Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

The construction of a concrete wall along the Turkish-Syrian border will be completed in the first half of 2017, stated Turkish Defence Minister Fikri Işık, cited by Daily Sabah newspaper.

At present, a section of 270 km of the border fence has been completed. The fence has to protect Turkey from migrants and suspected extremists entering from Syria.

On the one hand, more details are emerging in the ongoing investigation about the bloody military coup attempt of July 15 that are increasing the reaction among Turkish people.

Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ has expressed "regret" that a prosecutor who is facing charges over Gülenist links was appointed to probe daily Cumhuriyet's writers and executives for alleged ties to the movement, which is widely believed to have staged the coup attempt on July 15.
 

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli at the presidential palace in the Turkish capital Ankara on Nov. 3, amid ongoing debates over the government's bid to introduce an executive presidential system.

Presidential sources said the meeting was first set during the reception of Turkey's national Republic Day on Oct. 29.

Fourteen leading international press freedom and freedom of expression organizations have condemned the detention of executives and journalists of Turkish daily Cumhuriyet, describing it as an "extraordinary attack on press freedom."

Turkish President Erdogan has criticised harshly German Chancellor Angela Merkel for her position regarding the detention of Cumhuriyet journalists, reported AFP, cited by Focus agency.

Erdogan stated that Ankara has apprehensions about Germany becoming a refuge for terrorists.

Jailed Turkish novelist Aslı Erdoğan has called on Europe to show solidarity and support to imprisoned writers and journalists in Turkey. 

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan lashed out at German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Nov. 3 over her criticism of the detention of daily Cumhuriyet journalists, saying "Germany harbors terrorism."

The Interior Ministry suspended 1,218 gendarmerie personnel from duty on Nov. 3 in the latest measure in the probe into the failed July 15 coup attempt, believed to have been masterminded by the Gülen movement.

The suspended personnel include 419 officers and 604 sergeants, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

I first met the journalist Kadri Gürsel more than 20 years ago. But I got to know him better after I moved to Istanbul from Ankara in 2005, when I began to see him more frequently. Each time we met, developments in Turkey had taken a worse turn than they were in our previous meetings.