Turkey
Latest stories
Ban to Visit Syrian Camps in Turkey

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is due to visit Syrian refugee camps in Turkey next week and to meet top officials including Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, an official said Tuesday.

More than 120,000 Syrians have crossed into Turkey to flee the deadly violence that has engulfed their home country for 20 months, according to official figures, although the actual number is likely to be much higher.

W140 Full Story
'Hackers' on Trial in Turkey for the First Time

A group of Internet hackers appeared before an Ankara court on Monday on charges of terrorism, the first time alleged cyber criminals have been put on trial in Turkey, local media reported.

The 10 members of the "Redhack" group are accused of belonging to an armed terrorist organisation, illegally obtaining confidential documents and personal information, as well as cracking into private systems without authorization.

W140 Full Story
Turkey Insists Patriots Would Be 'Purely Defensive'

The Turkish army insisted Monday that any deployment by NATO of Patriot missiles on the border with Syria would be used for defensive purposes only and not to launch any attack, after Damascus warned that the move would be a "provocation".

"The system is a purely defensive measure, against possible air and missile threats from Syria," the army command said in a statement.

W140 Full Story
Turkey Admits Contact with Israel over Gaza Conflict

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu admitted on Sunday that Turkey had resumed contacts with Israel to try to bring an end to the hostilities in Gaza, despite its decision to freeze diplomatic relations with the Jewish state.

"In the Gaza process, it's true, Israel held discussions with Turkey through foreign ministry and secret service channels," Davutoglu said in a televised interview, quoted by the Anatolia news agency.

W140 Full Story
Bassil: Power-Generating Ships' Arrival Delayed over Govt. Failure to Meet their Costs

Energy Minister Jebran Bassil announced on Saturday that the arrival of the power-generating ships to Lebanon from Turkey has been delayed, reported the daily An Nahar on Sunday.

He explained that the government has failed to provide the cost of acquiring the ships.

W140 Full Story
Iranian Speaker Holds Talks with Turkish PM in Istanbul

Iranian parliament speaker Ali Larijani met Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan behind closed doors in Istanbul for two hours on Saturday, Turkish news agency Anatolia reported without providing details.

Larijani is on a regional tour, having already been to Syria and also planning to visit Lebanon.

W140 Full Story
Syria Rebels Attack in Aleppo, Clash with Kurds near Turkey

Syrian rebels attacked army positions in the northern province of Aleppo on Saturday while Islamist fighters clashed with Kurdish militias on the border with Turkey, residents said.

Insurgents also attacked troops guarding the strategic Tishrin dam, located on the Euphrates river between the provinces of Aleppo and Raqa.

W140 Full Story
NATO Seeks to Calm Russian Fears on Missiles for Turkey

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen sought Friday to reassure Russia over the requested deployment of Patriot missiles in Turkey near the border with Syria, saying it would be a "defensive only" measure.

NATO spokesman Carmen Romero said Rasmussen had told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in a telephone conversation that such a deployment "would in no way support a no-fly zone or any offensive operations."

W140 Full Story
Iran: Turkey's Patriot Request 'Complicates' Syria Conflict

Turkey's request to site Patriot missiles on its border with Syria only "complicates" the conflict in the Arab country, Iran's foreign ministry said on Friday.

"Not only does it not help resolve the situation in Syria but it will also aggravate and complicate the situation," ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said, quoted on state television.

W140 Full Story
Syria Says Turkey Request for Missiles 'New Act of Provocation'

Turkey's request to NATO for Patriot missiles is "a new act of provocation," Syrian state television quoted a foreign ministry official it did not name as saying on Friday.

Turkey turned to its NATO partners earlier this week to request the deployment of surface-to-air Patriot missiles to protect its troubled border with Syria.

W140 Full Story