Asia

The number of the ultra-rich in Turkey dropped significantly in 2013, while the millionaire number stagnated, according to BCG’s latest research The wealth level and the total number of ultra-rich dropped in Turkey last year, when global wealth witnessed a remarkable rise, according to a new study by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

Western countries that backed the revolt in Syria have started to shift their positions because of the danger posed to them by jihadists, according to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

“The United States and the West have started to send signs of change. Terrorism is now on their soil,” said al-Assad, according to remarks published in a Lebanese newspaper.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has defended Ankara's
decision to keep its consulate in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul open despite
the approach of Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants.

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu announced via Twitter that Ankara was maintaining constant contact with its Mosul consulate and stressing that all necessary precautions had been taken, only a few hours after reports that the city had been seized by militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL).

Öztürk Yılmaz, Turkey’s consul general in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul who was abducted by Islamist militants on June 11, has previously served as an advisor to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

While still not officially announcing his candidacy, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has used a gathering with executives from his ruling party’s local branches to publicly instruct them to begin campaigning for the upcoming presidential elections.

49 Turkish employees, including Turkey's consul general, have been kidnapped by the militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. Soldiers from Turkish Special Forces and children of diplomats are reportedly among the hostages

Islamist militants seized the Turkish consulate in the Iraqi city of Mosul on June 11 and kidnapped the head of the diplomatic mission and 24 staff members, a police colonel said.

"ISIL members managed to kidnap the Turkish consul and 24 of his guards and assistants," the officer said, referring to powerful jihadist group the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), AFP reported.

"Al-Qaeda offshoot" takes control of Iraqi town

MOSUL -- According to some reports, hundreds of thousands of people are believed to have fled the Iraqi town of Mosul after ISIS fighters took control of it.

The group is said to be made up of Islamic extremists with ties to al-Qaeda.

Iran's oil output could reach 4.0 million barrels per day in "less than three months" if Western sanctions are lifted over its nuclear energy programme, Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said June 10.