Turkey

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan suggested Emmanuel Macron, his French counterpart needed mental health treatment, the latest sign of a growing backlash in the Islamic world sparked by Macron’s claim that Islam is in crisis.Ankara has been particularly incensed by a campaign championed by Macron to protect France’s secular values against radical […]

Macron’s office denounces ‘rudeness’ after Turkish president calls for counterpart to have ‘mental check’France said it would recall its envoy to Turkey for consultations following “unacceptable” comments by the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who suggested Emmanuel Macron, his French counterpart needed mental health […]

Evidence including footage of Frontex ship making waves near a migrant dinghy appears to contradict agency’s denial of involvement in pushbacksThe EU’s border agency has been accused of complicity in illegal and often dangerous pushbacks aimed at preventing asylum seekers crossing the Aegean Sea.Even as evidence of an aggressive maritime campaign by […]

Arrested Lawyers Initiative gathering evidence on hundreds jailed or awaiting trialCampaigners are seeking to use the UK’s Magnitsky-style human rights sanctions against Turkish prosecutors and officials responsible for arresting and imprisoning thousands of lawyers.Organisers of the Arrested Lawyers Initiative (ALI) are gathering evidence about the […]

Police say mobile sirens and surveillance cameras also used to deter crossings into EUGreece has begun extending a border wall along its frontier with Turkey to deter migrants from trying to enter the European Union, the Greek government has said, after a border standoff earlier this year which has helped drive Greek-Turkish relations to a dangerously low […]

Ersin Tatar, who favours even closer ties with Turkey, defeats incumbent Mustafa AkinciA rightwing hardliner who has long advocated closer ties with Turkey has won a presidential runoff in the Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus.Ersin Tatar, whose candidacy had been openly endorsed by Ankara, garnered 51.74% of the vote once all ballots had been counted, local […]

Casualties reported after Armenia says it was shelled twice, while Azerbaijan says mortars and artillery were used against itArmenia and Azerbaijan accused each other on Sunday of violating a new humanitarian ceasefire in fighting over the mountain enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, hours after it was agreed.The truce reached on Saturday came into force at […]

World leaders call for halt to fighting that has killed more than 500 people in 17 daysRussia has made a fresh appeal to Armenia and Azerbaijan to respect a badly fraying ceasefire in the breakaway South Caucasus region of Nagorno-Karabakh, with both sides blaming each other for fresh attacks, including on civilians.The truce was supposed to come into force […]

Unofficial early results show first round voting has narrowed field to leftist incumbent and rightwing nationalistVoters in Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus are to face a stark choice between candidates in a run-off presidential election deemed crucial for the resumption of peace talks that could end 46 years of ethnic division on the Mediterranean […]

Unless the world’s big powers act, the fragile ceasefire is unlikely to holdThe fact that Azerbaijan and Armenia have gone back to war at a moment of acute global crisis is deeply dismaying. In March, the UN called for a global ceasefire in support of the bigger battle against coronavirus. Its appeal has been widely ignored. The conflict in the South […]

Any hope for a truce in the long-running conflict in the Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh was short-livedThe streets of Stepanakert were quiet as a ceasefire went into effect on Saturday afternoon, but the local population’s ears were still ringing from shelling and drone strikes that have decimated this highland town over the past 13 days.The peace […]

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is a mostly forgotten tragedy, with high human cost and a labyrinth of differing viewpointsA tragedy is unfolding on the edge of Europe in and around the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh in the South Caucasus. A mostly forgotten war has restarted between Armenians and Azerbaijanis. Outsiders are struggling to respond. As […]

Huseyin Kurtdere, 39, was arrested and charged with battery and false imprisonment in July for the killing of his wife, Nalan, 38, in Tampa.

Security council called on to review Turkey’s decision to reopen Varosha seafrontThe UN security council has been called on to address whether the opening of what was once the fabled Varosha beachfront in breakaway Turkish northern Cyprus is admissible under international law.The council is expected to review the controversial decision, which Ankara […]

As mediators prepare to meet in Geneva, officials say up to 75,000 people have been forced to flee fighting in breakaway regionClashes between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces have displaced half of the population of the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region, according to its rights ombudsman, as international mediators were set to hold their first meeting in […]

Turkish Cypriot leader’s plan is described as ‘serious violation’ of UN ceasefire agreementThe EU’s diplomatic chief has condemned plans by breakaway northern Cyprus to reopen the beach of an abandoned resort in no-man’s land as a “serious violation” of a UN ceasefire agreement on the divided island.The Turkish Cypriot leader, Ersin Tatar, […]

Guardian joint investigation finds both sides send military cargo planes to region, in blatant violation of agreement to end conflictTurkey and the United Arab Emirates are carrying out regular and increasingly blatant violations of the UN arms embargo on Libya, fuelling a proxy war that is evading political solutions, a joint investigation by the Guardian […]

Sister of Richard Molloy, from Northern Ireland, travels to resort to repatriate his bodyThe families of a Northern Irish man who died and two of his friends who fell critically ill after a dental tourism trip to Turkey desperately want to bring their sons home, their local MP has said.Richard Molloy, 33, was found dead on Saturday in the Turkish port city […]

Ankara’s assertive foreign policy is an increasing factor in broad geopolitical disputePlans for a durable Libyan ceasefire are to be endorsed by diplomats from 15 countries on Monday, but the value of the commitments made in the virtual meeting are belied by signs that deepening involvement in the country by rival external powers including Russia and […]

At least one person killed in Ganja incident, as former Soviet republics move closer to war Fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh has escalated dramatically after Baku accused Armenian forces of firing rockets at Ganja, which lies outside the contested territory.At least one civilian was killed and four more […]