Turkey

Russian airstrikes hit Syrian Turkmen, Syrian Turkmen Council head Abdurrahman Mustafa has said.

Mustafa stated that Russia hit the Free Syrian Army rather than the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). 

They have hit Türkmenda??, Humus and Hama, areas where many Turkmen live, he said, after contacting the regions via telephone on Sept. 30. 

Ahmet Hakan Co?kun, one of Turkey?s most influential columnists and TV commentators, was severely beaten by four people in front of his house in Istanbul on Oct. 1, right after completing his debate show, ?The Neutral Zone,? on CNNTürk. The attackers have been detained by the police, with at least one of them an infamous Twitter personality who trolls users who are critical of the government.

Before the June 7 elections, he explained in his Ankara rally on May 19 a conversation he had with Ayd?n Do?an, the founder and honorary chairman of Do?an Holding. He said general things; he implied some things, but this sentence was not there: ?There were times when we made governments come and go.?

At conferences with young journalists, veterans of the profession often underline that journalists are very much like inn keepers while politicians, governments and mayors are just passersby who come and go. Thus, they say, journalists must not align with the "guests" of the inn, but must instead maintain their integrity under all conditions.

The Vienna-based International Press Institute (IPI) and the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) have condemned the attack targeting daily Hürriyet columnist Ahmet Hakan, saying that Turkish authorities desperately needed to take immediate measures to protect journalists' ability to report freely in advance of parliamentary elections scheduled for one month from today.

Here are five questions and answers to explain how and why the attack that injured daily Hürriyet columnist Ahmet Hakan fatally threatens Turkey's press freedom and democracy, amid accusations by national press bodies and the international community that the government is to blame.1) What happened to Ahmet Hakan?

Turkey should put an end to the language of threats and violence that poisons all segments of society, Hürriyet chairwoman Vuslat Do?an Sabanc? has stated, following an attack in which the newspaper?s prominent columnist Ahmet Hakan was injured.

The UN refugee agency said Oct.1 that it was expecting 700,000 migrants and refugees to reach Europe via the Mediterranean sea this year and projected at least the same amount again in 2016.

A prosecutor has demanded an aggravated life sentence for U.S.-based Islamic scholar and the Turkish government?s ally-turned-foe Fethullah Gülen, on allegations of ?plotting against suspects in the Dec. 25 graft probe.? The accusations are part of the wide-ranging probe into the so-called ?parallel structure? of Gülen supporters in Turkey. 

An Istanbul prosecutor's office has launched an investigation against a journalist on the charge of "fabricating false documents" after he got a fake passport while reporting on how to get a fake passport.