Authoritarianism

The organizers of a protest in Switzerland, at which some demonstrators held up a banner calling for the assassination of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, will not be charged, media reports said May 8.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry has responded to a recent criticism by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan over an Israeli parliament bill proposing to ban the call for morning prayers in Jerusalem.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is pleased with the results of his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Russian resort of Sochi last week. After his talks with Erdoğan, Putin announced that relations between the two countries "had been totally repaired." He was referring to the nosedive that relations took after Turkey downed a Russian jet in November 2015. 

Turkey will not allow call for morning prayers to be silenced in Jerusalem, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said May 8 amid a heated row over a potential ban of the call to prayer by the Israeli parliament.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on May 8 said he aimed to boost economic and military ties with Arab Gulf states, as talks on a free trade zone deal pushed ahead.

Erdoğan, who is expected in Kuwait on May 9, said Ankara was involved in "high level strategic dialogue" with the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the state-run KUNA news agency reported.

It isn't easy to be an optimist in Ankara, but I must admit that I am one. Still, even I was surprised the other day when I saw a list of Japanese companies operating in Turkey. The Japanese are known for thinking thoroughly before taking action. Yet the number of Japanese companies in Turkey increased from 62 in 2007 to 188 in 2016. 

Germany cannot let Turkish expats vote for a potential referendum on reinstating capital punishment in Turkey, the chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) Martin Schulz has said.

Often, when something really odd is said, or if something impossible to believe is said to have happened, Turks say: "Yeah, if you eat it." It has the same meaning as the phrase "If you buy it." 

A Greek court on Thursday blocked a second extradition request by Turkey for the final two of eight soldiers who fled to Greece in July following a failed coup attempt, court officials said.

The decision is likely to anger Ankara, which alleges the men were involved in efforts to overthrow President Tayyip Erdogan and has repeatedly demanded they be sent back.

A Syrian woman who is named "Turkey" and escaped form war-torn Syria two years ago has named her son after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, state-run Anadolu Agency has reported.