How a Secretive Branch of ISIS Built a Global Network of Killers

Believing he was answering a holy call, Harry Sarfo left his home in the working-class city of Bremen last year and drove for four straight days to reach the territory controlled by the Islamic State in Syria. He barely had time to settle in before members of the Islamic State’s secret service, wearing masks over […]

Turks Can Agree on One Thing: U.S. Was Behind Failed Coup

A Turkish newspaper reported that an American academic and former State Department official had helped orchestrate a violent conspiracy to topple the Turkish government from a fancy hotel on an island in the Sea of Marmara, near Istanbul. The same newspaper, in a front-page headline, flat-out said the United States had tried to assassinate President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on […]

Turkish soldiers seek asylum in Greece

Another ace up Erdogan’s sleeve is the refugee crisis. The EU in general, and Greece as the entry point, has relied heavily on a widely criticized deal with Turkey to stem the refugee flows from Syria and Iraq through the country and to Europe’s shores.

Pentagon says no US military support for Turkey coup

The Pentagon is flatly rejecting allegations by Turkey’s president that the U.S. military was somehow involved in or in any way supported the recent failed coup in that country. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (REH’-jehp TY’-ihp UR’-doh-wahn) lashed out at the U.S. Friday and criticized a senior military commander who had expressed concerns that the […]

Turkey coup bid: Erdogan says US general ‘taking side of plotters’

Turkey’s president has blasted remarks by top US general Joseph Votel in the wake of the failed coup, accusing him of being “on the side of the plotters”. Gen Votel, head of US Central Command, said jailing some military leaders could damage Turkish-American military co-operation. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Gen Votel should thank Turkey […]

Turkey builds ‘traitors’ cemetery’ for insurgents who died in failed coup

Tucked in the back corner of a construction site for a new dog shelter in eastern Istanbul lies a freshly dug, unmarked grave – the first in the new “traitors’ cemetery” created specifically to hold the bodies of plotters who died in the 15 July failed coup. The following week, the city announced it intended to […]

VP Biden Apologizes for Telling Truth About Turkey, Saudi and ISIS

Vice President Joe Biden is apologizing again for speaking the truth. After talking for an hour and a half at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy Forum last Thursday, he took a question from a student who asked a wise question: “In retrospect do you believe the United States should have acted earlier in Syria, and if […]

Turkey increases pressure on U.S. for Gulen’s extradition

Turkish leaders on Tuesday stepped up their calls for the United States to punish Fethullah Gulen, the reclusive cleric living in Pennsylvania whose organization is said to be behind the failed July 15 coup attempt that sought to topple President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his government. Officials in Ankara insist that Gulen had a direct […]

Failed Turkish Coup Accelerated a Purge Years in the Making

Night had fallen and the weekend had begun, but the head of Turkey’s spy agency remained at work in the main security compound in Ankara, struggling to track reports of strange military activities across the country. Suddenly, a roar of gunfire erupted as a fleet of choppers blasted the gates of the compound. As guards fired […]