Turkish Government to Return Seized Property to Religious Minorities

ny times

By SEBNEM ARSU

Published: August 28, 2011
ANKARA, Turkey — The Turkish government said it would return hundreds of properties that were confiscated from religious minorities by the state or other parties over the years since 1936, and would pay compensation for properties that were seized and later sold.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan made the announcement on Sunday to representatives of more than 150 Christian and Jewish trusts gathered at a dinner he hosted in Istanbul to break the day’s Ramadan fast. The government decree to return the properties, bypassing nationalist opposition in Parliament, was issued late Saturday....more...
read more: ny times
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/29/world/europe/29turkey.html?_r=1&ref=europe

Turkey Exacts a Toll on Kurdish Separatists

ny times

WORLD BRIEFING

EUROPE
By SEBNEM ARSU

Published: August 23, 2011
ISTANBUL — Hundreds of Turkish airstrikes and artillery assaults over the last week have killed at least 100 Kurdish separatists and injured more than 80, an army statement said Tuesday. ...more...
read more: ny times
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/24/world/europe/24turkey.html?_r=1&ref=europe

Military renews attacks on Kurds

independent

 Saturday, 20 August 2011

Turkish warplanes and artillery pounded Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq for a second night, hours after the rebels mounted attacks on security forces in south-eastern Turkey....more...

read more: independent

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/military-renews-attacks-on-kurds-2340832.html

Special Report: Erdogan: The strongest man in Turkey

reuters
By Simon Cameron-Moore and Daren Butler

ISTANBUL

Mon Aug 8, 2011 12:30pm EDT
(Reuters) - Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has an unspoken pact with the Turkish electorate: he delivers rapid economic growth, jobs and money, and voters let him shape what kind of democracy this Muslim nation of 74 million people becomes.

So far, the deal has served him well.

Erdogan has overseen a near tripling of per capita income in the last decade. That has helped blunt misgivings over the way he deals with dissent, and allowed him to subordinate Turkey's powerful military, which has long seen itself as guardian of the country's secular soul. Last year he used a plebiscite on constitutional reform to break the cliques in the judiciary, another bastion of Turkey's secular old guard....more...
read more: reuters
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/08/us-turkey-erdogan-idUSTRE7773X420110808

Third Turkish cargo plane carrying aid to Somalia takes off

xinhua

English.news.cn 2011-08-11 16:20:45

ANKARA, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- A third Turkish Airlines cargo plane took off for Mogadishu Thursday as part of Turkey's aid campaign, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.

The aid campaign is jointly launched by the Turkish International Cooperation and Development Agency (TIKA), Prime Ministry Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate, Religious Affairs Directorate General, Turkish Red Crescent and the Turkish daily Sabah....more...
read more: xinhua
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-08/11/c_131043636.htm

PKK kidnaps three workers in eastern Turkey

xinhua

English.news.cn 2011-08-10 20:25:43

ANKARA, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- Rebels of the banned Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) stormed a construction site in eastern Turkey and kidnapped three workers on Wednesday, said an official statement....more...
read more: xinhua
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-08/10/c_131041483.htm

PKK frees kidnapped businessman in southeastern Turkey

xinhua

English.news.cn 2011-08-10 18:00:25

ANKARA, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- The outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) released early Wednesday a prominent businessman who was kidnapped over the weekend in southeastern Turkey, local Today's Zaman reported.
Businessman Abdullah Tuz was reportedly abducted after Tarawih, an extra night prayer specific for the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, in the Ferez village of Adakli district in the predominantly Kurdish province of Bingol, said the report, adding that his family informed the gendarmerie after they failed to hear from Tuz....more...

read more: xinhua
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-08/10/c_131041308.htm

Court orders arrest of 2 Turkish generals

xinhua

English.news.cn 2011-08-08 19:56:49

ISTANBUL, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- An Istanbul court on Monday ordered the arrest of two generals and 12 others for involvement in a case alleging the Turkish Armed Forces had set up websites to spread anti-government propaganda with the eventual aim of bringing about the government's downfall.
The court ordered the arrest of Gen. Huseyin Nusret Tasdeler and Gen. Hifzi Cubuklu and 12 other people, the state-run Anatolia news agency reported....more...
read more: xinhua.net
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-08/08/c_131036499.htm

One policeman killed, three others wounded in blast in southeastern Turkey

xinhua

English.news.cn 2011-08-07 18:19:52

ANKARA, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- One policeman was killed and three others wounded in a mine blast in southeastern Turkey on Sunday, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.
The mine, probably planted by the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK), exploded while a police vehicle was passing by near Cukurca High School in Cukurca town of Hakkari province, killing one policeman and wounding three others, according to the report....more....
read more: xinhua.net
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-08/07/c_131034393.htm

With 4 Names, Turkey Marks a New Era

ny times
By SEBNEM ARSU

Published: August 4, 2011

ISTANBUL — Turkey’s civilian leadership appointed four new commanders on Thursday, decisively strengthening its control over its armed forces less than a week after the military leadership abruptly resigned in frustration over the continuing prosecution of officers accused of plotting to overthrow the government.
The new appointments of a chief of general staff and commanders of the army, navy and air force reflected the Islamic-leaning civilian government’s increased assertiveness in its struggle with the country’s military establishment, which has orchestrated three coups since 1960 and forced another government from power in 1997....more...
read more: ny times
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/05/world/europe/05turkey.html?ref=europe

Turks Question Power of Prime Minister

ny times

SILIVRI JOURNAL

By ANTHONY SHADID

Published: August 1, 2011

SILIVRI, Turkey — The retired men in this town of rolling hills, red shingles and resentment of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan paused their card game to voice their fears over the protest resignations of most of Turkey’s military command, an event that underlined Mr. Erdogan’s stamp on an era he can call his own. 
“He finished the army,” said Rait Kurt, sitting at a table flanked by pictures of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, whose principles the military has long said it upholds....more...
read more: ny times
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/02/world/europe/02turkey.html?_r=1&ref=europe

Turkey names new armed forces chiefs

independent
By Tulay Karadeniz in Ankara

Friday, 5 August 2011

Turkey picked four new generals to lead its armed forces yesterday in a shake-up seen as consolidating civilian control of the military. The previous four generals quit last week in protest at the jailing of officers in coup conspiracy cases....more...

read more: independent
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/turkey-names-new-armed-forces-chiefs-2332099.html

PM seizes chance to pick trusted military leaders

independent
By Tulay Karadeniz in Ankara
Tuesday, 2 August 2011
Turkey's civilian leaders prepared to use an unprecedented opportunity this week to choose generals they trust after the top commanders of all four military branches resigned in protest over the detention of comrades facing coup conspiracy charges.
The Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, convened the Supreme Military Council as scheduled yesterday despite the presence of only nine of the 14 generals who would normally attend the meeting to decide key promotions in Nato's second-largest armed forces. The meeting will run for four days....more...
read more: independent
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/pm-seizes-chance-to-pick-trusted-military-leaders-2330220.html

A hard act to follow - The Turkish model

the economist
In many ways Turkey’s Islamists seem to have got things right. But it took them a long time to emerge from the country’s army-guided secularism

Aug 6th 2011

from the print edition
PALE, bespectacled and polite, Bekir Berat Ozipek, a young professor at Istanbul’s Commerce University, is no street-fighter. But he was excited by the heady atmosphere he experienced on a recent trip to Egypt. He and two fellow Turkish scholars went to a conference at the University of Cairo where their ideas on civil-military relations were keenly gobbled up....more...
read more: the economist
http://www.economist.com/node/21525408

At ease - Turkey's army

the economist

The long battle between Turkey’s politicians and generals seems over

Aug 6th 2011

ANKARA AND ISTANBUL
from the print edition
FOR Turkey’s hard-line secularists it spelled a humiliating end to Ataturk’s republic. For their detractors it was an irreversible victory for democracy. Either way, the mass resignation of Turkey’s military leadership on July 29th captured the dramatic shift in power that has been taking place ever since the conservative Justice and Development (AK) party took office nine years ago. The once-omnipotent army, which has toppled four governments since 1960, no longer calls the shots....more...
read more: the economist
http://www.economist.com/node/21525457

Turkey appoints new military leaders

al jazeera
General Necdet Ozel among officers to head military following shock resignations last week of high-ranking officers.

Last Modified: 04 Aug 2011 10:54

Turkey's president has appointed four new generals to lead the country's armed forces, nearly a week after four senior generals quit in protest against the government.

Abdullah Gul approved the appointments on Thursday, during a major gathering of Turkey's Supreme Military Council, which reviews annually the promotion prospects of senior officers, a presidential spokesman said. The appointees will take up the posts after the cabinet approves the promotions....more...
read more: al jazeera
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2011/08/20118491938829627.html

Turkey appoints military head after resignations

cnn

English.news.cn 2011-08-05 01:21:36 FeedbackPrintRSS

ANKARA, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- Turkey appointed Thursday its new military heads following an unexpected resignation of top brass in a rift with the government.
General Necdet Ozel, former commander of the paramilitary gendarmerie, is promoted to new Chief of General Staff for Turkey' s armed forces....more...
read more: cnn
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-08/05/c_131030140.htm

Turkey appoints new head of armed forces

cnn

English.news.cn 2011-08-04 17:44:34 FeedbackPrintRSS

ANKARA, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Abdullah Gul on Thursday approved the appointment of General Necdet Ozel as chief of the Turkish armed forces, as part of a shake-up after former chief of general staff Isik Kosane and three others top generals quit last week in protest against the jailing of generals....more...
read more: cnn
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-08/04/c_131029831.htm

Turkish military officer admits to authenticity of document seeking instability

xinhua
English.news.cn 2011-08-03 01:05:18 FeedbackPrintRSS

ISTANBUL, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- A serving officer admitted to an Istanbul court Tuesday the authenticity of a document stating that the Turkish Armed Forces had set up websites to spread anti- government propaganda but denied any plans for a coup.
"That document on propaganda websites is authentic," said Col. Dursun Cicek, currently in prison on suspicion of having drawn up an alleged plot to overthrow the government called the Action Plan to Fight Reactionarism.....more...
read more: xinhua
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-08/03/c_131025661.htm

Turkey moves to resolve crisis as top military brass step down

cnn
From Yesim Comert and Joe Sterling, CNN

July 30, 2011 5:33 a.m. EDT

Istanbul (CNN) -- The Turkish government moved Friday to resolve a crisis that erupted earlier in the day when the country's top four military officers left their jobs en masse in the latest power play between the government and the Turkish military.

Late at night, the government turned to the only top commander who has not quit his position, naming former Gendarmerie Commander General Necdet Ozel acting chief of general staff and land force commander....more...
read more: cnn
http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/europe/07/29/turkey.military.resignations/index.html