, 9/19/18)
2018 Sep 17, Russian President
Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan met
in Sochi to try to come to an agreement over the Syrian rebel
stronghold of Idlib. Russia and Turkey announced they would create a
"de-militarized zone" ringing Syria's Idlib province.
(AFP, 9/17/18)(AFP, 9/18/18)
2018 Sep 18, Impoverished
Venezuelans reacted with fury after videos of President Nicolas
Maduro gorging on succulent pieces of meat in a restaurant owned by
a celebrity Turkish chef went viral. Maduro had a stopover in
Istanbul where he was invited to dine with Turkish authorities.
(AFP, 9/18/18)
2018 Sep 19, Turkey's Court of
Appeals changed the conviction charge for Serkan Golge, a Turkish-US
citizen and former NASA scientist arrested on terrorism, charges, to
aiding, rather than being a member of, a terror organization, and
reduced his 7-1/2-year prison sentence to five years. Golge denied
both charges and planned to appeal.
(Reuters, 9/21/18)
2018 Sep 20, Turkey's Treasury
and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak presented the government's
economic plan, which estimates 2.3 percent growth in 2019 and 3.5
percent in 2020. The previous forecast was 5.5 percent for both
years.
(AP, 9/20/18)
2018 Sep 21, A top Turkish
official said Turkey will soon conduct joint patrols with US forces
in the strategic northern Syrian town of Manbij, once a stronghold
of the Islamic State group.
(AP, 9/21/18)
2018 Sep 27, Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Germany for a controversial
three-day state visit that both sides hope will help rebuild
relations that have been battered in recent years.
(AFP, 9/27/18)
2018 Sep 28, In Germany
Chancellor Angela Merkel and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
vowed to rebuild strained relations after a two-year crisis despite
remaining differences on civil rights and other issues. President
Tayyip Erdogan called on Berlin to extradite what he said were the
hundreds of supporters of the cleric Fethullah Gulen residing in
Germany.
(AFP, 9/28/18)(Reuters, 9/28/18)
2018 Sep 29, In Germany Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan opened one of Europe's largest
mosques in Cologne as he wrapped up a controversial 3-day visit,
with police deploying in force to manage rival rallies.
(AFP, 9/29/18)
2018 Sep 30, Turkey reported
that a boat carrying migrants has capsized off its northern Aegean
coast, killing at least five people.
(AP, 9/30/18)
2018 Oct 1, President Tayyip
Erdogan said Turkey aims to secure control of the region of northern
Syria east of the Euphrates river, removing the Syrian Kurdish YPG
militia from the area, and to clear Iraq's Sinjar and Qandil regions
of Kurdish militants.
(Reuters, 10/1/18)
2018 Oct 2, In Turkey Saudi
journalist Jamal Khashoggi (59), who has written Washington Post
columns critical of the kingdom's assertive crown prince, went
missing after visiting the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. The Saudi
Consulate insisted that Khashoggi left its building before
disappearing.
(AP, 10/3/18)(SFC, 10/5/18, p.A3)
2018 Oct 3, Eight Turkish
soldiers were killed and two were wounded after a roadside bomb in
the southeastern province of Batman was detonated by outlawed
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants.
(AP, 10/4/18)(Reuters, 10/6/18)
2018 Oct 4, The US Treasury
issued new North Korea-related sanctions that target SIA Falcon
International Group, a Turkish company, and two Turkish individuals
among others.
(AP, 10/4/18)
2018 Oct 7, Turkey's President
Tayyip Erdogan said he was closely following the case of missing
Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi after Turkish officials said they
believed he had been killed at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
(Reuters, 10/7/18)
2018 Oct 9, Turkey said it will
search the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul as part of an investigation
into the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi (59), the missing Saudi
contributor to The Washington Post, a week after he vanished during
a visit there.
(AP, 10/9/18)
2018 Oct 9, President Tayyip
Erdogan agreed to increase releases of water from a dam in
southeastern Turkey to neighboring Iraq, which is struggling with a
water crisis.
(Reuters, 10/10/18)
2018 Oct 10, A pro-government
Turkish daily published preliminary evidence from investigators it
said identified a 15-member Saudi intelligence team involved in the
unexplained disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
(Reuters, 10/10/18)
2018 Oct 10, The Turkish coast
guard said eight people died after a boat filled with migrants sank
off the western coast of Turkey and another 25 were missing.
(Reuters, 10/10/18)
2018 Oct 12, A Turkish court
freed American pastor Andrew Brunson held for the last two years in
Turkey. He was freed taking into account time served and his good
conduct during the trial. Brunson was flown out of Turkey.
(AFP, 10/12/18)(AP, 10/12/18)
2018 Oct 14, In western Turkey
22 people, including children, were killed when a truck carrying
migrants crashed in Izmir province. The truck's passengers were
reportedly foreign migrants who had reached a deal with traffickers
to be transported by boat to the Greek island of Samos south of
Izmir.
(Reuters, 10/14/18)
2018 Oct 15, Turkey's
government said it has dismissed 259 local officials for suspected
links to terrorist groups or unsuitable behavior, a move the
pro-Kurdish opposition said was aimed at helping the ruling AK Party
ahead of 2019 polls.
(Reuters, 10/15/18)
2018 Oct 15, Turkish
authorities said they have an audio recording which indicates that
missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed in the Saudi
consulate in Istanbul.
(Reuters, 10/15/18)
2018 Oct 15, Saudi Arabia's
King Salman ordered an internal probe into the unexplained
disappearance of prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi as a joint
Turkish-Saudi team was set to search the Saudi consulate in Istanbul
where he was last seen on Oct. 2.
(Reuters, 10/15/18)
2018 Oct 17, Moldova's
President Igor Dodon met with visiting Turkish President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan. The two-day visit aimed at boosting political and
trade ties with the former Soviet republic.
(AP, 10/17/18)
2018 Oct 17, US Secretary of
State Mike Pompeo said that Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan had
made clear in talks in Ankara that Saudi officials were cooperating
with Turkey's investigation into missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
(Reuters, 10/17/18)
2018 Oct 18, The Committee to
Protect Journalists, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and
Reporters Without Borders urged Turkey to request a UN investigation
into the possible murder of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal
Khashoggi to prevent a "whitewash" of the alleged crime.
(AFP, 10/18/18)
2018 Oct 18, Ukraine's
parliament voted to hand over a landmark Kiev church to the
Istanbul-based Ecumenical Patriarchate after it agreed to recognize
the independence of Ukraine's Orthodox Church. The church will be
transferred to Constantinople for its permanent use free of charge,
but will still be the property of Ukraine.
(AFP, 10/18/18)
2018 Oct 19, Turkey widened the
investigation into the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi
after his visit to the Saudi consulate, searching a forest in the
city and interviewing the mission's staff.
(AFP, 10/19/18)
2018 Oct 20, Saudi Arabia said
that Jamal Khashoggi, a prominent journalist and critic of the
kingdom's de facto leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, had died
in a fight inside its Istanbul consulate. This came after two weeks
of denials that it was involved in his disappearance. Saudi state
media said King Salman had ordered the dismissal of five officials,
including Saud al-Qahtani, a royal court adviser seen as the
right-hand man to Prince Mohammed, and deputy intelligence chief
Ahmed Asiri.
(Reuters, 10/20/18)
2018 Oct 22, Two children died
after a boat carrying migrants sank just 50 meters off Turkey's
western coast near Bodrum early today.
(Reuters, 10/22/18)
2018 Oct 24, Turkey's state
media reported that Saudi authorities have denied permission to
Turkish police to search a well in the garden of the kingdom's
consulate in Istanbul as part of a probe into the murder of
journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
(AFP, 10/24/18)
2018 Oct 25, Saudi state TV
quoted the Saudi public prosecutor as saying the killing of
journalist Jamal Khashoggi was premeditated, and that prosecutors
were interrogating suspects on the basis of information provided by
a joint Saudi-Turkish task force.
(Reuters, 10/25/18)
(AP, 10/26/18)
2018 Oct 26, Turkish President
Tayyip Erdogan urged Saudi Arabia to disclose who ordered the murder
of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul, as well as the location
of his body, heightening international pressure on the kingdom to
come clean on the case.
(Reuters, 10/26/18)
2018 Oct 26, A Turkish court
sentenced a German man to six years and three months in prison for
membership in a terrorist organization. The Turkish prosecutor
accused Patrick K. (29) of being a member of the Syrian Kurdish YPG,
considered by Ankara to be a branch of the outlawed Kurdistan
Workers Party (PKK).
(Reuters, 10/26/18)
2018 Oct 27, It was reported
that Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has appointed new governors to
39 of the country's 81 provinces.
(Reuters, 10/27/18)
2018 Oct 27, The leaders of
Turkey, Russia, France and Germany met to try to find a political
solution to Syria's devastating civil war, provide access to
humanitarian aid and salvage a fragile ceasefire in the country's
last major rebel-held bastion.
(AFP, 10/27/18)
2018 Oct 28, The Turkish army
struck Kurdish targets in northern Syria east of the Euphrates
River. Artillery strikes hit positions belonging to the Syrian
Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in Zor Moghar.
(AP, 10/28/18)
2018 Oct 29, Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan inaugurated Istanbul's new airport, a
megaproject that he has pushed to meet its symbolic deadline. Human
Rights has cited at least 38 workplace deaths over the past three
years.
(AP, 10/29/18)
2018 Nov 1, Turkish and US
forces started joint patrols in the Manbij region of northern Syria.
In June Turkey agreed a plan with the United States under which the
two countries would jointly maintain security and stability there.
(Reuters, 11/1/18)
2018 Nov 2, Turkey lifted
sanctions on the US Secretary of Homeland Security and Attorney
General, minutes after Washington removed two Turkish ministers from
its sanctions list.
(Reuters, 11/2/18)
2018 Nov 2, The United States
lifted sanctions on two top officials in Turkish President Tayyip
Erdogan's cabinet, a sign of improved relations after Turkey freed
an American pastor from detention three weeks ago.
(Reuters, 11/2/18)
2018 Nov 3, In Turkey Ukraine's
President Petro Poroshenko and the Istanbul-based Orthodox patriarch
signed an accord that paves the way for the recognition of an
independent Ukrainian church, a plan that has infuriated Moscow.
(AFP, 11/3/18)
2018 Nov 6, Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that joint patrols by US forces and a
Kurdish-led militia in northern Syria are "unacceptable".
(AP, 11/6/18)
2018 Nov 6, President Tayyip
Erdogan said Turkey would not abide by the renewed US sanctions on
Iran's oil and shipping industries, adding that they were aimed at
"unbalancing the world".
(Reuters, 11/6/18)
2018 Nov 8, Turkish journalist
Husnu Mahalli was handed a suspended sentence of two years and five
months in prison for insulting Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan.
(Reuters, 11/8/18)
2018 Nov 9, In southeastern
Turkey seven soldiers were killed in an "accidental" explosion at an
army munitions depot in Hakkari province.
(AFP, 11/10/18)(SSFC, 11/11/18, p.A4)
2018 Nov 9, Airstrikes by
Turkish warplanes "neutralized" 15 militants of the outlawed
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in northern Iraq.
(Reuters, 11/10/18)
2018 Nov 10, President Tayyip
Erdogan said that Turkey has given recordings related to the killing
of Jamal Khashoggi to Germany, France and Britain, seeking to
maintain international pressure on Riyadh over the Saudi
journalist's death.
(AP, 11/10/18)
2018 Nov 10, An air strike by a
Turkish warplane "neutralized" 14 militants of the outlawed
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in northern Iraq.
(Reuters, 11/11/18)
2018 Nov 12, The Turkish coast
guard said five people, including three children, died after a boat
carrying 15 migrants sank off the western coast. Five others were
missing and a search was underway.
(Reuters, 11/12/18)
2018 Nov 13, Turkey's President
Tayyip Erdogan said recordings related to the killing of Jamal
Khashoggi, which Turkey has shared with Western allies, are
"appalling" and shocked a Saudi intelligence officer who listened to
them.
(Reuters, 11/13/18)
2018 Nov 13, Turkey pulled out
of Italian-sponsored Libya crisis talks in Palermo saying it
had been "excluded", dealing a fresh blow to the latest
international bid to stabilize the chaos-stricken country.
(AFP, 11/13/18)
2018 Nov 14, A court sentenced
Turkish journalist Ali Unal to 19 years in jail on a charge of being
a leader in the network accused of carrying out a failed coup in
July 2016. Unal was chief writer at the now-defunct Zaman newspaper.
(Reuters, 11/14/18)
2018 Nov 14, A Turkish court
sentenced a German citizen to more than six years in jail on
terrorism charges. State news said Saide Inac, a singer who also
goes by the name Hozen Cane, was sentenced to six years and three
months in jail for her membership in an armed terrorist
organization.
(Reuters, 11/14/18)
2018 Nov 16, Turkish
police detained 13 people including two prominent academics under an
investigation into jailed rights activist Osman Kavala, accusing
them of following him in a bid to unseat the government through mass
protests in 2013.
(Reuters, 11/16/18)
2018 Nov 16, It was reported
that the CIA believes Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered
the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul, complicating
President Donald Trump's efforts to preserve ties with a key US
ally.
(Reuters, 11/17/18)
2018 Nov 18, Turkey warned
energy companies against working with the Greek Cypriot government
in carrying out exploratory drilling in the eastern Mediterranean,
saying such activities could damage regional stability.
(Reuters, 11/18/18)
2018 Nov 18, A Turkish court
jailed pending trial Istanbul academic Yigit Aksakoglu following
raids on professors and activists deemed to have links to Osman
Kavala, a prominent financier of civil society activities, who has
been imprisoned for the past year.
(AFP, 11/18/18)
2018 Nov 19, In Turkey Russian
President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
marked the completion of a key phase of TurkStream, a natural gas
pipeline connecting the two countries. The last part of the offshore
pipe was laid on live broadcast, reaching Turkish shores at Kiyikoy
near Istanbul.
(AP, 11/19/18)
2018 Nov 20, The European Court
of Human Rights (ECHR) urged Turkey to swiftly process the legal
case of Selahattin Demirtas, the ex-head of the pro-Kurdish
opposition, saying his pre-trial detention had gone on longer than
could be justified.
(Reuters, 11/20/18)
2018 Nov 21, A Turkish
court sentenced 74 people, including soldiers, to life in prison for
their role in the July 2016 attempted coup. Three men, accused of
being members of the PKK, were jailed for life for a March 2016 car
bombing that killed 36 people and wounded 344 in a crowded transport
hub in Ankara.
(Reuters, 11/21/18)
2018 Nov 22, A Turkish
newspaper reported that CIA director Gina Haspel signaled to Turkish
officials last month that the agency had a recording of a call in
which Saudi Arabia's crown prince gave instructions to "silence"
Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
(Reuters, 11/22/18)
2018 Nov 26, George Soros's
Open Society Foundation said it would cease operations in Turkey,
days after President Tayyip Erdogan accused the billionaire
philanthropist of trying to divide and destroy nations.
(Reuters, 11/26/18)
2018 Nov 28, In northwest
Turkey a large concrete block fell during the construction of a
highway viaduct, killing one worker and trapping two others beneath
it near the town of Gebze, Kocaeli province.
(AP, 11/28/18)
2018 Nov 28, A British court
rejected an extradition request from Turkey for exiled businessman
Akin Ipek (54) to face terrorism-funding, fraud and other charges,
saying he faced a real risk of ill-treatment should he be returned.
(Reuters, 11/28/18)
2018 Nov 30, A Turkish court
ruled that the former leader of Turkey's pro-Kurdish opposition
remain in prison, after top EU officials last week called for the
politician's swift release.
(Reuters, 11/30/18)
2018 Dec 4, A Turkish appeals
court has upheld the terror propaganda conviction of Selahattin
Demirtas, the former head of Turkey's pro-Kurdish opposition party.
(AP, 12/4/18)
2018 Dec 5, A Turkish court
issued arrest warrants for two suspects close to Saudi Crown Prince
Mohammed bin Salman over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi,
increasing pressure on the kingdom's de facto leader.
(AFP, 12/5/18)
2018 Dec 6, Turkish journalist
Kamil Demirkaya, accused by Turkey of terrorism, said he has applied
for political asylum in Romania after Turkey sought his extradition.
(AP, 12/6/18)
2018 Dec 7, Turkey and the
United States agreed to speed up efforts to put in place an
agreement on Syria's Manbij by the end of the year.
(Reuters, 12/7/18)
2018 Dec 7, In southern Turkey
an employee fired shots in a municipality building in Cukurova,
Adana province, killing two of his colleagues. The gunman was
reportedly motivated by a "personal" feud between the employees.
(AP, 12/7/18)
2018 Dec 11, In northern Turkey
a police officer angered that his request for a transfer was
rejected fired shots at his superiors inside a police station in
Rize, killing the local police chief and wounding two other
officers.
(AP, 12/11/18)
2018 Dec 13, In Turkey nine
people were killed and nearly 90 injured after a high-speed train
crashed into a locomotive in Ankara. Three employees of the railway
authority were arrested on Dec. 17 for their role in the accident.
(AFP, 12/13/18)(SFC, 12/18/18, p.A2)
2018 Dec 14, The Turkish
military said it had killed eight militants from the outlawed
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in air strikes targeting the Zap,
Hakurk and Haftanin regions of northern Iraq.
(Reuters, 12/14/18)
2018 Dec 14, A Romanian court
rejected a request by Turkey to extradite Kamil Demirkaya, a Turkish
journalist it accuses of terrorism, after prosecutors said the case
was political.
(AP, 12/14/18)
2018 Dec 15, Ecumenical
Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople welcomed the creation of an
Orthodox church in Ukraine independent of Moscow and invited its
leader to Istanbul to receive official confirmation of its status.
(AFP, 12/16/18)
2018 Dec 18, Meeting in Geneva
the foreign ministers of Iran, Russia and Turkey said that a new
Syrian Constitutional Committee should convene early next year,
kicking off a viable political peace process.
(Reuters, 12/18/18)
2018 Dec 18, Libyan customs
seized a consignment of arms which arrived from Turkey at Khoms
port. A day earlier a cargo of 2.5 million Turkish-made bullets was
seized at the same port. The UN last June extended an arms embargo
on Libya for another year.
(Reuters, 12/22/18)
2018 Dec 20, Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani met in
Ankara and vowed to work closer to end the fighting in Syria.
(AFP, 12/20/18)
2018 Dec 22, Libya and Turkey
agreed to open an urgent joint investigation into a consignment of
arms which arrived from Turkey and was seized On Dec. 18 at the
Khoms port. The consignment contained 3,000 Turkish-made pistols, as
well as some other pistols, hunting rifles and ammunition.
(Reuters, 12/22/18)
2018 Dec 22, In Turkey
thousands of protesters took to the streets in Istanbul to
demonstrate against the rising cost of living and crippling
inflation. The protest was organized by the KESK, a confederation of
public service workers unions.
(AFP, 12/22/18)
2018 Dec 22, Turkey's Interior
Minister Suleyman Soylu said nearly 300,000 Syrians have returned to
their country following Turkey's two cross-border operations in
northern Syria.
(Reuters, 12/22/18)
2018 Dec 25, In Turkey Max
Zirngast (29), an Austrian freelance writer, was released from a
prison but barred from leaving the country. Zirngast was jailed in
September after Turkey accused him and two others of "membership in
an armed terrorist organization." On Sept. 11, 2019, Zirngast
confirmed his acquittal.
(AP, 12/25/18)(AP, 9/11/19)
2018 Dec 27, Turkey detained
Adnan Sutcu (56) of Germany shortly after his arrival in Ankara to
attend his mother's funeral. He was barred from leaving Turkey after
the authorities accused him of supporting a terrorist organization
on social media.
(Reuters, 12/31/18)
2019 Jan 3, Turkey's President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Ankara and Baghdad would deepen
cooperation against terrorism after tensions last month over Turkish
air strikes against Kurdish militants in Iraq.
(AFP, 1/3/19)
2019 Jan 5, The Istanbul-based
Orthodox patriarch signed the formal decree confirming the creation
of an independent Ukrainian church, marking a break with the Russian
church that has angered Moscow.
(AFP, 1/5/19)
2019 Jan 7, A Turkish court
ordered the release on bail of Eren Erdem, a former opposition
lawmaker, while he is being tried on terrorism-related charges.
(Reuters, 1/7/19)
2019 Jan 7, A cargo ship sank
in rough waters off Turkey's Black Sea coast, killing six crew
members including its captain. Seven other crew members were
rescued.
(AP, 1/7/19)
2019 Jan 9, In Turkey a
pro-Kurdish party legislator said 162 prisoners across Turkey have
joined a hunger strike in a show of solidarity with an imprisoned
opposition legislator who has been refusing food since November.
(AP, 1/9/19)
2019 Jan 12, Turkey for a
second day loaded tanks and armored vehicles onto trucks and
dispatched the convoy to the Turkish province of Hatay on the Syrian
border.
(Reuters, 1/12/19)
2019 Jan 13, US President
Donald Trump threatened Turkey with economic devastation if it
attacks a US-allied Kurdish militia in Syria.
(Reuters, 1/14/19)
2019 Jan 15, Turkey's president
said his troops will establish a 20-mile-wide "safe zone" in
northern Syria with the help of allies.
(AP, 1/15/19)
2019 Jan 15, Senior Kurdish
official Bedran Ciya Kurd categorically rejected a "safe zone" that
the Turkish president says his troops plan to set up in northern
Syria.
(AP, 1/15/19)
2019 Jan 16, It was reported
that Turkish prosecutors are seeking an international arrest warrant
for New York Knicks player Enes Kanter, accusing him of membership
in a terror organization.
(AP, 1/16/19)
2019 Jan 17, Turkey deported
Dutch journalist Ans Boersma (31) after Turkish officials said
Ankara received a tip-off from police in the Netherlands that she
had suspected links to a jihadist group in Syria. Boersma was a
person of interest in an ongoing investigation into militant
activity.
(AFP, 1/17/19)(Reuters, 1/17/19)
2019 Jan 18, Turkey's
state-owned Anadolu news agency said a court has sentenced Murat
Arslan, a judge who previously won an award for human rights, to 10
years in prison over links to the network Ankara says orchestrated
an attempted coup in 2016.
(Reuters, 1/18/19)
2019 Jan 19, In Turkey
thousands demonstrated in the Kurdish-majority southeast to support
Leyla Guven (55), a detained lawmaker from a pro-Kurdish party who
launched a hunger strike in November.
(AFP, 1/19/19)
2019 Jan 22, A Turkish court
sentenced prominent journalist Nazli Ilicak, already serving a life
sentence, to almost six additional years in prison for leaking
information deemed secret by the government.
(AP, 1/22/19)
2019 Jan 23, In Russia Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sat down for Syria-focused talks with
Pres. Vladimir Putin as their governments bargain over zones of
influence in the war-torn country.
(AP, 1/23/19)
2019 Jan 23, Romania's national
railway company said a group of Turkish companies have won a 600
million-euro ($681 million) contract to modernize a key line in the
northwest Transylvania region. The European Union will fund about 80
percent of the project, and the Romanian government the rest.
(AP, 1/23/19)
2019 Jan 25, A Turkish court
released Leyla Guven, a Kurdish lawmaker who was jailed last year
for criticizing Ankara's military operation in Syria. She has been
on hunger strike for nearly three months and still faces trial and
up to 31 years' jail over charges of terrorism leadership and
propaganda for her opposition to Turkey's incursion into northwest
Syria's Afrin region.
(Reuters, 1/25/19)
2019 Jan 25, Turkish forces
shelled YPG militia positions in the northern Syrian region of Tal
Rifaat for a third consecutive day.
(Reuters, 1/25/19)
2019 Jan 26, Turkey's Defense
Ministry said a Turkish military base in northern Iraq has come
under attack by Kurdish militants. At least 10 people were wounded
when protesters stormed the Turkish military camp near Dohuk in
Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region, burning two tanks and other
vehicles.
(AP, 1/26/19)(Reuters, 1/26/19)
2019 Jan 26, Syria called on
Turkey to withdraw its troops from Syria's northern territories and
end support for armed opposition groups in order to revive a
two-decade-old bilateral security agreement.
(AP, 1/26/19)
2019 Jan 30, Turkish citizen,
Hamza Ulucay, who worked as a translator for the US Consulate in
Adana, was convicted in Turkey's Mardin province on terror charges
and sentenced to 4 ½ years in prison, but will be freed from prison
with credit for the nearly two years he spent in pre-trial
detention.
(AP, 1/30/19)
2019 Feb 1, A Turkish court
sentenced two Kurdish politicians to lengthy jail terms on charges
of belonging to a terrorist organization and disseminating terrorist
propaganda. Former parliamentarian Gultan Kisanak, arrested in 2016
when she was the joint mayor of Diyarbakir, was jailed for 14 years
and three months. Sebahat Tuncel, who had also served in parliament,
was jailed for 15 years.
(Reuters, 2/2/19)
2019 Feb 1, TIPH (Temporary
International Presence in Hebron) countries Switzerland, Sweden,
Norway, Italy and Turkey, condemned in a joint statement the Israeli
government's unilateral decision not to extend the observer force's
mission in the flashpoint city.
(AP, 2/2/19)
2019 Feb 2, Turkish security
forces arrested Hatice Kilic, a suspect in an armed attack on the US
consulate in Istanbul In August 2015.
(Reuters, 2/2/19)
2019 Feb 5, Turkey put up
bounties for the capture of eight Turkish servicemen who fled to
Greece following a failed coup in 2016.
(AP, 2/5/19)
2019 Feb 5, Greek PM Alexis
Tsipras visited Turkey where he will meet Turkish President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan for talks to ease tensions over bilateral disputes
and the long-running Cyprus problem.
(AFP, 2/5/19)
2019 Feb 6, In Turkey at least
one person was killed and four others were left under rubble after
an eight-storey residential building collapsed in Istanbul.
Officials soon raised death toll in the Kartal district building
collapse to 21 with 14 others were injured. Four people were later
detained in connection with the collapse.
(Reuters, 2/6/19)(AFP, 2/9/19)(Reuters,
2/10/19)(AP, 2/14/19)
2019 Feb 7, The United States
sharply rebuked Germany for deporting Adem Yilmaz, a wanted Islamic
militant, to Turkey instead of extraditing him to New York to stand
trial on terror-related charges. He has been charged by a US federal
grand jury with conspiring to carry out a March 3, 2008, suicide
bombing in Afghanistan, which left two US soldiers dead and 11
others injured.
(AFP, 2/7/19)
2019 Feb 9, Turkey called on
China to close its internment camps for Muslims, saying the camps
which reportedly hold a million ethnic Uighur people are a "great
shame for humanity".
(Reuters, 2/10/19)
2019 Feb 11, Dozens of Turkish
police blocked a march by pro-Kurdish opposition lawmakers in
Istanbul that was organized in solidarity with hunger striking MP
Leyla Guven, who was released from prison last month.
(AFP, 2/11/19)
2019 Feb 11, In Turkey a
military helicopter crashed in a residential neighborhood on the
Asian side of Istanbul.
(Reuters, 2/11/19)
2019 Feb 11, Russia and Turkey
agreed that they needed to take decisive measures to stabilize the
situation in Syria's Idlib province after talks between the two
country's defense ministers.
(Reuters, 2/11/19)
2019 Feb 12, Turkey launched
one of its largest operations against alleged supporters of the
US-based Muslim cleric accused of leading an attempted coup in 2016,
ordering the arrest of 1,112 people.
(Reuters, 2/12/19)
2019 Feb 13, In Turkey
pro-Kurdish lawmaker Leyla Guven (55), on hunger strike for more
than three months, was brought to a hospital but went home by
ambulance after refusing treatment. She has vowed to continue her
fast until the government allows Kurdish militant leader Abdullah
Ocalan to hold regular meetings with his lawyers and family members.
(AFP, 2/13/19)
2019 Feb 14, Russia's Pres.
Putin hosted a meeting in Sochi to weigh the future of Syria with
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Iranian President Hassan
Rouhani. Russia told Turkey it had no right to create a "safe zone"
in northeast Syria unless it sought and received the consent of
Syria's Pres. Bashar al-Assad.
(Reuters, 2/14/19)
2019 Feb 15, Turkish police
prevented supporters from rallying outside the home of Leyla Guven,
a pro-Kurdish lawmaker on hunger strike for 100 days.
(AFP, 2/15/19)
2019 Feb 19, A Turkish appeals
court upheld jail sentences against opposition journalists in a
long-running case targeting the Cumhuriyet newspaper -- one of the
few remaining dailies critical of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
(AFP, 2/19/19)
2019 Feb 22, Turkey ordered the
arrest of 295 serving military personnel, accusing them of links to
the network of US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who Ankara
says orchestrated a 2016 attempted coup.
(Reuters, 2/22/19)
2019 Feb 26, Turkey criticized
European Union leaders for attending a summit hosted by Egyptian
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi days after nine men were executed for
killing Egypt's chief prosecutor.
(Reuters, 2/26/19)
2019 Mar 4, The Trump
administration said Washington will scrap the preferential trade
status of India and Turkey, as President Donald Trump ramped up his
battle against what his administration views as unfair foreign trade
practices.
(AFP, 3/5/19)
2019 Mar 10, Turkish President
Tayyip Erdogan accused a women's march in central Istanbul on March
8 of disrespecting Islam by booing the Islamic call to prayer.
(Reuters, 3/10/19)
2019 Mar 10, Two German
journalists left Turkey after Ankara refused to renew their
accreditation. The journalists called the government's move an
attempt to silence international news organizations and said they
refused to be intimidated.
(AFP, 3/10/19)(AP, 3/10/19)
2019 Mar 14, Turkey's President
Tayyip Erdogan opened one of the world's largest hospitals in
Ankara, brushing aside criticism of what is the latest in a series
of mega projects that have marked his 16 years in power. The Ankara
City Hospital, built at a cost of around 1 billion euros, is
equipped with some 3,810 beds and covers an area the size of around
100 football pitches.
(Reuters, 3/14/19)
2019 Mar 15, A Turkish court
convicted Neil Prakash (27), an Australian-born Islamic State
militant, of belonging to a terror group and sentenced him to more
than seven years in prison. The court said he could be released in
2½ years under Turkish law.
(AP, 3/15/19)
2019 Mar 16, Two Turkish
soldiers were killed and eight others were wounded in a clash during
operations into northern Iraq. Six militants, including a woman,
were "neutralized" during the operations.
(Reuters, 3/16/19)
2019 Mar 17, In Turkey Kurdish
activist Zulkuf Gezen died late today. He was one of scores of
detainees on hunger strike in support of a Kurdish lawmaker in
Diyarbakir. He reportedly hanged himself after 12 years in prison on
charges of membership of the PKK Kurdish militant group.
(AFP, 3/18/19)
2019 Mar 18, Turkey and Iran
carried out a joint operation against militants from the outlawed
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) on Turkey's eastern border.
(Reuters, 3/18/19)
2019 Mar 22, Turkey's lira
tumbled more than 4 percent against the US dollar, its biggest
one-day fall since a currency crisis took hold in August, raising
concerns that Turks are buying more foreign cash as ties with
Washington deteriorate.
(Reuters, 3/24/19)
2019 Mar 24, In Turkey
thousands of supporters of a pro-Kurdish party gathered in Istanbul
to celebrate the Kurdish New Year and to attend a campaign rally for
local elections that will test the Turkish president's popularity.
(AP, 3/24/19)
2019 Mar 26, Turkish and
Russian forces carried out the first "independent and coordinated"
patrols in the mainly Kurdish-controlled northern Syrian region of
Tel Rifaat.
(Reuters, 3/26/19)
2019 Mar 29, In Turkey five
Afghan workers were killed and eleven others were injured as a
result of a fire in an abandoned three-story building in Ankara.
(Reuters, 3/29/19)
2019 Mar 30, In Turkey the
pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party, or HDP, said in a statement
that 53 people were detained in Istanbul overnight in the lead-up to
the March 31 municipal elections.
(AP, 3/30/19)
2019 Mar 31, Turkey voted in
local elections in a test for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, with
his ruling party fighting to keep hold of the country's two key
cities as an economic slowdown takes hold. In eastern Turkey an
election observer and another man were killed in a fight at a
school-based polling station. Pres. Erdogan's AKP suffered a major
upset in the ballot after results showed they had lost not only the
capital Ankara and also the country's economic hub Istanbul.
(AFP, 3/31/19)(AFP, 4/1/19)
2019 Mar 31, In northwest Syria
one Turkish soldier was killed and another was wounded in a mortar
attack on their position. Turkey's military launched retaliatory
fire. Turkey said the attack was carried out by the Kurdish YPG
militia in the Afrin region.
(Reuters, 3/31/19)
2019 Apr 1, Turkish Foreign
Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkey is giving Venezuelan President
Nicolas Maduro its continued support and intends to deepen
cooperation with Venezuela "in all fields" despite US pressure.
(AP, 4/1/19)
2019 Apr 1, The United States
said that it was halting shipment of F-35 parts of Turkey as well as
joint manufacturing work due to Ankara's purchase of the S-400
missile defense system from Russia.
(AFP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 2, Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party appealed the results of local
elections in Istanbul where preliminary results give the opposition
a razor-thin victory, sounding confident that a recount will alter
the outcome of the vote.
(AP, 4/2/19)
2019 Apr 3, Dubai's Emirates
NBD bank revised its acquisition price of Turkey's Denizbank
following a slide in the Turkish lira, saying it has now agreed to
pay 15.48 billion lira ($2.8 billion).
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, Foreign Minister
Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkey will not turn back from a major arms
deal with Russia despite the US suspension of Ankara from the F-35
fighter-jet program.
(AFP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 5, Turkey's official
news agency said prosecutors have launched a terror propaganda
investigation into Adnan Selcuk Mizrakl, the newly-elected mayor of
Turkey's predominantly Kurdish Diyarbakir province.
(AP, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 5, Turkey began the
relocation of Ataturk International Airport to Istanbul Airport on
the Black Sea shores. The move is expected to end tomorrow.
(AP, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 6, In Turkey the last
commercial passenger flight took off from Istanbul's Ataturk airport
and convoys of trucks ferried thousands of tons of equipment across
the city to a giant new airport which Turkey plans to make the
biggest in the world.
(Reuters, 4/6/19)
2019 Apr 8, Russian President
Vladimir Putin hosted Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan for
talks focusing on the situation in Syria, the sale of advanced
Russian missiles to Turkey and other economic deals.
(AP, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 9, In Turkey President
Tayyip Erdogan's AK Party (AKP) said it will demand a new vote in
Istanbul, after its bid was rejected for a citywide recount of March
31 election results that appeared to hand the party defeat.
(Reuters, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 10, Turkey's Supreme
Electoral Council (YSK) ordered that individuals sacked by an
emergency decree during purges after a 2016 failed coup could not
take up their posts despite being elected. Five districts and towns
in the Kurdish-majority southeast were affected.
(AFP, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 11, Turkey's main
pro-Kurdish party said it would appeal to electoral authorities to
annul elections in five districts and towns after some of its
successful candidates were blocked from taking office after a March
31 local vote.
(AFP, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 15, Turkish
authorities detained two people on suspicion of spying for the
United Arab Emirates. The two reportedly confessed during their
interrogation that they had been spying on Arab dissidents based in
Turkey on behalf of the UAE. One of the two men arrived in Turkey in
October 2018, days after Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was
murdered inside Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul.
(AP, 4/19/19)(Reuters, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 16, Turkish President
Tayyip Erdogan's AK Party submitted its promised appeal for the
annulment and rerun of Istanbul's municipal elections, over what it
said were irregularities that marred the March 31 vote.
(Reuters, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 17, Turkish
authorities confirmed the opposition's candidate, Ekrem Imamoglu, as
the mayor of Istanbul, ending more than two weeks of recounts of the
March 31 vote demanded by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling
party.
(AP, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, Belgium
confectioner Godiva, privately owned by Turkish Yildiz Holding AS,
opened its first café in Manhattan. The company is rolling out 2,000
cafes over the next six years that will serve a complete menu of
items like the croiffle, a croissant and waffle hybrid that's
stuffed with fillings like cheese or chocolate and pressed on a
waffle iron.
(AP, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 19, Four Turkish
soldiers and 20 armed assailants were killed in clashes between the
military and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) near the
border with Iraq.
(Reuters, 4/20/19)
2019 Apr 20, Iraqi Parliament
Speaker Mohamed al-Halbousi led a one-day summit between Iraq and
its six neighbors: Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey, Jordan, and
Kuwait, in an effort to bridge relations and invest in Iraq.
(AP, 4/20/19)
2019 Apr 26, In Turkey Istanbul
prosecutors ordered the detention of 210 military personnel over
suspected links to the network blamed by Ankara for orchestrating a
failed 2016 military coup.
(AP, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 28, In Turkey Zaki Y.
M. Hasan, a man held on suspicion of spying for the United Arab
Emirates, was found hanging from the bathroom door in his one-person
cell in Silivri prison. Hasan and another man were detained on April
15 and had reportedly confessed to spying on Arab nationals.
(Reuters, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 29, In Turkey police
in Ankara detained 17 Iraqis and five Syrians, suspected of links to
the Islamic State group, in simultaneous raids as part of a security
sweep ahead of Labor Day festivities.
(AP, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 30, Human Rights
Association head Ozturk Turkdogan said that a total of 2,983 people
in 90 prisons across Turkey are refusing food in protest of jail
conditions for Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan, whose family
members and lawyers have reportedly been denied visits.
(AP, 4/30/19)
2019 Apr 30, In northwestern
Syria, the government's air force dropped dozens of barrel bombs in
rebel-held parts of Hama and Idlib provinces killing at least one
woman and wounding others. Syrian Kurdish militants carried out an
attack in a Turkish-controlled region in northern Syria killing a
Turkish soldier and wounding three others.
(AP, 4/30/19)
2019 May 1, In Turkey police in
Istanbul detained 127 people for attempting to hold illegal
demonstrations in various parts of the city to celebrate May Day.
(Reuters, 5/1/19)
2019 May 2, A Turkish citizen
who was wounded during deadly attacks at two mosques in the New
Zealand city of Christchurch on March 15 died while undergoing
surgery raising the death toll from the shooting to 51.
(Reuters, 5/2/19)
2019 May 3, In northwestern
Turkey at least two women and five children drowned after a boat
carrying migrants sank off the Aegean coastal town of Ayvalik.
(AP, 5/3/19)
2019 May 4, Turkish president
Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for the opposition's local election
victory in Istanbul to be declared invalid and the vote re-run,
increasing the pressure on the country's electoral authorities.
(AFP, 5/4/19)
2019 May 4, Four Turkish
soldiers were killed and two others wounded in two separate
cross-border attacks by Kurdish militants.
(Reuters, 5/4/19)
2019 May 6, Turkey’s High
Election Board ruled for a fresh Istanbul mayoral contest on June
23, scrapping the March 31 vote, which was lost by Erdogan's party
candidate, in a move that drew opposition accusations of
dictatorship. Former Turkish PM Binali Yildirim will again be the
ruling AK Party's candidate.
(Reuters, 5/07/19)
2019 May 10, In Turkey
columnist Yavuz Selim Demirag, critical of President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan's government and its nationalist allies, was beaten up by
about five or six people with baseball bats after appearing on a TV
show.
(AP, 5/11/19)
2019 May 13, A Turkish court
handed down 53 life sentences without parole to Yusuf Nazik (34), a
man who authorities said planned a 2013 bomb attack near the Syrian
border that killed dozens of people in the town of Reyhanli, near
the border with Syria. Two other suspects were sentenced for aiding
a terror group.
(Reuters, 5/13/19)(AP, 5/13/19)
2019 May 17, A Turkish court
sentenced fourteen people to life in jail without parole for
involvement in twin bombings in Istanbul that killed dozens on
December 10, 2016.
(Reuters, 5/17/19)
2019 May 20, In Turkey 91 of
the suspects were detained as authorities issued warrants for 249
people as part of an investigation into alleged cheating during
exams to recruit staff to the country's foreign ministry between
2010 and 2013.
(AP, 5/20/19)
2019 May 22, The Kremlin
condemned as unacceptable an alleged US ultimatum to Turkey designed
to force it to cancel a deal to buy Russian S-400 surface-to-air
missile systems and purchase US Patriot missile systems instead.
(Reuters, 5/22/19)
2019 May 25, Senior opposition
officials and rebel sources said Turkey has equipped an array of
mainstream Syrian rebels it backs with fresh supplies of weaponry to
help them try to repel a major Russian-backed assault.
(Reuters, 5/25/19)
2019 May 26, Several Kurdish
lawmakers and thousands of prison inmates in Turkey ended their
hunger strike after a call from jailed militant leader Abdullah
Ocalan, 200 days after the protest was launched.
(Reuters, 5/26/19)
2019 May 27, Turkey's military
launched an operation with commandos, backed by artillery and air
strikes, against Kurdish militants in a mountainous area of northern
Iraq.
(Reuters, 5/28/19)
2019 May 29, Turkish warplanes
and attack helicopters struck targets in the mountains of northern
Iraq. Two Turkish soldiers died from wounds sustained in a bomb
blast. The military "neutralized" four militants in the latest
action, bringing the total to 19 on the 3rd day of “Operation Claw”.
(Reuters, 5/30/19)
2019 May 29, Iraqi authorities
handed over 188 Turkish children of suspected Islamic State members
to Turkey at Baghdad airport, where they boarded a plane and
prepared to fly home.
(Reuters, 5/29/19)
2019 Jun 1, A Saudi-hosted
Islamic summit threw its support behind Palestinians ahead of a
US-led peace plan suspected to be skewed in favor of Israel, as
Muslim states rallied around Saudi Arabia over tensions with Iran.
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meeting, was the third
and final Iran-focused summit in the holy city of Mecca this week.
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was notably absent from the
summit of the 57-member OIC. The Mecca summit refused all illegal
Israeli measures aimed at changing facts in occupied Palestinian
territories including Jerusalem, and undermining the two-state
solution.
(AFP, 6/1/19)(Reuters, 6/1/19)
2019 Jun 7, Cyprus renegotiated
a contract with a consortium made up of Shell, Texas-Based Noble
Energy and Israel's Delek that paves the way for the exploitation of
an offshore field that is estimated to hold 4.1 trillion cubic feet
of gas. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says his country is
determined to protect Turkish Cypriots' rights to gas deposits in
the eastern Mediterranean.
(AP, 6/7/19)
2019 Jun 7, It was reported
that the United States has decided to stop accepting any more
Turkish pilots who had planned to train in the United States on F-35
fighter jets.
(Reuters, 6/7/19)
2019 Jun 8, Turkey's Defence
Ministry said a total of 43 members of the outlawed Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK) had been "neutralized" as part of an operation
Ankara launched in northern Iraq 13 days ago. Separately, the
Interior Ministry said two PKK members, one of whom was on Turkey's
wanted list, were "neutralized" in Turkey's southeastern Diyarbakir
province, as well as five others in the eastern Tunceli province.
(Reuters, 6/8/19)
2019 Jun 13, Turkey warned
Syria that it would respond if attacks in Syria's northwestern Idlib
province continue, after a Turkish observation post in the region
was attacked by mortar shells, which Turkey's Defense Ministry said
were fired from areas under Syrian government control.
(AP, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 13, US-based Bloomberg
news agency says Turkish prosecutors are seeking up to five-year
jail terms for two of its Istanbul-based reporters over their report
on last year's currency crisis. Bloomberg said that Kerim Karakaya
and Fercan Yalinkilic have been accused of trying to undermine
Turkey's economic stability over a story they wrote in August 2018.
(AP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 15, Turkey criticized
southern European Union nations for urging the EU to consider action
against Turkey over its bid to drill for gas in waters where Cyprus
has exclusive economic rights.
(AP, 6/15/19)
2019 Jun 17, A boat carrying
migrants to Greece sank off the Turkish coast, leaving at least 12
migrants dead.
(AP, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 18, State-run Anadolu
news agency said Turkey has ordered the arrest of 128 military
personnel over suspected links to the network accused by Ankara of
orchestrating an attempted coup in 2016.
(Reuters, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 18, Greek PM Alexis
Tsipras demanded that the European Union issue a reprimand to Turkey
for its "illegal" gas exploration in Cyprus, after Ankara defied
calls for it to cease drilling in the region.
(AFP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 19, Turkish President
Tayyip Erdogan vowed to try to ensure the Egyptian government is
tried in international courts for the death of former president
Mohamed Mursi, who suffered a fatal heart attack in a Cairo court
earlier this week.
(Reuters, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 20, A Turkish court
has sentenced 128 people accused of being among the ringleaders to
life terms in prison for their roles in the July 15, 2016 coup
attempt.
(AP, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 20, Turkey launched a
second drillship that will drill for gas off neighboring Cyprus'
east coast despite European Union warnings to refrain from such
illegal actions or face sanctions.
(AP, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 23, In Turkey a 2nd
mayoral election was held in Istanbul. Turkey's election board ruled
as the vote count begins in the repeated election for Istanbul's
mayor to count as valid ballots with inconsistent stamps. Opposition
candidate Ekrem Imamoglu's win in a repeat vote for mayor broke the
lock Pres. Erdogan's Islamist-rooted party long held on Istanbul's
top public office.
(AFP, 6/23/19)(AP, 6/23/19)(AP, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 24, In Turkey 16
leading civil society leaders appeared in court, accused of seeking
to overthrow the government during the "Gezi Park" protests of 2013,
in a trial dubbed an absurd sham by critics. The group includes
renowned businessman and philanthropist Osman Kavala, whose
detention since November 2017 has made him a symbol of what his
supporters say is a crackdown on civil society.
(AFP, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 25, The US envoy to
NATO said the United States will stop Turkish forces flying and
developing its F-35 stealth jets if Ankara goes ahead with the
purchase of a Russian air defense system. Turkish President Tayyip
Erdogan vowed anew to press on with the S-400 purchase despite
allies' concerns.
(Reuters, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 28, In Turkey hundreds
gathered at Istanbul's main court to support Canan Kaftancioglu, an
opposition politician, who faces 17 years in prison for a series of
tweets criticizing the government. She played a key role in the
victory of the newly elected Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu this
week.
(AFP, 6/28/19)
2019 Jun 28, Spokesman Ahmed
Mismari said eastern Libyan forces loyal to commander Khalifa Haftar
will ban any commercial flights from Libya to Turkey and Turkish
ships from docking in the country. Mismari also said his forces had
lost 43 soldiers in the battle over the town of Gharyan which the
Tripoli forces took on June 26.
(Reuters, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 29, In Libya strongman
Khalifa Haftar threatened to attack Turkish interests in Libya after
suffering a serious setback in his push to take the capital Tripoli,
accusing Ankara of backing his rivals.
(AFP, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 30, Activists in
Istanbul said Turkish authorities have banned a pride march for
lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex rights for the fifth
year.
(AP, 6/30/19)
2019 Jul 1, In Turkey an
explosion on an LPG tanker killed an Italian crew member and injured
15 others at the port of Aliaga in western Izmir province.
(Reuters, 7/2/19)
2019 Jul 2, Turkish prosecutors
and the state-run Anadolu news agency said 122 military personnel
have been ordered arrested over suspected links to the network
blamed by Ankara for orchestrating a failed military coup.
(Reuters, 7/2/19)
2019 Jul 2, In China Turkish
Pres. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, an ostensible US NATO ally, affirmed the
importance of ties with China in a meeting with President Xi Jinping
in Beijing.
(AP, 7/2/19)
2019 Jul 3, Turkey's state-run
news agency said two Russian women, who are suspected of being
Islamic State militants and are allegedly listed as wanted by
Interpol, have been detained by authorities while trying to enter
Turkey illegally from neighboring Syria accompanied by their nine
children in an effort to return to Russia.
(AP, 7/3/19)
2019 Jul 4, Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he is willing to mediate between the
United States and Iran to ease tensions over Iran's nuclear program.
(AP, 7/4/19)
2019 Jul 5, A bomb went off in
a car near Turkey's border with Syria, killing two Syrians who were
inside the vehicle. A third Syrian was injured. The explosion was
caused by a hand-made bomb which went off while the car was in
transit.
(AP, 7/5/19)
2019 Jul 6, Turkey's president
met with PM Fayez Sarraj, the head of Libya's UN-recognized
government, following heightened tensions between Turkey and forces
loyal to rival Libyan National Army leader Khalifa Hifter.
(AP, 7/6/19)
2019 Jul 9, Turkey's state-run
news agency said prosecutors have issued warrants for the detention
of 176 serving military officers over suspected links to the
US-based Muslim cleric who is blamed by Ankara for a failed coup
attempt in 2016.
(AP, 7/9/19)
2019 Jul 12, Turkey started
"Operation Claw-2" late today to destroy caves and shelters used by
members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, in the Hakurk
region. The operation began with commandoes, air strikes and
artillery.
(AP, 7/13/19)
2019 Jul 12, Russia began
delivery of the advanced S-400 missile defence system to Turkey, a
move expected to trigger US sanctions against a NATO ally and drive
a wedge into the heart of the Western military alliance.
(Reuters, 7/12/19)
2019 Jul 13, Turkey continued
receiving components of a Russian-made air defense system, despite
Washington's warnings that it will impose sanctions on the
NATO-member country.
(AP, 7/13/19)
2019 Jul 13, Ten Turkish
sailors were taken hostage by armed pirates who attacked the
Paksoy-1, a Turkish-flagged cargo ship, off the coast of Nigeria.
Another eight sailors were left safely aboard.
(Reuters, 7/16/19)
2019 Jul 15, The EU imposed
sanctions on Turkey over its drilling for gas in waters around
Cyprus.
(Econ, 7/27/19, p.46)
2019 Jul 16, President Donald
Trump said the US is not going to sell F-35 fighter jets to Turkey
after Ankara decided to buy a missile defense system from Russia.
(AP, 7/17/19)
2019 Jul 17, In Turkey a court
in Istanbul has acquitted the Turkey representative for Reporters
Without Borders and two other human rights activists of charges of
engaging in terrorist propaganda.
(AP, 7/17/19)
2019 Jul 17, In Iraq a gunman
opened fire inside a Turkish restaurant in the northern city of
Irbil, killing at least one Turkish diplomat stationed in Ankara's
consulate. Kurdish security forces later said a Turkish diplomat and
a civilian were killed and another civilian wounded in the attack.
(AP, 7/17/19)
2019 Jul 18, Turkey launched
airstrikes against Kurdish rebel targets in the Qandil mountains
region in northern Iraq, after the killing of Turkish diplomat Osman
Kose there a day earlier. Airstrikes killed alleged planners of the
attack against Kose and continued the next day against alleged PKK
targets in Iraq's Karajak region. A 2nd attack on July 24 hit
another vehicle carrying senior members of the banned Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK).
(AP, 7/19/19)(AP, 7/25/19)
2019 Jul 18, In eastern Turkey
a van carrying migrants rolled into a roadside ditch, killing 15
people near the town of Ozalp, Van province.
(AP, 7/18/19)
2019 Jul 19, Turkish banker
Mehmet Hakan Atilla, convicted of helping Iran evade economic
sanctions, was released from a US prison and surrendered to US
immigration officials to await deportation. A federal jury convicted
Atilla in 2018 of participating in a conspiracy that allowed Iran to
launder billions of dollars in oil proceeds through world financial
markets.
(AP, 7/23/19)
2019 Jul 19, In northern Iraq
an unmanned aircraft dropped explosives on a base belonging to
Iran-linked Shi'ite paramilitary groups, killing at least one
person. Two Iranian military commanders were killed. US officials
later confirmed that Israel was responsible for the bombing in
Amirli, Salaheddin province. A Turkish soldier was killed and six
wounded in an operation in northern Iraq during clashes with the
outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
(Reuters, 7/19/19)(AP, 8/23/19)(SFC, 8/24/19,
p.A4)
2019 Jul 20, Iraqi Kurdistan's
security services said they had arrested a man for assassinating a
Turkish diplomat in the regional capital Erbil on July 17, and
believed the suspect was the brother of a lawmaker in the Turkish
parliament.
(Reuters, 7/20/19)
2019 Jul 24, In Turkey Belarus
diplomat Alexander Poganshev was taken to a hospital to undergo
surgery after being attacked by a retired military officer in
Ankara, who later committed suicide. The incident did not appear to
be politically motivated.
(AP, 7/25/19)
2019 Jul 25, Turkey's central
bank cut its benchmark rate to 19.75% from 24%, more than expected.
(Reuters, 7/26/19)
2019 Jul 26, Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country is determined to destroy "to
pieces" what he called a "terror corridor" in northern Syrian —
regardless of whether or not Turkey and the United States agree on
the establishment of a safe zone.
(AP, 7/26/19)
2019 Jul 26, Turkey's top court
ruled that 10 academics had their rights violated when they were
sentenced on charges of disseminating terrorist propaganda for
signing a 2016 petition calling for a peaceful resolution of the
conflict in the country's mainly Kurdish southeast.
(AP, 7/27/19)
2019 Jul 27, Turkey's Defense
Ministry said it had "neutralized" 34 Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)
militants in northern Iraq in air strikes on July 17-19. The Defense
Ministry said it had "neutralized" a total of 255 PKK militants in
operations in northern Iraq since May 27.
(Reuters, 7/27/19)
2019 Aug 1, Turkey granted its
radio and television watchdog sweeping oversight over all online
content, including streaming platforms like Netflix and online news
outlets, in a move that raised concerns over possible censorship.
(Reuters, 8/1/19)
2019 Aug 2, In northwestern
Turkey five people, including one child, were killed and 15 others
were wounded when a bus caught fire in Balikesir province.
(Reuters, 8/2/19)
2019 Aug 5, Turkish and
American military officials met in Istanbul for negotiations about
establishing a safe zone in northeastern Syria to address Ankara's
concerns about US-allied Syrian Kurdish-led forces in that region.
(AP, 8/5/19)
2019 Aug 7, The US and Turkey
announced they'd agreed to form a coordination center to set up the
safe zone in northeastern Syria. The coordination center would be
based in Turkey and would be set up "as soon as possible".
(AP, 8/8/19)
2019 Aug 8, Turkish state news
said an operation last week by the Turkish military and its
intelligence agency killed two more suspects and alleged planners in
the July 17 assassination of Turkish diplomat Osman Kose in Irbil,
Iraq.
(AP, 8/8/19)
2019 Aug 16, It was reported
that Turkey's military pension fund OYAK has reached a provisional
agreement to take over British Steel and could close the deal by the
end of this year, potentially saving thousands of jobs.
(Reuters, 8/16/19)
2019 Aug 19, Turkey removed
from office the elected mayors of three cities in the mostly
Kurdish-populated southeast region over their alleged links to
rebels, replacing them with government appointees.
(AP, 8/19/19)
2019 Aug 19, In Syria
airstrikes targeted a Turkish military convoy, killing at least
three civilians, as it was heading toward a Turkish observation post
in the rebel-held stronghold of Idlib.
(AP, 8/19/19)
2019 Aug 20, Turkey extended by
two months a deadline for unregistered Syrian refugees in Istanbul
to leave the city. Istanbul already hosts the largest number of
registered Syrians, nearly 548,000, out of 3.6 million Syrian
refugees who have found a home in Turkey.
(AP, 8/21/19)
2019 Aug 23, Turkish President
Tayyip Erdogan told Russia's Vladimir Putin that Syrian army attacks
in northwest Syria are causing a humanitarian crisis and threaten
Turkey's national security.
(Reuters, 8/23/19)
2019 Aug 23, A Turkish
offensive entered its third phase in which troops aimed to destroy
PKK caves and shelters in the Sinat-Haftanin region of Iraq.
(AP, 8/25/19)
2019 Aug 25, Turkey's official
news agency reported that three Turkish soldiers were killed in
northern Iraq in clashes with Kurdish militants.
(AP, 8/25/19)
2019 Aug 27, In Russia the
annual opening of the Russian air show was attended by Turkey's
Pres. Recep Tayyip Erdogan as a guest of Pres. Vladimir Putin.
(SFC, 8/28/19, p.A2)
2019 Aug 29, Malaysia deported
Turkish asylum seeker Arif Komis, registered with the UN, along with
his family, after police said he should not be in the country.
(Reuters, 8/30/19)
2019 Sep 3, It was reported
that US online streaming service Netflix has applied for a license
to continue operating in Turkey under new online broadcasting rules
that have raised fears over possible censorship in the future.
(Reuters, 9/3/19)
2019 Sep 4, Turkey's Trade
Minister Ruhsar Pekcan said Turkey may lose trade with Britain worth
up to $3 billion in the event of a no-deal Brexit, adding that many
Turkish companies lacked information on the consequences of such a
scenario.
(Reuters, 9/4/19)
2019 Sep 6, In Turkey an
Istanbul court sentenced Canan Kaftancioglu, the leader of the
Istanbul branch of the secular Republican People's Party, to nearly
10 years in prison over a series of tweets. She was expected to
appeal the verdict.
(AP, 9/6/19)
2019 Sep 8, US and Turkish
troops conducted their first joint ground patrol in northeastern
Syria as part of a so-called "safe zone" that Ankara has been
pressing for in the volatile region. Turkey hoped the buffer zone,
which it says should be at least 30 km (19 miles) deep, will keep
Syrian Kurdish fighters away from its border.
(AP, 9/8/19)
2019 Sep 10, Turkey accused the
United States of taking only "cosmetic steps" toward the creation of
a so-called "safe zone" in northeast Syria and renewed Ankara's
threat of unilateral military intervention to form a buffer area
along its border.
(AP, 9/10/19)
2019 Sep 12, In southeastern
Turkey Kurdish rebels reportedly detonated an improvised explosive
device on a road near the town of Kulp, killing four people and
wounding 13 others.
(AP, 9/13/19)
2019 Sep 13, Former Turkish PM
Ahmet Davutoglu announced his resignation from President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party and said he plans to form a new
political movement.
(AP, 9/13/19)
2019 Sep 14, Turkey's state
media said the government has ordered the arrest of 223 serving
military personnel across the country and in the breakaway state of
Northern Cyprus over suspected links to a network Ankara accuses of
organizing an attempted coup in 2016.
(Reuters, 9/14/19)
2019 Sep 16, In Turkey the
leaders of Russia, Iran and Turkey met in Ankara to discuss the
situation in Syria, with the aim of halting fighting in the
country's northwestern province of Idlib and finding a lasting
political solution to Syria's civil war, now in its ninth year.
(AP, 9/16/19)
2019 Sep 20, It was reported
that Turkey forced banks to take losses on $8 billion in bad loans
this week to kick-start lending and boost its economic recovery
after losing patience with them.
(Reuters, 9/20/19)
2019 Sep 21, Turkey's President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed frustration with what he said was the
United States' continued support for Syrian Kurdish militants.
(AP, 9/21/19)
2019 Sep 24, It was reported
that Turkish artist Vahit Tuna has mounted 440 pairs of high heels
on the facade of a building on a busy Istanbul street, to symbolize
the number of women murdered in domestic or sexual violence in
Turkey in 2018.
(Reuters, 9/24/19)
2019 Oct 4, Turkey's state run
Anadolu Agency said Sirri Sureyya Onder, a former deputy of the
People's Democratic Party, or HDP, has been released from a high
security prison. The former pro-Kurdish party legislator and
film-maker had been jailed since December 2018.
(AP, 10/5/19)
2019 Oct 4, In northern Syria
the US-led coalition and Turkey conducted their third joint patrol,
part of a plan designed to defuse tensions between Ankara and the
Syrian Kurds.
(AP, 10/4/19)
2019 Oct 5, Turkey's president
threatened to launch a military operation into northeastern Syria,
where US troops are deployed and have been trying to defuse tension
between Washington's two allies — Ankara and the Syrian Kurds.
(AP, 10/5/19)
2019 Oct 7, President Donald
Trump threatened to destroy the economy of Turkey if it does not
watch over captured Islamic State fighters and their families
detained in Syria.
(AP, 10/7/19)
2019 Oct 8, Egypt, Cyprus, and
Greece condemned an "unlawful and unacceptable" bid by Turkey to
drill inside waters where Cyprus has exclusive economic rights.
(AP, 10/8/19)
2019 Oct 9, Turkey launched a
military operation against Kurdish fighters in northeastern Syria
with air strikes hitting the border town of Ras al Ain. Turkey's
state-run news agency said Turkish artillery units are shelling
suspected Syrian Kurdish forces targets across the border in the
Syrian town of Tal Abyad.
(Reuters, 10/9/19)(AP, 10/9/19)
2019 Oct 9, British Airways
announced the launch of a new flight from London's Gatwick Airport
to the Turkish resort of Antalya, once one of Thomas Cook's most
popular routes, as airlines jostle to fill the void left by its
collapse.
(Reuters, 10/9/19)
2019 Oct 10, Turkey pressed its
assault against US-allied Kurdish forces in northern Syria for a
second day, pounding the region with airstrikes and an artillery
bombardment that raised columns of black smoke in a border town and
sent panicked civilians scrambling to get out.
(AP, 10/10/19)
2019 Oct 10, Turkey's president
Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to send "millions" of Syrian
refugees to Europe in response to criticism of his military
offensive into Kurdish-controlled northern Syria.
(The Telegraph, 10/10/19)
2019 Oct 10, Turkish police
launched criminal investigations of Kurdish lawmakers and detained
dozens of people for using social media to question the military's
cross border incursion into Syria, in a crackdown against those who
criticized the assault.
(Reuters, 10/10/19)
2019 Oct 10, A Turkish
provincial governor's office said two children and their mother have
been killed by mortar fire from Syria into Turkey. This followed a
separate announcement from neighboring Sanliurfa province, where a
9-month-old boy, a girl (11) and an adult male were killed in mortar
attacks. The Turkish Defense ministry tweeted that it hit targets in
Syria in retaliation.
(AP, 10/10/19)
2019 Oct 10, The European Union
says that the Turkish offensive in Kurdish-held areas of Syria is
setting back any hope for progress toward ending the conflict.
(AP, 10/10/19)
2019 Oct 11, Turkey's state-run
news agency said two more civilians have been killed in a mortar
attack on a Turkish border town while another person died of wounds
from a similar attack a day earlier. Turkey's interior minister said
that 121 people have been detained for social media posts critical
of its military offensive into Kurdish-held northeastern Syria.
(AP, 10/11/19)
2019 Oct 11, Turkish forces
pushed deeper into northeastern Syria, the third day of Ankara's
cross-border offensive against Syrian Kurdish fighters. At least six
civilians have been killed in Turkey and seven civilians in Syria
since Ankara this week launched the air and ground operation.
(AP, 10/11/19)
2019 Oct 11, EU governments
threatened sanctions against Turkey over its offensive in Syria,
angrily rejecting President Tayyip Erdogan's warning that he would
"open the gates" and send 3.6 million refugees to Europe if they did
not back him.
(Reuters, 10/11/19)
2019 Oct 12, Turkey's military
said it has captured Ras al-Ayn, a key Syrian border town under
heavy bombardment, as its offensive against Kurdish fighters pressed
into its fourth day with little sign of relenting despite mounting
international criticism. Kurdish authorities denied the town had
fallen to the Turks, saying fighting was continuing. The civilian
death toll resulting from Turkey's offensive into northern Syria had
now reportedly risen to 30.
(AP, 10/12/19)
2019 Oct 12, France said it is
halting exports of any arms to Turkey that could be used in its
offensive against Kurds in Syria, and wants an immediate meeting of
the US-led coalition against Islamic State extremists.
(AP, 10/12/19)
2019 Oct 12, Germany said it
has banned arms exports to Turkey over its assault against Kurdish
YPG militia in Syria.
(Reuters, 10/12/19)
2019 Oct 12, Iran offered to
engage Syrian Kurds, Syria's government and Turkey in talks to
establish security along the Turkish-Syrian border following
Turkey's military incursion into northern Syria to fight Kurdish
forces.
(Reuters, 10/12/19)
2019 Oct 12, The main
Kurdish-led group in northern Syria is calling on the US to carry
out its "moral responsibilities" and close northern Syrian airspace
to Turkish warplanes.
(AP, 10/12/19)
2019 Oct 12, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said the death toll among Syrian
Kurdish-led fighters battling a Turkish offensive has risen to 74,
most of whom have been killed in the Tel Abyad area.
(Reuters, 10/12/19)
2019 Oct 13, Turkey's President
Tayyip Erdogan said the incursion into Syria will stretch from
Kobani in the west to Hasaka in the east, going some 30 km (19
miles) into Syrian territory.
(Reuters, 10/13/19)
2019 Oct 13, In northern Syria
hundreds of Islamic State supporters escaped from a holding camp in
amid heavy clashes between invading Turkish-led forces and Kurdish
fighters. 780 IS supporters fled a camp for the displaced in the
Syrian town of Ein Issa. US President Donald Trump ordered all US
troops to withdraw from the north to avoid getting caught in the
fighting. Approximately 1,000 US troops in Syria are not leaving the
country entirely, but are trying to avoid becoming embroiled in the
conflict.
(AP, 10/13/19)(AP, 10/17/19)
2019 Oct 13, The United States
said it is poised to withdraw some 1,000 troops from northern Syria
after learning that Turkey planned to extend a military incursion
against Kurdish foes further south than originally planned.
(Reuters, 10/13/19)
2019 Oct 14, Cambodian police
arrested the Turkish-Mexican former director of a school run by the
movement of US-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, who Ankara
blames for a failed 2016 coup. His wife feared he would be deported
to Turkey.
(AP, 10/19/19)
2019 Oct 14, Pres. Donald Trump
spoke directly to the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan to
demand an immediate ceasefire in Syria while announcing a series of
punishments for Ankara that critics saw as an attempt to save face.
Trump announced sanctions aimed at restraining the Turks' assault
against Kurdish fighters and civilians in Syria. A US official said
the approximately 1,000 US troops being withdrawn from northern
Syria will reposition in Iraq, Kuwait and possibly Jordan.
(The Guardian , 10/15/19)(AP,
10/15/19)
2019 Oct 14, Iran's President
Hassan Rouhani urged Turkey to halt its military offensive against
Kurdish forces in northern Syria.
(AP, 10/14/19)
2019 Oct 15, The UN said Turkey
could be deemed responsible for summary executions by an affiliated
armed group of captured Kurdish fighters and a politician, acts that
may amount to war crimes.
(Reuters, 10/15/19)
2019 Oct 15, US prosecutors
accused Turkey's government-owned Halkbank of participating in a
wide-ranging plot to violate prohibitions on Iran’s access to the US
financial system. The conspiracy involved high-ranking government
officials in Iran and Turkey.
(AP, 10/16/19)
2019 Oct 16, Turkey's Foreign
Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu says his country won't be affected by
"sanctions and threats" over its military incursion into northeast
Syria.
(AP, 10/16/19)
2019 Oct 16, President Donald
Trump said US troops are "largely out" of a region of Syria where
Turkish forces are attacking Kurdish fighters.
(AP, 10/16/19)
2019 Oct 16, The UN Special
Envoy for Syria said there must be a cessation of hostilities
between Turkish troops and Kurdish fighters as the world is
"extremely alarmed by the humanitarian consequences of the crisis".
(AP, 10/16/19)
2019 Oct 17, The US and Turkey
agreed to a five-day cease-fire in the Turks' deadly attacks on
Kurdish fighters in northern Syria. Tts effect was largely to
mitigate a foreign policy crisis widely seen to be of Pres. Trump's
own making.
(AP, 10/18/19)
2019 Oct 18, Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey's military will set up 12
observations posts along the border in northern Syria if a planned
safe zone is established. Erdogan also told reporters that 195 out
of some 750 Islamic State militants who he said were set free by
Syrian Kurdish fighters as Turkey launched its push into Syrian
territory have been re-captured.
(AP, 10/18/19)
2019 Oct 18, The Kurdish-led
administration in northern Syria accused Turkey of violating a
US-brokered cease-fire that went into effect overnight, as fighters
from both sides clashed in and around a border town that has been
one of the fiercest fronts in the Turkish invasion. A spokesman for
the Kurdish-led fighters said they were not withdrawing from Ras
al-Ayn because Turkish forces are still besieging and shelling it.
(AP, 10/18/19)
2019 Oct 19, President Tayyip
Erdogan said Turkey would press on with its offensive into
northeastern Syria and "crush the heads of terrorists" if a deal
with Washington on the withdrawal of Kurdish fighters from the area
were not fully implemented.
(Reuters, 10/19/19)
2019 Oct 19, In Syria
Turkish-backed Syrian fighters clashed with Kurdish-led forces in
several parts of the northeast, with some crossing the border from
Turkey to attack a village. Both sides blamed each other for
fighting that has rattled the US-brokered cease-fire.
(AP, 10/19/19)
2019 Oct 19, Thousands of
people in the German city of Cologne and in the French capital
demonstrated against Turkey's offensive in northern Syria.
(AP, 10/19/19)
2019 Oct 20, In Syria Kurdish
fighters evacuated the northern town of Ras al-Ayn. Turkey wants the
Kurdish fighters to move away from the Turkey-Syria border, pulling
back 20 miles (32 km) to the south. The cease-fire is to end Oct. 22
evening. One Turkish soldier was reported killed and another wounded
after an attack by the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia in northeast
Syria's Tel Abyad.
(AP, 10/20/19)(Reuters, 10/20/19)
2019 Oct 22, Regional offices
in Turkey said the government has replaced four mayors from the
pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) with state officials,
part of a widening crackdown on local councils controlled by the
party.
(Reuters, 10/22/19)
2019 Oct 22, The presidents of
Russia and Turkey met in the Black Sea resort town of Sochi, hours
before a five-day cease-fire between Turkish troops and Kurdish
fighters in northeastern Syria was set to expire.
(AP, 10/22/19)
2019 Oct 22, A US prosecutor
called Turkey's Halkbank a "fugitive" after it failed to make an
initial court appearance in a criminal case accusing it of
conspiring to violate US sanctions against Iran.
(Reuters, 10/22/19)
2019 Oct 23, Russian military
police began patrols on part of the Syrian border, quickly moving to
implement an accord with Turkey that divvies up control of
northeastern Syria. The Kremlin told Kurdish fighters to pull back
from the entire frontier or else face being "steamrolled" by Turkish
forces.
(AP, 10/23/19)
2019 Oct 23, President Donald
Trump said he will lift sanctions on Turkey after the NATO ally
agreed to permanently stop fighting Kurdish forces in Syria and he
defended his decision to withdraw American troops.
(AP, 10/23/19)
2019 Oct 24, Turkey's central
bank slashed its policy rate more than expected to 14%, taking
advantage of an inflation dip and a steadier lira after Washington
cancelled just-announced sanctions over Ankara's military incursion
into northeast Syria.
(Reuters, 10/24/19)
2019 Oct 24, In northern Syria
a car boobytrapped with explosives detonated, wounding four people
in the town of Tal Abyad, taken by Turkish-backed forces from
Kurdish fighters during Turkey's invasion.
(AP, 10/24/19)
2019 Oct 24, The Turkish and
Syrian ambassadors clashed at their first UN Security Council
encounter since Turkey launched a cross-border offensive earlier
this month following the withdrawal of US forces.
(AP, 10/25/19)
2019 Oct 26, Kurdish fighters
wounded six Turkish soldiers amid a shaky truce in northern Syria
south of Ras al-Ayn. One of the wounded soldiers died the following
day.
(AP, 10/27/19)
2019 Oct 27, The Kurdish-led
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said it had agreed to withdraw more
than 30 km (19 miles) from the Turkish border, an announcement
welcomed by Damascus which said Turkey should now end its
"aggression" in northeast Syria.
(Reuters, 10/27/19)
2019 Oct 28, Turkey's state-run
news agency said police have detained 20 foreign nationals suspected
of links to the Islamic State group.
(AP, 10/28/19)
2019 Oct 29, Turkey's state-run
news agency said police have detained three suspected Islamic State
group militants who were allegedly scheming a "sensational" attack
in the aftermath of the killing of IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
(AP, 10/29/19)
2019 Oct 29, Syrian army troops
clashed with Turkish forces near the border town of Ras al Ain.
Turkey's defense forces captured 18 Syrian government soldiers in
northeastern Syria, including two who were wounded. Syrian
government forces withdrew from the area after their soldiers were
captured.
(Reuters, 10/30/19)(AP, 10/31/19)
2019 Oct 29, The US House
overwhelmingly passed a bipartisan bill threatening to sanction
Turkey, warning that a deal struck with the Trump administration
won’t necessarily save the NATO ally from economic punishment for
its military operation in northern Syria.
(Bloomberg, 10/29/19)
2019 Oct 30, Turkey summoned
the US ambassador in protest at votes in Congress the previous day
to recognize the Turkish genocide against Armenians and to sanction
Ankara for its military offensive in northeast Syria.
(The Telegraph, 10/30/19)
2019 Oct 30, Turkey's police
chief said 100 people have been detained in raids against the
Islamic State and that the group was allegedly planning an attack.
The suspects were detained in 26 raids across 21 provinces.
(AP, 10/30/19)
2019 Oct 31, Turkey's Anadolu
news agency said an appeals court ruled for the release of
Republican People's Party ex-legislator Eren Erdem. He was sentenced
to more than four years in prison in March, accused of supporting
US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen.
(AP, 10/31/19)
2019 Nov 1, Turkey and Russia
launched joint patrols in northeastern Syria, under a deal that
halted a Turkish offensive against Syrian Kurdish fighters who were
forced to withdraw from the border area following Ankara's
incursion.
(AP, 11/1/19)
2019 Nov 2, In northern Syria
car bomb went off in the town of Tal Abyad, killing 13 civilians.
Turkey's defense ministry blamed Syrian Kurdish fighters for the
attack A Kurdish-led force said Christian fighters will now oversee
security in a northern Syrian region that has witnessed fighting
between Turkey-backed fighters and Kurdish-led militiamen.
(AP, 11/2/19)
2019 Nov 3, In Turkey police in
Istanbul detained a driver (33) who rammed his bus into a crowded
stop and attacked people who tried to prevent him from escaping with
a knife. At least 13 people were injured.
(AP, 11/3/19)
2019 Nov 4, A Turkish court
convicted journalists Ahmet Altan and Nazli Ilicak of aiding a
terror group but ordered both released from prison, where they had
served more than three years in a case that has severely tested
press freedom in the country.
(AP, 11/5/19)
2019 Nov 4, Turkey captured
Rasmiya Awad (65), the elder sister of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the
slain leader of the Islamic State group, near the Syrian town of
Azaz in Aleppo province.
(AP, 11/4/19)
2019 Nov 4, Turkey's interior
minister Suleyman Soylu said Turkey will send back Islamic State
group members to their countries of origin.
(AP, 11/4/19)
2019 Nov 4, Turkey said one of
its soldiers has been killed by roadside bomb in northeastern Syria,
bringing Turkey's military death toll to 14 since launching its
incursion into Syrian Kurdish-held areas on Oct. 9.
(AP, 11/4/19)
2019 Nov 5, Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for Russia and the United States to keep
to their promises and ensure that Syrian Kurdish fighters pull out
of a so-called safe zone along Syria's northern border with Turkey.
(AP, 11/5/19)
2019 Nov 6, Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan revealed that Turkish police detained one of
al-Baghdadi's wives and a daughter last year.
(AP, 11/7/19)
2019 Nov 7, Turkey's President
Tayyip Erdogan said his country will have to open the doors to
Europe for Syrian refugees unless the European Union provides Ankara
with enough support, adding that Turkey could not carry that burden
alone.
(Reuters, 11/7/19)
2019 Nov 8, A Syrian protester
was killed after he was run over by a Turkish military vehicle
during a joint Turkish-Russian patrol in northeastern Syria.
(AP, 11/8/19)
2019 Nov 9, In northeast Syria
intense clashes broke out between Syrian government troops and
Turkish-led forces in the village of Um Shaifa near the town of Ras
al-Ayn. At least four Syrian government soldiers were killed in the
fighting with Turkish troops and Turkey-backed opposition fighters.
(AP, 11/9/19)(AP, 11/10/19)
2019 Nov 10, In northern Syria
killed a car bomb at least eight civilians and wounded 20 others in
a town near the border with Turkey. Syrian government troops fought
for a second day with Turkish-led forces in an area between the
towns of Tal-Tamr and Ras al-Ayn, according to a war monitor,
Syria's state media and activists.
(AP, 11/10/19)
2019 Nov 11, Turkey deported
citizens of the United States and Denmark who fought for the Islamic
State group and made plans to expel other foreign nationals as the
government began a new push to send back captured foreign fighters
to their home countries.
(AP, 11/11/19)
2019 Nov 11, In Turkey former
British army officer James Le Mesurier was found dead in Istanbul
early today. He was the founder and CEO of May Day Rescue, which
founded and trained the White Helmets, also known as the Syria Civil
Defense.
(AP, 11/11/19)
2019 Nov 11, A report by UN
experts said Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey have
repeatedly violated an arms embargo on Libya and it is "highly
probable" that a foreign attack aircraft is responsible for a deadly
strike on a migrant detention center. The report also accused Sudan
and the head of Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Mohamed Hamdan
Dagalo, known by his nickname Hemeti, of violating UN sanctions by
deploying 1,000 Sudanese troops to Libya.
(Reuters, 11/11/19)
2019 Nov 12, Turkey's Pres.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Syrian Kurdish fighters have failed to
vacate areas along the Turkish border despite agreements with Russia
and the United States, and says he will raise the issue with US
President Donald Trump.
(AP, 11/12/19)
2019 Nov 12, Turkish forces
conducting a joint patrol in northern Syria under a Russian-Turkish
deal fired live rounds at protesters near the mainly Kurdish town of
Kobani. Two people were reported killed and seven others injured
near the town along the Syrian-Turkish border.
(Reuters, 11/12/19)
2019 Nov 14, Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey is willing to purchase US-made
Patriot air defense systems but will not agree to disposing of the
Russian S-400 system it has already bought.
(AP, 11/14/19)
2019 Nov 14, Turkish officials
said seven German and one British Islamic State suspects have been
deported to their home countries. The Interior Ministry also
announced that the United States will take back a US national and IS
suspect who was stuck in a no man’s land between Turkey and Greece,
after Athens refused him entry.
(AP, 11/14/19)
2019 Nov 15, Turkish police
detained four mayors over their suspected links to Kurdish rebels,
as part of an ongoing crackdown on the country's pro-Kurdish party.
(AP, 11/15/19)
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