Clipmarks | invictus's 'turkey' clips

Deadly blasts hit Istanbul street

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 02:26:28 GMT

clipped by: invictus

At least 15 people have been killed and 154 wounded in two explosions in the Turkish city of Istanbul, in what officials say was a terrorist attack.

The first blast occurred in a rubbish bin in the busy Gungoren residential area. The second, larger explosion occurred as crowds gathered.

So far there has been no indication of who was responsible for the blasts.

Tags: turkey, terrorism

Attack at US Istanbul consulate

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 15:41:42 GMT

clipped by: invictus
clipper's remarks: ... and the thriller keeps going further...

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Three policemen and three gunmen have died in an attack near the US consulate in the Turkish city of Istanbul.

The US ambassador to Turkey condemned it as "an obvious act of terrorism" aimed at the US. No injuries were reported to staff inside the consulate.

The identity of the attackers is still unclear. The police are looking for a fourth man seen with them.

Another policeman and the driver of a police tow-truck were injured in the ensuing gun battle, the governor added.

After the 11 September 2001 attacks on New York and Washington, the consulate was moved from the centre of Istanbul to a hill on the outskirts in the north-eastern Istinye district.

Tags: turkey, united states, terror, istanbul

Turkish site a Neolithic 'supernova'

Fri, 02 May 2008 17:50:55 GMT

clipped by: invictus
clipper's remarks: The archaeological discoveries in Gobeklitepe - Turkey, continues to stun the archaeology world. The site is dated to 9,500 BCE.

Clip Source: www.stonepages.com

Klaus Schmidt, a member of the German Archaeological Institute, has found in Turkey a temple complex almost twice as old as anything comparable. "This place is a supernova," said Mr. Schmidt. "Within a minute of first seeing it, I knew I had two choices: go away and tell nobody, or spend the rest of my life working here."

The stone circles of Gobekli Tepe are his workplace since 1994.

Dated at about 9500 BCE, these stones are 5,500 years older than the first cities of Mesopotamia and 7,000 years older than Stonehenge.

"Everybody used to think only complex, hierarchical civilizations could build such monumental sites and that they only came about with the invention of agriculture," said Ian Hodder, a Stanford University anthropology professor who has directed digs at Catalhoyuk,

"Gobekli changes everything. It's elaborate, it's complex, and it is pre-agricultural. That fact alone makes the site one of the most important archaeological finds in a very long time."

Tags: archaeology, prehistory, neolithic, turkey, klaus schmidt, science

Iraq denounces Turkish offensive

Tue, 26 Feb 2008 18:18:27 GMT

clipped by: invictus

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Turkey says it is defending itself from rebel attacks

The Iraqi government has denounced a Turkish incursion into northern Iraq in some of the strongest terms heard since the operation began last week.

In a statement, the Iraqi cabinet expressed its "rejection and condemnation" of the operation.

It called on Ankara to withdraw its troops immediately.

Snow was impeding operations, Turkey's military said, as fighting entered a fifth day and was said to be close to a rebel base in the Zap valley.

The Turkish military says it has killed 153 rebels and lost 19 soldiers since the cross-border attack began on Thursday night.

The rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) say they have killed 81 soldiers. Neither report can be independently verified.

Clashes are also reported to be continuing in the mountainous area of Hakurk.

Tags: turkey, iraq, kurds, pkk, war

Iraq fears clash between Turkish troops and Peshmerga

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 14:16:49 GMT

clipped by: invictus
clipper's remarks: Present "rumours" in Turkish press: A new "secret pledge" was made between the U.S. and Turkey. According to this, U.S. forces support Turkey's military operations against PKK, while Turkey "secretly" accepts the task that was assigned to Turkey by the U.S. administration: Being the "new security force" in Iraq after the U.S. withdrawal. Truth or just rumours? Only time will tell.

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq fears that a prolonged Turkish incursion into northern Iraq could trigger clashes between Turkish troops and Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga security forces, the country's national security adviser said on Monday.

Mowaffaq al-Rubaie said such fighting could have "very serious consequences" for a part of Iraq that has been relatively stable compared with the rest of the country.

"The ... longer Turkish soldiers stay inside Iraqi territory, the more likely this is going to happen," Rubaie told reporters in Baghdad when asked if he was concerned about clashes between Turkish and Peshmerga forces breaking out.

So far the battle-hardened Peshmerga have stayed on the sidelines of the Turkish military operation, which is taking place in a sparsely populated mountainous region. Kurdish officials regard the area as outside their control.

While Iraqi Kurds have little sympathy for the aims of the PKK, there is widespread anger over the incursion.

Tags: turkey, northern iraq, kurds, pkk, military, war

Turkish lawmakers remove head scarf ban

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 01:03:36 GMT

clipped by: invictus
clipper's remarks: Islamists and nationalists, hand-in-hand... The harbinger of an anti-secular disaster on the horizon?

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

ANKARA, Turkey - Lawmakers voted early Thursday to approve a constitutional amendment allowing female students to enter universities wearing Islamic head scarves — a move some Turks see as a threat to the traditional separation of church and state.

The head scarf issue is a source of tension in Turkey and has divided the population among those who consider the ban an affront to the religious freedoms of pious Muslims and those who fear removing the ban would erode Turkey's secular education system.

Secularists regard the head covering as a political statement and argue it has no place in schools. They also fear that lifting the ban at universities would pressure all female students to cover themselves up.

On Wednesday, about 200 people gathered near the parliament building to protest the government's proposal as lawmakers convened. Hundreds of riot police, reinforced by armored vehicles, set up barricades to prevent them from marching to parliament.

Tags: islam, fundamentalism, turkey, headscarf, secularism

Iraq's Kurdish leader snubs Rice

Tue, 18 Dec 2007 23:16:31 GMT

clipped by: invictus

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Turkish troops have been massed on the Iraqi border

The head of Iraq's Kurdish regional government has refused to meet the US secretary of state because of the US position on Turkish cross-border raids.

Massoud Barzani had been scheduled to meet Condoleezza Rice in Baghdad, but withdrew "as a sign of protest" after several villages were bombed on Sunday.

The air strikes on alleged positions of PKK separatist rebels were followed by an incursion by 300 troops on Tuesday.

They moved 3km (1.9 miles) over Iraq's border, but later reportedly withdrew.

The UN refugee agency, the UNHCR, has said almost 2,000 people in northern Iraq have fled their homes in recent days as a result of the Turkish operations.

Speaking to reporters in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil, the prime minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government, Nechirvan Barzani, said its president had refused to meet Ms Rice because of Washington's tolerance of the recent Turkish raids.

Tags: iraq, turkey, kurds, pkk, united states, war, condoleezza rice, middle east

Iraq complains about Turkey bombing

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 20:27:34 GMT

clipped by: invictus
clipper's remarks: No opposing voices here. Cheerful Turkish media behaves like "the voice of the military".

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Iraq's parliament on Monday condemned the bombing of suspected Kurdish rebel bases by Turkish jets — an attack that seemed to carry tacit U.S. approval — and denounced the raid as an outrageous violation of Iraqi sovereignty.

As many as 50 Turkish fighter jets were involved in the airstrikes Sunday in the Qandil mountains of northern Iraq in the biggest attack against Turkish Kurd rebels in years, Turkish media said. An Iraqi official said the planes attacked several villages, killing one woman. The rebels said two civilians and five rebels died.

"We condemn this outrageous attack on Iraq's sovereignty," Iraq's parliament said in a statement.

Turkey said the attack was aimed at rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, and that U.S. intelligence had been used in the bombing. The PKK has battled for autonomy for southeastern Turkey for more than two decades and uses strongholds in northern Iraq for cross-border strikes.

Tags: turkey, iraq, pkk, kurds, militarism, war

Turkey moves to change speech law

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 00:04:35 GMT

clipped by: invictus

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Opponents of Article 301 say the law does not allow free speech

The Turkish government says it will change a controversial law restricting freedom of expression.

Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin said a new bill would be put before the Turkish parliament in the coming days.

The law, known as Article 301, bans perceived insults to Turkish identity or the country's institutions.

It has often been invoked by nationalists against those who argue the Ottoman empire committed genocide against Armenians.

"Several drafts have been prepared in line with proposals by civic groups. The cabinet will discuss them at first opportunity, select one and submit it to parliament," Mr Sahin told Anatolia news agency.

He did not give details of how the law would be reformed.

Nobel-winning novelist Orhan Pamuk and Turkish-Armenian writer Hrant Dink were both prosecuted under the law for their comments on the mass killings of Armenians.

Tags: turkey, free speech, democracy, freedom of expression

Rice promises Turkey more action against PKK

Fri, 02 Nov 2007 17:10:47 GMT

clipped by: invictus

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

ANKARA (Reuters) - The United States promised on Friday to redouble efforts against Kurdish militants in northern Iraq in an attempt to stave off Turkish military intervention that could destabilize the region.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called the militants a "common enemy." But she did not spell out what Washington might do to stop them using Iraq as a base for attacks on Turkey, where they seek an independent Kurdish state.

"We all need to redouble our efforts and the United States is committed to redoubling our efforts," Rice told a news conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan.

Tags: turkey, pkk, united states, northern iraq, condoleezza rice, middle east

Turkey threats lift rebel Kurds' profile

Tue, 30 Oct 2007 22:38:15 GMT

clipped by: invictus
clipper's remarks:

The PKK started as a Marxist-Leninist group demanding an independent homeland, but shed socialist ideology with the end of the Cold War and says it seeks some degree of self rule, similar to that of Spain's semiautonomous Catalonia region.

Arrested in 1999, PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan still enjoys a personality cult among sympathizers and is believed to send directives through lawyers from prison.

But the tight control that characterized the PKK eroded. In 2004, it dropped a unilateral cease-fire. Last year, a splinter operation called the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons bombed Turkish tourist resorts. An Iranian Kurd group affiliated with the PKK is fighting Iran.

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

The PKK, estimated to have 5,000 fighters, could benefit politically from an Iraq campaign by claiming to be the champion of all Kurds in the face of an invader with a history of human rights abuses. Fighting could shift attention from moderate Kurds who have responded at the polls to the Turkish ruling party's pledges of better conditions and economic support.

"Turkey has played it badly," said James Brandon, a London-based analyst who visited the PKK's main base at Mount Qandil in northern Iraq last year. "The thing to do is to ignore the guys in Iraqi Kurdistan."

Turkey's military said it will wait for a decision on what to do when Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan returns from a Nov. 5 meeting in Washington with President Bush, who has urged Turkey to act with restraint.

Even if Turkey's alliances fray, the PKK is unlikely to win international recognition and status as the sole representative of Turkish Kurd aspirations because of its track record of bombings and assassinations.

Tags: turkey, pkk, kurds, iraq, northern iraq

Iraq warns Turkey over incursion

Sun, 28 Oct 2007 21:34:50 GMT

clipped by: invictus
clipper's remarks:

"This would be a unilateral decision and that's why people are resisting that.

"That's why the whole government of Iraq and the whole people of Iraq are united really not to see their sovereignty, their territorial integrity undermined by a friendly neighbouring country."

The BBC's Jim Muir, in Baghdad, says there are fears of a collision between Turkish troops and the Iraqi Kurdish forces which control the area.

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Mr Zebari said any incursion would be a violation

Mr Zebari interview

Iraq's foreign minister has warned of serious consequences if Turkey launches a ground assault against Kurdish rebels based in northern Iraq.

Hoshyar Zebari told the BBC that the current crisis was "dead serious" and accused Turkey of not seeking a peaceful solution.

He said Turkey had shown no interest in Iraqi proposals to calm the situation.

He said there was nothing to stop Turkey taking action against PKK bases in the remote and rugged border mountains.

But the massing of an estimated 100,000 Turkish troops - with tanks and other heavy weaponry - raised fears that the Turks were planning something bigger and deeper into northern Iraq, Mr Zebari said.

Such a step would have "disastrous consequences" for stability in both countries and in the wider region, he added.

The Kurdish north of Iraq is a semi-autonomous area run by the Kurdish Regional Government, led by Masoud Barzani.

Tags: turkey, iraq, pkk, northern iraq, kurds, barzani, middle east

Turkey wins Iraq backing on PKK

Tue, 23 Oct 2007 14:20:03 GMT

clipped by: invictus

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Turkey has said it will use military means if diplomacy fails

Turkey and Iraq have agreed to work together to deal with the problem of Kurdish PKK rebels in northern Iraq.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said Ankara would put the emphasis on diplomatic means to solve the crisis.

Mr Babacan rejected any ceasefire with the PKK, saying this was not possible with a "terrorist organisation".

Turkey is coming under intense pressure from the public and military to use force against the PKK, after its parliament approved cross-border raids.

Mr Zebari said his country would actively help Turkey deal with the PKK "menace".

"We agreed that the position we should take is a common position to fight terrorism wherever it is and we will not allow any party or any group, including the PKK to poison our bilateral relations," he said.

A delegation of senior Iraqi government officials is expected to travel to Ankara in the coming days to agree on measures that are being described as practical and concrete

Tags: turkey, iraq, pkk

Conflict on a Second Kurdish Front

Tue, 23 Oct 2007 03:30:06 GMT

clipped by: invictus
clipper's remarks:

Like the P.K.K., the Iranian Kurds control much of the craggy, boulder-strewn frontier and routinely ambush patrols on the other side. But while the Americans call the P.K.K. terrorists, guerrilla commanders say P.J.A.K. has had “direct or indirect discussions” with American officials. They would not divulge any details of the discussions or the level of the officials involved, but they noted that the group’s leader, Rahman Haj-Ahmadi, visited Washington last summer.

Biryar Gabar, one of 11 members of the group’s leadership, said there had been “normal dialogue” with American officials, declining specifics. One of his bodyguards said officials of the group met with Americans in Kirkuk last year.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Deadly raids into Turkey by Kurdish militants holed up in northern Iraq are the focus of urgent diplomacy, with Turkey threatening invasion of Iraq and the United States begging for restraint while expressing solidarity with Turkish anger.

Yet out of the public eye, a chillingly similar battle has been under way on the Iraqi border with Iran. Kurdish guerrillas ambush and kill Iranian forces and retreat to their hide-outs in Iraq. The Americans offer Iran little sympathy. Tehran even says Washington aids the Iranian guerrillas, a charge the United States denies. True or not, that conflict, like the Turkish one, has explosive potential.

The guerrillas from the Party for Free Life in Kurdistan, or P.J.A.K., have been waging a deadly insurgency in Iran and they are an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, known as the P.K.K., the Kurdish guerrillas who fight Turkey.

Tags: iran, turkey, pkk, pjak, kurds, iraq, war

Turkey sends more troops to Iraq border

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 22:23:32 GMT

clipped by: invictus

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Dozens of Turkish military vehicles streamed toward the Iraqi border with heavy artillery and ammunition Monday after Kurdish guerrillas killed a dozen soldiers and claimed to have captured eight in an intensifying crisis threatening to spill into Iraq.

Arab nations joined the U.S. and Europe in urging Turkey's government not to attack suspected guerrilla bases in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq, while Turkish citizens rallied across the country demanding action against the rebels.

Iraq's president claimed the guerrillas would announce a cease-fire. But the rebels denied that, saying a cease-fire they declared in June was still in place.

With tensions worsening, the Turkish foreign minister said his government was pursuing a diplomatic solution to halt rebel operations out of havens in Iraq, but warned that it wanted to see results soon if an escalation in military action was to be avoided.

Tags: turkey, pkk, kurds, northern iraq, war, iraq