Turkish army acknowledges possible coup plan
ISTANBUL – The general staff of the Turkish army has admitted that one of the possible coup plans against the AKP government could be genuine. It concerns ‘Operation Cage’, an action plan against the AK government and the religious Gülen movement that was revealed in June last year. Several Turkish media report this after a declaration was placed on the …
‘Tensions Turkey are fight for democracy’
ISTANBUL – The current tensions in Turkey are often seen as a power struggle between the army and the government of Prime Minister Erdogan. Unjustified, say several Turkish opinion makers: it’s a struggle for real democracy.
Earlier this week, once again dozens of (high-ranking) military personnel, some retired and some still on active duty, were arrested for alleged links with Balyoz …
ISTANBUL – Does Ilker Basbug, the top general of the Turkish armed forces, want to modernize the army, or is he a hawk who would do anything to keep the institution as powerful as it is? Both, so it seems. He supports the investigation into military personnel supposedly linked to coup plans, but also believes that civilian judges shouldn’t try …
Turkey passes disputed mines law
ISTANBUL – The Turkish parliament has passed a controversial law on clearing mines along the border with Syria. According to the law foreign companies will also have a chance to help in clearing the mines, in exchange for the use of the cleared land for several decades. The opposition now threatens to take the law to the Constitutional Court.
Along the …
Forest fires in Turkey sometimes lit by army
ISTANBUL – The forest fires raging across the southern Turkish region of Antalya have nothing to do with terrorism or the fight against it. Some fires in others parts of the country do: the Turkish army sometimes lights them in its fight against the Kurdish PKK, which threatens to set forests on fire in the west of Turkey in retaliation.
In …
ISTANBUL – A period of political uncertainty has come to an end in Turkey: governing party AKP will not be closed down, the Constitutional Court decided today. Various reforms and negotiations initiated by the AKP but stalled during the court case, can now be taken further. For example the accession talks with the EU and a proposed presidential visit to …
Young Turks willing to fight for their country
Yesterday, thousands and thousands of young Turkish men started their military service. There is no fear of being sent to the restless southeast or to northern Iraq: “What must be done must be done.”
ISTANBUL – The young man in the picture, that’s Erhan. He is twenty years old and is thrown …
pro-Kurdish party DTP: in the shadow of the PKK
The Turkish pro-Kurdish Party for a Democratic Society (DTP) loses voters to the governing AK Party. No reason for DTP-leader Ahmet Türk to soften his opinions: “Amnesty for PKK fighters must be discussed and the murderers of Kurdish politicians, journalists and human rights activists must be brought to justice.”
The end is near for DTP, the “Party for a Democratic Society”. …
Grief and pride for killed soldiers
In south-eastern Turkey the fight against the PKK has again intensified over the last few years. Almost every day soldiers die. “I am proud of my son.”
Her husband was wounded, a helicopter came to take him to hospital but he refused to go: first, he wanted his men to be safe. The decision proved fatal. His wife Fatma (39, not …
Gül the centre of Turkish attention
Many Turks suspect the just appointed Turkish president Gül of having a hidden agenda. Gül’s task is now to prove he is not an Islamist.
Finally Abdullah Gül is Turkey’s new president. Secular Turks resisted, the Turkish army threatened and manipulated, but to no avail. Yesterday president Gül made his first speech to parliament. So what can …
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