Latest News from Turkey
Science body starts to strengthen cyber security after week-long attack
Turkey's top science body has launched a comprehensive project to strengthen the country's cyber security after a week-long cyberattack that targeted hundreds of thousands of Turkish websites.
Tabula Rasa
Turkey's "annus horribilis" must be over. All around us we see people in deep sorrow and desperation. We have become a nation that could not solve our own problems, let alone be a cure for our neighbors and all others that suffer. A new approach, a clean slate and a radically different perspective is needed.
Saving Turkish Cypriots...
Hurrah... Once again Turkey extended its generous helping hand and salvaged Turkish Cypriots from an economic collapse. Deputy Prime Minister Tu?rul Türke? - a Turkish Cypriot from his late father Alparslan Türke?
Good Kurds, bad Kurds
Ironically, the "good" and "bad" Kurds for the Turkish establishment are the same Kurds who have the same ethnic sentiments and strategic goals but different ideas about reaching the same goals: The good Kurds are the darlings of Ankara; the bad Kurds are traitors. Ironically, also, today's "good" Kurds were the "bad" Kurds two decades ago.
Six major problems ahead of Turkey in 2016
2015 has been a problematic year for Turkey both in domestic and international politics. Two general elections, the changing mood of the Kurdish problem and the spillover of Syrian war in the form of jihadi terrorism were major problems inside Turkey. The Syrian war with the worsening situation with the downing of the Russian plane, the changing nature of the fight in cooperation with the U.S.
Fire engulfs Dubai hotel near world's tallest building
Fire engulfed a 63-storey skyscraper in downtown Dubai on Dec. 31 night, but there appeared to be no injuries, a civil defense official said.
BBC reports that its websites have been hit by cyber attack
The BBC's online services, including its news website and iPlayer catch-up TV platform, were taken down on Dec. 31 by a large web attack, the British broadcaster reported.
Social projects for terror victims discussed at security summit
A security summit helmed by Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu was held Dec. 31 in the Turkish capital Ankara with the participation of senior military and government officials.
The five-hour meeting focused on the struggle against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), particularly the ongoing clashes in southeastern Diyarbak?r's Sur district, according to officials.
World celebrates New Year amid terror threat
The world has celebrated the coming of a New Year on the last day of 2015, amid terror threats leading to a number of central squares being blocked to celebrations.
Australia's biggest city, Sydney, was the first to host a major event to ring in the New Year, with pyrotechnics exploding over the harbor.
Turkey's foreign trade deficit narrows 25 percent in 2015 amid oil plunge
Turkey's foreign trade deficit narrowed by 25 percent year-on-year in the first 11 months of 2015 thanks to the decline in imports amid the drop in the oil price, according to data revealed by the Turkish Statistics Agency (TÜ?K) on Dec. 31.
The deficit narrowed to $57 billion in the January-November period compared to the same period of 2014.
Russia's human rights preaching on PKK operations nothing but 'dark humor': Ankara
The Turkish Foreign Ministry has criticized a statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry calling on Ankara to resolve the Kurdish issue by political means rather than by force, describing the statement as "an example of dark humor."
Presidential system does not mean dictatorship: PM
The presidential system will not be a dictatorship as argued by the opposition parties, the prime minister has said, adding that his proposed model does not contradict universal values and principles.
Russia revokes licenses of 19 'Turkey-oriented' tour operators
The Russian Tourism Agency has revoked the license of 19 Russian tour operators associated with the Turkish tourism market, Russian media outlets have reported.
All of these tour operators are excluded from the federal registry number of legal entities, according to an official government order published on the website Rostourism.
Turkish PM to meet investors in London in January 2016 to 'share reform agenda'
Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu will meet foreign investors in London on Jan. 17-19 in a series of meetings hosted by global investment bank Merrill Lynch.
Davuto?lu will be accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet ?im?ek, several ministers, and a number of top economy officials, with sources telling Reuters that he plans to "share details of the government's reform agenda."