Turkey
Latest stories
1 Injured as Attacks in Ankara Target Ministry, Party HQ

Assailants on Tuesday fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the headquarters of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party and hurled two hand grenades at the Justice Ministry's parking lot, slightly wounding one person, officials said.

Interior Minister Muammer Guler said no one was injured in the attack on the ruling Justice and Development Party headquarters, while the spouse of a Justice Ministry employee was treated for a slight injury in the second assault.

W140 Full Story
Ghassan Hitto Voted Premier of Syria's Rebel Territory

Syria's main opposition National Coalition early Tuesday elected Ghassan Hitto, a former U.S.-based IT executive with Islamist leanings, as prime minister for Syrian rebel-held territory.

In a new challenge to the regime of President Bashar Assad, the Coalition appointed Hitto after some 14 hours of closed-door consultations in the Turkish city of Istanbul.

W140 Full Story
Jailed PKK Leader Confirms Ceasefire Call on Thursday

Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan has confirmed he will call for a "historic" ceasefire on Thursday, the day of the Kurdish New Year, a pro-Kurdish lawmaker told reporters in Istanbul after meeting the jailed PKK chief.

"I continue with my preparations to make a call on March 21, during the Newroz celebrations. The declaration I am going to make will be historic," lawmaker Selahattin Demirtas said Monday, reading from a letter penned by Ocalan.

W140 Full Story
Syrian Opposition Meets to Form Interim Government

Members of Syria's main opposition group were on Monday meeting in Turkey to form a rival government to President Bashar Assad's regime.

Twelve candidates are running for the job of an interim prime minister for areas the rebels control. The candidates are mostly exile-based technocrats, although two of the nominees live in the government-controlled areas.

W140 Full Story
U.N. Says Real Risk of Syria War Exploding across Mideast

Syria's two-year conflict and the refugee crisis that it has triggered are at real risk of exploding across the Middle East, the U.N. refugee agency warned on Friday.

"I believe that if the Syrian conflict goes on and on and on, there is a real risk of an explosion in the Middle East, and then there will be no way to cope with the challenge from the humanitarian, political and security perspective," said U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres.

W140 Full Story
Kurd Rebels Free Turkish Prisoners in North Iraq

The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) on Tuesday freed eight Turkish prisoners held for two years in northern Iraq, as part of a new peace push by Ankara to end a 29-year-old insurgency.

The release of the eight captives, including security officers and civil servants, came after a request by jailed Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan, who said last month that he hoped to see prisoners "reach their families."

W140 Full Story
Suspected PKK Recruiter Charged in Germany

German federal prosecutors on Tuesday pressed charges against a 35-year-old Turkish man suspected of recruiting for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) throughout Europe.

Prosecutors charged the man, identified only as Metin A., with "membership of a foreign terrorist organisation."

W140 Full Story
Kurdish Rebels 'to Free Turkish Prisoners Wednesday'

Kurdish rebels said they would on Wednesday release eight Turkish captives to a delegation of pro-Kurdish party members as part of a renewed push for peace with Turkey.

"The prisoners will be freed and handed over to a delegation on 13 March, 2013," an armed wing of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) said in an emailed statement on Tuesday.

W140 Full Story
Report: Syria Army Ready to Fight Rebels 'for Years'

Syria's army could go on fighting "for years" rebels trying to overthrown President Bashar Assad, a pro-regime newspaper said on Tuesday, adding however that citizens could join according to their capacities.

"The army is in perfect condition, its soldiers and officers have been fighting for two years with a courage and bravery unparalleled in world history, in the fiercest of battles," said Al-Watan newspaper, as the conflict prepared to enter its third year.

W140 Full Story
Kurdish Rebels to Free Turkish Prisoners Tuesday

The outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) is expected to hand over Turkish captives to a delegation made up of pro-Kurdish party members on Tuesday as part of renewed peace talks with Turkey, the interior minister said.

"We were informed of the fact that the delegation will go tomorrow (Tuesday)" to northern Iraq and the captives "will be delivered to us," Muammer Guler told reporters in Ankara Monday.

W140 Full Story