Turkey–ISIL conflict

Syrian Kurds fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the flashpoint town of Kobane made new gains Nov. 18, expelling the jihadists from several central buildings and seizing weapons, a monitor said.
      

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group is locked in a war of attrition in the Syrian border town of Kobane, where Kurdish fighters backed by US-led air strikes are mounting fierce resistance.

Two months after ISIL launched a major offensive to try to capture the strategic prize on the Turkish frontier, the jihadists have failed to defeat the town’s Kurdish defenders.

A number of key European countries are cracking down on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has said.

A source in Ankara have denied reports claiming that air strikes conducted by the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) on Nov. 11 hit Turkey’s consulate in Mosul.

A source in Ankara have denied reports claiming that air strikes conducted by the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) on Nov. 11 hit Turkey’s consulate in Mosul.

The peace process between Turkey and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) is at a turning point and both sides “need to articulate realistic end goals,” according to the International Crisis Group’s latest report, which also details the parameters of a possible peace deal.

Eight people were detained by Istanbul anti-terror police early on Nov. 5 in an operation against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

The Istanbul Police Department’s anti-terror teams, together with riot police, raided a number of addresses in the Pendik and Sultanbeyli districts, both located on the Anatolian side of the city.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has released at least 93 Syrian Kurds from the flashpoint town of Kobane who were kidnapped in February, a monitor said Nov. 4.
      
They were among more than 160 Kurds abducted as they travelled east through Syria en route for Iraqi Kurdistan, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
      

The outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) wants an international mediator, possibly the United States, to help get peace talks with Turkey back on track and avert an escalation of their insurgency, a senior commander of the organization has told an Austrian newspaper.

While around 55 percent of Turkish citizens do not approve of the Syrian policy the government pursues, 58 percent said the dialogue between the government and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) to solve the decades-long conflict should be continued, results from a recent survey conducted by research organization Metropoll have shown.