Türkiye (29 Viewers)

[Turk_Bianconero]

@Martin

You were asking about journalists in jail in first post. Here is the latest news.

İstanbul Court accepts indictment in odatv.com case including Şener, Şık

The 16th İstanbul High Criminal Court on Friday accepted an indictment of 14 suspects, including some journalists who are accused of being members of Ergenekon, following searches made at the headquarters of the odatv news portal earlier this year.

09 September 2011, Friday / TODAY’S ZAMAN, İSTANBUL

In February, İstanbul police searched the offices of the odatv.com news portal and the homes of the portal's administrators. They detained four people, including owner Soner Yalçın. Three of the detainees, including Yalçın, were later arrested on charges of membership in a terrorist organization and receiving and publishing confidential state documents.

They are accused of being members of Ergenekon, a clandestine criminal network accused of plotting to overthrow the government. A number of documents seized from the news portal include various strategies to manipulate the media and the public to get support for an anti-Ergenekon probe campaign.

Twelve of the 14 suspects in the odatv.com investigation have been arrested. Suspects Yalçın Küçük, Soner Yalçın, Hanefi Avcı, Nedim Şener, Ahmet Şık, Kaşif Kozinoğlu, Barış Terkoğlu, Barış Pehlivan, Müyesser Uğur, Doğan Yurdakul, Çoşkun Musluk, Sait Çakır, Mümtaz İdil and İklim Kaleli are accused of establishing an armed terrorist organization, managing it, being a member of it, inciting hatred and animosity among the public, obtaining documents related to the security of the state, being in possession of confidential documents and violating people’s privacy.

 

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[Rami]

Nope, it wasn't gonna be a world power. The Great Powers controlled everything in the Ottoman Empire. Absolutely everything. They could do whatever they want with it and they were doing whatever they wanted. The opposite interest of the Great Powers, the British fear of Russia controlling the Bosphorus and the big market the Empire was to Germany were what was keeping the Ottoman Empire alive. But the fact is that it could never do something on its own and the Great Powers were never gonna allow Turkey to become a world power, with or without Ataturk.

Thats not completely true, the Ottoman empire actually held its own in WWI. They fought on 4 fronts, held their ground on two (one of which Ataturk was general), lost the Iraq front, and was betrayed by Sharif of Makkah on the Arab/Egyptian front. What I am trying to say, that the Ottoman empire wasn't as weak as many would have you think.

 

[Turk_Bianconero]

Turkey says may launch ground offensive into northern Iraq at any time

13 September 2011, Tuesday / TODAYSZAMAN.COM,

Turkey said on Tuesday that its military may launch a ground offensive against terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) targets in northern Iraq at any time in accordance with ongoing talks with Iraqi Kurdish officials as part of cooperation against the PKK.

Interior Minister İdris Naim Şahin said in response to questions from reporters as to whether Turkey is pondering a ground operation in northern Iraq that talks with the Kurdish regional administration in northern Iraq are still under way and that a cross-border ground offensive could be launched at any time just like aerial strikes. In August, the Turkish military launched aerial attacks on PKK targets in northern Iraq, killing up to 160 terrorists.

The PKK uses its bases in northern Iraq to launch attacks on Turkey. Its Iranian wing, the Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan (PJAK), is also involved in clashes with Iranian forces.

Last week, Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioğlu travelled to Iraq and discussed the issue of the fight against terrorism, as well as bilateral and regional issues, with Iraqi Kurdish officials. Sinirlioğlu's visit to Iraq comes amid a surge in PKK attacks on Turkish troops. Dozens of troops were killed in PKK attacks over the past couple of months.

Last Thursday, opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli called on the government to authorize a ground offensive against PKK targets in northern Iraq before winter, saying “no stone should be left unturned” in the Kandil Mountains where the PKK has bases. Turkish Chief of General Staff Gen. Necdet Özel and other top commanders inspected troops in southeastern Anatolia last week, raising speculations that the military might be preparing for a ground offensive in northern Iraq.

A security summit was also held at the Prime Ministry on Monday before Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan left the country for a visit to Egypt.

Turkey has launched several cross-border air and ground operations in northern Iraq during a conflict that first erupted in the 1980s. The last major incursion was in early 2008, when Turkey sent 10,000 troops, backed by air power, into northern Iraq.

 

[IrishZebra]

Iraqi Kurds are supposedly very friendly folks.

 

[Vinman]

Turkey says may launch ground offensive into northern Iraq at any time

13 September 2011, Tuesday / TODAYSZAMAN.COM,

Turkey said on Tuesday that its military may launch a ground offensive against terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) targets in northern Iraq at any time in accordance with ongoing talks with Iraqi Kurdish officials as part of cooperation against the PKK.

Interior Minister İdris Naim Şahin said in response to questions from reporters as to whether Turkey is pondering a ground operation in northern Iraq that talks with the Kurdish regional administration in northern Iraq are still under way and that a cross-border ground offensive could be launched at any time just like aerial strikes. In August, the Turkish military launched aerial attacks on PKK targets in northern Iraq, killing up to 160 terrorists.

The PKK uses its bases in northern Iraq to launch attacks on Turkey. Its Iranian wing, the Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan (PJAK), is also involved in clashes with Iranian forces.

Last week, Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioğlu travelled to Iraq and discussed the issue of the fight against terrorism, as well as bilateral and regional issues, with Iraqi Kurdish officials. Sinirlioğlu's visit to Iraq comes amid a surge in PKK attacks on Turkish troops. Dozens of troops were killed in PKK attacks over the past couple of months.

Last Thursday, opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli called on the government to authorize a ground offensive against PKK targets in northern Iraq before winter, saying “no stone should be left unturned” in the Kandil Mountains where the PKK has bases. Turkish Chief of General Staff Gen. Necdet Özel and other top commanders inspected troops in southeastern Anatolia last week, raising speculations that the military might be preparing for a ground offensive in northern Iraq.

A security summit was also held at the Prime Ministry on Monday before Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan left the country for a visit to Egypt.

Turkey has launched several cross-border air and ground operations in northern Iraq during a conflict that first erupted in the 1980s. The last major incursion was in early 2008, when Turkey sent 10,000 troops, backed by air power, into northern Iraq.

probably a smarter move than going heads up with Israel, and being embarassed

dont see the Turks doing anything about Syria either, pretty much being punked at their border

 

[Turk_Bianconero]

communist pkk continue its killings

Major blast rocks Turkish capital's downtown, 3 killed

An explosion occurred in the Turkish capital of Ankara on Tuesday, killing three people and injuring 15 others, Interior Minister İdris Naim Şahin said.

Turkish television broadcasters have shown several vehicles on fire in the capital following the explosion. The blast took place in a vehicle on Kumrular Street in Kızılay and that a fire broke out as a result. At least six cars and a building were seriously damaged after the blast.

Although Deputy Prime Minister Beşir Atalay earlier said nobody was killed in the explosion, Şahin said three people died in the blast. The interior minister added that “it is highly likely the explosion was a terrorist attack.” Recalling that there are claims that an LPG tank explosion caused the attack, Şahin said this is unlikely and that once this possibility is eliminated it will be certain that the blast was a terror attack.

President Abdullah Gül, who is currently on an official visit to Germany, also commented on the explosion and called it a terrorist attack. “There are fatalities. I would like to first deliver my condolences to them. I condemn the attack with hatred,” he said.

Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç also said initial findings point to a bomb attack. Arınç said "there is information that a bomb was planted" on the vehicle that exploded in Kızılay.

The explosion reportedly took place in front of the Çankaya District Governor's Office and a primary school. The explosion is also near the Prime Ministry building.

Ambulances and fire engines have been dispatched to the scene and police have cordoned off the area, fearing a second explosion. The reason for the blast is still to be determined. The private Cihan news agency said the explosion could have been caused by a bomb attack, while there are also claims that an LPG tank explosion may also have caused the blast. Çankaya Mayor Bülent Tanık also said nobody was killed in the explosion and that one eyewitness had said a LPG tank explosion caused the explosion.

Deputy Prime Minister Atalay, Ankara Police Chief Zeki Çatalkaya and many other officials rushed to the area. Police are not ruling out the possibility that the blast may have been a terrorist attack carried out by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has recently stepped up its terrorist activities. The PKK, which has killed more than 50 people in the past few months, has been declared a terrorist organization by the international community, including the US and the EU.

20 September 2011, Tuesday / TODAYSZAMAN.COM,

 

[Turk_Bianconero]

And another.. Liked it Irish Zebra?

PKK kills four women, one student in attacks on police

Terrorists from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) killed four women and a police academy student in attacks on two police academies in Turkey's southeast on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The PKK attacked a van with guns and hand grenades in the southeastern province of Siirt late on Tuesday, killing four women in the vehicle, according to Siirt Governor Musa Çolak. Two other women in the van were also injured.

One of the assailants was also killed when a grenade exploded prematurely in his hand. The attack occurred close to Siirt's police academy, leading to speculation that the assailants may have mistaken the van for a police vehicle.

In another attack, the PKK targeted a police academy in Bitlis, killing a student and injuring five others. A large-scale operation was launched in the province to capture the assailants.

The PKK has recently stepped up its terrorists attacks in the past few months and killed more than 50 people, including civilians. More than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict between the state and PKK, which took up arms in 1984. The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.

21 September 2011, Wednesday / TODAYSZAMAN.COM,

 

[Turk_Bianconero]

PKK kills pregnant woman, 6-year-old in Batman terror attack

The terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has recently been targeting civilians in its attacks, killed a pregnant woman and her 6-year-old daughter in the southeastern province of Batman late on Monday, the Batman Governor's Office said on Tuesday.


The statement said a group of terrorists opened fire on civilians and police in the Yavuz Selim neighborhood, killing eight-month-pregnant Mizgin Doru (35) and her 6-year-old daughter, Sultan Doru. Doru's husband, her 8-year-old daughter and three police officers were also injured in the attack while three terrorists were also killed. Doru's husband is reportedly in critical condition, but doctors were able to save Doru's unborn baby, who is being kept in an incubator, the statement said.

The Batman incident was not the first in which civilians had been killed by the PKK. Fourteen civilians have been killed and 58 injured over the past 18 days in terrorist attacks carried out by the PKK, which has recently stepped up attacks. The latest killing of four women in Siirt led to outrage across the country, including the country's predominantly Kurdish Southeast, with the public calling on the PKK to end its attacks. The PKK attacked a car near a police academy with rifles and hand grenades in the southeastern province of Siirt last Tuesday, killing sisters Nergiz Evin (25), Zeynep Evin (31), Kevser Çekin (25) and Nurcan Olgaç (25). Two other women in the car, Nuran Evin and Gülcan Olgaç, were also injured in the attack.
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-258...woman-6-year-old-in-batman-terror-attack.html

 

[Elvin]

There's place called Batman in Turkey? How bad-ass.

 

[ßöмßäяðîëя]

BATMAN WAS PART OF A TERROR ATTACK!

 

[Turk_Bianconero]

PKK kills 24 security members, injures 18 in Hakkari terror attacks

Twenty-four members of the Turkish security forces were killed and 18 were injured in the southeastern province of Hakkari early on Wednesday in simultaneous attacks carried by the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), the private Cihan news agency has reported.


Cihan said terrorists attacked several military and police buildings in the Çukurca district and Hakkari's city center and that 24soldiers and police officers were killed. At least 18 soldiers were also wounded when the terrorists opened fire on military outposts in Çukurca and Yüksekova districts in Hakkari province on the border with Iraq, the sources said. The attacks reportedly occurred simultaneously.

Hakkari Governor Muammer Türker confirmed the attacks in the predominantly Kurdish province of Hakkari but gave no further information about casualties. Earlier, the sources said 21 soldiers had been killed but later raised the toll. Turkey's armed forces could not be immediately reached for comment. The PKK did not immediately claim responsibility for the attacks.

Reuters said citing military sources that Turkish commandos crossed into northern Iraq in hot pursuit of the terrorists after the Hakkari attacks.



The attacks come only a day after five policemen and three civilians, including a 2-year-old girl, were killed in a roadside bomb attack planted by the PKK in nearby Bitlis province.



Wednesday's attacks also come only days after Turkish President Abdullah Gül visited troops in the region to boost morale in an area that has seen increased violence in recent months.

Chief of General Staff Gen. Necdet Özel and force commanders travelled to Hakkari after the news of the soldiers' deaths. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who was scheduled to leave the country on Wednesday for an official visit to Kazakhstan, cancelled his trip. There are reports that Erdoğan will also go to Hakkari.


Terrorist PKK kills five police, three civilians in Bitlis attack

Five police officers and three civilians, including a 2-year-old girl, were killed and several others were injured in an attack by the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the southeastern province of Bitlis on Tuesday, Bitlis governor said.


Bitlis Governor Nurettin Yılmaz told reporters following the blast that a remotely controlled bomb was detonated while a police vehicle was passing by and killed eight people.

Yılmaz earlier said four people were injured during the blast and the wounded people were taken to Bitlis State Hospital. However, one of the injured passed away in the hospital. He added that large-scale air and ground operations have been launched in the area.

The blast took place in the Güroymak district of Bitlis province in the predominantly Kurdish southeast of Turkey. Two police officers who were injured are reportedly in critical condition.

A senior member of the PKK, Bahoz Erdal of Syria, has recently been reported to have ordered the group's militants to avenge the destruction of a key PKK camp by Turkish security forces. The Turkish military brought down a PKK camp located in Kavaklı, just 30 kilometers from the provincial center of Turkey's southeastern Hakkari province last week. The camp was a key base for the Kurdish Communities Union (KCK), the organization controlling the PKK and affiliated groups, both logistically and strategically.

Radio communications between terrorists intercepted by Turkish intelligence officers indicated that Erdal ordered an escalation of attacks on military and police targets as well as on civilians. The Bitlis incident is not the first in which civilians had been killed by the PKK. Nearly 20 civilians have been killed and dozens of others were injured over the past few months in terrorist attacks carried out by the PKK, which has recently stepped up its attacks. The killing of four women in Siirt last month led to outrage across the country, including the country's predominantly Kurdish Southeast, with the public calling on the PKK to end its attacks.

Also last month, the PKK opened fire on civilians and police in Batman, killing eight-month-pregnant Mizgin Doru (35) and her 6-year-old daughter, Sultan Doru. Doru's husband, her 8-year-old daughter and three police officers were injured in the attack, while three terrorists were also killed. The woman's unborn baby was saved via C-section, but later died in the hospital on Wednesday, bringing the death toll in this attack to three.

In the face of intensified terrorist attacks targeting civilians, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has recently called on Turkey's Kurds to rise up against the terrorist PKK, which he called cruel for attacking mosques and killing civilians.

Turkey has this year carried out scores of air raids and artillery strikes on northern Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish area and also in southeastern Turkey against PKK targets. Ankara has warned it could carry out a cross-border ground attack, depending on talks with Iraq. Recently, Parliament passed a bill extending permission, as it has done several times since 2007, for the Turkish military to mount cross-border operations against members of the PKK in northern Iraq during the coming year.

 

[Turk_Bianconero]

It's said recent attacks can be done with an organized army. It's either israel or syria.

 

[Turk_Bianconero]

Turkish president vows 'great revenge’ for Hakkari attacks

In initial comments on simultaneous terrorist attacks in the southeastern province of Hakkari on Wednesday that killed 26 policemen and soldiers, Turkish President Abdullah Gül said those who caused this pain will be met with retaliation as he vowed a “great revenge” for the attacks.

“Those who caused us to suffer this pain will suffer equally. Those who assume that they can shake the Turkish state in this way will see that our revenge for these attacks will be great. They will eventually see that they cannot wage a war against the Turkish state. Those who aid them should also learn their lessons and endure the consequences of this. The whole world should know that Turkey will go ahead with its fight against terrorism with determination until the very end. Turkey will never be shaken,” Gül told reporters in the wake of the attacks.

Stating that fighting with terrorism is a long process, Gül underscored that Turkey is determined to fight the PKK. “If some are assuming that democratic developments in Turkey were obtained through acts of terrorism, they are seriously deluded. It is different to protect the rights of our own citizens and to fight terror without any concessions,” the president added.

Parliament Speaker Cemil Çiçek, who spoke to reporters ahead of a meeting for the parliamentary constitutional commission, condemned terror. He said the attacks cast a shadow over the commission's eagerness to start working on a new constitution, but he added that Turkey cannot take a step back in its efforts to make a new constitution.

 

[ReBeL]

It's said recent attacks can be done with an organized army. It's either israel or syria.

Or both.

 

[Turk_Bianconero]

Apparently borders will change. Some part of Northern Iraq will be taken.

 

[JuveJay]

So the Turkish authorities can tighten their grip on terrorists instead of having to involves the Iraqi's?

What do Iraq say about this?

 

[Turk_Bianconero]

So the Turkish authorities can tighten their grip on terrorists instead of having to involves the Iraqi's?

What do Iraq say about this?

There are more than 5000 armed terrorists, keep trespassing borders and killing people. Only yesterday they blew up a 2 years old with his father. There is nothing Iraq say as talking phase is ended. It's not a simple terrorist attack but a war and everything need to be done will be done.

Barzani accepted Turkish army to get in North Iraq btw.

 

[Turk_Bianconero]

Turkish military launches massive ground offensive in Iraq

Turkey's military says about 10,000 soldiers are taking part in its offensive against the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), making it the nation's largest attack on the insurgents in more than three years.

Turkey's military says about 10,000 soldiers are taking part in its offensive against the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), making it the nation's largest attack on insurgents in more than three years.

The military launched the offensive on Wednesday after the PKK carried out raids near the Turkey-Iraq border that killed 24 Turkish soldiers. The military said 22 battalions, or about 10,000 soldiers, were taking part in the offensive, but it didn't say how many of them were in southern Turkey and how many in northern Iraq.

“Following these incidents [terror attacks], a large-scale ground offensive backed by air strikes has been launched in five separate regions within the country and outside the borders [in northern Iraq] with 22 battalions composed of commandoes and special operation units to find members of the terrorist organization who staged this heinous attack and to render them infective,” a statement released by the Turkish General Staff said.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan refused to share details of the military's offensive. "Our goal is to achieve results with this operation," Erdoğan told a nationally televised news conference. "The military is determinedly carrying out this [operation], both from the air and the ground," he said.

Turkey launched the cross-border offensive against the PKK after the group staged simultaneous attacks on Turkish military and police targets along the border on Wednesday, killing 24 soldiers and wounding 18 others.

The flag-draped coffins of slain soldiers were being flown to several cities across the country on Thursday for burial. A military funeral ceremony scheduled to be held for slain soldiers in Van was cancelled on Thursday. Separate funerals will be held for the soldiers in their hometowns.

The killings outraged many in Turkey and fueled nationalist sentiment. Many protesters, from high school students to post office workers, carrying huge Turkish flags and chanting anti-PKK slogans, marched in Ankara on Thursday.

 

[Turk_Bianconero]

Turkish military says kills 49 PKK terrorists

The Turkish military said on Saturday its forces had killed 49 Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorists in the southeast over the last two days, during an offensive to avenge the killing of 24 soldiers by PKK members earlier this week.

The military operation against terrorists from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), involving thousands of troops and into its third day, has focused on both sides of the mountainous Turkey-Iraq border.

Ankara's reaction to one of the deadliest attacks on its security forces in a conflict that began three decades ago has ignited speculation that Turkey could move to a full blown incursion to clear out PKK camps deeper inside northern Iraq.

The military said it had spotted 35 terrorists during the early hours of Saturday morning in the Kazan valley in Çukurca, a district of Hakkari province located along the Iraqi border.

Çukurca is where many of the 24 Turkish soldiers were killed when PKK members attacked several mountain military outposts on Wednesday.

Turkish forces launched artillery raids, followed by air strikes against the terrorists during the night, Turkey's general staff said in a statement on its website, adding that troops had later discovered the dead bodies of 35 PKK members.

The bodies of 14 other terrorists were discovered in the same valley nearby, seven of them in a cave, bringing the total number of PKK members killed in the last two days to 49, it said.

While the military has not provided a number for how many soldiers are engaged in the operations, it said on Friday it had deployed troops from 22 battalions in five different areas, meaning there could be more than 10,000 troops involved.

In Çukurca, several military personnel and attack helicopters could be seen flying overhead but there was little military movement on the ground. A Reuters reporter was stopped by Turkish soldiers from entering the road leading to the Kazan valley.

Çukurca and the surrounding area is located high in the mountains above the Zab valley, a narrow gorge that cuts its way through the district. The Zab river winds its way along the gorge before flowing into the Tigris in northern Iraq.

In Çukurca town, no more than a few dozen houses clinging to the side of the mountain, residents dismissed the Turkish military offensive as a fact of life.

"We are used to these helicopters flying overhead every day now," said one man in his 20s as he sat down in one of the town's two restaurants.

"What can we do? We like both sides but we are constantly under pressure, we just want peace," he said referring to the Turkish military and the PKK. The man did not want to be identified for fear of reprisal.

Other residents suggested they were caught in the middle, saying they feared for their lives during Wednesday's PKK attack.

"The bullets came down like rain. We just laid down on the ground wherever we were and prayed we would be alright. The attacks went on for hours," another man said.

The PKK has stepped up attacks on Turkish security forces in recent months and Wednesday's raid was one of the bloodiest for Turkish forces since the PKK members first waged war on the Turkish state in 1984. Turkey's President Abdullah Gül has vowed "great revenge" for the attacks.

While Turkey's strong response to the attacks may appease a large portion of the Turkish public, many Turks and Kurds have grown weary of the violence.

After three decades of conflict in which more than 40,000 have been killed, the PKK, founded in the 1970s by the now captive Abdullah Öcalan, has dropped demands for a Kurdish state in favor of greater rights for Turkey's 15 million Kurds.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's government has passed cultural and political reforms favoring ethnic Kurds, some 20 percent of the population, aimed at ending violence fed by grievances for which the Kurds have long enjoyed international sympathy.

 

[IrishZebra]

Vowing revenge? How civilised...