Turkey

ANKARA, Turkey The foreign ministry announced on Wednesday (April 22nd) it is temporarily recalling its ambassador to Canada, Rafet Akgunay, for consultations. An unnamed government official says the presence of Canadian government officials at a recent memorial service for Armenians that were murdered during the time of the Ottoman Empire …

ANKARA, Turkey Police on Wednesday (April 22nd) detained ten more people, including four military officers, in another wave of arrests related to the so-called Ergenekon organisation that allegedly planned to topple the government. They found a new arms cache in Istanbul as part of Wednesday’s operation. Turkish media reported that …

BRUSSELS, Belgium The EU issued a statement Monday (April 20th) saying the hard-line National Unity Party’s (UBP) victory in Sunday’s parliamentary elections in the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) should not impact ongoing reunification talks with Greek Cypriots. “We do not think that the outcome of the elections …

ANKARA, Turkey A court decided on Monday (April 20th) to merge the case involving a deadly 2006 attack on judges from the country’s top administrative court with the ongoing Ergenekon investigation. On May 17th 2006, a gunman stormed into the Council of State in Ankara, killing a senior judge and …

Turkish Cypriots held general elections on Sunday in a vote likely to boost hardliners and complicate efforts to resolve the long-running division of Cyprus, a threat to Turkey’s European Union accession bid. Just under 162,000 people are voting in parliamentary elections in breakaway northern Cyprus, a sliver of territory only …

BERLIN, Germany Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday (April 19th) that his country would strengthen the EU’s internal market if it joins the bloc. Erdogan was speaking in Hanover, a day after attending a birthday party for former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who turned 65 on April …

ANKARA, Turkey Tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered in front of the Ankara mausoleum of Kemal Ataturk, founder of the secular Turkish state, on Sunday (April 19th) to protest arrests stemming from an alleged plot to topple the country’s Islamic-rooted government.

ANKARA, Turkey The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) intends to hold talks with the opposition on possible constitutional amendments, Burhan Kuzu, the head of parliament’s Joint Constitution-Justice Commission, told Reuters on Wednesday (April 8th).

ISTANBUL, Turkey – US President Barack Obama wrapped up his visit to Turkey on Tuesday (April 7th) by meeting with a group of 100 university students in Istanbul.

ANKARA, Turkey – Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said on Tuesday (April 7th) Turkey and Armenia have achieved some progress in ongoing talks to normalise bilateral relations.