Turkey launches operation to free Syrian border town from ISIS control

After a pre-dawn barrage of heavy artillery and airstrikes, Turkey sent tanks and special forces into Syria on Wednesday to help clear a border town of Islamic State militants in Ankara’s most significant military involvement so far in the Syria conflict. Syrian opposition fighters were also part of the cross-border incursion, which was reported by […]

Turkish wedding suicide bomber was 12-14 years old, Erdogan says

The suicide bomber who killed 51 people at a wedding party in southern Turkey was between 12 and 14 years old, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday, according to state-run news agency Andadolu. Speaking to reporters in Istanbul, the Turkish President said that early indications suggested the terror group ISIS was behind Saturday night’s […]

U.S. Delegation ‘Heading to Turkey for Gulen Probe’

U.S. Justice and State Department officials will fly to Ankara to discuss government accusations against Fethullah Gulen, the exiled cleric Turkey accuses of masterminding a failed military coup, according to a Justice Department official. President Tayyip Erdogan has demanded the United States extradite Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania, over the July putsch in which more […]

Turkey to Release Tens of Thousands of Prisoners to Make Room for Coup Suspects

 Turkey said on Wednesday that it would empty its prisons of tens of thousands of criminals to make room for the wave of journalists, teachers, lawyers and judges rounded up in connection with last month’s failed coup. The startling decision to put so many criminals convicted of nonviolent offenses back on the streets is a measure of […]

Turkey set to Free 38,000 Prisoners

Turkey plans to free 38,000 prisoners who have less than two years left on their sentence. The announcement is part of a decree made Wednesday, to make room in jails for the thousands of people it’s arrested in recent weeks for allegedly participating in a failed coup attempt. Turkish justice minister Bekir Bozdag announced the […]

Russia and Turkey make nice while the West watches

Putin plans to lift the sanctions bit by bit while resuming trade talks involving a multi-billion dollar gas pipeline. While the West has cringed from the actions of Erdogan during the aftermath of the Turkish military coup, Russia has stayed silent on the issues of crushing dissenters and demanding extradition of clerics.

Wave of PKK Attacks in Southeast Turkey Kill at Least 12

A wave of Kurdish rebel attacks targeting police and soldiers in Turkey’s mainly Kurdish southeast killed at least 12 people on Wednesday, as Turkey was still dealing with the aftermath of a failed military coup attempt that threatened the government. Officials said rebels of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, launched simultaneous bomb attacks targeting […]

Turkey arrests dozens of special forces in post-coup purge

Dozens of special forces personnel were arrested in Turkey Saturday in the latest development in a sweeping crackdown following the failed coup in the country that killed over 270 people, the state-run Anadolu news agency said. Nearly 90 staff members were arrested after being identified by a commission established by the Special Forces Command following […]

Turkey Issues a Warrant for Fethullah Gulen, Cleric Accused in Coup

 Turkey issued an arrest warrant on Thursday for Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric based in the United States, who was accused last month of orchestrating a failed coup against the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The warrant issued by an Istanbul court said Mr. Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999, ordered […]