Government of Turkey

The first hearing of a trial involving 36 people tried for attacking Turkey's main opposition leader at the funeral of a fallen soldier in Ankara's Çubuk district in 2019 was held on Nov. 30.

İYİ (Good) Party leader Meral Akşener criticized the government for "failing" in handling the COVID-19 pandemic and said the country was late to take tight measures to curb the spread of the infection.

Turkey has taken every legal action following the interception of a Turkish-flagged commercial ship named Roseline-A in the eastern Mediterranean Sea by the EU's military mission Irini, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Nov. 30.

Republican People's Party (CHP) Spokesperson Faik Öztrak has criticized the government for its way of handling the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Senior Turkish officials met on Nov. 29 with the spiritual leaders of minority communities and representatives of minority foundations.

A probe has been launched into Republican People's Party (CHP) lawmaker Ali Mahir Başarır over his remarks regarding the Turkish army, the chief public prosecutor's office in Ankara announced on Nov. 30.

"The army was sold," Başarır said on private broadcaster Habertürk on Nov. 28, criticizing the government over the privatization of a national tank factory.

Comments by Republican People's Party (CHP) lawmaker Ali Mahir Başarır's on the Turkish army, calling it to have been sold and criticizing the government over the privatization of a national tank factory, have stirred a debate with the government official condemning lawmaker's remarks.

The European Union should agree on imposing sanctions on Turkey by the year-end in order to deter Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan from jeopardizing the regional peace any further, European Parliament Vice President Dimitrios Papadimoulis told Sputnik.

It impossible for us to harbor any more illusions about the intentions of Turkey and its president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Even if Ankara were to express a desire to sit down for talks with Greece, it has lost all credibility, having used the calls for dialogue as nothing more than a tactic in the service of its plans time and again.

Decrying rising Islamophobia in Western countries, the Turkish president said Saturday that insulting people's beliefs has nothing to do with freedom.