Turkey

Turkey Seeks Economic Stability – OpEd

Turkey’s economy is in a bad way. In June the budget deficit, seven times higher than a year earlier, reached 219.6 billion lira ($8.37 billion). The forecast for July shows it widening still further. On July 16 Turkey raised the tax on gasoline, adding to the recent two percent increase …

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US sanctions Turkey-backed Syrian militias over rights abuses in Afrin

Washington has accused the Suleiman Shah Brigade, the Hamza Division and their leadership of committing serious rights abuses in the Kurdish-majority enclave of Afrin. The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions Thursday on two Turkey-backed Syrian militias accused of forcibly displacing and oppressing the local Kurdish population in northern Syria’s Afrin …

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US Imposes Sanctions on Two Armed Groups in Syria

The United States imposed on Thursday sanctions on two Türkiye-backed Syrian armed groups and some of their leaders accused of human rights abuses in areas under their control. “The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is designating two Syria-based armed militias and three members of …

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Why Turkey’s Erdogan sings the same tune with Russia’s Putin in Africa

Turkey’s efforts to expand its influence in Africa often align with those of Russia, with both Ankara and Moscow holding back from condemning military coups and seeking to capitalize on post-colonial resentments. A series of military takeovers in West Africa, the latest occurring in Niger last month, reveal the extent …

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US, Russia mum as Turkey escalates attacks against Kurdish groups in Syria and Iraq

Both the White House and the State Department remain silent as Turkey’s military campaign against the PKK continues “full blast.” Turkey’s military campaign against alleged Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) targets in Syria and Iraq is continuing full blast with at least four fighters of the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) …

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Is the Middle East’s Makeover a Mirage?

Why a Spate of Diplomatic Deals Won’t End Conflict In mid-July, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan completed a high-profile tour of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, a trip that brought tens of billions of dollars in investment deals in Turkey’s struggling economy. The trip was the culmination …

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Turkey, Egypt seek to boost mutual trade by 50% in 5 years

In the first visit of its kind in a decade, Egypt’s trade and industry minister traveled to Turkey on Tuesday. During a visit to Ankara, the first in a decade, Egypt’s Trade and Industry Minister Ahmed Samir Saleh and his Turkish counterpart Omer Bolat, announced Tuesday that they would seek …

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Turkish intelligence eliminates top PKK terrorist in Iraq’s north

A high-ranking member of the PKK terrorist group was “neutralized” by Turkish intelligence, security sources said Friday. Photos shared on media outlets showed a charred car in which the target was apparently traveling in Iraq’s north. The National Intelligence Organization (MIT) determined that Zagros Cekdar, code-named “Mesut Celal Osman,” forcefully …

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Police nab 16 Daesh/ISIS, al Qaeda terror suspects in Istanbul

Turkish anti-terror police raid 8 districts across the city to arrest suspects identified as ‘foreign terrorist fighters,’ say security sources Turkish security forces arrested 16 foreign nationals for their alleged links to the Daesh/ISIS and al-Qaeda terrorist organizations, security sources said on Thursday. Istanbul police anti-terror teams launched an operation …

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Türkiye detains 9 in anti-Daesh operation in Ankara

Turkish police have captured nine foreign nationals with suspected ties to the Daesh terrorist group, security forces said Wednesday. A joint simultaneous operation conducted by Ankara Anti-Terrorism Police Department and Intelligence Bureau targeted 10 foreign nationals in various locations across the capital, according to the sources who requested anonymity due …

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