US Says Turkey Conducted ‘Unsafe’ Air Strikes in Syria, Killing US Partners
With less than an hour’s notice to the U.S.-led coalition, Turkey, a U.S. NATO ally, conducted airstrikes in northern Syria on Monday night, killing “a significant number” of Kurdish YPG fighters, who have been “very important to the fight against ISIS,” Air Force Col. John Dorrian, the spokesperson for Operation Inherent Resolve, told reporters at […]
WH Says Trump’s Congratulatory Call to Erdogan Was Not an Acceptance of Election Result
Defending President Trump’s decision to congratulate Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan following Sunday’s controversial referendum win, a White House spokeswoman said Tuesday “the president’s number one job is to keep Americans safe.” “And if he needs to work with countries like Turkey and others to do that, I think that’s his priority and that’s what […]
Trump congratulates Erdoğan after Turkey vote grants sweeping powers
Donald Trump called to congratulate Recep Tayyip Erdoğan hours after the Turkish president claimed a narrow victory in a contested referendum that will grant him sweeping new powers. Trump’s call came as the Turkish government announced late on Monday night that it would be extending the state of emergency in the country by three more […]
The Latest: State of emergency extended in Turkey
The Latest on Turkey’s referendum on presidential powers (all times local): 6:45 p.m. Turkey’s parliament has approved a three-month extension of the state of emergency declared in the wake of last year’s failed coup. Government spokesman Numan Kurtulmus told parliament Tuesday that the state of emergency serves to purge the network of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah […]
Turkey’s referendum could signal trouble ahead for the country, experts say
Turkey’s narrow approval of a historic referendum will add to the already significant powers of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and could signal trouble ahead for the Middle Eastern nation, experts told ABC News. The referendum approved Sunday included 18 constitutional amendments, including abolishing the office of prime minister, which will eliminate a critical counterbalance to […]
Germany warns Turkey not to ‘end the European dream’
Germany on Monday warned Turkey against further distancing itself from Europe by reinstating the death penalty after a disputed referendum and urged authorities to seek “respectful dialogue” to heal a divided society. Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said that if Ankara were to bring back the death penalty, the move would be “synonymous with the end […]
Turkey’s Erdogan Wins Referendum to Give Him More Power
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won a historic referendum Sunday that will greatly expand the powers of his office, telling opponents who promised to challenge the results: “It’s too late now.” Erdogan initially struck a conciliatory tone, thanking all voters regardless of how they cast their ballots and describing the referendum as a “historic decision.” […]
Russia, Iran condemn US strike in Syria as Britain, Turkey give support
Russia and Iran condemned a US strike on a Syrian airbase on Friday as Australia, Britain and Turkey gave their support, with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull calling it a “proportionate” response to the use of chemical weapons. US President Donald Trump ordered missile strikes against a Syrian airfield from which a deadly chemical weapons […]
Turkey Is a Dictatorship Masquerading as a NATO Democracy
In the lead-up to Turkey’s constitutional referendum on April 16, Selahattin Demirtas, the co-chair of the opposition pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), sits in prison on charges of terrorism. With his voice effectively muzzled, he has taken to writing short stories, the latest of which is “Aleppo Mince,” where one of his characters muses, “I […]
Erdogan: Soon Europeans ‘Will Not Walk Safely on Their Streets’
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has warned the European Union (EU) that if the diplomatic spat between Turkey and several European countries continues, Europeans won’t be able to walk their own streets safely. President Erdoğan made the comments Wednesday in what is another increase of tensions between Turkey and the EU that began when Germany and […]