Turkey

17 November 2023; MEMO: Turkish Communications Director, Fahrettin Altun, slammed Israeli officials, Thursday, for spreading disinformation about Turkiye and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Anadolu Agency reports.

ANKARA, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday Israel was a "terror state" committing war crimes and violating international law in Gaza, sharpening his repeated criticism of Israeli leaders and their backers in the West.

Speaking two days before a planned visit to Germany to meet Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Erdogan said Israel's military campaign against Palestinian militant group Hamas included "the most treacherous attacks in human history" with "unlimited" support from the West.

ANKARA, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- Turkish prosecutors on Monday issued arrest warrants for 19 suspects over their alleged ties to a network orchestrating a coup attempt in 2016.

In a statement, Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office said the suspects were allegedly linked to the Gulen movement, which the Turkish government accuses of infiltrating the state bureaucracy and then attempting a coup on July 15, 2016.

12 November 2023; MEMO: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday criticized the Western countries for remaining silent on the massacre in Palestine, Anadolu reports.

Speaking at an emergency joint Arab-Islamic summit in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, Erdogan said, “It is shame that Western countries, which always voice for human rights, and freedoms, remain silent on the massacre in Palestine.”

ANKARA, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that an international peace conference should be convened to find a permanent solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

Erdogan was addressing a joint Islamic-Arab summit in Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh, where leaders gathered to urge Israel to end hostilities in Gaza.

ANKARA, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan waded into a brewing judicial crisis on Friday, calling for a new constitution to resolve an unprecedented clash between two of the country's top courts, as opponents marched in Ankara.

The comments stoked a debate over the rule of law that erupted on Wednesday when the appeals Court of Cassation made a criminal complaint against judges of the Constitutional Court, which ruled last month that jailed parliamentarian Can Atalay should be released.

ISTANBUL, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- A ship carrying the largest health aid that Türkiye has ever sent to the Gaza Strip set off on Friday, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced.

A dry cargo ship carrying 51 containers of medical supplies and generators and 20 fully equipped ambulances left the port of Alsancak in the western province of Izmir, Koca said on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

"The aid, organized under the coordination of our Presidency, is expected to arrive at Egypt's Al-Arish port on Saturday," Koca noted.

ISTANBUL (AP) — Huseyin Buyukdag says he loves Turkey and his job as a teacher. But with the rampant economic crisis and growing repression in his country, he said he and his wife have decided to try and find a better life in Germany.

They are among a growing number of young and educated looking to leave Turkey, where rights and freedoms are being eroded and inflation is surging under increasingly authoritarian President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

After Erdogan secured a third term in office in May elections, things are unlikely to change, he says.

ANKARA, Nov 7 (Reuters) - Turkey's parliament removed Coca-Cola (KO.N) and Nestle (NESN.S) products from its restaurants on Tuesday over their alleged support for Israel amid the conflict in Gaza, according to an official statement and a source who named the two companies.

The two companies did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"The products of companies that support Israel will not be sold in restaurants, cafeterias and tea houses in the parliament campus," Turkey's Grand National Assembly said, without identifying the companies.

ANKARA, Nov 6 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan in Ankara on Monday to discuss efforts to expand humanitarian aid in Gaza, and to prevent the war between Israel and militant Palestinian group Hamas from spreading.

Blinken is touring the region aiming to calm tensions over the war. Underlining Turkey's sharp criticism of Israeli and U.S. policy during the conflict, crowds gathered outside the meeting venue demanding Blinken and his delegation leave.