Ankara

The recent internal agreement between Baghdad and Arbil should set an example for sharing potential energy resources off Cyprus, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said, vowing that Turkey will never abandon the rights of Turkish Cypriots in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Egypt has imposed restrictions on male citizens traveling to Turkey and war-torn Libya to stop them joining jihadist organizations like the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a security official said Dec. 10.

‘Midnight at the Pera Palace: The Birth of Modern Istanbul' by Charles King (W.W. Norton, 476 pages, $28)

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu's ultimatum to Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş, charging him responsibility for any violence resulting from protests against a controversial new security package, has become the center of a heated debate in Ankara. The tension is likely to escalate further, after Demirtaş refused to bow to this ultimatum.

Turkish actress Serra Yılmaz has claimed that she was “accused of being a Christian” for translating Pope Francis’ words into Turkish during his visit to Turkey between Nov. 28 and 30.

Ankara has accepted Iran’s offer to suspend the sealing of fuel tanks on Turkish trucks for a limited period of time, Turkey’s transport minister said late on Dec. 9.

Continuing with democratic reforms is key for Turkey to advance its EU accession process, Kati Piri, the European Parliament's new rapporteur to Turkey, has said on her first visit to Ankara.

Ankara will continue to fight against global injustice and act on behalf of a humane conscience, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said, vowing that critical voices standing against Turkey will not hold the country back.

Britain and Turkey are working "as closely as possible" to stop foreign fighters joining Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Dec. 10.

"We are fighting a common enemy, extremist terrorism," Cameron told a joint news conference in Ankara with his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoğlu.

Globalization and secularism have "changed and damaged" religious life in Turkish society, a senior official from the Directorate General of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) has said, citing a recent survey about religion in Turkey.