Istanbul Gazette News
The English Voice of Turkish News
Turkey Sees Hidden Hand in Kurd Riots
ISTANBUL—Turkey's escalating battle with Kurdish insurgents has become caught up in the country's fiercely partisan domestic politics, as the government charged Tuesday that opponents of democratic change had triggered ethnic riots at both ends of the country. More…
Turkey gears up for referendum
ISTANBUL — Turkey's justice minister said Tuesday that a September referendum on changes to the military-era constitution would accelerate democratic change in a country struggling with internal challenges even as it asserts itself on the international stage. More…
Iran Is Open to Uranium Concessions, Turkey Says
ISTANBUL—Iran has pledged to stop enriching uranium to the higher grade needed for a medical research reactor if world powers agree to a fuel-swap deal it outlined earlier this year with Turkey and Brazil, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Wednesday. More…
An endless war… Turkey and It’s Kurds
SHOULD the Turks and Kurds live together? The answer from many of Turkey’s restive Kurds has long been no. A vicious separatist campaign launched by rebels of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) has been raging since 1984. In recent months the PKK has stepped up its attacks, killing dozens of Turkish soldiers in and beyond the predominantly Kurdish south-east. Most recently, on July 20th, a Kurdish raid near the town of Cukurca killed six Turkish troops and injured at least 15.
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Greek prime minister tells Haaretz: We could help mediate Middle East peace agreements
Greece could help mediate peace agreements between Israel and its neighbors, its prime minister, George Papandreou, told Haaretz in an interview yesterday. More…
High on success, pro-Palestinian group that organized Gaza flotilla attracts more volunteers
BEIT JALA, West Bank (AP) — The stream of ships heading to Gaza in defiance of Israel's blockade reflects the success of a pro-Palestinian group that's been creatively confronting Israel for years. High on victory, they are flush with new volunteers.
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Turkey moves to clear its poor child prison record
Shorter prison sentences will be given to "stone-throwing children" in line with a government-backed bill that was partially approved by the Turkish parliament yesterday (21 July). The move is seen as an attempt to appease human rights groups, who have criticised Turkey's anti-terror laws for violating UN conventions on children.
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AP Exclusive: Turkey ill-prepared for earthquake
ANKARA, Turkey — More than a decade after a devastating earthquake revealed dangerously shoddy construction across Turkey, authorities are failing to enforce stricter building codes and protect people from another deadly quake, according to a new parliamentary report obtained by The Associated Press.
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Blast Shuts Down Turkish Pipeline
ISTANBUL—Turkey was forced to shut down a natural-gas pipeline from Iran on Wednesday, after an explosion that came in the midst of an upsurge of attacks by Kurdish militants.
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Israel to send 4 drones to Turkey
Israel is set to send four 'Heron' drone airplanes to Turkey in August according to military sources in Ankara, Army Radio reported Wednesday.
According to the report, senior Turkish military officials visited Israel recently to negotiate the closing details of the deal.
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International Cartoon Contest Comes to Istanbul
July 19, 2010
By: Jason D. Jones
It’s being billed as a “cartoon “ contest, but the artists involved prefer the term “caricature” to describe their artwork. Erdoğan Karayel is the caricaturist and graphic designer behind the DQ International Cartoon Contest 2010, “Europe-Asia Bridge: Istanbul”, a joint venture between his humor magazine, Don Quichotte, and the Şişli Municipality, a district in the heart of Istanbul. The contest is one of the events surrounding the UN’s designation of Istanbul as a European Capitol of Culture for 2010. More…
Protestors Take to Streets for Internet Freedom in Turkey
July 17, 2010
By: Jason D. Jones
(Photo by: Jason D. Jones)
ISTANBUL- Hundreds of protestors converged on Istanbul’s Taksim Square today to protest the Turkish government’s strict ban on numerous Internet websites. The protest comes on the heels of a recent court order that widens the ban on sites operated by Google.
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TRNC Prime Minister Visits Turkey
Friday, July 16, 2010
By: Jason D. Jones
ISTANBUL- İrsen Küçük, Prime Minister of the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus (TRNC), made his first official visit to Turkey this week since being elected in May.
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Sponsor of Flotilla Tied to Elite of Turkey
ISTANBUL — The Turkish charity that led the flotilla involved in a deadly Israeli raid has extensive connections with Turkey’s political elite, and the group’s efforts to challenge Israel’s blockade of Gaza received support at the top levels of the governing party, Turkish diplomats and government officials said.
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Israeli Parliament May Consider Armenian Genocide Recognition
Amid a downturn in Turkish-Israeli relations, political support in Israel for a parliamentary vote on the recognition of Ottoman Turkey’s 1915 slaughter of ethnic Armenians as genocide appears to be growing.
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German extradited from Turkey on terrorism charges
BERLIN — Turkey has extradited a 28-year-old man to Germany on terrorism charges linked to a group that plotted to attack U.S. targets.
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Turkey's govt clears one obstacle to face yet more
After Turkey's constitutional court decided not to annul a controversial set of constitutional amendments in early July, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) appears headed for a smooth victory in a September 12 public referendum to confirm the amendments. But the general elections next year could be trickier.
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Turkey’s Irrelevant Islamism
After Recep Tayyip Erdoğan became Prime Minister of Turkey for the conservative Justice and Development Party AKP in 2003, both the secular opposition and Western commentators were quick to expound their fears about the country’s apparently newfound Islamism. The legacy of Atatürk was being squandered, some alleged, in favor of backwardness and nationalism.
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Troubles in Turkey's Backyard
Forget Gaza or Iran, Prime Minister Erdogan needs to focus on the reignited war with Kurdish separatists -- before a full-fledged war breaks out in Turkey's restive southeast. Story Continues…
Israeli Military Finds Flotilla Killings Justified
TEL AVIV — An Israeli military investigation into its naval takeover of a Gaza-bound flotilla six weeks ago found that it was plagued by errors of planning, intelligence and coordination but that the killings of nine Turks on board were justified, according to an official summary of the findings released Monday.
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Dining Al Fresco Around Istanbul
When the weather is nice in Istanbul, people love to eat outdoors. Our good friends at Istanbul Eats have put together a list of their Top Five (which is actually 6) restaurants where one can dine, ‘Al Fresco’. Click on the name of the restaurant for a full review of each.
Full List and Links...
'Mystery' raid in northern Iraq unconfirmed by Turkish General Staff
An overnight raid by Turkish warplanes in northern Iraq reportedly injured one civilian and damaged several farms, though the late-Friday attack was shrouded in mystery due to a lack of confirmation from the Turkish General Staff.
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İş Bankası, Vakıfbank switch to biometric ATM
Turkey’s İş Bankası and Vakıfbank have commenced a new era in ATM service in the country’s banking sector as they prepare to switch to a new system that will allow customers to access their accounts by using only their fingertips.
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Haifa mayor suggests turning raided Mavi Marmara into hotel
The mayor of the northern Israeli city of Haifa, Yona Yahav, has written a letter to the defense minister requesting that the Mavi Marmara ship be turned into a floating hotel off the coast of Haifa.
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Israel-Syria talks moving ahead without Turkey
Syria is signaling interest in renewed negotiations with Israel, but favors US or French mediation over former go-between Turkey.
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Lopez faces 40 million lawsuit over Cyprus cancellation
ISTANBUL — A hotel in Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus has threatened Jennifer Lopez with a 40 million dollar lawsuit after she cancelled a concert there for "political" reasons, press reports said Sunday.
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Turkey asks Iraq, US to hand over Kurdish rebels: report
ANKARA — Turkey has asked Iraq, the United States and Iraq's Kurdish administration to hand over nearly 250 Kurdish rebels operating from rear bases in Iraq, the Hurriyet daily reported Saturday.
The list of 248 includes rebel commanders such as Murat Karayilan, Cemil Bayik and Duran Kalkan, and Ankara wants the handover to be "as soon as possible," the newspaper said, quoting unnamed senior Turkish officials.
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Turkey goes cool on joining the European Union as it falls for the lure of the East
As Europe's top diplomat prepares to travel to Turkey, Colin Freeman finds a country not entirely convinced about their need to join the EU.
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Turkey ups the ante on Israel over Gaza flotilla incident
Turkey's foreign minister Ahmet Davutoğlu says that Turkey will break diplomatic ties with Israel unless it apologizes or accepts an international probe for its deadly May 31 raid on a Gaza flotilla.
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Court Gives Most Controversial Verdicts Under Shadow of Controversial Members
The alleged partiality of some members of the Constitutional Court -- the highest legal body that examines the constitutionality of laws -- has been one of the most contentious topics in Turkey, with the court recently giving verdicts on extremely critical issues under the shadow of such members.
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Turkey Steps Into Void in Former Yugoslavia
ISTANBUL—The leaders of Turkey, Serbia and other Balkan nations gather this weekend to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre in Bosnia-Herzegovina, in an event seen by Turkish officials as a crowning moment in its campaign of regional diplomacy.
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