Ankara

It is ironic that it is only at times like this that the EU starts waving the big stick, warning Ankara that if it does not fulfill its obligations in terms of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law it will endanger its membership prospects.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan inaugurated a high speed train link from Istanbul to the Central Anatolian city of Konya on Dec. 17, which cuts journey times by nearly nine hours.
      
Erdoğan himself opened the line at a ceremony in Konya, 460 kilometers southeast of Istanbul, and declared that all travel on it would be free for the first week.
      

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan launched a new broadside against the European Union on Dec. 17 over its condemnation of recent raids on the local media, saying Brussels has no right to give Ankara a "democracy lesson".
      

An Istanbul court has postponed the “coup attempt” case against 35 members of Beşiktaş’s çArşı supporters’ group until April 2, amid a mixture of mockery and horror at the controversial trial.

Ulcinj Aqua Park and Entertainment, the Montenegrin arm of a Turkish chain of amusement parks, on Tuesday said a large water park will be built in Ulcinj by the summer of 2015 at a cost of 5 million euro.
 
The park will be constructed near the 14-kilometre beach near the coastal resort of Ulcinj and will employ about 200 workers.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan has been blasting European institutions, the EU and others over their criticism of media freedom, judicial independence and the general quality of democracy here.

The secularist neighborhood is very much in disarray nowadays. Some sadistically enjoy what is happening to the people belonging to the Fethullah Gülen Islamist brotherhood, some are expressing sympathy for their suffering, while some are rather indifferent, saying two evil forces are fighting and they just don't bother which will eventually overcome the other.

A woman tea-maker at the Youth and Sport's Ministry in Turkey's capital Ankara was severely wounded after being stabbed six times by a male co-worker on Dec. 16. 

The man, also a tea-maker only identified at F.B., stabbed his colleague, only identified as G.Ç., six times early on Dec. 16 inside the ministry's building in Ankara, reportedly due to money issues.

Ankara cannot accept "heavy criticism" from the European Union about mass detentions targeting the media, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has said, accusing the EU of "not being sincere" in its approach to Turkey's fight against the "parallel state."

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said Dec. 15 she was "surprised" after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan lashed out at Brussels for criticizing mass detentions targeting media.