Turkey’s prime minister has rejected claims that he is a "dictator" as thousands have returned to Taksim Square to protest against the government.
Shopkeepers and municipal workers began cleaning up Istanbul and Ankara on Sunday after the fiercest anti-government demonstrations in years.
Around 10 000 people have bid farewell to Lefter Kucukandonyadis, one of Turkey’s top football players, who has died at the age of 86.
Turkey has told Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad to step down for the sake of his people, tightening regional pressure on Damascus.
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s AK Party has scored a resounding third consecutive election victory.
Turkey’s government plans to pass constitutional amendments that have pitted it against the judiciary in a week to 10 days.
Erdogan pleads with Islamists and secular judges to avoid clash, writes Robert Tait.
Turkey’s top court decided on Monday to put the Islamist-rooted ruling party on trial for alleged anti-secular activity, in a case that could threaten national stability and Ankara’s bid to join the European Union. The judges of the Constitutional Court agreed to accept the indictment against the Justice and Development Party filed by the country’s top prosecutor.
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/ 28 February 2008
The Turkish army will remain in northern Iraq ”as long as necessary”, Turkish Defence Minister Vecdi Gonul said on Thursday, refusing to give a timetable for a troop withdrawal. ”Turkey will remain in northern Iraq as long as necessary,” Gonul told reporters after talks with United States Defence Secretary Robert Gates.
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/ 3 February 2008
About 125 000 flag-waving Turks, mostly women, denounced the Islamic-rooted government on Saturday over its plans to lift a decades-old ban on Islamic head scarves in universities — a move the foreign minister said would expand Turkish freedoms.
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/ 2 November 2007
Turkey wants action and not words in dealing with Kurdish rebels based in northern Iraq, Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said on Friday during a joint press conference with United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. ”We are where words have come to an end and action must begin,” Babacan said following talks with Rice on the threat posed by fighters of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party.
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/ 1 November 2007
Turkey on Thursday stepped up pressure on northern Iraq, imposing economic sanctions over the safe haven Kurdish rebels enjoy, as Washington said it was supplying Ankara with intelligence on the separatists’ positions. "We have prepared a list of economic measures targeting the financial resources of the terrorist organisation," Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said.
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/ 31 October 2007
The Turkish army on Wednesday said it killed 15 Kurdish separatists near the Iraqi border, as ministers discussed possible economic sanctions against Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish government. The latest fighting took place in the Cudi Mountains in Sirnak province, where helicopters and artillery have been pounding Kurdish rebels since Monday.
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/ 30 October 2007
The Turkish army pounded Kurdish rebels near the Iraqi border on Tuesday as Ankara warned that ties with Washington would suffer as long as the separatists enjoyed sanctuary in northern Iraq. Cobra helicopters fired missiles at rebel positions on the Cudi Mountains, which border Iraq, where fighting continued for a second day.
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/ 28 October 2007
Turkey sharpened its threat to invade northern Iraq on Saturday when Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared its army ready to attack Kurdish rebels ”when needed”, regardless of international opposition. Erdogan has been under pressure from America, Iraq and other countries to pull back from a move that could further destabilise the region.
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/ 27 October 2007
Turkey on Friday rejected Iraqi proposals to stop Kurdish rebels making cross-border attacks as too little, too late and said it remained in a "constant state of alert". A visit for crisis talks to Ankara by a high-ranking Iraqi delegation led by its defence and national security ministers was "a positive effort", the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.
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/ 24 October 2007
Turkey has carried out air sorties and shelling against Kurdish positions inside northern Iraq. Reuters said Turkish war planes flew as deep as 20km into Iraqi territory and about 300 ground troops advanced about 10km, killing 34 fighters from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers party.
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/ 23 October 2007
Turkey reassured Iraq on Tuesday that it wants a diplomatic solution to the problem of Kurdish rebel rear-bases but rejected a conditional ceasefire offer made by the guerrillas. ”Politics, dialogue, diplomacy, culture and economy are the measures to deal with this crisis,” Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan told a news conference in Baghdad.
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/ 23 October 2007
The United States is considering air strikes against Kurdish PKK rebels operating in northern Iraq in an attempt to head off a Turkish incursion, the Chicago Tribune reported on Tuesday. US President George Bush told Turkish President Abdullah Gul that US officials were seriously looking into options beyond diplomacy.
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/ 22 October 2007
Iraqi Kurdish rebels said on Monday they were ready to lay down their arms if Turkey stopped targeting the rebels and abandoned plans for an incursion into Iraq, according to a rebel website. ”We are ready for a ceasefire if the Turkish army stops attacking our positions, drops plans for an incursion and resorts to peace,” said a statement.
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/ 22 October 2007
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said on Monday that Kurdish rebels would announce a unilateral ceasefire later in the day amid Turkish threats to launch an incursion against them in northern Iraq. ”The PKK [Kurdistan Workers’ Party] has decided to declare a ceasefire from their side tonight,” Talabani told reporters at Sulaimaniyah Airport in Iraq’s northern Kurdish region.
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/ 17 October 2007
The Turkish Parliament Wednesday voted to allow military strikes against Kurdish separatists in northern Iraq, despite stiff United States opposition and appeals from Baghdad for time to purge the rebels. A government motion seeking a one-year authorisation for one or more incursions into Iraq was approved.
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/ 16 October 2007
Turkey on Tuesday accused Washington of playing "petty" politics and threatened reprisals if the United States Congress votes on a motion branding the World War I massacre of Armenians by Ottoman Turks an act of genocide. "We see that common sense is gradually losing ground to petty political calculations," Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.
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/ 12 October 2007
A diplomatic rift between Turkey and the United States deepened on Friday after Ankara recalled its ambassador to Washington over a vote in the US Congress to label the massacre of Armenians by the Ottoman Turks an act of genocide. The envoy’s recall came as the White House sought to mollify its Nato partner.
Turkey’s Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, came under intense pressure on Monday night to order an invasion of northern Iraq following the deadliest attacks for over a decade on the Turkish military and civilians by separatist Kurdish guerrillas.
Turkey’s foreign minister, Abdullah Gul, a practising Muslim and former Islamist, was on Tuesday sworn in as the 11th President of the staunchly secular republic in a move that will be seen as a defining moment for the country. The appointment of the 56-year-old marked a victory for the governing Muslim democrats.