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Turkish army chief vows 'more force' if further Syria shelling
10 October 2012 / TODAYSZAMAN.COM,
Turkish Chief of General Staff Gen. Necdet Özel on Wednesday vowed to give a “harsher response” to Syria if shelling from the neighboring country continues to spill over the border, after last week's deadly incident which left five Turks dead in a border town.
Özel, who has been inspecting troops along the border for a couple of days, was on Wednesday in the border town of Akçakale, where a Syrian mortar shell killed five civilians on Oct. 3. He paid a visit to Ömer Timuçin, whose wife, three children and a relative were killed in the incident, to deliver his condolences.
Özel said the Turkish military had instantly launched retaliatory strikes after the Syrian shell hit Akçakale on Oct. 3. "We responded but if it continues we will respond with greater force," Özel said. He added that the Syrian military has suffered serious damage from the Turkish strikes.
Accompanied by Land Forces Commander Gen. Hayri Kıvrıkoğlu and 2nd Army Commander Galip Mendi, the military chief arrived in Akçakale early on Wednesday after inspecting troops in other towns along the border with Syria.
Özel's visits come during ongoing tension along the Turkish-Syrian border and escalating military strikes between the two countries.
A state of high tension between Turkey and Syria continues as the latter has once again struck on Turkish soil, on the sixth day since the Oct. 3 incident, which wounded at least eight people in addition to killing five. Although Turkey responded to the Syrian aggression with retaliatory artillery fire, no casualties were reported on the Syrian side apart from one injury. The incident represents the most serious cross-border escalation of the 18-month uprising in Syria.
Turkey's armed forces have bolstered their presence along the 900-kilometer border with Syria in recent days and have been responding in kind to gunfire and shelling spilling across from the south, where Assad's forces have been battling rebels who control swathes of territory in the region.
Last week, after deadly cross-border shelling, Ankara warned Assad that it will respond to each shell or mortar round that hits Turkish soil. Turkey also sent more artillery to hotspots along the troubled border on Monday, Turkish media reported.
10 October 2012 / TODAYSZAMAN.COM,
Turkish Chief of General Staff Gen. Necdet Özel on Wednesday vowed to give a “harsher response” to Syria if shelling from the neighboring country continues to spill over the border, after last week's deadly incident which left five Turks dead in a border town.
Özel, who has been inspecting troops along the border for a couple of days, was on Wednesday in the border town of Akçakale, where a Syrian mortar shell killed five civilians on Oct. 3. He paid a visit to Ömer Timuçin, whose wife, three children and a relative were killed in the incident, to deliver his condolences.
Özel said the Turkish military had instantly launched retaliatory strikes after the Syrian shell hit Akçakale on Oct. 3. "We responded but if it continues we will respond with greater force," Özel said. He added that the Syrian military has suffered serious damage from the Turkish strikes.
Accompanied by Land Forces Commander Gen. Hayri Kıvrıkoğlu and 2nd Army Commander Galip Mendi, the military chief arrived in Akçakale early on Wednesday after inspecting troops in other towns along the border with Syria.
Özel's visits come during ongoing tension along the Turkish-Syrian border and escalating military strikes between the two countries.
A state of high tension between Turkey and Syria continues as the latter has once again struck on Turkish soil, on the sixth day since the Oct. 3 incident, which wounded at least eight people in addition to killing five. Although Turkey responded to the Syrian aggression with retaliatory artillery fire, no casualties were reported on the Syrian side apart from one injury. The incident represents the most serious cross-border escalation of the 18-month uprising in Syria.
Turkey's armed forces have bolstered their presence along the 900-kilometer border with Syria in recent days and have been responding in kind to gunfire and shelling spilling across from the south, where Assad's forces have been battling rebels who control swathes of territory in the region.
Last week, after deadly cross-border shelling, Ankara warned Assad that it will respond to each shell or mortar round that hits Turkish soil. Turkey also sent more artillery to hotspots along the troubled border on Monday, Turkish media reported.
Turkey intercepts Syrian plane, seizes military equipment
10 October 2012 / TODAYSZAMAN.COM,
Turkish jets on Wednesday forced a Syrian passenger plane to land at an airport in Ankara on suspicions that it was carrying weapons and seized military communication equipment and parts that could be used in missiles.
A Syrian Air Airbus A320 coming from Moscow was intercepted by F16 jets as it entered Turkish airspace and escorted to the capital's Esenboğa Airport. The station said authorities grounded the plane on suspicion that it was carrying heavy weapons.
As a result of the inspections, Turkey found military communication equipments and seized parts that could be used in missiles. The plane was then sent on to Damascus with 37 passengers and crew.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said in an interview with a Turkish network late on Wednesday that intelligence had suggested that the Syrian plane was carrying “non-civilian cargo” and “banned material.”
He said the plane was forced to land because of information that it may have been carrying "certain equipment in breach of civil aviation rules."
The move comes amid heightened tensions between Turkey and Syria, which have been exchanging artillery fire across their volatile border in the past week.
Davutoğlu said Turkey was within its rights under international law to investigate civilian planes suspected to be carrying military materials.
The Turkish foreign minister noted that whatever the inspectors found in the plane, Turkey would act in line with international law and declined to reveal the source of the intelligence obtained by Turkey.
The head of Turkey's civil aviation agency, Bilal Ekşi, said there were 37 passengers and crew members on board the plane. According to Moscow's Vnukovo airport, flight RB442 left for Damascus at 3:26 p.m. Moscow time (11:26 GMT). It is not yet certain whether this was the plane that was intercepted.
Russia, from where the Syrian plane took off, is one of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's closest remaining allies and has blocked tougher UN resolutions against Damascus.
"Once a week a Syrian Air airplane flies from Moscow bound for Damascus," Russian news agency Interfax reported Vnukovo Airport spokeswoman Yelena Krylova as saying. "The plane took off normally. There were no incidents."
Interfax cited Krylova as saying 25 people were on board and that it was a charter plane. It was supposed to depart at 3:06 p.m. Moscow time, but left 20 minutes late.
Davutoğlu said the passengers were treated "hospitably" and given meals while the plane's cargo was inspected.
Officials in the Syrian Ministry of Information and Foreign Ministry could not immediately be reached for comment.
Earlier on the day, Turkish authorities declared Syrian airspace to be unsafe and were preventing Turkish aircraft from flying over the war-torn country, Turkey's Foreign Ministry said.
One Turkish plane that had already taken off for Saudi Arabia made a detour and landed at the Adana airport in southern Turkey.
Explaining the move to block Turkish flights over Syria, Davutoğlu said Syrian airspace has become increasingly unsafe with unabated clashes on the ground. However, some observers speculated that Turkey made the decision to avoid any similar reprisal from the Syrian side against Turkish planes.
'No weapons transfers in Turkish airspace for regime that massacres civilians'
When asked if the Syrian Air plane was carrying arms, Davutoğlu declined to comment and said the material was banned from transport in civilian cargo.
"We are determined to control weapons transfers to a regime that carries out such brutal massacres against civilians. It is unacceptable that such a transfer is made using our airspace," Davutoğlu added.
He said Turkey would continue to investigate suspicious Syrian civilian aircraft using its airspace.
Davutoğlu also dismissed claims suggesting that Russian President Vladimir Putin delayed his upcoming visit to Turkey due to deepening divisions between Turkey and Russia over the festering Syrian conflict. He said he does not think the grounded Syrian plane will in any way harm Turkish-Russian relations. He said Putin's schedule was already a tentative one and officials have fixed his date for November.
Earlier Wednesday, Turkey's military chief vowed to respond with more force to any further shelling from Syria, keeping up the pressure on its southern neighbor a day after NATO said it stood ready to defend Turkey.
Gen. Necdet Özel was inspecting troops who have been put on alert along the 910-kilometer border with Syria after a week of cross-border artillery and mortar exchanges escalated tensions between the neighbors, sparking fears of a wider regional conflict.
Turkey has reinforced its border with artillery weapons and also deployed more fighter jets to an air base close to the border since shelling from Syria killed five Turkish civilians last week.
10 October 2012 / TODAYSZAMAN.COM,
Turkish jets on Wednesday forced a Syrian passenger plane to land at an airport in Ankara on suspicions that it was carrying weapons and seized military communication equipment and parts that could be used in missiles.
A Syrian Air Airbus A320 coming from Moscow was intercepted by F16 jets as it entered Turkish airspace and escorted to the capital's Esenboğa Airport. The station said authorities grounded the plane on suspicion that it was carrying heavy weapons.
As a result of the inspections, Turkey found military communication equipments and seized parts that could be used in missiles. The plane was then sent on to Damascus with 37 passengers and crew.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said in an interview with a Turkish network late on Wednesday that intelligence had suggested that the Syrian plane was carrying “non-civilian cargo” and “banned material.”
He said the plane was forced to land because of information that it may have been carrying "certain equipment in breach of civil aviation rules."
The move comes amid heightened tensions between Turkey and Syria, which have been exchanging artillery fire across their volatile border in the past week.
Davutoğlu said Turkey was within its rights under international law to investigate civilian planes suspected to be carrying military materials.
The Turkish foreign minister noted that whatever the inspectors found in the plane, Turkey would act in line with international law and declined to reveal the source of the intelligence obtained by Turkey.
The head of Turkey's civil aviation agency, Bilal Ekşi, said there were 37 passengers and crew members on board the plane. According to Moscow's Vnukovo airport, flight RB442 left for Damascus at 3:26 p.m. Moscow time (11:26 GMT). It is not yet certain whether this was the plane that was intercepted.
Russia, from where the Syrian plane took off, is one of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's closest remaining allies and has blocked tougher UN resolutions against Damascus.
"Once a week a Syrian Air airplane flies from Moscow bound for Damascus," Russian news agency Interfax reported Vnukovo Airport spokeswoman Yelena Krylova as saying. "The plane took off normally. There were no incidents."
Interfax cited Krylova as saying 25 people were on board and that it was a charter plane. It was supposed to depart at 3:06 p.m. Moscow time, but left 20 minutes late.
Davutoğlu said the passengers were treated "hospitably" and given meals while the plane's cargo was inspected.
Officials in the Syrian Ministry of Information and Foreign Ministry could not immediately be reached for comment.
Earlier on the day, Turkish authorities declared Syrian airspace to be unsafe and were preventing Turkish aircraft from flying over the war-torn country, Turkey's Foreign Ministry said.
One Turkish plane that had already taken off for Saudi Arabia made a detour and landed at the Adana airport in southern Turkey.
Explaining the move to block Turkish flights over Syria, Davutoğlu said Syrian airspace has become increasingly unsafe with unabated clashes on the ground. However, some observers speculated that Turkey made the decision to avoid any similar reprisal from the Syrian side against Turkish planes.
'No weapons transfers in Turkish airspace for regime that massacres civilians'
When asked if the Syrian Air plane was carrying arms, Davutoğlu declined to comment and said the material was banned from transport in civilian cargo.
"We are determined to control weapons transfers to a regime that carries out such brutal massacres against civilians. It is unacceptable that such a transfer is made using our airspace," Davutoğlu added.
He said Turkey would continue to investigate suspicious Syrian civilian aircraft using its airspace.
Davutoğlu also dismissed claims suggesting that Russian President Vladimir Putin delayed his upcoming visit to Turkey due to deepening divisions between Turkey and Russia over the festering Syrian conflict. He said he does not think the grounded Syrian plane will in any way harm Turkish-Russian relations. He said Putin's schedule was already a tentative one and officials have fixed his date for November.
Earlier Wednesday, Turkey's military chief vowed to respond with more force to any further shelling from Syria, keeping up the pressure on its southern neighbor a day after NATO said it stood ready to defend Turkey.
Gen. Necdet Özel was inspecting troops who have been put on alert along the 910-kilometer border with Syria after a week of cross-border artillery and mortar exchanges escalated tensions between the neighbors, sparking fears of a wider regional conflict.
Turkey has reinforced its border with artillery weapons and also deployed more fighter jets to an air base close to the border since shelling from Syria killed five Turkish civilians last week.
It is not merely or, but and. To most of us this was clear from the very start. But while those supportive of the rebels admit their intention to assist the rebels, the Russians are just bluffing a stance of sitting on the fence, claiming that both sides need to resolve the issue, foreign powers need to stop meddling in domestic affairs of others, etc, etc, while behind the scenes being directly supportive of the Assad regime.
I thought this was clear to everyone? You don't become a superpower by sitting on the fence, and to any half wit out there the intentions of the Putin adminstration have been pretty clear from the start. They want the world back in a bi-polarised state of affairs, so they're doing everything they can to maximize influence. Oh, and the "support" for the rebels is spoken support, no one is admitting to sending arms and yet it's painfully obvious that they're being supplied. The question is, do I prefer a bi-polarized state of international geopolitics where the two can keep a leash on eachother or do I want one, rampant, superpower?
Russia is not a superpower and the Russians themselves know this. They are merely a great power that can only project its influence within its limited sphere of influence: of which Syria is not included. Furthermore they are not too keen on the resumption of bipolar geopolitics - the prospects are not that favourable for them as they will in the long run merely become subordinate to China. Furthermore, even at the current state of affairs, they can't do anything about a civilian plane with its citizens in it being stopped by a foreign power except for a mere whimper of a protest. They can't even provide "spoken support" of a regime that is providing them with a vital naval base. So you clearly give Russian influence more credit than it is due. Overall their efforts in Syria are misguided: they can't act decisively enough to turn the tables in favour of Assad, they can't even convince other nations to support Assad and in the end they are doomed to the consequences to a conflict which will go on regardless.
I was merely listing what the Russians are trying to accomplish, I'm not giving them credit for jack. I can understand why the Russians are trying to support Assad, they're just acting within their means. One jet might be stopped, but who knows how many have passed. We're pretty much in agreement here.
Former Turkish president poisoned, report says
2 November 2012 / TODAYSZAMAN.COM, İSTANBUL
A Turkish daily claimed on Wednesday that former Turkish president had been killed by a very venomous poison.
Citing an unpublished autopsy report prepared by the Forensic Medicine Institute (ATK), Bugün daily said in its report that Turgut Özal, Turkey’s revolutionary president, was poisoned by “strychnine creatine,” a powerful deadly poison.
An investigation into the suspicious death of the former president began earlier this year after a number of witnesses spoke of unusual circumstances on the day of the death of the then-president, who was reported to have suffered a heart attack. The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office recently issued a warrant to exhume the remains of the president for toxicology testing.
Özal, the eighth president of the Turkish Republic, died of heart failure in April of 1993 at an Ankara hospital at the age of 65 while serving in office.
Prosecutors decided in September that Özal's remains should be exhumed and an autopsy performed after a state supervisory board, acting on the order of President Abdullah Gül, produced a report in June that voiced suspicions about the death.
The report was ordered in response to the suspicions of Özal's family and friends about his death and the subsequent investigation.
After the reburial of Özal, the ATK said it will release its report in two months.
In the leaked autopsy report, Bugün claims that the autopsy doctors investigated Özal’s bone marrows, parts of his internal organs and examples of other parts of his body. It added that the examination revealed high-level of strychnine creatine in his body.
The report said this chemical substance was not used in embalming the body of Özal. It noted that the poison was widely used against rats and it is currently banned in Turkey. It is speculated that the poison could be mixed up with Özal’s food or drinks.
The chemical substance is a powerful poison that leads to respiratory failure in 15-20 minutes and could also cause a heart attack.
The prosecutor's office is also investigating a number of unusual circumstances that came to light following Özal's alleged heart attack. Certain facts – including the facts that on the day of his death his in-house doctor and nurse were both out, the staff were not able to start the ambulance due to a mechanical problem, there was a lack of first aid equipment at the presidential residence and there were other similar issues -- have led to suspicions surrounding the death of the former president.
Additionally, the office has focused on inconsistencies between the statements of Özal's doctor and his family members regarding failure to perform an autopsy. Özal's doctor, Cengiz Aslan, claimed that the family of the former president did not request an autopsy, but the Özal family denies this claim.
After a period of military rule following the country's 1980 coup, Özal dominated Turkish politics as prime minister from 1983-89, after which Parliament elected him president.
While prime minister, Özal survived an assassination attempt by a right-wing gunman in 1988, when he was shot at a party congress, suffering only a wound to his finger.
Seen as a visionary who helped shape modern Turkey with free market economic policies, Özal also lent firm support to the West, backing the US-led coalition that expelled Iraq from Kuwait in 1991.
Özal led Turkey out of military rule in the 1980s and drove far-reaching economic reform.
Head of forensics denies reports of poison in former president's body
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/he...body-.aspx?pageID=238&nID=33793&NewsCatID=338
An autopsy report on late President Turgut Özal has yet to be finished, the head of the Forensic Medicine Institute said today, dismissing claims that evidence had been found indicating that the ex-head of state had been poisoned.
The statement followed earlier reports by daily Bugün that claimed a poisonous substance had been found in samples taken from the body, leading to suspicions the leader may have been poisoned. The claim was reportedly based on an autopsy report conducted on Özal's body.
But Forensic Medicine Institute head Haluk İnce said the institute had yet to finalize the report.
"The report is not even finished yet. Our work continues. We have several results that are out, but we are in the process of confirming thousands of results through repeated procedures. We haven't sent anyone any reports yet," İnce said.
"We do not know how that story was formed," İnce said. "We did not find the substance claimed to have been found. We are not the source of the story."
Earlier reports by Bugün claimed to have obtained an autopsy report conducted on Özal that confirmed the presence of the poisonous chemical strychnine keratin in his body.
As part of the Ankara Prosecution office's investigation, Özal’s body was exhumed from his grave earlier this year in order for samples to be collected for the investigation.
Özal, Turkey's eighth president, died on April 17, 1993.
"The public should not pay attention to such stories," İnce said.
2 November 2012 / TODAYSZAMAN.COM, İSTANBUL
A Turkish daily claimed on Wednesday that former Turkish president had been killed by a very venomous poison.
Citing an unpublished autopsy report prepared by the Forensic Medicine Institute (ATK), Bugün daily said in its report that Turgut Özal, Turkey’s revolutionary president, was poisoned by “strychnine creatine,” a powerful deadly poison.
An investigation into the suspicious death of the former president began earlier this year after a number of witnesses spoke of unusual circumstances on the day of the death of the then-president, who was reported to have suffered a heart attack. The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office recently issued a warrant to exhume the remains of the president for toxicology testing.
Özal, the eighth president of the Turkish Republic, died of heart failure in April of 1993 at an Ankara hospital at the age of 65 while serving in office.
Prosecutors decided in September that Özal's remains should be exhumed and an autopsy performed after a state supervisory board, acting on the order of President Abdullah Gül, produced a report in June that voiced suspicions about the death.
The report was ordered in response to the suspicions of Özal's family and friends about his death and the subsequent investigation.
After the reburial of Özal, the ATK said it will release its report in two months.
In the leaked autopsy report, Bugün claims that the autopsy doctors investigated Özal’s bone marrows, parts of his internal organs and examples of other parts of his body. It added that the examination revealed high-level of strychnine creatine in his body.
The report said this chemical substance was not used in embalming the body of Özal. It noted that the poison was widely used against rats and it is currently banned in Turkey. It is speculated that the poison could be mixed up with Özal’s food or drinks.
The chemical substance is a powerful poison that leads to respiratory failure in 15-20 minutes and could also cause a heart attack.
The prosecutor's office is also investigating a number of unusual circumstances that came to light following Özal's alleged heart attack. Certain facts – including the facts that on the day of his death his in-house doctor and nurse were both out, the staff were not able to start the ambulance due to a mechanical problem, there was a lack of first aid equipment at the presidential residence and there were other similar issues -- have led to suspicions surrounding the death of the former president.
Additionally, the office has focused on inconsistencies between the statements of Özal's doctor and his family members regarding failure to perform an autopsy. Özal's doctor, Cengiz Aslan, claimed that the family of the former president did not request an autopsy, but the Özal family denies this claim.
After a period of military rule following the country's 1980 coup, Özal dominated Turkish politics as prime minister from 1983-89, after which Parliament elected him president.
While prime minister, Özal survived an assassination attempt by a right-wing gunman in 1988, when he was shot at a party congress, suffering only a wound to his finger.
Seen as a visionary who helped shape modern Turkey with free market economic policies, Özal also lent firm support to the West, backing the US-led coalition that expelled Iraq from Kuwait in 1991.
Özal led Turkey out of military rule in the 1980s and drove far-reaching economic reform.
Head of forensics denies reports of poison in former president's body
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/he...body-.aspx?pageID=238&nID=33793&NewsCatID=338
An autopsy report on late President Turgut Özal has yet to be finished, the head of the Forensic Medicine Institute said today, dismissing claims that evidence had been found indicating that the ex-head of state had been poisoned.
The statement followed earlier reports by daily Bugün that claimed a poisonous substance had been found in samples taken from the body, leading to suspicions the leader may have been poisoned. The claim was reportedly based on an autopsy report conducted on Özal's body.
But Forensic Medicine Institute head Haluk İnce said the institute had yet to finalize the report.
"The report is not even finished yet. Our work continues. We have several results that are out, but we are in the process of confirming thousands of results through repeated procedures. We haven't sent anyone any reports yet," İnce said.
"We do not know how that story was formed," İnce said. "We did not find the substance claimed to have been found. We are not the source of the story."
Earlier reports by Bugün claimed to have obtained an autopsy report conducted on Özal that confirmed the presence of the poisonous chemical strychnine keratin in his body.
As part of the Ankara Prosecution office's investigation, Özal’s body was exhumed from his grave earlier this year in order for samples to be collected for the investigation.
Özal, Turkey's eighth president, died on April 17, 1993.
"The public should not pay attention to such stories," İnce said.
Turkey's Erdoğan says Israel is terrorist state
9 November 2012 / REUTERS WITH TODAYSZAMAN.COM, İSTANBUL
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan described Israel on Monday as a "terrorist state" in carrying out its bombardment of Gaza, underlining hostility for Ankara's former ally since relations between them collapsed in 2010.
His comments came after nearly a week of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel and Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip. An Israeli missile killed at least 11 Palestinian civilians including four children in Gaza on Sunday.
"Those who associate Islam with terrorism close their eyes in the face of mass killing of Muslims, turn their heads from the massacre of children in Gaza," Erdoğan told a conference of the Eurasian Islamic Council in İstanbul.
"For this reason, I say that Israel is a terrorist state, and its acts are terrorist acts," he said.
Ties between Israel and Turkey, once Israel's only Muslim ally, crumbled after Israeli marines stormed an aid ship in 2010 to enforce a naval blockade of the Palestinian-run Gaza Strip. Nine Turks were killed in clashes with activists on board.
Ankara expelled Israel's ambassador and froze military cooperation after a U.N. report into the incident released in September last year largely exonerated the Jewish state.
Earlier this month Turkey opened the trial in absentia of four former Israeli military commanders over the 2010 raid.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu is to travel to Gaza on Tuesday with a group of foreign ministers from the Arab League.
9 November 2012 / REUTERS WITH TODAYSZAMAN.COM, İSTANBUL
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan described Israel on Monday as a "terrorist state" in carrying out its bombardment of Gaza, underlining hostility for Ankara's former ally since relations between them collapsed in 2010.
His comments came after nearly a week of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel and Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip. An Israeli missile killed at least 11 Palestinian civilians including four children in Gaza on Sunday.
"Those who associate Islam with terrorism close their eyes in the face of mass killing of Muslims, turn their heads from the massacre of children in Gaza," Erdoğan told a conference of the Eurasian Islamic Council in İstanbul.
"For this reason, I say that Israel is a terrorist state, and its acts are terrorist acts," he said.
Ties between Israel and Turkey, once Israel's only Muslim ally, crumbled after Israeli marines stormed an aid ship in 2010 to enforce a naval blockade of the Palestinian-run Gaza Strip. Nine Turks were killed in clashes with activists on board.
Ankara expelled Israel's ambassador and froze military cooperation after a U.N. report into the incident released in September last year largely exonerated the Jewish state.
Earlier this month Turkey opened the trial in absentia of four former Israeli military commanders over the 2010 raid.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu is to travel to Gaza on Tuesday with a group of foreign ministers from the Arab League.
Turkish military releases photos of recent operation against PKK
10 January 2013 / TODAYSZAMAN.COM, İSTANBUL,
The Hakkari Provincial Gendarmerie Command has released photos from a recent operation conducted against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the Çukurca district of the southeastern province of Hakkari in which 14 terrorists were killed.
The photos show weapons, explosives and ammunition belonging to the terrorists which were seized by the military during the operation.
A group of 100 PKK terrorists infiltrated the Turkish border from northern Iraq on Monday evening, intending to destroy the Karataş Gendarmerie Station, located 8 kilometers from the border. The terrorists were prevented from carrying out their plans thanks to an immediate response from the gendarmerie.
A Turkish soldier died in the first round of fire opened by the PKK terrorists and two others were injured. Fourteen terrorists were also killed in the ensuing operation.
The terrorists are believed to have come from a PKK camp in the Zap region of northern Iraq, where many of the militants are of Syrian and Iranian origin. They were able to take advantage of heavy snow in the region as they approached the outpost. Those who survived the return fire fled to northern Iraq crossing the Zap River.
The attack came one week after the government announced that it was conducting negotiations with the jailed leader of the PKK, Abdullah Öcalan. The PKK chief was captured in 1999, and has since been imprisoned on İmralı Island off the İstanbul coast in the Marmara Sea. As part of the newly begun peace process, Öcalan also came together last week with two Kurdish lawmakers, giving them the message that politicians should do whatever is necessary to enable peace.
The timing of the attack on the gendarmerie station recalls past attacks that have sabotaged previous talks.
The currents talks are aimed solely at disarming the PKK, government officials have announced.
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-303...s-photos-of-recent-operation-against-pkk.html
10 January 2013 / TODAYSZAMAN.COM, İSTANBUL,
The Hakkari Provincial Gendarmerie Command has released photos from a recent operation conducted against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the Çukurca district of the southeastern province of Hakkari in which 14 terrorists were killed.
The photos show weapons, explosives and ammunition belonging to the terrorists which were seized by the military during the operation.
A group of 100 PKK terrorists infiltrated the Turkish border from northern Iraq on Monday evening, intending to destroy the Karataş Gendarmerie Station, located 8 kilometers from the border. The terrorists were prevented from carrying out their plans thanks to an immediate response from the gendarmerie.
A Turkish soldier died in the first round of fire opened by the PKK terrorists and two others were injured. Fourteen terrorists were also killed in the ensuing operation.
The terrorists are believed to have come from a PKK camp in the Zap region of northern Iraq, where many of the militants are of Syrian and Iranian origin. They were able to take advantage of heavy snow in the region as they approached the outpost. Those who survived the return fire fled to northern Iraq crossing the Zap River.
The attack came one week after the government announced that it was conducting negotiations with the jailed leader of the PKK, Abdullah Öcalan. The PKK chief was captured in 1999, and has since been imprisoned on İmralı Island off the İstanbul coast in the Marmara Sea. As part of the newly begun peace process, Öcalan also came together last week with two Kurdish lawmakers, giving them the message that politicians should do whatever is necessary to enable peace.
The timing of the attack on the gendarmerie station recalls past attacks that have sabotaged previous talks.
The currents talks are aimed solely at disarming the PKK, government officials have announced.
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-303...s-photos-of-recent-operation-against-pkk.html
DHKP/C member arrested for ordering defacing of Alevi houses
20 January 2013 / TODAY'S ZAMAN, ANKARA,
Police have found that the order to deface a number of Alevi houses in İstanbul with red paint and hate-filled messages came from a member of the terrorist Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C), and that the order was carried out by two Alevis.
The DHKP/C member was arrested on Jan. 17 while the two Alevis were released pending trial.
Ten houses belonging to Alevi residents in the Gültepe neighborhood of İstanbul were marked with red markers by unknown perpetrators on Dec. 30. The incident sparked concern and unease among the country's Alevi population as the Alevis and Alevi gatherings have been targeted at least three times in the past four decades in Turkey. State authorities said the marks were drawn in order to create tension between the Alevi and Sunni communities.
The police received a tip after the marking incident that it was the work of people who knew the Gültepe neighborhood's Alevi residents closely. The police worked on the tip and later discovered that the DHKP/C, which carried out a number of attacks in Turkey, could have connections to the marking incident.
The first incidents of house-marking of Alevi homes happened in Adıyaman in February of 2012. Forty-five house doors were marked there. Then followed the discovery of similar acts of defacement on the doors of Alevi houses in Gaziantep. Soon after, letters were left on the door handles of Alevi houses in İzmir.
İstanbul police raided the house of a DHKP/C member last week and found red spray cans and oil paint in the house. Beside them was a large number of documents and CDs belonging to the terrorist group. The suspect, Özkan Karakuş, was detained and then confessed while testifying to the police to having ordered two men, both of whom are members of the Pir Sultan Abdal Cultural Association, an Alevi association, to mark the Alevi houses with red paint.
The police also detained the two men, identified as Mehmet Ceylan and Murat Doğan. Karakuş was arrested while the two men were released pending trial. Sources said the markings were aimed at preventing the construction of a planned mosque in Gültepe.
DHKP/C obtained confidential information
On Saturday, the İstanbul Police Department made a statement about a recent operation against suspected members of the DHKP/C and said the terrorist group set up groups to carry out spying activities. According to the police, the group obtained confidential state information and sent them to other countries.
On Friday, police detained 85 people and seized a large number of confidential documents at numerous addresses in Turkish cities, including İstanbul, Ankara and İzmir, in a full-scale crackdown on the DHKP/C. Among those detained were 15 lawyers affiliated with the Contemporary Jurists' Association (ÇHD). The lawyers were reportedly held on accusations that they were receiving messages and orders from jailed leaders of the terrorist DHKP/C.
ÇHD President Selçuk Kozağaçlı was taken into custody on Sunday at İstanbul Atatürk Airport after he returned from Beirut. Kozağaçlı was abroad when police staged the operation last week. He was taken to İstanbul Police Department's anti-terrorism unit for questioning. Some of the detainees were sent to courts for arrest after their interrogation at the police departments was complete. The remaining suspects are still being interrogated by police. It was not clear if the suspects were arrested by the court at the time Today's Zaman went to print.
Some deputies of the Republican People's Party and the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) went to the İstanbul Courthouse to learn about the developments related to the DHP/C suspects and show solidarity with them. At the same time, a group of critics of the police operation convened in front of the courthouse to condemn the detention of the suspects. They later went violent and clashed with police. Around 200 riot police officers were deployed around the courthouse.
Ankara Bar Association board member Erol Aras said he condemns the detentions, which he called "illegal." "I protest the illegal detention of our colleagues. The detentions are an attack to lawyers and the profession of lawyership. Our lawyer friends were performing their professions. The ÇHD is an association that stands up against injustice," he stated.
News sources reported that the İstanbul police have discovered that some journalists, whose names have not been shared with the media yet, were also aiding the DHKP/C. The next wave of operations into the terrorist group will target those journalists, according to the news sources.
According to the police, the DHKP/C acted like a legal body under the veil of associations and cultural organizations but was indeed working to seize confidential state information and giving it to other countries. The suspects will stand accused of membership in a terrorist organization, police sources said.
The police are examining documents seized from the addresses of the DHKP/C members.
The police suspect that the ÇHD was set up upon orders of DHKP/C leaders residing abroad. One CV belonging to a lawyer found among numerous documents seized from the terrorist group showed that the lawyer added information about his experience of using Molotov cocktails. The CV also showed that the lawyer participated in DHKP/C activities and served time in prison. “I was proposed two choices after I was released from prison. I would either work for the armed propaganda [of the DHKP/C] or fight in the 'democratic sphere.' I chose the democratic sphere,” the lawyer stated in his CV.
The documents also revealed contacts between ÇHD lawyers and senior members of the DHKP/C abroad. Two members of the terrorist group reportedly decided not to return to Turkey after they received prior tips about the police operation.
The lawyers taken into custody were reportedly key lawyers in a number of cases, which include the Hayata Dönüş (Back to Life) operation, which left 12 inmates dead and 29 others seriously injured at İstanbul's Bayrampaşa Prison in 2000; the case of Engin Çeber, who was tortured to death while in custody in 2008; and that of Festus Okey, a Nigerian man who was shot to death by a police officer.
Claims surfaced that the lawyers had given support to prisoners who staged a massive hunger strike in their prison cells last year in support of broader rights for Abdullah Öcalan, the jailed leader of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
Among the documents were reportedly plans by the terrorist DHKP/C to stage assassinations against judges, prosecutors and police chiefs. The police did not provide information about who those would-be victims are. However, claims emerged that the terrorist group also planned to stage attacks against several members of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party).
20 January 2013 / TODAY'S ZAMAN, ANKARA,
Police have found that the order to deface a number of Alevi houses in İstanbul with red paint and hate-filled messages came from a member of the terrorist Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C), and that the order was carried out by two Alevis.
The DHKP/C member was arrested on Jan. 17 while the two Alevis were released pending trial.
Ten houses belonging to Alevi residents in the Gültepe neighborhood of İstanbul were marked with red markers by unknown perpetrators on Dec. 30. The incident sparked concern and unease among the country's Alevi population as the Alevis and Alevi gatherings have been targeted at least three times in the past four decades in Turkey. State authorities said the marks were drawn in order to create tension between the Alevi and Sunni communities.
The police received a tip after the marking incident that it was the work of people who knew the Gültepe neighborhood's Alevi residents closely. The police worked on the tip and later discovered that the DHKP/C, which carried out a number of attacks in Turkey, could have connections to the marking incident.
The first incidents of house-marking of Alevi homes happened in Adıyaman in February of 2012. Forty-five house doors were marked there. Then followed the discovery of similar acts of defacement on the doors of Alevi houses in Gaziantep. Soon after, letters were left on the door handles of Alevi houses in İzmir.
İstanbul police raided the house of a DHKP/C member last week and found red spray cans and oil paint in the house. Beside them was a large number of documents and CDs belonging to the terrorist group. The suspect, Özkan Karakuş, was detained and then confessed while testifying to the police to having ordered two men, both of whom are members of the Pir Sultan Abdal Cultural Association, an Alevi association, to mark the Alevi houses with red paint.
The police also detained the two men, identified as Mehmet Ceylan and Murat Doğan. Karakuş was arrested while the two men were released pending trial. Sources said the markings were aimed at preventing the construction of a planned mosque in Gültepe.
DHKP/C obtained confidential information
On Saturday, the İstanbul Police Department made a statement about a recent operation against suspected members of the DHKP/C and said the terrorist group set up groups to carry out spying activities. According to the police, the group obtained confidential state information and sent them to other countries.
On Friday, police detained 85 people and seized a large number of confidential documents at numerous addresses in Turkish cities, including İstanbul, Ankara and İzmir, in a full-scale crackdown on the DHKP/C. Among those detained were 15 lawyers affiliated with the Contemporary Jurists' Association (ÇHD). The lawyers were reportedly held on accusations that they were receiving messages and orders from jailed leaders of the terrorist DHKP/C.
ÇHD President Selçuk Kozağaçlı was taken into custody on Sunday at İstanbul Atatürk Airport after he returned from Beirut. Kozağaçlı was abroad when police staged the operation last week. He was taken to İstanbul Police Department's anti-terrorism unit for questioning. Some of the detainees were sent to courts for arrest after their interrogation at the police departments was complete. The remaining suspects are still being interrogated by police. It was not clear if the suspects were arrested by the court at the time Today's Zaman went to print.
Some deputies of the Republican People's Party and the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) went to the İstanbul Courthouse to learn about the developments related to the DHP/C suspects and show solidarity with them. At the same time, a group of critics of the police operation convened in front of the courthouse to condemn the detention of the suspects. They later went violent and clashed with police. Around 200 riot police officers were deployed around the courthouse.
Ankara Bar Association board member Erol Aras said he condemns the detentions, which he called "illegal." "I protest the illegal detention of our colleagues. The detentions are an attack to lawyers and the profession of lawyership. Our lawyer friends were performing their professions. The ÇHD is an association that stands up against injustice," he stated.
News sources reported that the İstanbul police have discovered that some journalists, whose names have not been shared with the media yet, were also aiding the DHKP/C. The next wave of operations into the terrorist group will target those journalists, according to the news sources.
According to the police, the DHKP/C acted like a legal body under the veil of associations and cultural organizations but was indeed working to seize confidential state information and giving it to other countries. The suspects will stand accused of membership in a terrorist organization, police sources said.
The police are examining documents seized from the addresses of the DHKP/C members.
The police suspect that the ÇHD was set up upon orders of DHKP/C leaders residing abroad. One CV belonging to a lawyer found among numerous documents seized from the terrorist group showed that the lawyer added information about his experience of using Molotov cocktails. The CV also showed that the lawyer participated in DHKP/C activities and served time in prison. “I was proposed two choices after I was released from prison. I would either work for the armed propaganda [of the DHKP/C] or fight in the 'democratic sphere.' I chose the democratic sphere,” the lawyer stated in his CV.
The documents also revealed contacts between ÇHD lawyers and senior members of the DHKP/C abroad. Two members of the terrorist group reportedly decided not to return to Turkey after they received prior tips about the police operation.
The lawyers taken into custody were reportedly key lawyers in a number of cases, which include the Hayata Dönüş (Back to Life) operation, which left 12 inmates dead and 29 others seriously injured at İstanbul's Bayrampaşa Prison in 2000; the case of Engin Çeber, who was tortured to death while in custody in 2008; and that of Festus Okey, a Nigerian man who was shot to death by a police officer.
Claims surfaced that the lawyers had given support to prisoners who staged a massive hunger strike in their prison cells last year in support of broader rights for Abdullah Öcalan, the jailed leader of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
Among the documents were reportedly plans by the terrorist DHKP/C to stage assassinations against judges, prosecutors and police chiefs. The police did not provide information about who those would-be victims are. However, claims emerged that the terrorist group also planned to stage attacks against several members of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party).
At least 46 killed in Hatay blasts, attackers linked to Syrian regime
11 May 2013 /TODAYSZAMAN.COM WITH WIRES, İSTANBUL
In one of the deadliest attacks in Turkey in recent years, two car bombs exploded near the border with Syria on Saturday, killing 46 people and wounding 51 others.
Turkish officials blamed the attack on a group linked to the Syrian regime, and a deputy prime minister called the neighboring country's intelligence service and military "the usual suspects."
The blasts, which were 15 minutes apart, raised fears that the violence of Syria's brutal civil war was crossing into its neighbor's territory.
One of the car bombs exploded outside city hall while the other went off outside the post office in the town of Reyhanlı, a main hub for Syrian refugees and opposition activity in Turkey's Hatay province, just across the border from the war-torn country.
Deputy Prime Minister Beşir Atalay said the assailants were from Turkey, but were linked to Syria's intelligence service. "We have to a great extent completed our work toward identifying the assailants," he told reporters. "We have established that the organization and assailants have links to the pro-regime al-Mukhabarat [intelligence] organization." He did not name the group.
The death toll rose throughout the day as many of the injured had been critically wounded.
A third, small blast caused panic in the town hours after the twin car bombs, but local reporters said it appeared to have come from a car engine or building's boiler room.
Images showed people frantically carrying victims through the rubble-strewn streets to safety.
Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç linked the blasts that killed at least 46 and injured more than 50 to Syria. There was no immediate information on the identities or nationalities of the victims. "We know that the Syrian refugees have become a target of the Syrian regime," he said. "Reyhanlı was not chosen by coincidence."
"Our thoughts are that their mukhabarat and armed organizations are the usual suspects in the planning and carrying out of such devilish plans," he said.
Arınç said Turkey would "do whatever is necessary" if it is proven that Syria is behind the attack.
Turkey's Cihan news agency said the military began deploying a large number of air and ground military reinforcements to Reyhanlı along the border after the blasts.
In Reyhanlı, smoke poured from charred ruins after the blasts outside the administrative buildings.
"My children were so scared because it reminded them of the bombings when we were in Aleppo. God help us," said one refugee, a mother of three who gave her name as Kolsum.
In initial comments, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan condemned the attack.
“I would like to send a message to my brothers in Reyhanlı. We have recently launched a settlement process [to address the conflict in the Southeast] and those who cannot digest this new period and the atmosphere of freedom in our country may be involved in such attacks."
"Another sensitive issue is that Hatay province is on the border with Syria, and these actions may have been taken to provoke those sensitivities," he said.
Erdoğan said this week that Turkey would support a US-enforced no-fly zone in Syria and warned that Damascus had crossed President Barack Obama's "red line" on chemical weapons use long ago.
A no-fly zone to prohibit Syrian military aircraft from hitting rebel targets has been mentioned by American lawmakers as one option the United States could use to pressure Assad.
Erdoğan is due to meet Obama in Washington on May 16.
Turkish President Abdullah Gül warned citizens against provocations after the deadly Reyhanlı blasts while opposition parties urged the government to review its Syria policies.
Violence has spilled over the border before.
In February, a minibus blew up at a border crossing near Reyhanlı, killing 14 people and wounding dozens more.
The Syrian opposition said one of its delegations appeared to have been the target of that attack, but there has been no confirmation of this from the Turkish authorities.
In October, five Turkish civilians were killed in Akçakale when a mortar bomb fired from Syria landed on their house, prompting Turkey to fire back across the frontier.
Turkey is sheltering more than 300,000 Syrians, most of them in camps along the 900-kilometer frontier, and is struggling to keep up with the influx.
11 May 2013 /TODAYSZAMAN.COM WITH WIRES, İSTANBUL
In one of the deadliest attacks in Turkey in recent years, two car bombs exploded near the border with Syria on Saturday, killing 46 people and wounding 51 others.
Turkish officials blamed the attack on a group linked to the Syrian regime, and a deputy prime minister called the neighboring country's intelligence service and military "the usual suspects."
The blasts, which were 15 minutes apart, raised fears that the violence of Syria's brutal civil war was crossing into its neighbor's territory.
One of the car bombs exploded outside city hall while the other went off outside the post office in the town of Reyhanlı, a main hub for Syrian refugees and opposition activity in Turkey's Hatay province, just across the border from the war-torn country.
Deputy Prime Minister Beşir Atalay said the assailants were from Turkey, but were linked to Syria's intelligence service. "We have to a great extent completed our work toward identifying the assailants," he told reporters. "We have established that the organization and assailants have links to the pro-regime al-Mukhabarat [intelligence] organization." He did not name the group.
The death toll rose throughout the day as many of the injured had been critically wounded.
A third, small blast caused panic in the town hours after the twin car bombs, but local reporters said it appeared to have come from a car engine or building's boiler room.
Images showed people frantically carrying victims through the rubble-strewn streets to safety.
Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç linked the blasts that killed at least 46 and injured more than 50 to Syria. There was no immediate information on the identities or nationalities of the victims. "We know that the Syrian refugees have become a target of the Syrian regime," he said. "Reyhanlı was not chosen by coincidence."
"Our thoughts are that their mukhabarat and armed organizations are the usual suspects in the planning and carrying out of such devilish plans," he said.
Arınç said Turkey would "do whatever is necessary" if it is proven that Syria is behind the attack.
Turkey's Cihan news agency said the military began deploying a large number of air and ground military reinforcements to Reyhanlı along the border after the blasts.
In Reyhanlı, smoke poured from charred ruins after the blasts outside the administrative buildings.
"My children were so scared because it reminded them of the bombings when we were in Aleppo. God help us," said one refugee, a mother of three who gave her name as Kolsum.
In initial comments, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan condemned the attack.
“I would like to send a message to my brothers in Reyhanlı. We have recently launched a settlement process [to address the conflict in the Southeast] and those who cannot digest this new period and the atmosphere of freedom in our country may be involved in such attacks."
"Another sensitive issue is that Hatay province is on the border with Syria, and these actions may have been taken to provoke those sensitivities," he said.
Erdoğan said this week that Turkey would support a US-enforced no-fly zone in Syria and warned that Damascus had crossed President Barack Obama's "red line" on chemical weapons use long ago.
A no-fly zone to prohibit Syrian military aircraft from hitting rebel targets has been mentioned by American lawmakers as one option the United States could use to pressure Assad.
Erdoğan is due to meet Obama in Washington on May 16.
Turkish President Abdullah Gül warned citizens against provocations after the deadly Reyhanlı blasts while opposition parties urged the government to review its Syria policies.
Violence has spilled over the border before.
In February, a minibus blew up at a border crossing near Reyhanlı, killing 14 people and wounding dozens more.
The Syrian opposition said one of its delegations appeared to have been the target of that attack, but there has been no confirmation of this from the Turkish authorities.
In October, five Turkish civilians were killed in Akçakale when a mortar bomb fired from Syria landed on their house, prompting Turkey to fire back across the frontier.
Turkey is sheltering more than 300,000 Syrians, most of them in camps along the 900-kilometer frontier, and is struggling to keep up with the influx.