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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made the headlines with several statements in 2014. When he was still Turkey’s prime minister before Aug. 10 presidential elections, many of his sensational comments targeted his political rivals – or the Internet as a whole.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s New Year’s address has mirrored his priorities for 2015, as he highlighted the utmost importance in fighting the movement of U.S.-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, referred to by government officials as the “parallel state,” along with pursuing the peace process with the country’s Kurds.

A Cameroonian refugee that recently gave birth in captivity died late Dec. 30 at a processing center in Ä°zmir after being forced to reside in difficult conditions despite serious health issues, according to lawyers.

Civil servants acted insufficiently in regard to Turkey’s worst-ever mining disaster in Soma on May 13 and should have been probed more thoroughly, Turkey’s official ombudsman said Dec. 30.

The high-ranking civil servants should have resigned before a warning from the government, the report noted.

On Dec. 9, the front page of the maverick daily BirGün featured a big headline in bold letters in Arabic script. For the readers who cannot read Ottoman, BirGün explained that the headline just meant “thief.” On top of the headline the newspaper’s editors explained: If you forcefully teach us Ottoman this is what you get.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has again reacted to Turkey’s top business organization’s chairman’s words that their addressee was the prime minister and not the president, saying he would not attend TÜSİAD’S meetings anymore.

The press council released a report assessing 2014 for the media and members of the press, which it described as a “tough year.”

A “shimmering” Paul Cezanne painting of the Mediterranean with a castle in the background is expected to attract the big-money buyers at a February auction that includes works by Modigliani, Giacometti and Picasso, Christie’s has said.

Indian maestro Zubin Mehta will seek to inject what he says is some much-needed harmony into the world when he conducts the illustrious Vienna New Year’s Concert on Jan. 1.

A day after the Council of Ministers held its last meeting of 2014, the top national security body, which brings together the country’s top civilian and military leaders, held its last meeting of 2014 at the new presidential palace.