Erdogan
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Kurds in Sweden on edge as Turkey presses government to ditch them in exchange for NATO membership
As Sweden’s government survived a non-confidence vote today, its fate was tied to Kurdish lawmaker and former guerrilla Amineh Kakabaveh.
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Turkey preparing for military operation in Syria / Kirill Semenov
At its May 26 meeting, Turkey’s National Security Council (NSC) announced it was necessary to go on with current and prospective operations at the country’s “southern borders” to ensure Turkey’s security. Turkey’s NSC stressed that such operations are not directed against the sovereignty of its neighbors (likely a reference to Syria and Iraq).
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Russia and the West stand by Kurds in the face of Turkish incursion into Syria / Turkmen Terzi
The United States and major European countries have imposed harsh economic sanctions on Russia over its Ukraine invasion, and they are continuing to arm Ukrainian forces. On the other hand, the US and Russia, the two states that have been active players in the Syrian civil war for a decade, together with the UK and France, are united in disagreeing with Turkey’s military operations in northern Syria.
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Erdogan says Turkey to conduct operation into Rifaat and Manbij
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday Turkey will rid Tal Rifaat and Manbij areas of “terrorists” during its operation into northern Syria.
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The stumbling blocks facing Turkey’s new operation plan in Syria / Fehim Tastekin
Kobani, Manbij and Tel Rifaat stand out as the main targets in a prospective new Turkish operation in northern Syria, but Erdogan might narrow his objectives to avoid tensions with the United States.
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Erdogan, Putin discuss Turkey's Syria military operations
Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed planned military operations in Syria with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
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Russia reinforces troops amid reports of possible Turkish incursion into Syrian Kurdistan
The Russian military has sent fighter jets and helicopters to Qamishli airport in northeastern Syria, Asharq al-Awsat reported on Sunday, May 29.
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US, Kurdish officials call Turkish threats of military operation in Syria 'serious'
Ankara's threats come amid a spat with NATO allies over Finland and Sweden’s request to join the Western alliance.
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Turkey shows reality of NATO, says scholar
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s demands that Sweden and Finland end support for Kurdish militants to secure membership of NATO is deeply revealing for all concerned, said Cihan Tugal, an author and professor of sociology at the University of California.
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Syria says Turkish incursion would amount to 'war crimes'
The Syrian foreign ministry said on Wednesday that it would consider any Turkish military incursions into Syria as "war crimes and crimes against humanity."
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Three Turkish soldiers killed in Kurdistan Region: defense ministry
Three Turkish soldiers were killed during clashes with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the Kurdistan Region, the defense ministry said on Tuesday, May 24.
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Erdogan signals imminent military attack on Syrian Kurds
Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country's forces were preparing for an operation that would complete a 30km safe zone on Turkey's southern border.
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Sweden denies it provided financial, military aid to Syrian Kurds
Sweden denied on Tuesday it was providing any “financial assistance or military aid” to the Kurdish groups or entities in northern Syria.
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Ilham Ahmed warns Turkey is seeking the annihilation of all Kurds
A Syrian Kurdish leading official Ilham Ahmed said the aim of Turkey attacks on Kurdistan Region is to destroy all Kurds and occupy Kurdish regions.
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Could Turkey be expelled from NATO over blocking Finland, Sweden? / Giulia Carbonaro
Turkey's refusal to accept Finland and Sweden's bid to join NATO has triggered a spat within the alliance otherwise united over the two Nordic countries' prospective entry.
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Swedish FM denounces Turkey ‘disinformation’ on Stockholm’s PKK policy
Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde has pushed back against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s claims that Stockholm is soft on the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militant group, saying her country recognized the PKK as a terrorist organization in 1984.
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How Sweden, Finland’s NATO membership could impact Turkey / Barin Kayaoglu
If Ankara can be tactful about Stockholm and Helsinki’s possible membership in NATO, it has a chance to see its concerns addressed.
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Erdogan is abusing NATO against Kurds: administration
The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) described Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's recent rejection of Finland and Sweden's NATO membership as an attempt to seize NATO control and create a mentality against Kurdish groups in the region.
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Turkey continues to play hard ball over Sweden, Finland NATO membership / Amberin Zaman
Turkey’s Islamic-leaning Justice and Development Party government is demanding that both countries end their arms embargoes on Turkey over its military intervention in 2019 against the Kurds in northeast Syria.
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Expert sheds light on Erdogan's internal and external challenges and the future of the Kurds
In an interview with Kurdpress, James Carey, an expert on Turkey affairs, spoke about the external and internal challenges of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan before the upcoming elections in 2023 and his specific actions to address them, including the opposition's efforts to oust him, the future of Turkey Kurds, many other issues in Turkey and the war in Ukraine as well as the unprecedented confrontation between the West and Russia after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.
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Peaceful transition ‘doubtful’ if Turkey opposition wins in 2023: Ahmet Turk
There are “serious doubts” regarding Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan allowing peaceful transition of power if he loses the elections scheduled for 2023, Kurdish politician Ahmet Turk told Independent Turkish on Saturday.
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Are Kurds an obstacle to Finland and Sweden joining NATO?
Some Western diplomats, referring to the significant presence of Kurds in the political body of Finland and Sweden, do not consider Turkey's opposition to the two countries to join NATO as unexpected.
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Turkey opposes U.S. exempting Syrian Kurdish regions from sanctions: FM
Turkey opposes the US decision to exempt regions controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) from Caesar Act sanctions on Syria, Hurriyet Daily News reported on Friday, May 13.
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Demirtas calls on intelligentsia to unite to help build full democracy in Turkey
Jailed Kurdish leader Selahattin Demirtas, a former co-chair of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), has called on Turkey’s writers, artists, academics and journalists to unite and help establish full democracy in the country by taking “an active stance” for it in the period towards June 2023 elections, local media reported on Thursday, May 12.
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Sixty percent of Turkish voters believe Erdogan can’t fix economy
Almost 60 percent of Turkish voters do not believe that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan can fix the country’s economy, according to a survey by Turkish pollster Metropoll.
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“Being a mosque” in the Middle East: Erdogan's Riyadh visit / Namik Tan
On January 6, 1955, Turkey’s late Prime Minister Adnan Menderes, flew to Baghdad at the invitation of the Iraqi and Lebanese governments respectively. The visit was organized to reciprocate the state visit of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Said to Turkey in the fall of 1954. Nuri Said (Pasha) who graduated from an Ottoman military academy was no stranger to Turkey and enjoyed a close personal relationship with his counterpart, Prime Minister Adnan Menderes. The Baghdad Pact signed at that time symbolized the friendship between the two leaders. In fact, in 1958, the Democratic Party government ordered Turkish security forces to save Nuri Said Pasha and King Faisal from a coup d’état and a team was sent to Jordan for this purpose. They were too late; King Faisal and Prime Minister Said were killed by the forces of putschist General Kasım.
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Tough days ahead for Syrian refugees as anti-migrant sentiment grows in Turkey / Turkmen Terzi
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP), which has been in power since 2002, has found itself losing support amid soaring inflation and high unemployment. Millions of Syrian refugees are at increased risk of xenophobic attacks from the nationalist segment of Turkish society who blame Syrians for the worsening economic situation. The AKP has opened the country’s border to millions of Syrians since the start of the Syrian conflict in 2011. Ultranationalist figures in Turkey today are recognized as the descendants of the Ottoman Empire’s Union and Progress Party (CUP), also known as the Young Turks, a political group that embraced a Turkification policy which excluded the empire’s ethnic identities such as Arab and Kurdish citizens.
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Turkish inflation jumps from 20% to 70% in just six months / Mustafa Sonmez
Even if monthly price increases ease to an average of 5% in the coming months, Turkey would face an annual consumer inflation of over 100% in the fall and finish the year with a rate of some 90%.
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Has Ukraine war given Erdogan free hand at home? / Pinar Tremblay
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan might be aiming to tighten his grip on the domestic front, taking advantage of Ankara’s rising profile amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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Turkey says first phase of Operation Claw Lock concluded
The Turkish Minister of Defense, Hulusi Akar, said on Monday, April 25, the first phase of the country’s cross-border Operation Claw Lock against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) has come to an end.