Turkey Live Coverage (4 June): No Kurdish Problem At All?

See also Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: President Assad's "Real War"

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1800 GMT: According Turkish daily Today's Zaman, Ankara welcomes political efforts to unseat Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki as politicians in the Iraqi Parliament have collected enough signatures to hold a non-confidence vote. 

1710 GMT: President Abdullah Gul met with Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas in Istanbul. Abbas is also expected to talk to Prime Minister Erdogan and Foreign Minister Davutoglu. Nothing specific regarding the content of the meetings has been revealed so far. 

1600 GMT: Syrian opposition activits declared the formation of a new military coalition named "the Syrian Rebels Front". Khaled al-Okla, a member of the new group, says it coordinates with the Free Syrian Army.

1440 GMT: The first Mavi Marmara court hearing is scheduled for 6 November. As known, the indictment charging four Israeli commanders for full life sentence was accepted last month.

1335 GMT: Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag says that Turkey already has a semi-presidential system which needs to be upgraded to the presidential system.

1245 GMT: An air-supported operation against PKK is continuing in the Beytussebap district of the province of Sirnak. Sikorsky and Cobra helicopters are bombarding the Kato Mountain.

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Turkey Live Coverage (31 May): Erdogan "World Cannot Remain Silent About Syria"

1900 GMT: Danish EU affairs minister Nicolai Wammen says the biggest problem of Turkey's EU accession process is the matter of the freedom of press.

1830 GMT: Addressing to the nation, Prime Minister Erdogan said:

Due to the recent bitter incident happened in Uludere, our security forces, institutions and government are being targeted alltogether. Even not these; but our brotherhood is being targeted through the exploitation of Uludere and of the pain. 

Unfortunately, the opposition also shows such a problematised approach at this matter. Unfortunately, some media organisations don't and even can't take side with the nation in such an important, national and essential matter like terror.

Those who do not trust in the institutions, politicians and administrators of this country go and carry this exploitation policy to its peak by believing in those intentional publicaitons of foreign countries. Be sure of this, my dear citizens... The state does its part and will do so following the Uludere incident.

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Turkey Live Coverage (30 May): The European Link to the Kurdish Problem?

1800 GMT: One again, Turkish Foreign Ministry calls on Turkish citizens not to travel to Syria for their own safety.

1720 GMT: When asked about his opinion regarding the government's plan to prepare an abortion law, Health Minister Recep Akdag said: 

Some say, 'what  if something happens to the mother'. If necessary, the state will take care of that baby. If we are to make law on this, we need to take measures accordingly.

1455 GMT: The families of civilians killed in Uludere are reportedly going to stage a sit-in protest in the same area Turkish jets bombed since the murderers have not been found in the last five months. 

1420 GMT: It is reported that Turkish Armed Forces (TSK)'s special units coupled with around 200 vehicles and Cobra helicopters are sent to the province of Sirnak while operations are continuing flat out in another province of Mus.

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Turkey Live Coverage (28 May): Erdogan's Dilemma on the Kurdish Problem

1845 GMT: European Parliament President Martin Schulz held meetings with President Abdullah Gul and government and opposition leaders. Schulz said that it was no secret that Turkey's accession process would be a long and difficult one.

As for the Kurdish problem and the case of Leyla Zana, who was recently sentenced to 10 years in prison on charges of being a member of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), Schulz said that there had been no real progress on the Kurdish issue and that the European Parliament would follow her case very closely.

1720 PKK has opened harassing fire to Turkish soldiers in the eastern province of Kars. One soldier was wounded and taken to the nearest hospital by a helicopter.

1530 GMT: In the middle of and exchange of fire in Aleppo, a Turkish citizen, Aliye Tas (63), was killed. 

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Turkey Live Coverage (24 May): Erdogan Government Sidelining Its Minister of Interior?

1220 GMT: Following Minister of Interior İdris Naim Şahin's recent announcement that the order of the Uludere operation  --- which killed 34 civilians in January --- was given by top air force commanders, the opposition BDP's deputy Hasip Kaplan has responded in Parliament:

Let us ask this to Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Mehdi Eker, since the Defence Minister is not present here. He will give a better answer. Which beast gave that order?

1100 GMT: A deputy of the opposition Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), Leyla Zana, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison on charges of spreading propaganda for PKK.

Zana was convicted in 1994 for having links to PKK and she was released in 2004.

1030 GMT: The Deputy Chairman of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), Hüseyin Çelik, criticised Minister of Interior İdris Naim Şahin for his recent remarks on the Uludere incident in January, which killed 34 civilians as they were smuggling goods from Iraq. Çelik disowned Şahin's claim that the slain were smuggling for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), as “extras” of the militant group. Çelik said:

We think this approach and style by Mr. Minister is not humane. It is also clear that the style and approach of Mr. Minister does not belong to the AK Party. It is not possible to get something right from something wrong. If they had been captured alive, they would be put on trial on charges of smuggling, but this incident overshadowed the smuggling issue. 

Turkey Live Coverage (23 May): Tough Line on "Counter-Terrorism"...and Israel's Military

1725 GMT: Diyarbakir's Mayor Osman Baydemir hosted the native Indian music group Inca Sol. Baydemir said:

Kurdish people understand you very well. Kurds have experienced the same tragedies your forefathers had faced. We would like you to know that Kurdish people has great respect to your people.

1600 GMT: Interior Minister İdris Naim Şahin accused the Assad regime for allowing PKK members to establish bases in Syrian territory. He claimed that even some PKK gorups were running small towns close to the Turkish border. Şahin continued:

Syria is turning a blind eye to terrorist groupings in areas close to the border to put Turkey in difficulty and perhaps as a way to take revenge on Turkey.

As known, Syria has also been accusing Turkey for training and arming the opposition forces within the turkish territories which is denied by Ankara.

1445 GMT: During his visit to Kazakhstan, Erdogan told his counterpart Karim Mansimov that they were very pleased to have carried the bilateral relations to strategic partnership in 2009. 

After he had stated that the total amount of Turkish business investment in the country reached around $2.5 billion, Erdogan said to Mansimov:

My brother, you know that I want 3 kids from each family in Turkey. You should say here not 3 but 5! Because all financial opportunities along with a vast area over 2 million 700 thousand square meters are fine. 

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Turkey Live Coverage (21 May): Regional and Global Dimensions of "Terrorism"

1630 GMT: After the Kurdistan Regional Government had announced a deal with Ankara that would allow them to export oil through Turkey and on to the international market, bypassing Baghdad; the central Iraqi government warned Arbil and said that the deals must abide by the constitution and laws that govern relations between Baghdad and the Kurdish north. 

1525 GMT: Turkish police detained three suspects for their suspected involvement in a plot to abduct a defected Syrian colonel who fled to Turkey.

1440 GMT: A special ops team officer was killed and five other security personnel were wounded in a clash with the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Kulp, a district of Diyarbakır province.

As known, PKK members had kidnapped the Justice and Development Party’s (AK Party) Kulp branch head Veysel Çelik earlier.

1120 GMT: The Turkish daily Radikal claims that President Obama, during the Chicago Summit, has ordered the handover of operational control of the early warning radar system to NATO.

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Turkey Follow-Up: More Questions --- and No Answers --- About the Killing of 34 Civilians

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoganOn Wednesday, I asked about January's Uludere killings, in which 34 civilians died, who gave the order to jets to bomb? And, beyond the death, how does this incident --- and the claim that the "intelligence" behind the attack came from the US --- affect Turkey's relations within the context of its Kurdish problem? 

More questions....

Turkish Armed Forces said that the intelligence --- which apparently to smugglers being wrongly identified as Kurdish insurgents --- was given by "national sources", but when eyes turned to the National Intelligence Service (MIT), it denied that it provided information.

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Turkey Analysis: Did US Intelligence Lead to Deaths of 34 Civilians (and Better Relations with Ankara)?

A Wall Street Journal investigation points to the role of US intelligence in the Uludere airstrikes

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The Wall Street Journal claims that the intelligence came from Washington. If this is true, we do not need to ask further about the reason for the Turkish Government's keeping of a secret. Both for general US-Turkish and for specific issues, such as co-operation over the Syrian issue, further enquiries into the Uludere incident would be inconvenient.

Could the deaths of 34 civilians have led to better relations between Ankara and Washington? After all, Turkey and the US are aligned in their policies towards Iraq's Maliki, Syria's Assad, Iran's Ahmadinejad, and Iraqi Kurdistan's Barzani --- so perhaps "collateral damage" in this case has been turned into "collateral benefit".

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The Battle of Rastan

1932 GMT: Syria. Another bloody day in Syria - the LCCS reports that 63 people have been killed today nationwide:

33 martyrs in Idlib, 8 martyrs in Homs, 7 martyrs in Deir Ezzor, 5 martyrs in Hama, 4 martyrs in Damascus Suburbs "Qalamoun - Qudsaya - Douma - Al-Tal", 4 Martyrs in Banyas, one martyr in Hasakeh and one martyr in Daraa "Daeel".

1924 GMT: Syria. Residents of Deir Ez Zor reported on Twitter that regime armored vehicles moved into the city in force today. Several of them were harassing residents, and security forces were making widespread arrests. The driver of the BMP vehicle in this video decided that it was in the best interest of national security to run over parked cars.

The strategy didn't work - as you'll find out if you watch to the end of the video:

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