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	<title>Turkey &#8211; 9News Nigeria</title>
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	<title>Turkey &#8211; 9News Nigeria</title>
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		<title>Netizen&#8217;s: Read How To Grow Rich As Elon Musk Profited 45 billion Dollar in 6 Weeks As Tesla Stock Proliferate By 65%</title>
		<link>https://9newsng.com/netizens-read-how-to-grow-rich-as-elon-musk-profited-45-billion-dollar-in-6-weeks-as-tesla-stock-proliferate-by-65/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chiemerie William Eziokwu]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 09 Feb 2023 12:50:21 +0000</pubDate>
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					<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/netizens-read-how-to-grow-rich-as-elon-musk-profited-45-billion-dollar-in-6-weeks-as-tesla-stock-proliferate-by-65/" title="Netizen&#8217;s: Read How To Grow Rich As Elon Musk Profited 45 billion Dollar in 6 Weeks As Tesla Stock Proliferate By 65%" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://9newsng.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/images-94-150x150.jpeg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="images 94" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" title="Netizen&#039;s: Read How To Grow Rich As Elon Musk Profited 45 billion Dollar in 6 Weeks As Tesla Stock Proliferate By 65% 1"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>Elon Musk, the world’s second-richest billionaire, has experienced the largest wealth increase this year despite intense investor pressure to buy Tesla stock. His net worth has increased by a whopping $45 billion between January and now. With a net worth of $182 billion, Mr. Musk’s net worth is now close to that of Bernard Arnault [&#8230;]</p>
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										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/netizens-read-how-to-grow-rich-as-elon-musk-profited-45-billion-dollar-in-6-weeks-as-tesla-stock-proliferate-by-65/" title="Netizen&#8217;s: Read How To Grow Rich As Elon Musk Profited 45 billion Dollar in 6 Weeks As Tesla Stock Proliferate By 65%" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://9newsng.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/images-94-150x150.jpeg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="images 94" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Netizen&#039;s: Read How To Grow Rich As Elon Musk Profited 45 billion Dollar in 6 Weeks As Tesla Stock Proliferate By 65% 4"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>

<h2 class="has-vivid-red-color has-text-color wp-block-heading">Elon Musk, the world’s second-richest billionaire, has experienced the largest wealth increase this year despite intense investor pressure to buy Tesla stock. </h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" width="738" height="415" src="https://9newsng.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/images-95.jpeg" alt="images 95" class="wp-image-172634" title="Netizen&#039;s: Read How To Grow Rich As Elon Musk Profited 45 billion Dollar in 6 Weeks As Tesla Stock Proliferate By 65% 2"></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>His net worth has increased by a whopping $45 billion between January and now.</strong></p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">With a net worth of $182 billion, Mr. Musk’s net worth is now close to that of Bernard Arnault ($187 billion) who is currently the world’s richest man. </p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" width="739" height="415" src="https://9newsng.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/images-96.jpeg" alt="images 96" class="wp-image-172635" title="Netizen&#039;s: Read How To Grow Rich As Elon Musk Profited 45 billion Dollar in 6 Weeks As Tesla Stock Proliferate By 65% 3"></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>Tesla’s share rise: </strong>The share price of the electric vehicle manufacturer has risen by 65% to $201.29 since January. Tesla’s increase in value, along with the overall market’s upward trend, came in with stronger-than-anticipated fourth-quarter earnings, and other events that the market saw as favorable portents of future performance.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Investors are placing a lot of money on the stock since data indicates that the company is doing well despite heightened geopolitical uncertainty. The company’s Q4 results, which were released on Jan. 25 by the company, served as the most favourable valuation trigger.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>Tesla’s financial report: </strong>The EV manufacturer reported non-GAAP (adjusted) earnings per share of $1.19 on revenue of $24.32 billion, compared to the consensus analyst expectation of $1.13 on $24.16 billion in sales. </p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The stock received a new boost of positive momentum from the top and bottom-line beats, but there were other drivers of performance in the previous month</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">172631</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Turkish crypto founder flees with reported $2.7 billion</title>
		<link>https://9newsng.com/turkish-crypto-founder-flees-with-reported-2-7-billion/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[9News Nigeria]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 23 Apr 2021 09:52:51 +0000</pubDate>
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					<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/turkish-crypto-founder-flees-with-reported-2-7-billion/" title="Turkish crypto founder flees with reported $2.7 billion" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://9newsng.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Cryptocurrency-150x150.jpeg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Cryptocurrency - Bitcoin" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Turkish crypto founder flees with reported $2.7 billion 5"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>ISTANBUL (AFP) &#8211; Turkish prosecutors on Thursday (April 22) launched an investigation after the Istanbul-based founder of a cryptocurrency exchange froze trading and fled the country with a reported US$2 billion (S$2.7 billion) in investors&#8217; assets. The Thodex exchange suspended trading after posting a mysterious message on Wednesday saying it needed five days to deal [&#8230;]</p>
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										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/turkish-crypto-founder-flees-with-reported-2-7-billion/" title="Turkish crypto founder flees with reported $2.7 billion" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://9newsng.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Cryptocurrency-150x150.jpeg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Cryptocurrency - Bitcoin" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Turkish crypto founder flees with reported $2.7 billion 7"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">ISTANBUL (AFP) &#8211; Turkish prosecutors on Thursday (April 22) launched an investigation after the Istanbul-based founder of a cryptocurrency exchange froze trading and fled the country with a reported US$2 billion (S$2.7 billion) in investors&#8217; assets.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The Thodex exchange suspended trading after posting a mysterious message on Wednesday saying it needed five days to deal with an unspecified outside investment.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Turkish security officials then released a photo of Thodex founder Faruk Fatih Ozer going through passport control at Istanbul airport on his way to an unspecified location.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Local media reports said Ozer &#8211; reported to be 27 or 28 years old &#8211; had flown either to Albania or Thailand.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="860" height="573" src="https://9newsng.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Turkish-crypto-founder-flees-with-reported-2.7-billion.jpeg" alt="Turkish crypto founder Faruk Fatih Ozer flees with reported $2.7 billion" class="wp-image-124337" title="Turkish crypto founder flees with reported $2.7 billion 6"><figcaption>Turkish crypto founder Faruk Fatih Ozer flees with reported $2.7 billion</figcaption></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Thodex went dark after running a promotional campaign that sold Dogecoins at one-fourth the price at which they were trading on other exchanges.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">But the exchange locked in those investments and did not allow the coins to be either sold or converted into other cryptos.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">&#8220;Why don&#8217;t you allow my coins to be transferred?&#8221; Dogecoin investor Kaya Dinar asked Thodex in one typical tweet from a worried crypto trader.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Reports said the website and the entire exchange had shut down while holding at least US$2 billion from 391,000 investors.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">&#8220;There has been no access to Thodex website for more than 24 hours. Hundreds of thousands of users cannot get access to wallets holding their crypto assets or cash money,&#8221; investors&#8217; lawyer Oguz Evren Kilic told AFP.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">&#8220;We have started the legal procedures and lodged a complaint at the prosecutor&#8217;s office,&#8221; he said.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">&#8216;Aggravated fraud&#8217; probe</h3>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Turkey&#8217;s private DHA news agency said prosecutors were investigating the businessman on charges of &#8220;aggravated fraud and founding a criminal organisation&#8221;.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Several police vans were seen parked outside the Thodex office on the Asian side of Istanbul on Thursday afternoon.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The Thodex website re-emerged after going dark on Wednesday to state that &#8220;we kindly inform you that the negative news on the internet does not reflect the truth&#8221;.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">But it shed no more light about Ozer&#8217;s location or why trading had been stopped.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The attorney Kilic said Turkish officials had confirmed to him that Ozer had fled the country but were still trying to determine his whereabouts.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">&#8220;The process will continue in court. One would hope that (Thodex) takes positive steps and the problem is resolved quickly, but the situation is getting grave each passing minute,&#8221; Kilic said in a phone interview.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The news about Thodex had unexpected political ramifications when a picture emerged on social media of a man resembling Ozer sitting in a room with the son of a right-wing party politician and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">&#8220;I don&#8217;t know Thodex&#8217;s founder Faruk Fatih Ozer,&#8221; Cavusoglu tweeted on Thursday.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Cavusoglu said the picture was taken when the man resembling Ozer accompanied the MHP party&#8217;s MP Saffet Sancakli&#8217;s son to a scheduled meeting in December 2019.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Aggressive campaigns</h3>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Thodex has launched aggressive campaigns to lure investors before Ozer went missing and shut down the exchange.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">It had first pledged to distribute luxury cars through a flashy advertising campaign featuring famous Turkish models.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The platform then launched its Dogecoin drive.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The cryptocurrency is getting particularly popular among Turks who are looking to preserve their saving in the middle of a sharp decline in the value of the local currency, the lira.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The Turkish crypto market remains unregulated despite growing scepticism from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan&#8217;s government about the safety and use of digital currencies.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The Turkish central bank has decided to ban the use of cryptocurrencies in payments for goods and services starting from April 30.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">It warned that cryptocurrencies &#8220;entail significant risks&#8221; because the market is volatile and lacks oversight.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">&#8220;Wallets can be stolen or used unlawfully without the authorisation of their holders,&#8221; the central banks warned last week.</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">124336</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>&#8220;&#8230;shame on them&#8221; What Saidi Balogun told Iyabo Ojo about Faithia Balogun at his birthday dinner</title>
		<link>https://9newsng.com/shame-on-them-what-saidi-balogun-told-iyabo-ojo-about-faithia-balogun-at-his-birthday-dinner/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Tasha Tasha]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 10 Feb 2020 22:18:56 +0000</pubDate>
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<p>Nollywood actress Faithia Balogun’s former husband and father of her two kids, Saidi Balogun, has described actress Iyabo Ojo as a very ‘loyal and helpful’ sister. 9newsng gathered that Iyabo Ojo has been of tremendous assistance to Saidi Balogun since they met in the movie industry. This, he revealed, last weekend when Iyabo Ojo&#160;hosted him&#160;at [&#8230;]</p>
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										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="768" height="768" src="https://9newsng.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/3C157C65-0847-4D83-B0E9-BA3716C2261B.jpeg" alt="3C157C65 0847 4D83 B0E9 BA3716C2261B" class="wp-image-87276" title="&quot;...shame on them&quot; What Saidi Balogun told Iyabo Ojo about Faithia Balogun at his birthday dinner 8"></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Nollywood actress Faithia Balogun’s former husband and father of her two kids, Saidi Balogun, has described actress Iyabo Ojo as a very ‘loyal and helpful’ sister.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">9newsng gathered that Iyabo Ojo has been of tremendous assistance to Saidi Balogun since they met in the movie industry.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">This, he revealed, last weekend when Iyabo Ojo&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kemifilani.ng/2020/02/iyabo-ojo-to-host-saidi-balogun-on-his-birthday-after-fight-with-his-estranged-wife-faithia-williams.html" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">hosted him</a>&nbsp;at her Lounge in Lekki Lagos. This party, which had some of Nollywood actors in attendance, held despite the ongoing fracas between Faithia and Iyabo Ojo.<br>Iyabo Ojo, last Wednesday, February 5 had called out Faithia Balogun.&nbsp;</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">It was Faithia’s birthday and Iyabo, who was once a good friend of Faithia had posted on Instagram that the 51-year-old actress <a href="https://www.kemifilani.ng/2020/02/iyabo-ojo-receives-knocks-for-attacking-faithia-balogun-on-birthday.html" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">was a witch</a>!</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“There is nothing I have done that Iyabo would not be in attendance,” an excited Saidi stated in Yoruba in a video shared on Iyabo Ojo’s page.<br>“Some people have speculated that I would not attend this get-together but here I am. I knew I would come. I had already gone&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kemifilani.ng/2020/02/ronke-oshodi-oke-afeez-owo-adron-homes-gmd-others-storm-birthday-dinner-hosted-by-saidi-balogun-photos.html" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">for a private dinner</a>&nbsp;held in my honour by a brand I represent and I said I must come to Iyabo Ojo’s Lounge.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“She is a good girl. She has a good heart and I am proud of her and her achievements. Iyabo Ojo has done many good things for me that I cannot remember. I recall telling her to produce an English movie and she urged me to go ahead and said, ‘Brother, you do yours first,.’ That was when I did my movie, “Eti Keta”</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">For those who thought I wouldn’t attend the special party she organized for me tonight, shame on them. I am here and I pray Iyabo grows in leaps and bound,” Saidi said.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">On the spat between&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kemifilani.ng/2020/02/opeyemi-aiyeola-mocks-iyabo-ojo-faithia-balogun-reveals-why-her-best-friends-are-not-celebs.html" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Faithia and Iyabo</a>which went viral on social media last week, Saidi, whose crashed union with Faithia produced two children, humourously prayed that peace should reign.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Though he didn’t mention Faithia’s name, Saidi said, “Iyabo, I am proud of you. You have a good soul. I pray you settle the rift between you and the person you are quarreling with. God will settle it and put the devil to shame. When its settled, you will put all your enemies to shame.”</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The friendship between Faithia and Iyabo suffered a strain after their trip to Turkey where some fans of the actresses organised birthday parties for Faithia.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Also accusing Faithia of wishing her death in 2018 when she took ill in Istanbul, Turkey, Iyabo Ojo who had a corrective cosmetic surgery that year in Turkey, also cited Faithia as a betrayer and a fair-weather friend, who befriends young people in the movie industry for material gains.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Saidi Balogun, whose birthday also falls on February 5 just like his former wife had ignored her and didn’t post any birthday message to her. Faithia also shunned any birthday greetings in honour of her former husband.<br>The couple got married 20 years ago at an Ikorodu registry and divorced four years later.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The divorce was quite messy and Saidi, who told the court that he could not live under the same roof with his estranged wife due to irreconcilable differences, also demanded among other requests that Faithia dropped his name, Balogun.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Though he had tried remarrying after Faithia left, he has not taken any woman down the aisle as the new Mrs. Balogun.<br>Meanwhile, Faithia, on Sunday, flashed&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kemifilani.ng/2020/02/days-after-fight-with-iyabo-ojo-faithia-balogun-gets-engaged-at-51.html" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">an engagement ring</a>&nbsp;given her by a mystery partner that she is yet to unveil.</p>
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		<title>Nollywood actress Faithia Williams is engaged</title>
		<link>https://9newsng.com/nollywood-actress-faithia-williams-is-engaged/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Tasha Tasha]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 09 Feb 2020 16:00:33 +0000</pubDate>
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<p>Nollywood actress, Faithia Williams formerly known as Faithia Balogun got a double dose of celebration on her birthday as she got engaged to her man same day.  The actress who celebrated her birthday in Istanbul, Turkey said &#8220;YES&#8221; after her boyfriend got down on one knee and proposed to her.   Here is a photo of Faithia flashing [&#8230;]</p>
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										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="600" height="407" src="https://9newsng.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/4262922F-666C-456B-879F-30E5D5B507AD.jpeg" alt="4262922F 666C 456B 879F 30E5D5B507AD" class="wp-image-87172" title="Nollywood actress Faithia Williams is engaged 9"></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Nollywood actress, Faithia Williams formerly known as Faithia Balogun got a double dose of celebration on her birthday as she got engaged to her man same day.  The actress who celebrated her birthday in Istanbul, Turkey said &#8220;YES&#8221; after her boyfriend got down on one knee and proposed to her. </p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"> Here is a photo of Faithia flashing her engagement ring below. Faithia was formerly married to Saidi Balogun but their marriage crashed in 2006. Although they stopped living together in 2006, they were officially divorced in 2014. Their marriage however produced two kids</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="359" height="554" src="https://9newsng.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/C43C17A6-2FBC-4A0D-80C7-411815E25ED3.jpeg" alt="C43C17A6 2FBC 4A0D 80C7 411815E25ED3" class="wp-image-87173" title="Nollywood actress Faithia Williams is engaged 10"></figure>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">87171</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Turkey slams EU statement on Greece, Cyprus before key summit</title>
		<link>https://9newsng.com/turkey-slams-eu-statement-on-greece-cyprus-before-key-summit/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Uchenna Mbam]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 25 Mar 2018 06:18:40 +0000</pubDate>
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		<category><![CDATA[Turkey]]></category>
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					<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/turkey-slams-eu-statement-on-greece-cyprus-before-key-summit/" title="Turkey slams EU statement on Greece, Cyprus before key summit" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://9newsng.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Recep-Tayyip-Erdogan-1-696x557-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Recep Tayyip Erdogan 1 696x557" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Turkey slams EU statement on Greece, Cyprus before key summit 11"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>Turkey has condemned a statement by leaders of the European Union that criticised Ankara for “continued illegal actions in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea”, increasing tensions between Ankara and Brussels just days before a key summit. The European Council on Thursday called on Turkey to respect the sovereign rights of Cyprus to explore [&#8230;]</p>
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										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/turkey-slams-eu-statement-on-greece-cyprus-before-key-summit/" title="Turkey slams EU statement on Greece, Cyprus before key summit" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://9newsng.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Recep-Tayyip-Erdogan-1-696x557-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Recep Tayyip Erdogan 1 696x557" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Turkey slams EU statement on Greece, Cyprus before key summit 12"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.4em;">Turkey has condemned a statement by leaders of the European Union that criticised Ankara for “continued illegal actions in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea”, increasing tensions between Ankara and Brussels just days before a key summit.</span></p>
<p>The European Council on Thursday called on Turkey to respect the sovereign rights of Cyprus to explore and exploit its natural resources in accordance with the EU and international law.</p>
<p>Turkey has vowed to prevent the Greek Cypriot government from exploring for oil or gas around the divided island, claiming that some areas of Cyprus’ offshore exclusive economic zone fall under its jurisdiction or that of Turkish Cypriots.</p>
<p>Turkey’s navy has been blocking private drill ships hired by Greek Cypriots from entering some of the zones off the Cyprus coast, which the European Council called illegal.</p>
<p>“Such wordings solely based on the Greek Cypriot and Greek claims are unacceptable and create an opportunity for some other countries to hide behind them as well,” the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement on Friday, adding the EU cannot be an objective actor on the Cyprus dispute.</p>
<p>Turkey’s EU Affairs Minister Omer Celik said on Twitter on European Council conclusions: “When solidarity takes over legality and equity, then no one can talk about legitimacy. Solidarity is meaningful only when it is legitimate.”</p>
<p>The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), which has its own parliament and state institutions, is recognised only by Turkey since it unilaterally declared independence in 1983, breaking away from the Republic of Cyprus.</p>
<p>Cyprus had been practically divided since 1974, when Turkey’s militarily intervened on the island in response to a brief Greece-inspired coup. Ankara said it acted in line with a treaty of guarantee signed in 1960 when the Republic of Cyprus was founded.</p>
<p>‘Grave concern’</p>
<p>The Council’s conclusions also expressed “grave concern” over the continued detention of EU citizens in Turkey, including two Greek soldiers, and calls for the swift and positive resolution of these issues in a dialogue with member states.</p>
<p>The soldiers were arrested on espionage charges on March 2 after entering northwestern Turkey and they have been waiting for their case to be heard.</p>
<p>The soldiers say they accidentally passed into Turkish land. Turkish state media reported that military sketches were found on the soldiers.</p>
<p>The trade of barbs come between Brussels and Ankara comes only days before a summit between EU President Donald Tusk, European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker EU and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on March 26 in Varna, Bulgaria.</p>
<p>The meeting will discuss how to move the relationship between the two sides forward, on the basis of mutual respect and common interests.</p>
<p>“[The EU and Turkey] will assess matters of mutual interest and recent developments in Turkey, including in the area of rule of law and fundamental freedoms,” a statement by the European Council, the primary legislative institution of the EU said.</p>
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		<title>Turkey: Religious officials to perform civil marriages</title>
		<link>https://9newsng.com/turkey-religious-officials-to-perform-civil-marriages/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Uchenna Mbam]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 21 Oct 2017 07:01:21 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Relationships]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Turkey]]></category>
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					<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/turkey-religious-officials-to-perform-civil-marriages/" title="Turkey: Religious officials to perform civil marriages" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://9newsng.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/b893beca6fff4f11b8674e883cb6ad74_18-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="b893beca6fff4f11b8674e883cb6ad74 18" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Turkey: Religious officials to perform civil marriages 13"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>The Turkish parliament has passed a law allowing muftis &#8211; religious civil servants &#8211; to perform civil marriages in the same capacity as other officials authorised to conduct such ceremonies. The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) says the new legislation, which was adopted on Wednesday, will cut the number of unregistered marriages. But [&#8230;]</p>
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										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/turkey-religious-officials-to-perform-civil-marriages/" title="Turkey: Religious officials to perform civil marriages" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://9newsng.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/b893beca6fff4f11b8674e883cb6ad74_18-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="b893beca6fff4f11b8674e883cb6ad74 18" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Turkey: Religious officials to perform civil marriages 14"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>The Turkish parliament has passed a law allowing muftis &#8211; religious civil servants &#8211; to perform civil marriages in the same capacity as other officials authorised to conduct such ceremonies.</p>
<p>The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) says the new legislation, which was adopted on Wednesday, will cut the number of unregistered marriages.</p>
<p>But critics, including opposition parties and women&#8217;s rights groups, see the move as a step towards the weakening of Turkey&#8217;s secularism and say it will increase the number of child marriages.</p>
<p>&#8220;You want it or not … This will be passed by the parliament,&#8221; Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said last week in response to protests organised by rights groups against the controversial bill.</p>
<p>&#8220;[We support] registered marriages, not unregistered marriages. This will reduce unregistered marriages,&#8221; he added.</p>
<p>Religious ceremonies<br />
According to the Turkish Civil Code, municipal officials, village chiefs and foreign missions are authorised to perform civil marriages &#8211; now, muftis have been added to that list.</p>
<p>The code says people who want to get married should be at least 18 years old. The age limit can be reduced to 17 when there is parental consent or a court verdict in special cases. The new law does not make any changes to the legal age of marriage.</p>
<p>In addition to having a civil wedding, some Muslims in Turkey also carry out a religious ceremony.</p>
<p>Such events, performed by imams, are not illegal and can be carried out at will. However, they lack legally binding status.</p>
<p>In rural parts of Turkey, it is not uncommon for some people to organise a religious ceremony without carrying out the civil one. This, however, often leaves the couples, and particularly women, in a position of increased vulnerability as they lack access to the legal rights conferred by civil marriage.</p>
<p>Speaking before the parliament&#8217;s vote, government spokesman Bekir Bozdag said the law would deal with those cases where people, including minors, would conceal carrying out just a religious ceremony.</p>
<p>&#8220;People hide these marriages. We are trying to prevent that,&#8221; he said on Tuesday.</p>
<p>Bozdag said the new law was not aimed at replacing civil marriages with religious ones, but it only added a new category of official who has the authority to perform civil ceremonies.</p>
<p>Child marriages<br />
Yet, opposition remains, and the Republican People&#8217;s Party, which voted against the law, has already announced that it plans to demand its annulment in the Constitutional Court.</p>
<p>Lawyer Aydeniz Alisbah Tuskan, a representative of the Istanbul Bar Association&#8217;s Women&#8217;s Rights Centre, said that the law would increase the number of child marriages in a country where there are many such cases through ceremonies carried out by imams.</p>
<p>&#8220;It will be hard to monitor the civil marriages carried out by muftis,&#8221; she said.</p>
<p>According to United Nations data, 15 percent of marriages carried out in Turkey between 2008 and 2014 were made before one or both of the spouses had turned 18.</p>
<p>Tuskan also said that the new law violates the 174th article of the Constitution, which says a marriage should take place before secular official authorities.</p>
<p>She told Al Jazeera: &#8220;Marriage registrars within municipalities or the headmen in the villages are assigned to perform civil marriages. These people work under the Ministry of Interior. Muftis, who work under Directorate of Religious Affairs, are constitutionally not allowed to carry out marriages. They merely deal with religious issues and inquiries.&#8221;</p>
<p>Ergin Cinmen, a human rights lawyer, told Al Jazeera that the government&#8217;s move &#8220;targets secularism&#8221; in Turkey.</p>
<p>&#8220;According to the new law, marriages are civil marriages &#8211; be they by muftis or other officials, so the validity of marriages is the same. Nevertheless, it is going to be the beginning of certain changes in Turkey towards weakening secularism,&#8221; argued Cinmen.</p>
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		<title>Turkey sentences 40 to life for trying to kill Erdogan</title>
		<link>https://9newsng.com/turkey-sentences-40-to-life-for-trying-to-kill-erdogan/</link>
					<comments>https://9newsng.com/turkey-sentences-40-to-life-for-trying-to-kill-erdogan/#comments</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Uchenna Mbam]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 05 Oct 2017 08:55:02 +0000</pubDate>
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					<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/turkey-sentences-40-to-life-for-trying-to-kill-erdogan/" title="Turkey sentences 40 to life for trying to kill Erdogan" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://9newsng.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/c507458181184df4b35d353a3158e238_18-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="c507458181184df4b35d353a3158e238 18" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Turkey sentences 40 to life for trying to kill Erdogan 15"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>A Turkish court has handed life sentences to 40 people convicted of plotting to assassinate President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during last year&#8217;s failed coup attempt. Thirty-one defendants, including senior military officers, were each given four life sentences at Wednesday&#8217;s trial in the southwestern city of Mugla, the private Dogan news agency reported. Mugla is near [&#8230;]</p>
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										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/turkey-sentences-40-to-life-for-trying-to-kill-erdogan/" title="Turkey sentences 40 to life for trying to kill Erdogan" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://9newsng.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/c507458181184df4b35d353a3158e238_18-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="c507458181184df4b35d353a3158e238 18" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Turkey sentences 40 to life for trying to kill Erdogan 16"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>A Turkish court has handed life sentences to 40 people convicted of plotting to assassinate President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during last year&#8217;s failed coup attempt.</p>
<p>Thirty-one defendants, including senior military officers, were each given four life sentences at Wednesday&#8217;s trial in the southwestern city of Mugla, the private Dogan news agency reported.</p>
<p>Mugla is near the luxury resort where Erdogan and his family narrowly escaped a team of rogue soldiers who stormed his hotel during the night of the coup on July 15, 2016.</p>
<p>They include Gokhan Sahin Sonmezates, a former brigadier general who was accused of directing the plot. Former elite commando Zekeriya Kuzu, who was famously found hiding in a cave four days after the failed coup, also received a life term.</p>
<p>A further nine defendants each received a single life sentence, Dogan added.</p>
<p>Another key figure in the trial, Erdogan&#8217;s former military aide-de-camp Ali Yazici, was sentenced to 18 years in jail. Just one suspect out of 47 in total, former lieutenant colonel Huseyin Yilmaz, was acquitted.</p>
<p>&#8216;Burning inside&#8217;</p>
<p>The trial began on February 20 and is one of many such processes taking place across Turkey to try those accused of taking part in the failed bid to overthrow Erdogan.</p>
<p>Some verdicts have already been handed out in lower-profile cases, but this is the first ruling involving alleged top plotters.</p>
<p>&#8220;The president&#8217;s life was at stake that night &#8211; not only his actually but all his family because in that southwestern city Mugla he was on vacation with his family: his daughters, sons-in-law and grandchildren,&#8221; Sinem Koseoglu, Al Jazeera&#8217;s Turkey correspondent, said.</p>
<p>&#8220;Erdogan is the plaintiff of this lawsuit against this &#8216;assassination team&#8217;.&#8221;</p>
<p>The failed coup left 249 people dead, not including the coup plotters, and the authorities have vowed that no compromise will be made in bringing those involved to justice.</p>
<p>During the night of the coup attempt, two police officers were killed while guarding Grand Yazici Hotel in the Mediterranean port town of Marmaris, where Erdogan had been holidaying with his family,</p>
<p>Guzel Eker, the mother of one of the two officers, Nedip Cengiz Eker, described her relief and pain at the verdict.</p>
<p>&#8220;I am burning inside. It is enough for me that they have been given life sentences,&#8221; she said, quoted by state-run Anadolu news agency.</p>
<p>Erdogan has said the assassination plot left him minutes from death after he fled the hotel and went back to Istanbul by plane.</p>
<p>&#8220;If I had stayed 10 or 15 additional minutes there, I would have been killed, or I would have been taken,&#8221; Erdogan told CNN in an interview just days after the coup.</p>
<p>Turkey&#8217;s prisons full</p>
<p>More than 50,000 people have been arrested under the state of emergency imposed following the coup bid.</p>
<p>&#8220;The prisons in Turkey are at capacity, they&#8217;re full,&#8221; Al Jazeera&#8217;s Koseoglu said.</p>
<p>&#8220;There are thousands of people inside waiting for their trials to be heard and the verdicts to be announced -even the courthouses sometimes are not enough for those big trials.&#8221;</p>
<p>Turkey accuses US-based Muslim scholar Fethullah Gulen of orchestrating the attempted coup. Gulen, a former Erdogan ally turned foe, strongly denies Ankara&#8217;s claims.</p>
<p>Some of the suspects, including Sonmezates, admitted to taking part in the coup bid during the trial but denied any links to Gulen.</p>
<p>Gulen was also on trial in absentia in Mugla. But the judge separated his case from the trial along with two other suspects.</p>
<p>Ravza Kavakci Kan, ruling Justice and Development Party deputy leader, praised the judicial process after hearing the verdict in court.</p>
<p>&#8220;This gives us hope that the courts are delivering verdicts after this ugly, treacherous coup attempt,&#8221; she said, quoted by Anadolu.</p>
<p>One of the lawyers representing the prime ministry, Halit Cokan, said the verdict stemmed from an &#8220;open trial&#8221; and demonstrated &#8220;Turkey was a state with the rule of law&#8221;.</p>
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		<title>Qatar&#8217;s emir to meet Turkey&#8217;s President Erdogan</title>
		<link>https://9newsng.com/qatars-emir-to-meet-turkeys-president-erdogan/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Uchenna Mbam]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 14 Sep 2017 05:26:29 +0000</pubDate>
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					<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/qatars-emir-to-meet-turkeys-president-erdogan/" title="Qatar&#8217;s emir to meet Turkey&#8217;s President Erdogan" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://9newsng.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/b82ef1bb18d74f9e983279dd2c8d79df_18-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="b82ef1bb18d74f9e983279dd2c8d79df 18" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Qatar&#039;s emir to meet Turkey&#039;s President Erdogan 17"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>Qatar&#8217;s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani will visit Turkey on Thursday to meet President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in his first trip abroad since the start of the Gulf diplomatic crisis. Sheikh Tamim will hold talks on &#8220;bilateral ties and regional issues as well as international developments&#8221;, Turkey&#8217;s presidential office said in a statement. [&#8230;]</p>
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										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/qatars-emir-to-meet-turkeys-president-erdogan/" title="Qatar&#8217;s emir to meet Turkey&#8217;s President Erdogan" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://9newsng.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/b82ef1bb18d74f9e983279dd2c8d79df_18-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="b82ef1bb18d74f9e983279dd2c8d79df 18" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Qatar&#039;s emir to meet Turkey&#039;s President Erdogan 18"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>Qatar&#8217;s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani will visit Turkey on Thursday to meet President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in his first trip abroad since the start of the Gulf diplomatic crisis.</p>
<p>Sheikh Tamim will hold talks on &#8220;bilateral ties and regional issues as well as international developments&#8221;, Turkey&#8217;s presidential office said in a statement.</p>
<p>Erdogan has been a major supporter of Doha since June 5, when Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt cut ties and blockaded Qatar, accusing it of backing &#8220;extremism&#8221; and fostering ties with their rival Iran.</p>
<p>Qatar vehemently denies the accusations.</p>
<p>Erdogan has strongly spoken out against the sanctions applied by the four countries.</p>
<p>In a show of solidarity, Turkey has also sent cargo ships and hundreds of planes loaded with food to break the blockade.</p>
<p>Ankara has a military base in Qatar and deployed more troops after the hostilities erupted. The closure of the Turkish base was one of 13 conditions demanded by the Saudi-led bloc.</p>
<p>After visiting Turkey, Qatar&#8217;s leader will visit Berlin for talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">35725</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Hundreds to face judges in Turkey&#8217;s biggest coup trial</title>
		<link>https://9newsng.com/hundreds-to-face-judges-in-turkeys-biggest-coup-trial/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Uchenna Mbam]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 01 Aug 2017 08:46:27 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Breaking News]]></category>
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					<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/hundreds-to-face-judges-in-turkeys-biggest-coup-trial/" title="Hundreds to face judges in Turkey&#8217;s biggest coup trial" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://9newsng.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/9b842de3f1f04bc09caabb6c486292eb_18-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="9b842de3f1f04bc09caabb6c486292eb 18" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Hundreds to face judges in Turkey&#039;s biggest coup trial 19"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>Turkey is set to hold its largest trial over the July 2016 coup attempt, with nearly 500 people set to appear in court. The suspects, who are to stand trial on Tuesday, are accused of conspiring to overthrow the government from an airbase seen as the plotters&#8217; hub. A total of 486 suspects will go [&#8230;]</p>
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										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/hundreds-to-face-judges-in-turkeys-biggest-coup-trial/" title="Hundreds to face judges in Turkey&#8217;s biggest coup trial" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://9newsng.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/9b842de3f1f04bc09caabb6c486292eb_18-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="9b842de3f1f04bc09caabb6c486292eb 18" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Hundreds to face judges in Turkey&#039;s biggest coup trial 20"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>Turkey is set to hold its largest trial over the July 2016 coup attempt, with nearly 500 people set to appear in court.</p>
<p>The suspects, who are to stand trial on Tuesday, are accused of conspiring to overthrow the government from an airbase seen as the plotters&#8217; hub.</p>
<p>A total of 486 suspects will go on trial in a purpose-built courtroom outside the capital Ankara, charged with crimes ranging from murder, violating the constitution and attempting to kill President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, state-run news agency Anadolu reported.</p>
<p>They are accused of running the coup bid from the Akinci airbase northwest of the capital, which the authorities regard as plotters&#8217; headquarters.</p>
<p>From there, commands were given for F-16 fighter jets to attack and fly above the capital.</p>
<p>The Turkish parliament was bombed three times by F-16s.</p>
<p>Gulen among suspects</p>
<p>A total of 461 suspects are held in custody, while seven are still on the run. The remainder are charged but not in jail.</p>
<p>Fethullah Gulen, the US-based Muslim cleric-turned-businessman accused of ordering the attempted July 15 attempt, is among the main suspects named in the indictment.</p>
<p>He remains in the United States under self-imposed exile in a secluded compound in the US state of Pennsylvania, and strongly denies the charges against him.</p>
<p>Those held in custody include Akin Ozturk, a former air force chief who &#8211; like several suspects &#8211; is also on trial in another case related to the coup bid.</p>
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		<title>17 Turkish journalists run into in trouble</title>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Wisdom Nwedene]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 24 Jul 2017 12:41:20 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Turkey]]></category>
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<p>Seventeen employees of a Turkish opposition newspaper went on trial on Monday accused of supporting a terrorist group, a case seen by government critics as a further sign that freedom of expression is under attack. “Journalism is not a crime,” chanted several hundred people gathered outside the central Istanbul court to protest against the prosecution [&#8230;]</p>
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<p>Seventeen employees of a Turkish opposition newspaper went on trial on Monday accused of supporting a terrorist group, a case seen by government critics as a further sign that freedom of expression is under attack.</p>
<p>“Journalism is not a crime,” chanted several hundred people gathered outside the central Istanbul court to protest against the prosecution of writers, executives and lawyers of the staunchly secularist Cumhuriyet newspaper.</p>
<p>The hearing coincides with an escalating dispute with Germany over the arrest in Turkey of 10 rights activists, including one German, as part of a crackdown since 2016’s attempted coup against President Tayyip Erdogan.</p>
<p>Turkish prosecutors were seeking up to 43 years in jail for staff from the paper, including some of Turkey’s best-known journalists, who are accused of targeting Erdogan through “asymmetric war methods”.</p>
<p>“According to the government, everyone in opposition is a terrorist, the only non-terrorists are themselves,’’ Filiz Kerestecioglu, a member of parliament from the pro-Kurdish opposition party, told newsmen ahead of the trial.</p>
<p>According to the 324-page indictment, Cumhuriyet was effectively taken over by the network of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, blamed for the failed putsch last July, and used to “veil the actions of terrorist groups”.</p>
<p>However, Gulen has denied any involvement in the coup.</p>
<p>The newspaper has called the charges “imaginary accusations and slander”.</p>
<p>Social media posts comprised the bulk of evidence in the indictment, along with allegations that staff had been in contact with users of Bylock, an encrypted messaging app the government says was used by Gulen’s followers.</p>
<p>Rights groups and Turkey’s Western allies have complained of deteriorating human rights under Erdogan.</p>
<p>In the crackdown since July 2016’s failed coup, 50,000 people have been jailed pending trial and some 150,000 detained or dismissed from their jobs.</p>
<p>According to the Turkish Journalists’ Association, as part of the purge some 150 media outlets have been shut down and around 160 journalists are in jail.</p>
<p>The crackdown has strained Turkey’s ties with the European Union, but reaction from the bloc has been restrained because it depends on Turkey to curb the flow of migrants and refugees into Europe.</p>
<p>However Europe’s leading power, Germany, has stepped up pressure in recent days, threatening measures that could hinder German investment in Turkey and reviewing Turkish applications for arms deals.</p>
<p>Turkish authorities say the crackdown is justified by the gravity of the coup attempt, in which rogue soldiers tried to overthrow the government and Erdogan, killing 250 people, most of them civilians.</p>
<p>Cumhuriyet is accused of writing stories that serve “separatist manipulation”.</p>
<p>The newspaper’s editor Murat Sabuncu and other senior staff have been in pre-trial detention since being arrested in November.</p>
<p>Other defendants include well-known columnist Kadri Gursel and Ahmet Sik, who once wrote a book critical of Gulen’s movement.</p>
<p>Former editor Can Dundar, who is living in Germany, is being tried in absentia.</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">30733</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>BREAKING: 2 killed as strong earthquake hits Greece and Turkey</title>
		<link>https://9newsng.com/breaking-2-killed-as-strong-earthquake-hits-greece-and-turkey/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Uchenna Mbam]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 21 Jul 2017 09:30:19 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Breaking News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Greece]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Turkey]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.9newsng.com/?p=30407</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/breaking-2-killed-as-strong-earthquake-hits-greece-and-turkey/" title="BREAKING: 2 killed as strong earthquake hits Greece and Turkey" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://9newsng.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/3274a00a8be64efbb1ffe7d8f77ff280_18-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="3274a00a8be64efbb1ffe7d8f77ff280 18" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="BREAKING: 2 killed as strong earthquake hits Greece and Turkey 23"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>At least two people were killed on the Greek island of Kos on Friday when a magnitude 6.7 earthquake shook the popular summer resort holiday destinations of the Dodecanese Islands in Greece and the Aegean coast of Turkey. The island of Kos was nearest to the epicentre and appeared to be the worst-hit. Giorgos Halkidios, [&#8230;]</p>
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										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/breaking-2-killed-as-strong-earthquake-hits-greece-and-turkey/" title="BREAKING: 2 killed as strong earthquake hits Greece and Turkey" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://9newsng.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/3274a00a8be64efbb1ffe7d8f77ff280_18-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="3274a00a8be64efbb1ffe7d8f77ff280 18" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="BREAKING: 2 killed as strong earthquake hits Greece and Turkey 24"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>At least two people were killed on the Greek island of Kos on Friday when a magnitude 6.7 earthquake shook the popular summer resort holiday destinations of the Dodecanese Islands in Greece and the Aegean coast of Turkey.</p>
<p>The island of Kos was nearest to the epicentre and appeared to be the worst-hit. Giorgos Halkidios, Kos regional government official, said the number of injured was more than 100.</p>
<p>&#8220;Two or three of them are in serious condition and are in surgery,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>He said the injured included people who were underneath a building that collapsed. Ferry services were suspended due to damage at Kos&#8217;s main port, where a 14th-century fortress also was damaged. A minaret from an old mosque also was damaged.</p>
<p>Minor damage &#8211; cracks in buildings, smashed windows and trashed shops &#8211; appeared widespread, according to city officials.</p>
<p>&#8220;The rest of the island has no problem. It&#8217;s only the main town that has a problem,&#8221; Kos Mayor Giorgos Kyritsis told state-run Greek media. &#8220;The buildings affected were mostly old, and were built before the earthquake building codes were introduced.&#8221;</p>
<p>The epicentre of the quake was approximately 10.3 kilometres south of the major Turkish resort of Bodrum, a magnet for holidaymakers in the summer, and 16.2 kilometres east of the island of Kos in Greece, the US Geological Survey said.</p>
<p>It had a depth of 10 kilometres, USGS said.</p>
<p>In the Turkish resort of Bodrum, television pictures showed throngs of worried residents and holidaymakers in the streets.</p>
<p>&#8220;The biggest problem at the moment are electricity cuts in certain areas (of the city),&#8221; Bodrum mayor Mehmet Kocadon told NTV television.</p>
<p>&#8220;There is light damage and no reports that anyone has been killed&#8221; in the area.</p>
<p>Reports said the state hospital in Bodrum was evacuated after cracks appeared, with incoming patients being examined in a garden outside.</p>
<p>The governor of the southern Mugla province &#8211; where Bodrum is located &#8211; said some people had been slightly injured after falling out of windows in panic.</p>
<p>&#8216;I was very scared&#8217;</p>
<p>The Adliye mosque in central Bodrum suffered some damage, with police cordoning it off to prevent people being wounded by fallen debris, the state-run Anadolu news agency said.</p>
<p>Turkish television said the earthquake triggered high waves off Gumbet near Bodrum which flooded the road and left parked cars stranded. There were no reports of casualties.</p>
<p>An AFP correspondent holidaying in Bodrum said the quake was followed by aftershocks.</p>
<p>&#8220;The bed shook a lot. Some bottles fell and broke in the kitchen and the patio,&#8221; said Turkish pensioner Dilber Arikan, who has a summer house in the area.</p>
<p>&#8220;I screamed I was very scared because I was alone.&#8221;</p>
<p>The quake was also felt on the Greek island of Rhodes.</p>
<p>&#8220;We were very surprised. We were scared and we immediately went outside,&#8221; Teddy Dijoux, who was holidaying with his family at a Rhodes resort, told AFP.</p>
<p>&#8220;That lasted a long time. I quickly gathered up my children to leave the hotel,&#8221; said holidaymaker Sylvie Jannot.</p>
<p>Turkey and Greece sit on significant fault lines and have regularly been hit by earthquakes in recent years.</p>
<p>This year alone, Turkey&#8217;s western Aegean coast was hit by several significant earthquakes, which brought back memories of past deadly earthquakes.</p>
<p>In June, a 6.3-magnitude earthquake gutted a village on the Greek island of Lesbos, killing a woman and leaving more than 15 injured. The quake also caused panic on Turkey&#8217;s Aegean coast.</p>
<p>On August 17, 1999, a huge earthquake measuring more than 7.0 magnitude near the city of Izmit devastated vast areas in the country&#8217;s densely populated northwestern zone, notably around Istanbul, killing over 17,000 people.</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">30407</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Emergency Rule Extended in Turkey</title>
		<link>https://9newsng.com/emergency-rule-extended-in-turkey/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chigozie Ekwenye]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 21 May 2017 22:08:54 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Europe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Turkey]]></category>
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<p>Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has formally extended the state of emergency declared after a failed 2016 military coup, saying the decree will remain in place until the country finds &#8220;welfare and peace.&#8221; Erdogan spoke Sunday in Ankara to tens of thousands of his followers and members of his ruling (AK) Justice and Development Party, [&#8230;]</p>
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<p>Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has formally extended the state of emergency declared after a failed 2016 military coup, saying the decree will remain in place until the country finds &#8220;welfare and peace.&#8221;</p>
<p>Erdogan spoke Sunday in Ankara to tens of thousands of his followers and members of his ruling (AK) Justice and Development Party, which convened to re-elect their party co-founder to the post.</p>
<p>The state of emergency permits Erdogan and his Cabinet to issue decrees without parliamentary approval or judicial review.</p>
<p>Erdogan&#8217;s announcement and his return as party chief came four weeks after Turkish voters narrowly approved a national referendum greatly expanding presidential powers.</p>
<p>The April 18 vote created a powerful executive <a href="https://9newsng.com/president-tinubu-departs-france-for-nigeria-presidency-confirms/">presidency</a> that largely sidelines Turkish lawmakers and the office of prime minister. Under the constitutional amendments, Erdogan will also set the national budget and appoint judges to the high court and the constitutional court.</p>
<p>Critics, including prominent human rights organizations, have argued the reforms are tantamount to creating an elected dictatorship. Erdogan and his supporters claim they will create a less cumbersome system of government better able to confront terrorism and a sluggish economy.</p>
<div class="wsw__embed ">
<div class="media-block media-expand">
<div class="img-wrap"><img decoding="async" class=" enhanced" src="https://gdb.voanews.com/6E5C784C-B8BC-4EBB-8856-982FF0FFA852_w650_r0_s.jpg" alt="FILE - Police officers escort people, arrested because of suspected links to U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, in Kayseri, Turkey, April 26, 2017." title="Emergency Rule Extended in Turkey 27"></div>
<p><span class="caption">FILE &#8211; Police officers escort people, arrested because of suspected links to U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, in Kayseri, Turkey, April 26, 2017.</span></div>
</div>
<p><strong>Tens of thousands jailed in crackdown</strong></p>
<p>Under emergency rule, more than 47,000 people have been arrested and 100,000 others dismissed from public service for alleged connections to U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen.</p>
<p>Erdogan has accused the cleric of fomenting the July 15, 2016, uprising that left more than 260 people dead. Gulen has denied involvement.</p>
<p>Erdogan&#8217;s address comes just days after his visit to the White House, where he sought to persuade U.S. President Donald Trump to scrap a U.S.-led military alliance with Syrian Kurdish fighters battling Islamic State extremists in northern Syria.</p>
<p>Erdogan&#8217;s efforts appeared unsuccessful. The Turkish leader also drew sharp U.S. public criticism when, hours after the White House visit, he was shown outside the Turkish embassy in Washington standing by as his bodyguards assaulted protesters opposed to his rule.</p>
<p>Source &#8211; VOA</p>
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		<title>Germany supports group behind Turkish coup attempt &#8211; Erdogan spokesman</title>
		<link>https://9newsng.com/germany-supports-group-behind-turkish-coup-attempt-erdogan-spokesman/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chigozie Ekwenye]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 19 Mar 2017 11:19:41 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Europe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Germany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Turkey]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.9newsng.com/?p=20718</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/germany-supports-group-behind-turkish-coup-attempt-erdogan-spokesman/" title="Germany supports group behind Turkish coup attempt &#8211; Erdogan spokesman" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/19114655/Turkey-Demands-Answer-on-EU-Membership-Visa-Deal-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Turkey Demands Answer on EU Membership Visa Deal" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Germany supports group behind Turkish coup attempt - Erdogan spokesman 29"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>ANKARA  &#8211; Turkey on Sunday accused Germany of supporting the network of a U.S.-based Muslim cleric it blames for last year&#8217;s attempted coup, comments likely to aggravate a diplomatic feud between Ankara and Berlin. On Saturday, German news magazine Der Spiegel published an interview with the head of the BND foreign intelligence agency, who said [&#8230;]</p>
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										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/germany-supports-group-behind-turkish-coup-attempt-erdogan-spokesman/" title="Germany supports group behind Turkish coup attempt &#8211; Erdogan spokesman" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/19114655/Turkey-Demands-Answer-on-EU-Membership-Visa-Deal-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Turkey Demands Answer on EU Membership Visa Deal" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Germany supports group behind Turkish coup attempt - Erdogan spokesman 30"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p><span class="articleLocation">ANKARA</span>  &#8211; Turkey on Sunday accused Germany of supporting the network of a U.S.-based Muslim cleric it blames for last year&#8217;s attempted coup, comments likely to aggravate a diplomatic feud between Ankara and Berlin.<span id="midArticle_byline"></span></p>
<p>On Saturday, German news magazine Der Spiegel published an interview with the head of the BND foreign intelligence agency, who said Ankara had failed to convince it that the cleric Fethullah Gulen was responsible for the coup attempt.</p>
<p>&#8220;Turkey has tried to convince us of that at every level but so far it has not succeeded,&#8221; Bruno Kahl was quoted as saying.</p>
<p>President Tayyip Erdogan&#8217;s spokesman said Kahl&#8217;s comments were proof Germany was supporting Gulen&#8217;s network, which Ankara refers to as the &#8220;Gulenist Terrorist Organisation&#8221; or &#8220;FETO&#8221;.</p>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s an effort to invalidate all the information we have given them on FETO. It&#8217;s a sign of their support for FETO,&#8221; Ibrahim Kalin told broadcaster CNN Turk.</p>
<p>&#8220;Why are they protecting them? Because these are useful instruments for Germany to use against Turkey.&#8221;</p>
<p>Germany and Turkey have been locked in a deepening row after Berlin banned some Turkish ministers from speaking to rallies of expatriate Turks ahead of a referendum next month, citing public safety concerns.</p>
<p>Kalin said there was a possibility Erdogan could plan a rally to address Turks in Germany before the April 16 referendum on changing the constitution, a move that would further heighten tensions with Berlin.</p>
<p>The constitutional change would give Erdogan sweeping new powers. Critics say it would give him too much power.   <span class="label"><strong><a>Continued&#8230;</a></strong></span></p>
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		<title>Turkey may hit Netherlands with sanctions as &#8216;Nazi&#8217; row escalates</title>
		<link>https://9newsng.com/turkey-may-hit-netherlands-with-sanctions-as-nazi-row-escalates/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chigozie Ekwenye]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 13 Mar 2017 16:10:18 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Netherland]]></category>
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					<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/turkey-may-hit-netherlands-with-sanctions-as-nazi-row-escalates/" title="Turkey may hit Netherlands with sanctions as &#8216;Nazi&#8217; row escalates" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="129" src="https://9newsng.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/erdo-turkey-150x129.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="erdo turkey" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Turkey may hit Netherlands with sanctions as &#039;Nazi&#039; row escalates 31"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>ANKARA &#8211; The Turkish cabinet was on Monday expected to consider imposing sanctions on the Netherlands in a deepening row with its NATO ally over a ban on its ministers speaking at political events in Rotterdam, and one minister said punitive measures were likely. President Tayyip Erdogan, who is seeking support from Turks in a referendum [&#8230;]</p>
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										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/turkey-may-hit-netherlands-with-sanctions-as-nazi-row-escalates/" title="Turkey may hit Netherlands with sanctions as &#8216;Nazi&#8217; row escalates" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="129" src="https://9newsng.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/erdo-turkey-150x129.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="erdo turkey" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Turkey may hit Netherlands with sanctions as &#039;Nazi&#039; row escalates 32"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p><span class="articleLocation">ANKARA</span> &#8211; The Turkish cabinet was on Monday expected to consider imposing sanctions on the Netherlands in a deepening row with its NATO ally over a ban on its ministers speaking at political events in Rotterdam, and one minister said punitive measures were likely.</p>
<p>President Tayyip Erdogan, who is seeking support from Turks in a referendum on boosting his powers, has accused the Dutch government of acting like &#8220;Nazi remnants&#8221; and said it should face sanctions for barring his ministers from addressing expatriate Turks to drum up votes.</p>
<p>The row marks another low point in relations between Turkey and Europe, further dimming Ankara&#8217;s prospects of joining the bloc. It also comes as Turkey is caught up by security concerns over militant attacks and the war in neighbouring Syria.</p>
<p>A source close to the government told Reuters that sanctions were expected to be discussed when the cabinet of ministers meets at 7 pm (1600 GMT). Ankara&#8217;s minister for EU Affairs, Omer Celik, said sanctions were likely.</p>
<p>&#8220;We will surely have sanctions against the latest actions by the Netherlands. We will answer them with these,&#8221; Celik said.</p>
<p>Apart from any economic measures, a source in Ankara said sanctions could affect cultural activities, and military and technological cooperation.</p>
<p>Turkey summoned the Dutch charge d&#8217;affaires on Monday to complain about the ban &#8211; imposed due to fears of unrest and distaste at what the Netherlands sees as an increasingly authoritarian tone from Erdogan &#8211; and the actions of Rotterdam police against Turkish protesters over the weekend, foreign ministry sources said.</p>
<p>On Sunday, Dutch police used dogs and water cannon to disperse hundreds of protesters waving Turkish flags outside the consulate in Rotterdam. Some protesters threw bottles and stones and several demonstrators were beaten by police with batons, a Reuters witness said. Mounted police officers charged the crowd.   <span class="label"><strong><a>Continued&#8230;</a></strong></span></p>
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		<title>Turkey&#8217;s Erdogan says Netherlands acting like a &#8216;banana republic&#8217;</title>
		<link>https://9newsng.com/turkeys-erdogan-says-netherlands-acting-like-a-banana-republic/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chigozie Ekwenye]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 13 Mar 2017 07:04:57 +0000</pubDate>
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					<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/turkeys-erdogan-says-netherlands-acting-like-a-banana-republic/" title="Turkey&#8217;s Erdogan says Netherlands acting like a &#8216;banana republic&#8217;" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://9newsng.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Turkeys-parliament-approves-key-articles-of-constitutional-reform-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Turkeys parliament approves key articles of constitutional reform" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Turkey&#039;s Erdogan says Netherlands acting like a &#039;banana republic&#039; 33"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>ANKARA/ROTTERDAM &#8211; President Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday the Netherlands was acting like a &#8220;banana republic&#8221; and should face sanctions for barring Turkish ministers from speaking in Rotterdam, fuelling a row over Ankara&#8217;s political campaigning abroad. Erdogan is looking to the large number of Turks living in Europe, especially in Germany and the Netherlands, to help [&#8230;]</p>
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										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/turkeys-erdogan-says-netherlands-acting-like-a-banana-republic/" title="Turkey&#8217;s Erdogan says Netherlands acting like a &#8216;banana republic&#8217;" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://9newsng.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Turkeys-parliament-approves-key-articles-of-constitutional-reform-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Turkeys parliament approves key articles of constitutional reform" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Turkey&#039;s Erdogan says Netherlands acting like a &#039;banana republic&#039; 34"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p><span class="articleLocation">ANKARA/ROTTERDAM </span>&#8211; President Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday the Netherlands was acting like a &#8220;banana republic&#8221; and should face sanctions for barring Turkish ministers from speaking in Rotterdam, fuelling a row over Ankara&#8217;s political campaigning abroad.</p>
<p>Erdogan is looking to the large number of Turks living in Europe, especially in Germany and the Netherlands, to help secure victory next month in a referendum that would give the <a href="https://9newsng.com/president-tinubu-departs-france-for-nigeria-presidency-confirms/">presidency</a> sweeping new powers.</p>
<p>In a speech in France, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu described the Netherlands as the &#8220;capital of fascism&#8221; as it joined other European countries in stopping Turkish politicians holding rallies, due to fears that tensions in Turkey might spill over into their expatriate communities.</p>
<p>The Dutch government barred Cavusoglu from flying to Rotterdam on Saturday and later stopped Family Minister Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya from entering the Turkish consulate there, before escorting her out of the country to Germany.</p>
<p>Dutch police used dogs and water cannon on Sunday to disperse hundreds of protesters waving Turkish flags outside the consulate in Rotterdam. Some threw bottles and stones and several demonstrators were beaten by police with batons, a Reuters witness said. Mounted police officers charged the crowd.</p>
<p>The Dutch government &#8211; set to lose about half its seats in elections this week, according to polls, as the anti-Islam party of Geert Wilders makes strong gains &#8211; said the visits were undesirable and it would not cooperate in their campaigning.</p>
<p>&#8220;I call on all international organisations in Europe and elsewhere to impose sanctions on the Netherlands,&#8221; Erdogan said, after his prime minister earlier said Turkey would retaliate in the &#8220;harshest ways&#8221;, without specifying how.</p>
<p>&#8220;Has Europe said anything? No. Why? Because they don&#8217;t bite each other. The Netherlands are acting like a banana republic,&#8221; Erdogan said in a speech in Kocaeli province, near Istanbul.   <span class="label"><strong><a>Continued&#8230;</a></strong></span></p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">20187</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Aid Groups Fear Mass Expulsion of Western NGOs From Turkey</title>
		<link>https://9newsng.com/aid-groups-fear-mass-expulsion-of-western-ngos-from-turkey/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chigozie Ekwenye]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 11 Mar 2017 00:13:42 +0000</pubDate>
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					<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/aid-groups-fear-mass-expulsion-of-western-ngos-from-turkey/" title="Aid Groups Fear Mass Expulsion of Western NGOs From Turkey" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://9newsng.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Aid-groups-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Aid groups" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Aid Groups Fear Mass Expulsion of Western NGOs From Turkey 35"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>United Nations officials and international aid workers fear the Turkish government is gearing up to shutter more Western nongovernment organizations working with Syrian refugees and overseeing cross-border relief missions inside Syria following the expulsion Tuesday of Mercy Corps, one of the world’s biggest humanitarian nonprofits. The offices of more than half-dozen major Western NGOs and [&#8230;]</p>
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										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/aid-groups-fear-mass-expulsion-of-western-ngos-from-turkey/" title="Aid Groups Fear Mass Expulsion of Western NGOs From Turkey" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://9newsng.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Aid-groups-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Aid groups" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Aid Groups Fear Mass Expulsion of Western NGOs From Turkey 36"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>United Nations officials and international aid workers fear the Turkish government is gearing up to shutter more Western nongovernment organizations working with Syrian refugees and overseeing cross-border relief missions inside Syria following the expulsion Tuesday of Mercy Corps, one of the world’s biggest humanitarian nonprofits.</p>
<p>The offices of more than half-dozen major Western NGOs and aid organizations with offices in the southern Turkish border towns of Gaziantep and Hatay were visited this week by Turkish officials, who demanded registration documents as well as copies of staff lists. The officials also scrutinized the work permits of international employees.</p>
<p>At least two international NGOs have been ordered so far to undergo the laborious bureaucratic process of re-registering their presence in the country, according to several aid workers.</p>
<p>U.N. officials say they suspect all Western NGOs are likely to be instructed shortly to re-register and it is unclear whether they will be allowed in the meantime to continue working with more than 2 million Syrian refugees in Turkey or to transport relief supplies to hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians inside war-wracked Syria.</p>
<p>U.N. officials told VOA they are urgently seeking clarification from the Turkish authorities.</p>
<p><strong>Internal &#8216;read-out&#8217; leaked</strong></p>
<p>According to an internal &#8220;read-out&#8221; by the U.N.’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OHCA, Turkey’s interior ministry “is planning on canceling all existing INGO registrations and asking INGOs to resubmit registration requests following new rules and regulations within three months.”</p>
<p>The OHCA read-out, which was leaked to VOA, warns that the Turkish government is likely to use this process as a “way to choose which organizations they want to keep in country.”</p>
<p>According to OHCA, the interior ministry recently held a meeting of all Turkey’s regional governors to discuss new rules and regulations for INGOs — the first time, U.N. officials noted, that the Turkish government has organized a governor-level coordination meeting about international relief organizations.</p>
<p>Some of the most respected organizations on the international aid scene were among the agencies inspected this week, prompting mounting fears among aid workers that they are being targeted. They include: the International Rescue Committee, CARE International, Counterpart and Global Communities and International Medical Corps &#8212; all are U.S.-based. The British NGO Integrity also was inspected.</p>
<p>Several other NGOs have been inspected but asked not to be listed for fear of incurring Ankara’s wrath.</p>
<p>“Our offices in Gaziantep were visited this week,” confirmed Holly Frew, a spokeswoman for Care. “We have heard other international NGOs have been inspected as well,” she told VOA.</p>
<p>Frew said Care has not been asked to leave, but she said it is unusual for so many relief organizations to be inspected at the same time.</p>
<p>The spokeswoman for another aid organization confirmed her group had been visited, too. “Our offices were visited earlier this week by local authorities,” she said. “They were checking staff work permits.”</p>
<p>She said the organization&#8217;s staff in Turkey believe it was “a routine visit and one that the authorities have the right to perform. Our documents were in order, and we had no problems. We have traditionally had a good working relationship with Turkish authorities and at this moment there is no reason to believe that will change.”</p>
<p><strong>&#8216;This really is ominous&#8217;</strong></p>
<p>According to another aid worker, inspections by Turkish authorities in the past have taken place on an annual basis. “Since the Mercy Corps expulsion there has been an escalation in INGO inspections,” he said. “This really is ominous,” he added.</p>
<p>Mercy Corps, which has been working in Turkey since 2012, was informed abruptly on Tuesday by the Turkish interior ministry that it no longer had permission to work in Turkey and was ordered to shut down its operations immediately. The aid group said Turkish authorities offered no reason for the sudden closure and noted it had been working in close cooperation with the Turkish government.</p>
<p>In recent months pro-government Turkish newspapers have rounded on Western NGOs, and amid a mounting press clamor alleged Mercy Corps and other international aid groups have been helping terrorists and conspiring against the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.</p>
<p>Mercy Corps, which is based in Portland, Oregon, and other relief organizations have vehemently denied the claims.</p>
<p>“We have every confidence in the impartiality and the integrity of our operations. We’re not a political organization and our reason for being is to deliver assistance to civilians who need it the most,” Christine Bragale, Mercy Corps’ director of media relations, told Britain’s Daily Telegraph earlier this week.</p>
<p>Mercy Corps, which has received funding for its Syria relief operations from the U.S. and European governments, spent $34 million last year on Syria-related missions. Mercy Corps has had to lay off 300 relief workers because of the expulsion.</p>
<p>U.N. officials say the anti-NGO press campaign, which they suspect is orchestrated, has grown in ferocity and has spread to local newspapers across the country.</p>
<p>In the OHCA report it is noted: “Negative articles about INGOs (similar to those printed in Hatay) are now being printed in Gaziantep.” Both Hatay and Gaziantep are relief hubs for Syria, and international NGOs organizing cross-border efforts generally base out of either town.</p>
<p>A Turkish government official told Reuters that the decision to expel Mercy Corps was “technical,” arguing the NGO failed to meet documentation requirements. But aid workers and U.N. officials fear there was nothing technical about the expulsion of Mercy Corps.</p>
<p><strong>US concerns about expulsion</strong></p>
<p>State Department spokesman Mark Toner midweek said U.S. concerns about the expulsion of Mercy Corps have been communicated to Ankara as well as anxieties about the “impact it will have on critical humanitarian assistance to vulnerable populations.”</p>
<p>Relations between international NGOs and Erdogan’s government have been fraught and often tense since the Syrian conflict started six years ago, aid workers say.</p>
<p>“The government has never wanted us in the country,” said an international aid worker, who asked not to be identified. “It is horrible when aid becomes a pawn in a political game.&#8221;</p>
<p>The registration process has often been difficult and Ankara has been strict about regulations governing what NGOs can do, where they can go and where they can send aid. The United Nations refugee agency has been blocked frequently from aiding Syrian refugees who are living outside official camps, U.N. officials say.</p>
<p>But relations have become much more fraught in recent months. Ankara has blocked international aid agencies from working in a Turkish-controlled zone carved out in northern Syria since August, preferring to work with Turkish NGOs favored by Erdogan, many of which are Islamist in ideology.</p>
<p>Analysts have noted that the press campaign against international relief organizations and Western NGOs tends to become more vehement when the Turkish government comes under criticism for alleged human rights abuses by Western governments.</p>
<p><strong>Turkish nonprofits shuttered</strong></p>
<p>The Erdogan government has targeted also domestic NGOs, shuttering hundreds of Turkish nonprofits since last July’s failed coup attempt, claiming they are linked to the coup plotters, including exiled cleric Muhammed Fethullah Gulen, who lives in the U.S. and is accused by Erdogan of masterminding the military coup bid.</p>
<p>While acknowledging the latest moves against international NGOs may be part of what critics argue is a general crackdown on civil society in Turkey, Bassam al-Kuwaitli, a former member of the opposition Syrian National Council, suspects Ankara is determined to control international relief missions inside northern Syria.</p>
<p>“I think a lot of this has to do with Western relief assistance going to areas inside Syria controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces,” he said. He notes pro-government Turkish newspapers this week accused Mercy Corps of assisting Turkey’s banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK. The Erdogan government views U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish militias fighting in Syria just as PKK offshoots.</p>
<p>An international aid worker noted the increased friction coincides with the arrival this week of a contingent of U.S. Marines, pre-positioning for an SDF assault on Raqqa.</p>
<p>Ankara has demanded that a Turkish-led Syrian Arab force mount the assault on Raqqa, the de facto capital of the Islamic State terror group, rather than Kurdish-led militias.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Source &#8211; VOA</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">19988</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Erdogan says German journalist held in Turkey was agent and PKK member</title>
		<link>https://9newsng.com/erdogan-says-german-journalist-held-in-turkey-was-agent-and-pkk-member/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chigozie Ekwenye]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 04 Mar 2017 07:07:23 +0000</pubDate>
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					<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/erdogan-says-german-journalist-held-in-turkey-was-agent-and-pkk-member/" title="Erdogan says German journalist held in Turkey was agent and PKK member" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="128" src="https://9newsng.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/download-6-150x128.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="download 6" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Erdogan says German journalist held in Turkey was agent and PKK member 37"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>ANKARA  &#8211; President Tayyip Erdogan responded to Berlin&#8217;s criticism of Turkey&#8217;s arrest of a German journalist by saying on Friday Deniz Yucel was a &#8220;German agent&#8221; and a member of a militant Kurdish armed group. &#8220;It isn&#8217;t because a correspondent of Die Welt was arrested,&#8221; Erdogan told an awards ceremony in Istanbul. &#8220;It is because [&#8230;]</p>
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<p><span class="articleLocation">ANKARA</span>  &#8211; President Tayyip Erdogan responded to Berlin&#8217;s criticism of Turkey&#8217;s arrest of a German journalist by saying on Friday Deniz Yucel was a &#8220;German agent&#8221; and a member of a militant Kurdish armed group.<span id="midArticle_byline"></span></p>
<p>&#8220;It isn&#8217;t because a correspondent of Die Welt was arrested,&#8221; Erdogan told an awards ceremony in Istanbul.</p>
<p>&#8220;It is because this person hid in the German embassy as a member of the PKK and a German agent for one month. When we told them to hand him over to be tried, they refused.&#8221;</p>
<p>A source in the German foreign ministry on Friday evening described as &#8220;absurd&#8221; the suggestion that Yucel, a German-Turkish dual national, was an &#8220;agent&#8221;.</p>
<p>Erdogan said he had told German Chancellor Angela Merkel: &#8220;Your terrorists are requested by us, and you say justice is impartial and independent. We currently trust our impartial and independent judiciary. Give him up so he can be tried.</p>
<p>&#8220;They first didn&#8217;t hand him over, but later, somehow, they did. The judiciary did what was necessary and arrested him.&#8221;</p>
<p>Source &#8211; Reuters</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">19428</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Turkey accuses Germany of double standards over meeting cancellation</title>
		<link>https://9newsng.com/turkey-accuses-germany-of-double-standards-over-meeting-cancellation/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chigozie Ekwenye]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 03 Mar 2017 11:30:28 +0000</pubDate>
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					<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/turkey-accuses-germany-of-double-standards-over-meeting-cancellation/" title="Turkey accuses Germany of double standards over meeting cancellation" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/19114655/Turkey-Demands-Answer-on-EU-Membership-Visa-Deal-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Turkey Demands Answer on EU Membership Visa Deal" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Turkey accuses Germany of double standards over meeting cancellation 39"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>ANKARA (Reuters) &#8211; Turkey told NATO partner Germany on Friday it must &#8220;learn how to behave&#8221; if it wanted to maintain relations after two German towns stopped Turkish ministers speaking at meetings of supporters of President Tayyip Erdogan. The comments by Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu reflected a broader souring of ties between the two countries, [&#8230;]</p>
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										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/turkey-accuses-germany-of-double-standards-over-meeting-cancellation/" title="Turkey accuses Germany of double standards over meeting cancellation" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/19114655/Turkey-Demands-Answer-on-EU-Membership-Visa-Deal-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Turkey Demands Answer on EU Membership Visa Deal" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Turkey accuses Germany of double standards over meeting cancellation 40"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p><span class="articleLocation">ANKARA</span> (Reuters) &#8211; Turkey told NATO partner Germany on Friday it must &#8220;learn how to behave&#8221; if it wanted to maintain relations after two German towns stopped Turkish ministers speaking at meetings of supporters of President Tayyip Erdogan.<span id="midArticle_byline"></span></p>
<p>The comments by Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu reflected a broader souring of ties between the two countries, tested most recently by Turkey&#8217;s arrest on Monday of Deniz Yucel, a correspondent for the prominent Die Welt newspaper.</p>
<p>Germany said on Thursday the arrest, the first of a German correspondent under the crackdown that followed a failed July coup, had caused grave damage to ties.</p>
<p>Cavusoglu, talking to reporters in Ankara, said that &#8220;if necessary we will give a response in every way&#8221;, but did not elaborate.</p>
<p>&#8220;The obstruction of meetings in Germany is a sign of how much Germany and the West are displaying double standards,&#8221; Cavusoglu said.</p>
<p>The town of Gaggenau withdrew permission on Thursday for a meeting where Turkish minister Bekir Bozdag had been due to speak. The address would have been part of efforts to garner support among Germany&#8217;s 1.5 million Turkish citizens for an April referendum on expanding Erdogan&#8217;s presidential powers.</p>
<p>City authorities cited a lack of space in the car park designated for the meeting.</p>
<p>Bozdag cancelled a meeting with his German counterpart and flew back to Turkey. In Ankara, the Turkish foreign ministry summoned the German ambassador for an explanation, ministry sources said.</p>
<p>The city of Cologne also blocked an event where Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybecki was to speak on Sunday, amid security concerns.   <span class="label"><strong><a>Continued&#8230;</a></strong></span></p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">19394</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Turkish PM seeks votes for &#8216;strong, stable&#8217; Turkey in April referendum</title>
		<link>https://9newsng.com/turkish-pm-seeks-votes-for-strong-stable-turkey-in-april-referendum/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chigozie Ekwenye]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 25 Feb 2017 13:08:13 +0000</pubDate>
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					<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/turkish-pm-seeks-votes-for-strong-stable-turkey-in-april-referendum/" title="Turkish PM seeks votes for &#8216;strong, stable&#8217; Turkey in April referendum" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://9newsng.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/turkey-pm-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="turkey pm" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Turkish PM seeks votes for &#039;strong, stable&#039; Turkey in April referendum 41"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>ANKARA (Reuters) &#8211; Turkey&#8217;s prime minister called on the public on Saturday to back constitutional change that would greatly strengthen President Tayyip Erdogan&#8217;s powers, portraying the reform as a vote for stability at the start of campaigning ahead of an April referendum. Thousands of ruling AK Party members waved Turkish flags and rallying songs resounded [&#8230;]</p>
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										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/turkish-pm-seeks-votes-for-strong-stable-turkey-in-april-referendum/" title="Turkish PM seeks votes for &#8216;strong, stable&#8217; Turkey in April referendum" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://9newsng.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/turkey-pm-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="turkey pm" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Turkish PM seeks votes for &#039;strong, stable&#039; Turkey in April referendum 42"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p><span class="articleLocation">ANKARA</span> (Reuters) &#8211; Turkey&#8217;s prime minister called on the public on Saturday to back constitutional change that would greatly strengthen President Tayyip Erdogan&#8217;s powers, portraying the reform as a vote for stability at the start of campaigning ahead of an April referendum.</p>
<p>Thousands of ruling AK Party members waved Turkish flags and rallying songs resounded round a sports arena in the capital as Prime Minister Binali Yildirim handed out red carnations after briefly addressing thousands gathered outside.</p>
<p>&#8220;There is a rising voice from the town squares: for a strong Turkey, for lasting stability our decision is&#8230;&#8221; Yildirim called out, eliciting the repeated shouted response &#8220;Yes&#8221; from the multitude unable to enter the packed arena.</p>
<p>Some 6,500 police provided security inside and around the arena on Saturday, according to state-run Anadolu news agency.</p>
<p>The bid to replace the EU candidate country&#8217;s parliamentary democracy with a powerful executive <a href="https://9newsng.com/president-tinubu-departs-france-for-nigeria-presidency-confirms/">presidency</a> is seen by Erdogan supporters as a guarantee of stability, preventing a return to the fragile coalitions of previous decades.</p>
<p>But opponents fear a surge in authoritarianism.</p>
<p>Tens of thousands of people have already been detained and more than 100,000 public sector workers suspended or dismissed since a failed coup last July.</p>
<p>The NATO-member country of 80 million will vote on the reform in a plebiscite on April 16, with a simple majority needed to approve legislation passed by parliament in January and rubber-stamped by Erdogan last month.   <span class="label"><strong><a>Continued&#8230;</a></strong></span></p>
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<div class="pageNavigation">Source &#8211; Reuters</div>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">18986</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Turkey coup: 136 diplomats and relatives seek Germany asylum</title>
		<link>https://9newsng.com/turkey-coup-136-diplomats-and-relatives-seek-germany-asylum/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chigozie Ekwenye]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 24 Feb 2017 17:30:12 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Germany]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.9newsng.com/?p=18942</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/turkey-coup-136-diplomats-and-relatives-seek-germany-asylum/" title="Turkey coup: 136 diplomats and relatives seek Germany asylum" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="144" src="https://9newsng.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/TURKEY-150x144.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="TURKEY" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Turkey coup: 136 diplomats and relatives seek Germany asylum 44"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>Germany says it has received 136 asylum requests from Turks holding diplomatic passports since the July coup attempt against the Turkish president. The figure is a total for the period August 2016 to January 2017, German media report. Turkey has urged Germany not to grant asylum to any military officers. Some posted to Nato bases [&#8230;]</p>
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										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/turkey-coup-136-diplomats-and-relatives-seek-germany-asylum/" title="Turkey coup: 136 diplomats and relatives seek Germany asylum" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="144" src="https://9newsng.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/TURKEY-150x144.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="TURKEY" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Turkey coup: 136 diplomats and relatives seek Germany asylum 46"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p class="story-body__introduction">Germany says it has received 136 asylum requests from Turks holding diplomatic passports since the July coup attempt against the Turkish president.</p>
<p>The figure is a total for the period August 2016 to January 2017, German media report.</p>
<p>Turkey has urged Germany not to grant asylum to any military officers. Some posted to Nato bases in Germany are thought to be among the group.</p>
<p>In Greece, two more Turkish soldiers have requested asylum.</p>
<p>The pair &#8211; reported to be commandos &#8211; are believed to have taken part in the failed coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.</p>
<p>They are in Greek police custody, having applied for asylum last week in Orestiada, a small border town near Turkey.</p>
<p>Last month a Greek court rejected Turkey&#8217;s request to extradite eight other Turkish soldiers who fled after the coup attempt. Turkey is appealing against that ruling.</p>
<p>The German interior ministry did not identify the 136 Turks who requested asylum. Not only diplomats but also their spouses and children hold diplomatic passports.</p>
<p>It is not clear if any of them have been granted asylum yet.</p>
<p>Soldiers who fled after the coup attempt fear that they will not get a fair trial in Turkey.</p>
<p>The Turkish authorities have dismissed at least 100,000 public servants, including teachers, police and members of the judiciary.</p>
<p>About 43,000 suspects are in detention. The crackdown is targeting suspected supporters of Fethullah Gulen, a cleric who lives in self-imposed exile in the US.</p>
<p>Mr Erdogan&#8217;s ruling AK Party has also <a class="story-body__link" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-36910556" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">shut down more than 130 media outlets</a>, during a continuing state of emergency, and arrested about 150 journalists.</p>
<h2 class="story-body__crosshead">Political tensions</h2>
<p>Several prominent German politicians have spoken out against a possible campaign visit by Mr Erdogan. Turks will vote in a referendum on 16 April to decide whether Mr Erdogan should have sweeping new presidential powers.</p>
<p><a class="story-body__link" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-39064657" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">The referendum</a> will ask Turks if they agree to constitutional changes to make Turkey a presidential state, reducing parliament&#8217;s powers.</p>
<p>Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim addressed a rally in Oberhausen, north-western Germany, on Saturday and said Mr Erdogan had plans to visit the region in March. But it has not been officially confirmed.</p>
<figure class="media-landscape has-caption full-width"><span class="image-and-copyright-container"><img loading="lazy" loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="responsive-image__img js-image-replace" src="http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/10BA/production/_94828240_turkditibepacologne.jpg" alt="Cologne Central Mosque" width="976" height="649" data-highest-encountered-width="624" title="Turkey coup: 136 diplomats and relatives seek Germany asylum 45"><span class="off-screen">Image copyright</span><span class="story-image-copyright">EPA</span></span><figcaption class="media-caption"><span class="off-screen">Image caption</span><span class="media-caption__text">Cologne Central Mosque: Ditib, which runs it, is suspected of spying on behalf of Turkey</span></figcaption></figure>
<p>About 1.4 million Turks living in Germany are on Turkey&#8217;s electoral register.</p>
<p>Oberhausen is in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, where state interior minister Ralf Jaeger warned that &#8220;we must prevent Turkish internal conflicts being played out here&#8221;.</p>
<p>The Social Democrat (SPD) politician said Turkey&#8217;s controversial referendum would lead to &#8220;restricted fundamental rights and a return of the death penalty&#8221;.</p>
<p>German-Turkish relations have been severely strained by the AKP&#8217;s post-coup crackdown.</p>
<p>Recently German police searched the homes of four imams amid reports that Ditib, a Muslim organisation funded by the Turkish state, was spying on suspected Gulen supporters in Germany.</p>
<p>Ditib is short for the Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs.</p>
<p>North Rhine-Westphalia is also investigating claims that Turkish diplomats asked school pupils and teachers in some schools to report any criticism of Mr Erdogan to them.</p>
<p>Turkey has accused German officials of conducting a &#8220;witch-hunt&#8221;, telling them to focus instead on &#8220;terror organisations&#8221; such as the Kurdistan Workers&#8217; Party (PKK).</p>
<p>Political tensions are already running high in Germany ahead of crucial parliamentary elections in September.</p>
<p>Source &#8211; BBC</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">18942</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Turkish, coalition jets strike Islamic State, 47 &#8216;neutralised&#8217; &#8211; Turkish army</title>
		<link>https://9newsng.com/turkish-coalition-jets-strike-islamic-state-47-neutralised-turkish-army/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[9News Nigeria]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 03 Feb 2017 08:36:27 +0000</pubDate>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.9newsng.com/?p=17529</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/turkish-coalition-jets-strike-islamic-state-47-neutralised-turkish-army/" title="Turkish, coalition jets strike Islamic State, 47 &#8216;neutralised&#8217; &#8211; Turkish army" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/22051606/Coup-in-Turkey-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Coup in Turkey" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Turkish, coalition jets strike Islamic State, 47 &#039;neutralised&#039; - Turkish army 47"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>ISTANBUL (Reuters) &#8211; The Turkish military said on Friday its warplanes and jets from the U.S.-led coalition have carried out air strikes near Syria&#8217;s al-Bab, a town held by Islamic State and besieged by Turkey-backed Syrian rebels for almost two months. A total of 47 Islamic State militants were &#8220;neutralised&#8221; in clashes and air strikes [&#8230;]</p>
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										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/turkish-coalition-jets-strike-islamic-state-47-neutralised-turkish-army/" title="Turkish, coalition jets strike Islamic State, 47 &#8216;neutralised&#8217; &#8211; Turkish army" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/22051606/Coup-in-Turkey-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Coup in Turkey" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Turkish, coalition jets strike Islamic State, 47 &#039;neutralised&#039; - Turkish army 48"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p><span class="articleLocation">ISTANBUL</span> (Reuters) &#8211; The Turkish military said on Friday its warplanes and jets from the U.S.-led coalition have carried out air strikes near Syria&#8217;s al-Bab, a town held by Islamic State and besieged by Turkey-backed Syrian rebels for almost two months.<span id="midArticle_byline"></span></p>
<p>A total of 47 Islamic State militants were &#8220;neutralised&#8221; in clashes and air strikes in the past 24 hours, the military said in a statement, adding that buildings, defence posts, shelters and an ammunition depot were destroyed in raids.</p>
<p>(Reporting by Tulay Karadeniz; Writing by Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by Robert Birsel)</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">17529</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Istanbul nightclub attack suspect caught</title>
		<link>https://9newsng.com/istanbul-nightclub-attack-suspect-caught/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Timothy Stephen]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 17 Jan 2017 06:02:55 +0000</pubDate>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.9newsng.com/?p=16288</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/istanbul-nightclub-attack-suspect-caught/" title="Istanbul nightclub attack suspect caught" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://9newsng.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/1680907_1280x720-e1483235601329-1-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="1680907 1280x720 e1483235601329 1" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Istanbul nightclub attack suspect caught 49"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>Police have caught the alleged gunman who killed 39 people during an attack on a nightclub in Istanbul during new year celebrations, according to Turkish media reports. private Dogan news agency and other media say the suspect was caught in Istanbul’s district of Esenyurt in a police operation late on The Islamic State group has [&#8230;]</p>
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										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/istanbul-nightclub-attack-suspect-caught/" title="Istanbul nightclub attack suspect caught" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://9newsng.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/1680907_1280x720-e1483235601329-1-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="1680907 1280x720 e1483235601329 1" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Istanbul nightclub attack suspect caught 50"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>Police have caught the alleged gunman who killed 39 people during an attack on a nightclub in Istanbul during new year celebrations, according to Turkish media reports.</p>
<p>private Dogan news agency and other media say the suspect was caught in Istanbul’s district of Esenyurt in a police operation late on</p>
<p>The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility, saying the attack was in reprisal for Turkish military operations in northern Syria.</p>
<p>The suspect was caught in a special operations police raid on a house in a housing complex in Istanbul’s Esenyurt district, private NTV television said. The report said he had been staying in the house belonging to a Kyrgyz friend.</p>
<p>The man identified as the suspect had been on the run since the attack.</p>
<p>Hurriyet newspaper and other media have identified the suspect as Abdulkadir Masharipov, an Uzbek national.</p>
<p>The suspect was to undergo medical checks before being taken to a police headquarters for questioning, the paper said in its online edition.</p>
<p>Dogan news agency published an image showing a bruised, black-haired man in a grey, bloodied shirt being held by his neck. Private NTV television said he had resisted arrest.</p>
<p>It will be recalled that a mass shooting occurred at a <a title="Nightclub" href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nightclub" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">nightclub</a> in the <a title="Beşiktaş" href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Be%C5%9Fikta%C5%9F" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Beşiktaş</a> district of <a title="Istanbul" href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istanbul" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Istanbul</a>, <a title="Turkey" href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkey" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Turkey</a>, on 1 January 2017.</p>
<p>The attack occurred at about 01:15 <a title="Further-eastern European Time" href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Further-eastern_European_Time" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">FET</a> (<a class="mw-redirect" title="UTC+3" href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/UTC%2B3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">UTC+3</a>) at the Reina nightclub in <a title="Ortaköy" href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ortak%C3%B6y" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Ortaköy</a>, where hundreds of people were celebrating the <a title="New Year" href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Year" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">New Year</a>.</p>
<p>At least 39 people were killed and at least 70 were injured in the incident.</p>
<p><strong>Source: NAN</strong></p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">16288</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Turkish Airlines cargo jet crash kills at least 20 in Kyrgyzstan</title>
		<link>https://9newsng.com/turkish-airlines-cargo-jet-crash-kills-at-least-20-in-kyrgyzstan/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[9News Nigeria]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 16 Jan 2017 04:53:17 +0000</pubDate>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.9newsng.com/?p=16096</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/turkish-airlines-cargo-jet-crash-kills-at-least-20-in-kyrgyzstan/" title="Turkish Airlines cargo jet crash kills at least 20 in Kyrgyzstan" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://9newsng.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Turkish-Airlines-cargo-jet-crash-kills-at-least-20-in-Kyrgyzstan-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Turkish Airlines cargo jet crash kills at least 20 in Kyrgyzstan" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Turkish Airlines cargo jet crash kills at least 20 in Kyrgyzstan 51"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>BISHKEK (Reuters) &#8211; A Turkish Airlines (THYAO.IS: Quote) cargo jet crashed near Kyrgyzstan&#8217;s Manas airport on Monday, killing at least 20 people, most of them residents of village struck by the Boeing 747 as it tried to land in dense fog, Kyrgyz officials said. According to the airport administration, the plane was supposed to make [&#8230;]</p>
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										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/turkish-airlines-cargo-jet-crash-kills-at-least-20-in-kyrgyzstan/" title="Turkish Airlines cargo jet crash kills at least 20 in Kyrgyzstan" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://9newsng.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Turkish-Airlines-cargo-jet-crash-kills-at-least-20-in-Kyrgyzstan-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Turkish Airlines cargo jet crash kills at least 20 in Kyrgyzstan" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Turkish Airlines cargo jet crash kills at least 20 in Kyrgyzstan 52"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p><span class="articleLocation">BISHKEK</span> (Reuters) &#8211; A Turkish Airlines (THYAO.IS: <a href="http://af.reuters.com/stocks/quote?symbol=THYAO.IS" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Quote</a>) cargo jet crashed near Kyrgyzstan&#8217;s Manas airport on Monday, killing at least 20 people, most of them residents of village struck by the Boeing 747 as it tried to land in dense fog, Kyrgyz officials said.<span id="midArticle_byline"></span></p>
<p>According to the airport administration, the plane was supposed to make a stopover at Manas, near the capital city Bishkek, on its way from Hong Kong to Istanbul. It crashed when trying to land in poor visibility at 7:31 local time (0131 GMT).</p>
<p>The doomed plane damaged 15 buildings in the village, said Mukhammed Svarov, head of crisis management centre at the emergencies ministry, putting the toll at least 20 people.</p>
<p>Rescue workers have recovered the body of a pilot and 15 villagers, the healthcare ministry said.</p>
<p>(Reporting by Olga Dzyubenko; Writing by Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">16096</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Turkey&#8217;s parliament approves key articles of constitutional reform</title>
		<link>https://9newsng.com/turkeys-parliament-approves-key-articles-of-constitutional-reform/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[9News Nigeria]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 13 Jan 2017 09:23:53 +0000</pubDate>
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					<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/turkeys-parliament-approves-key-articles-of-constitutional-reform/" title="Turkey&#8217;s parliament approves key articles of constitutional reform" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://9newsng.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Turkeys-parliament-approves-key-articles-of-constitutional-reform-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Turkeys parliament approves key articles of constitutional reform" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Turkey&#039;s parliament approves key articles of constitutional reform 53"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>By Gulsen Solaker ANKARA (Reuters) &#8211; Turkey&#8217;s parliament approved key articles of a constitutional reform overnight which would allow the president to be a member of a political party and issue decrees, bringing a step closer the executive presidency sought by Tayyip Erdogan. The ruling AK Party, backed by the nationalist MHP, is pushing through [&#8230;]</p>
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										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/turkeys-parliament-approves-key-articles-of-constitutional-reform/" title="Turkey&#8217;s parliament approves key articles of constitutional reform" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://9newsng.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Turkeys-parliament-approves-key-articles-of-constitutional-reform-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Turkeys parliament approves key articles of constitutional reform" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Turkey&#039;s parliament approves key articles of constitutional reform 54"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>By Gulsen Solaker<span id="midArticle_byline"></span></p>
<p><span class="articleLocation">ANKARA</span> (Reuters) &#8211; Turkey&#8217;s parliament approved key articles of a constitutional reform overnight which would allow the president to be a member of a political party and issue decrees, bringing a step closer the executive <a href="https://9newsng.com/president-tinubu-departs-france-for-nigeria-presidency-confirms/">presidency</a> sought by Tayyip Erdogan.</p>
<p>The ruling AK Party, backed by the nationalist MHP, is pushing through the legislation that President Erdogan says will bring the strong leadership needed to prevent a return of the fragile coalition governments of the past.</p>
<p>The three articles approved overnight set out parliament&#8217;s supervisory role, enable the president to retain ties with a political party and detail the president&#8217;s executive powers as head of state, including the power to issue decrees.</p>
<p>Their approval is a positive sign for the AKP, although the changes will need to pass in two more rounds of voting before the constitutional package as a whole is put to a referendum, expected in the spring.</p>
<p>The main opposition CHP and the pro-Kurdish HDP, the second largest opposition party, fear these changes will fuel authoritarianism.</p>
<p>The previous night, lawmakers from the AKP and CHP came to blows as tempers boiled over in debate on the bill, after which a ruling AK Party deputy warned elections would be held if the bill was not passed.</p>
<p>A deputy from the main opposition CHP party responded late on Thursday with a call for such a move. [nL5N1F21ZT]</p>
<p>&#8220;Today instead of seeking such a regime change, we as the CHP give full support to an early election decision. We say bring it on,&#8221; the CHP&#8217;s Ozgur Ozel told the general assembly.</p>
<p>Under the planned changes, a president can be elected for a maximum of two five-year terms. The plans envisage presidential and general elections being held in 2019.<span id="midArticle_byline"></span></p>
<p>The 18-article bill needs the support of at least 330 deputies in the 550-seat assembly to go to a referendum, expected in the spring. The AKP has 316 deputies eligible to vote and the MHP 39.</p>
<p>The articles passed overnight with the support of between 340-343 lawmakers.</p>
<p>(Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Nick Tattersall)</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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		<title>Identity of Istanbul nightclub attacker established &#8211; foreign minister</title>
		<link>https://9newsng.com/identity-of-istanbul-nightclub-attacker-established-foreign-minister/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[9News Nigeria]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 04 Jan 2017 10:06:05 +0000</pubDate>
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<p>ANKARA (Reuters) &#8211; The identity of the gunman who killed 39 people in an attack on an Istanbul nightclub on New Year&#8217;s Day has been established, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in a televised interview with the state-run Anadolu news agency on Wednesday. The gunman, who fled after the attack, remains at large. Anadolu has [&#8230;]</p>
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<p><span class="articleLocation">ANKARA</span> (Reuters) &#8211; The identity of the gunman who killed 39 people in an attack on an Istanbul nightclub on New Year&#8217;s Day has been established, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in a televised interview with the state-run Anadolu news agency on Wednesday.<span id="midArticle_byline"></span></p>
<p>The gunman, who fled after the attack, remains at large. Anadolu has said some 20 people have been detained as part of the investigation into the shooting. Cavusoglu did not identify the attacker.</p>
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<p>(Reporting by Orhan Coskun and Tulay Karadeniz; Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Nick Tattersall)</p>
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		<title>Turkish military says 18 Islamic State militants killed in clashes in Syria</title>
		<link>https://9newsng.com/turkish-military-says-18-islamic-state-militants-killed-in-clashes-in-syria/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[9News Nigeria]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 03 Jan 2017 06:32:38 +0000</pubDate>
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					<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/turkish-military-says-18-islamic-state-militants-killed-in-clashes-in-syria/" title="Turkish military says 18 Islamic State militants killed in clashes in Syria" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/22051606/Coup-in-Turkey-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Coup in Turkey" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Turkish military says 18 Islamic State militants killed in clashes in Syria 57"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>ANKARA (Reuters) &#8211; Turkey&#8217;s military, backing Syrian rebels in a four-month-old operation against Islamic State militants in northern Syria, said on Tuesday that 18 of the jihadists had been killed and 37 wounded in clashes and artillery fire on Monday. In a round-up of its operations over the past 24 hours, the army said its [&#8230;]</p>
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<p><span class="articleLocation">ANKARA</span> (Reuters) &#8211; Turkey&#8217;s military, backing Syrian rebels in a four-month-old operation against Islamic State militants in northern Syria, said on Tuesday that 18 of the jihadists had been killed and 37 wounded in clashes and artillery fire on Monday.<span id="midArticle_byline"></span></p>
<p>In a round-up of its operations over the past 24 hours, the army said its warplanes destroyed four Islamic State targets and Russian aircraft hit jihadists in Dayr Kak, 8 km (5 miles) southwest of the Islamic State-controlled town of al-Bab.</p>
<p>(Reporting by Orhan Coskun; Editing by Daren Butler)</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">14786</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Gunman kills 39 in Istanbul nightclub, manhunt under way</title>
		<link>https://9newsng.com/gunman-kills-39-in-istanbul-nightclub-manhunt-under-way/</link>
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		<pubDate>Mon, 02 Jan 2017 04:58:02 +0000</pubDate>
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					<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/gunman-kills-39-in-istanbul-nightclub-manhunt-under-way/" title="Gunman kills 39 in Istanbul nightclub, manhunt under way" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://9newsng.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Gunman-kills-39-in-Istanbul-nightclub-manhunt-under-way-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Gunman kills 39 in Istanbul nightclub manhunt under way" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Gunman kills 39 in Istanbul nightclub, manhunt under way 59"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>By Humeyra Pamuk and Nick Tattersall ISTANBUL (Reuters) &#8211; A gunman opened fire on New Year revellers at a packed nightclub on the shores of Istanbul&#8217;s Bosphorus waterway on Sunday killing at least 39 people, including many foreigners, then fled the scene. Some people jumped into the Bosphorus to save themselves after the attacker began [&#8230;]</p>
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<p>By Humeyra Pamuk and Nick Tattersall<span id="midArticle_byline"></span></p>
<p><span class="articleLocation">ISTANBUL</span> (Reuters) &#8211; A gunman opened fire on New Year revellers at a packed nightclub on the shores of Istanbul&#8217;s Bosphorus waterway on Sunday killing at least 39 people, including many foreigners, then fled the scene.</p>
<p>Some people jumped into the Bosphorus to save themselves after the attacker began shooting at random in the Reina nightclub just over an hour into the new year. Witnesses described diving under tables as the assailant walked around spraying bullets from an automatic rifle.</p>
<p>The attack shook NATO member Turkey as it tries to recover from a failed July coup and a series of deadly bombings in cities including Istanbul and the capital Ankara, some blamed on Islamic State and others claimed by Kurdish militants.</p>
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<p>Security services had been on alert across Europe for new year celebrations following an attack on a Christmas market in Berlin that killed 12 people. Only days ago, an online message from a pro-Islamic State group called for attacks by &#8220;lone wolves&#8221; on &#8220;celebrations, gatherings and clubs&#8221;.</p>
<p>&#8220;At first we thought some men were fighting with each other,&#8221; said a Lebanese woman who gave her name as Hadeel and who was in the club with her husband and a friend. &#8220;Then we heard the sound of the gunfire and ducked under the tables.</p>
<p>&#8220;We heard the guy screaming Allahu Akbar (God is Greatest), all three of us heard that &#8230; We heard his footsteps crushing the broken glass,&#8221; she told Reuters. &#8220;We got out through the kitchen, there was blood everywhere and bodies.&#8221;</p>
<p>Officials spoke of a single attacker, a &#8220;lone wolf&#8221; in the parlance of Islamic State, but some reports citing witnesses including on social media suggested there may have been several.</p>
<p>The incident bore echoes of an attack by militant Islamists on Paris&#8217;s Bataclan music hall in November 2015 that, along with assaults on bars and restaurants, killed 130 people.</p>
<p>Nationals of Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Lebanon, Libya, Israel, a Turkish-Belgian dual citizen and a Franco-Tunisian woman were among those killed, officials said. Saudi newspaper al-Riyadh said five of the dead were from Saudi Arabia.<span id="midArticle_byline"></span></p>
<p>France said three of its citizens were wounded.</p>
<p>A massive security operation unfolded to track down the fugitive assailant or assailants and any conspirators.</p>
<p>Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said 15 or 16 of those killed at Reina were foreigners but only 21 bodies had so far been identified. He told reporters 69 people were in hospital, four of them in critical condition.</p>
<p>Turkey is part of the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State and launched an incursion into Syria in August to drive the radical Sunni militants from its borders. It also helped broker a fragile ceasefire in Syria with Russia.</p>
<p>&#8220;As a nation, we will fight to the end against not just the armed attacks of terror groups, but also against their economic, political and social attacks,&#8221; President Tayyip Erdogan said in a written statement.</p>
<p>&#8220;They are trying to create chaos, demoralize our people, and destabilize our country &#8230; We will retain our cool-headedness as a nation, standing more closely together, and we will never give ground to such dirty games,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>Reina is one of Istanbul&#8217;s best known nightspots, popular with local high society and foreigners. Some 600 people were thought to be inside when the gunman shot dead a policeman and civilian at the door, forced his way in and then opened fire.</p>
<p>Istanbul Governor Vasip Sahin said the attacker used a &#8220;long-range weapon&#8221; to &#8220;brutally and savagely&#8221; fire on people, apparently referring to some form of assault rifle.</p>
<p>U.S. President Barack Obama expressed condolences and directed his team to offer help to the Turkish authorities, the White House said. President Vladimir Putin Putin said Russia remained Turkey’s reliable partner in fighting terrorism, according to a statement from the Kremlin.<span id="midArticle_byline"></span></p>
<p>&#8220;POLICE MOVED IN QUICKLY&#8221;</p>
<p>Dozens of ambulances and police vehicles were dispatched to the club in Ortakoy, a neighbourhood on the city&#8217;s European side nestled under one of three bridges crossing the Bosphorus and home to nightclubs, restaurants and art galleries.</p>
<p>&#8220;I didn&#8217;t see who was shooting but heard the gun shots and people fled. Police moved in quickly,&#8221; Sefa Boydas, a Turkish soccer player, wrote on Twitter.</p>
<p>&#8220;My girlfriend was wearing high heels. I lifted her and carried her out on my back,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>Hurriyet quoted Reina&#8217;s owner, Mehmet Kocarslan, as saying security measures had been taken over the past 10 days after U.S. intelligence reports suggested a possible attack.</p>
<p>Turkey faces multiple threats including spillover from the war in Syria. Beside its cross-border campaign against Islamic State, it is fighting Kurdish militants in its southeast.</p>
<p>The New Year&#8217;s Day attack came five months after a failed military coup, in which more than 240 people were killed, many of them in Istanbul, as rogue soldiers commandeered tanks and fighter jets in a bid to seize power.</p>
<p>More than 100,000 people, including soldiers and police officers, have been sacked or suspended in a subsequent crackdown ordered by Erdogan, raising concern both about civic rights and the effectiveness of Turkey&#8217;s security apparatus.<span id="midArticle_byline"></span></p>
<p>On Dec. 28, the Nashir Media Foundation, which backs Islamic State, urged sympathisers to carry out attacks in Europe during the holiday period and to &#8220;replace their fireworks with explosive belts and devices, and turn their singing and clapping into weeping and wailing&#8221;.</p>
<p>A month ago, a spokesman for Islamic State urged supporters to target &#8220;the secular, apostate Turkish government&#8221;.</p>
<p>Turkey has seen repeated attacks in recent weeks. On Dec. 10, two bombs claimed by Kurdish militants exploded outside a soccer stadium in Istanbul, killing 44 people.</p>
<p>A car bomb killed at least 13 soldiers and wounded 56 when it ripped through a bus carrying off-duty military personnel in the central city of Kayseri a week later, an attack Erdogan also blamed on Kurdish militants.</p>
<p>The Russian ambassador to Turkey was shot dead as he gave a speech in Ankara on Dec. 19 by an off-duty police officer who shouted &#8220;Don&#8217;t forget Aleppo&#8221; and &#8220;Allahu Akbar&#8221;.</p>
<p>In June, around 45 people were killed and hundreds wounded as three suspected Islamic State militants carried out a gun and bomb attack on Istanbul&#8217;s main Ataturk airport.</p>
<p>(Additional reporting by Yesim Dikmen and Daren Butler in Istanbul, Ece Toksabay and Tuvan Gumrukcu in Ankara, Jeffrey Heller in Jerusalem, Jan Strupczewski in Brussels, Laurence Frost in Paris, Maria Kiselyova in Moscow; Writing by Nick Tattersall; Editing by Ralph Boulton)</p>
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		<title>35 dead in New Year’s attack in Istanbul</title>
		<link>https://9newsng.com/35-dead-in-new-years-attack-in-istanbul/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Timothy Stephen]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 01 Jan 2017 12:54:50 +0000</pubDate>
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<p>At least 35 people were killed when a gunman opened fire on revelers celebrating the new year in one of Istanbul’s most popular nightclubs The incident wa  the latest in a string of terrorist attacks over the last few weeks that have claimed dozens of lives and shaken Turkey. The assault, at the Reina nightclub, [&#8230;]</p>
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<p>At least 35 people were killed when a gunman opened fire on revelers celebrating the new year in one of Istanbul’s most popular nightclubs</p>
<p>The incident wa  the latest in a string of terrorist attacks over the last few weeks that have claimed dozens of lives and shaken Turkey.</p>
<p>The assault, at the Reina nightclub, began about 1 a.m., when the gunman shot and killed a police officer who was guarding the door.</p>
<p>Vasip Sahin, Istanbul’s mayor, spoke to reporters in front of the club about two hours after the shooting.</p>
<p>After killing the policeman, the gunman “brutally and violently attacked innocent people who came here to enjoy themselves,” Sahin said.</p>
<p>He did not identify the assailant, but called it a zzz“terrorist attack.”</p>
<p>At the time of the attack, there were hundreds of people inside the club, which sits on the Bosphorous strait, according to local media.</p>
<p>There were unconfirmed reports that the gunman stormed the club wearing a Santa Claus costume.</p>
<p>Patrons jumped into the water to escape the gunfire, according to social media reports, and dozens of ambulances could be heard heading in the direction of the club, in Istanbul’s Ortakoy district.</p>
<p>The mass killing at the nightclub was at least the fourth major attack in Turkey in less than a month, raising questions about the country’s stability as it faces an array of threats, including from Islamist groups operating from neighboring Syria, as well as from Kurdish militants.</p>
<p><strong>Source: NAN </strong></p>
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		<title>Turkey&#8217;s Erdogan blames Kurdish militants after bomb kills at least 13, wounds 56</title>
		<link>https://9newsng.com/turkeys-erdogan-blames-kurdish-militants-after-bomb-kills-at-least-13-wounds-56/</link>
		
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		<pubDate>Sun, 18 Dec 2016 07:01:22 +0000</pubDate>
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<p>By Tuvan Gumrukcu and Orhan Coskun ANKARA, Turkey (Reuters) &#8211; A car bomb killed at least 13 soldiers and wounded 56 when it ripped through a bus carrying off-duty military personnel in the central Turkish city of Kayseri on Saturday, an attack President Tayyip Erdogan blamed on Kurdish militants. The blast near a university campus [&#8230;]</p>
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<p>By Tuvan Gumrukcu and Orhan Coskun<span id="midArticle_byline"></span></p>
<p><span class="articleLocation">ANKARA, Turkey</span> (Reuters) &#8211; A car bomb killed at least 13 soldiers and wounded 56 when it ripped through a bus carrying off-duty military personnel in the central Turkish city of Kayseri on Saturday, an attack President Tayyip Erdogan blamed on Kurdish militants.</p>
<p>The blast near a university campus comes a week after deadly twin bombings targeted police in Istanbul and may further infuriate a public smarting from multiple attacks by Islamic and Kurdish militants this year, and a failed coup in July.</p>
<p>It could also increase tension in the mainly Kurdish southeast, where militants from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) have waged a three-decade violent insurgency that has seen some of the worst fighting in the last year.</p>
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<p>&#8220;The style and goals of the attacks clearly show the aim of the separatist terrorist organisation is to trip up Turkey, cut its strength and have it focus its energy and forces elsewhere,&#8221; Erdogan said in a statement.</p>
<p>&#8220;We know that these attacks we are being subjected to are not independent from the developments in our region, especially in Iraq and Syria.&#8221;</p>
<p>Erdogan frequently refers to the PKK as &#8220;the separatist terrorist organisation&#8221;. The PKK, which wants autonomy for the Kurdish minority, is considered a terrorist group by the United States, the European Union and Turkey.</p>
<p>Turkey, a NATO member and part of the U.S. coalition against Islamic State, has also been angered by Washington&#8217;s backing of Syrian Kurdish fighters against the Sunni hardline group.</p>
<p>Ankara sees the Washington-backed Syrian Kurdish militia as an extension of the PKK and is worried the advance of Kurdish fighters across its borders in Syria and Iraq could inflame Kurdish militants at home.</p>
<p>BESIKTAS ATTACK</p>
<p>Erdogan confirmed that 13 people had been killed and 55 wounded in Saturday&#8217;s blast. Officials later raised the number of injured to 56, including four in critical condition.</p>
<p>Broadcaster NTV and other local media later put the death toll at 14.</p>
<p>All of those killed and 48 of the wounded were off-duty military personnel, the military said. The bus was mainly carrying privates and corporals, it said.</p>
<p>The bus was stopped at a red light near the campus of Erciyes University in Kayseri when a car approached it and then detonated, NTV said. Militants have previously targeted buses carrying military or security forces.</p>
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<p>There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but government officials likened the attack to last Saturday&#8217;s dual bombings outside the stadium of Istanbul soccer team Besiktas, later claimed by a PKK offshoot. Forty-four people died and more than 150 were wounded in that incident.</p>
<p>Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said similar materials were used in both attacks. In comments probably aimed at Washington, he called on Turkey&#8217;s allies to stop support for militants.</p>
<p>&#8220;This is what we expect from our friends: Not just a few messages of condemnation, but for them to fight on an equal ground against these terrorist organisations with us,&#8221; Kurtulmus said in a television interview.</p>
<p>The United States condemned the attack. Russian President Vladimir Putin told Erdogan in a telegram that Russia was ready to increase cooperation against terrorism, Russian news agencies reported.</p>
<p>State-run Anadolu news agency said 15 people had been detained in relation to the attack.</p>
<p>Turkey faces multiple security threats including spillover from the fight against Islamic State in northern Syria. It has faced attacks from Islamic State, Kurdish and leftist militants.</p>
<p>PARTY OFFICE STORMED</p>
<p>Deputy Prime Minister Kurtulmus said the attack had deliberately targeted Kayseri because the city is known for its strong nationalist sentiment.</p>
<p>Later on Saturday, a crowd stormed the local headquarters of the pro-Kurdish Peoples&#8217; Democratic Party (HDP), parliament&#8217;s second-largest opposition party. The office was vandalised and some documents set on fire, a party spokesman said.</p>
<p>The HDP condemned the bus bombing and called for an end to politics and language that creates polarisation, hostility and violence.</p>
<p>Thousands of Kurdish politicians, including the two leaders of the HDP, have been detained in recent months on suspicion having links to the PKK.</p>
<p>The crackdown has coincided with widespread purges of state institutions after July&#8217;s failed coup, which the government blames on followers of a U.S.-based Muslim cleric.</p>
<p>Turkey says the measures are necessary to defend its security, while human rights groups and some Western allies accuse it of skirting the rule of law and trampling on freedoms.</p>
<p>(Additional reporting by Tulay Karadeniz and Gulsen Solaker in Ankara and Humeyra Pamuk and Daren Butler in Istanbul; Writing by David Dolan; Editing by Catherine Evans)</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">14146</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Bus carrying soldiers explodes in Turkey&#8217;s Kayseri, some believed killed &#8211; sources</title>
		<link>https://9newsng.com/bus-carrying-soldiers-explodes-in-turkeys-kayseri-some-believed-killed-sources/</link>
		
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		<pubDate>Sat, 17 Dec 2016 08:03:57 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Europe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Turkey]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.9newsng.com/?p=14029</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/bus-carrying-soldiers-explodes-in-turkeys-kayseri-some-believed-killed-sources/" title="Bus carrying soldiers explodes in Turkey&#8217;s Kayseri, some believed killed &#8211; sources" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://9newsng.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Bus-carrying-soldiers-explodes-in-Turkeys-Kayseri-some-believed-killed-sources-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Bus carrying soldiers explodes in Turkeys Kayseri some believed killed sources" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Bus carrying soldiers explodes in Turkey&#039;s Kayseri, some believed killed - sources 65"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>GAZIANTEP, Turkey (Reuters) &#8211; A bus transporting soldiers was hit by an explosion near a university in the central Turkish city of Kayseri on Saturday, killing and wounding an unknown number of people, security sources said. Ambulances were sent to the area after the explosion, the sources said. Turkey&#8217;s Dogan news agency said the blast [&#8230;]</p>
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										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/bus-carrying-soldiers-explodes-in-turkeys-kayseri-some-believed-killed-sources/" title="Bus carrying soldiers explodes in Turkey&#8217;s Kayseri, some believed killed &#8211; sources" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://9newsng.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Bus-carrying-soldiers-explodes-in-Turkeys-Kayseri-some-believed-killed-sources-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Bus carrying soldiers explodes in Turkeys Kayseri some believed killed sources" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Bus carrying soldiers explodes in Turkey&#039;s Kayseri, some believed killed - sources 66"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p><span class="articleLocation">GAZIANTEP, Turkey</span> (Reuters) &#8211; A bus transporting soldiers was hit by an explosion near a university in the central Turkish city of Kayseri on Saturday, killing and wounding an unknown number of people, security sources said.<span id="midArticle_byline"></span></p>
<p>Ambulances were sent to the area after the explosion, the sources said. Turkey&#8217;s Dogan news agency said the blast hit the bus as it drove past a car believed to be packed with explosives.</p>
<div class="teads-inread"> The blast came a week after a twin bombing outside an Istanbul soccer stadium killed more than 40 people and wounded more than 100, an attack claimed by Kurdish militants.</div>
<p>(Writing by Tuvan Gumrukcu and David Dolan; Editing by Paul Tait)</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">14029</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Kurdish militants claim responsibility for Istanbul attack that killed 38</title>
		<link>https://9newsng.com/kurdish-militants-claim-responsibility-for-istanbul-attack-that-killed-38/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[9News Nigeria]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 12 Dec 2016 05:49:57 +0000</pubDate>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.9newsng.com/?p=13754</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/kurdish-militants-claim-responsibility-for-istanbul-attack-that-killed-38/" title="Kurdish militants claim responsibility for Istanbul attack that killed 38" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/20105256/Kurdish-militants-claim-responsibility-for-Istanbul-attack-that-killed-38-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Kurdish militants claim responsibility for Istanbul attack that killed 38" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Kurdish militants claim responsibility for Istanbul attack that killed 38 67"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>By David Dolan and Tuvan Gumrukcu &#124; ISTANBUL An offshoot of the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) claimed responsibility on Sunday for twin bombings that killed 38 people and wounded 155 outside an Istanbul soccer stadium, an attack for which the Turkish government vowed vengeance. The Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK), which has claimed several other [&#8230;]</p>
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										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/kurdish-militants-claim-responsibility-for-istanbul-attack-that-killed-38/" title="Kurdish militants claim responsibility for Istanbul attack that killed 38" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/20105256/Kurdish-militants-claim-responsibility-for-Istanbul-attack-that-killed-38-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Kurdish militants claim responsibility for Istanbul attack that killed 38" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Kurdish militants claim responsibility for Istanbul attack that killed 38 68"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<div id="article-byline"><span class="author">By <a href="http://www.reuters.com/journalists/david-dolan" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">David Dolan</a> and <a href="http://www.reuters.com/journalists/tuvan-gumrukcu" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Tuvan Gumrukcu</a></span> <span class="location"><span class="divider">|</span> ISTANBUL</span></div>
<p>An offshoot of the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) claimed responsibility on Sunday for twin bombings that killed 38 people and wounded 155 outside an Istanbul soccer stadium, an attack for which the Turkish government vowed vengeance.</p>
<p>The Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK), which has claimed several other deadly attacks in Turkey this year, said in a statement on its website that it was behind Saturday night&#8217;s blasts, which shook a nation still trying to recover from a failed military coup and a number of bombings this year..</p>
<p>Saturday&#8217;s attacks took place near the Vodafone Arena, home to Istanbul&#8217;s Besiktas soccer team, about two hours after a match at the stadium and appeared to target police officers. The first was a car bomb outside the stadium, followed within a minute by a suicide bomb attack in an adjacent park.</p>
<div class="teads-inread"></div>
<div class="teads-inread"></div>
<p>TAK, which has claimed responsibility for an Ankara bombing that killed 37, is an offshoot of the PKK, which has carried out a violent, three-decade insurgency, mainly in Turkey&#8217;s largely Kurdish southeast.</p>
<p>&#8220;What we must focus on is this terror burden. Our people should have no doubt we will continue our battle against terror until the end,&#8221; Turkey President Tayyip Erdogan told reporters after meeting injured victims in an Istanbul hospital.</p>
<p>&#8216;WE WILL HAVE VENGEANCE&#8217;</p>
<p>Speaking at a funeral for five of the police officers at the Istanbul police headquarters, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said: &#8220;Sooner or later we will have our vengeance. This blood will not be left on the ground, no matter what the price, what the cost.&#8221;</p>
<p>Soylu also warned those who would offer support to the attackers on social media or elsewhere; comments aimed at pro-Kurdish politicians the government accuses of having links to the PKK, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Europe and Turkey.</p>
<p>In recent months thousands of Kurdish politicians have been detained, including dozens of mayors and the leaders of the Peoples&#8217; Democratic Party (HDP), parliament&#8217;s second-biggest opposition party, accused of having links to the PKK.</p>
<p>The crackdown against Kurdish politicians has coincided with widespread purges of state institutions after July&#8217;s failed coup, which the government blames on followers of a U.S.-based Muslim cleric.</p>
<p>Turkey says the measures are necessary to defend its security, while rights groups and some Western allies accuse it of skirting the rule of law and trampling on freedoms.</p>
<p>In a statement, the pro-Kurdish HDP condemned the attack and urged the government to end what it called the language and politics of &#8220;polarization, hostility and conflict&#8221;.</p>
<p>Soylu said that the first explosion was at an assembly point for riot police. The second came as police surrounded the suicide bomber in the nearby Macka park.</p>
<p>Thirty-eight people died, including 30 police and seven civilians, he said. One person remained unidentified.</p>
<p>Thirteen people have been detained in connection with the attacks, Soylu said.</p>
<p>A total of 155 people were being treated in hospital, with 14 of them in intensive care and five in surgery, Health Minister Recep Akdag told a news conference.</p>
<p>Flags flew at half-mast and Sunday was declared a day of national mourning.</p>
<p>Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said that Turkey&#8217;s allies should show solidarity with it in the fight against terrorism, a reference to disagreements with the United States over the fellow NATO member&#8217;s policy on Syria. Washington backs the Syrian Kurdish YPG in the fight against Islamic State. Turkey, meanwhile, says the militia is an extension of the PKK and a terrorist group.</p>
<p>In addition to the Kurdish insurgency, Turkey is battling Islamic State as a member of the United States-led coalition against the jihadist group. Less than a week ago Islamic State urged its supporters to target Turkey&#8217;s &#8220;security, military, economic and media establishment&#8221;.</p>
<p>&#8216;MY SON WAS MASSACRED&#8217;</p>
<p>Video purporting to show the father of one of the victims, a 19-year-old medical student in Istanbul for a weekend visit, went viral on social media in Turkey.</p>
<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t want my son to be a martyr, my son was massacred,&#8221; the footage showed the father saying. &#8220;His goal was to be a doctor and help people like this, but now I am carrying him back in a funeral car.&#8221;</p>
<p>Security remained tight in Istanbul, with police helicopters buzzing overhead in the Besiktas district near the stadium.</p>
<p>NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg condemned what he described as &#8220;horrific acts of terror&#8221;, while European leaders also sent messages of solidarity. German Chancellor Angela Merkel called Erdogan to convey her condolences, sources in his office said.</p>
<p>The United States condemned the attack and said it stood with its NATO ally.</p>
<p>(Additional reporting by Orhan Coskun, Ece Toksabay, Umit Bektas and Gulsen Solaker in Ankara, Humeyra Pamuk, Osman Orsal and Murad Sezer in Istanbul; Editing by Andrew Heavens, Dale Hudson and David Goodman)</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">13754</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Day of mourning declared in Turkey after twin blasts kill 29</title>
		<link>https://9newsng.com/day-of-mourning-declared-in-turkey-after-twin-blasts-kill-29/</link>
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		<pubDate>Sun, 11 Dec 2016 07:58:50 +0000</pubDate>
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					<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/day-of-mourning-declared-in-turkey-after-twin-blasts-kill-29/" title="Day of mourning declared in Turkey after twin blasts kill 29" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/20105035/Day-of-mourning-declared-in-Turkey-after-twin-blasts-kill-29-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Day of mourning declared in Turkey after twin blasts kill 29" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Day of mourning declared in Turkey after twin blasts kill 29 69"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkey has declared a national day of mourning after twin blasts in Istanbul killed 29 people and wounded 166 others near a soccer stadium. The Sunday statement from Prime Minister Binali Yildirim&#8217;s office also ordered flags to fly at half-staff across the country and at Turkey&#8217;s foreign missions. Twin attacks Saturday night [&#8230;]</p>
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										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/day-of-mourning-declared-in-turkey-after-twin-blasts-kill-29/" title="Day of mourning declared in Turkey after twin blasts kill 29" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/20105035/Day-of-mourning-declared-in-Turkey-after-twin-blasts-kill-29-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Day of mourning declared in Turkey after twin blasts kill 29" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Day of mourning declared in Turkey after twin blasts kill 29 70"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkey has declared a national day of mourning after twin blasts in Istanbul killed 29 people and wounded 166 others near a soccer stadium.</p>
<p>The Sunday statement from Prime Minister Binali Yildirim&#8217;s office also ordered flags to fly at half-staff across the country and at Turkey&#8217;s foreign missions.</p>
<p>Twin attacks Saturday night by a car bomber and a suicide bomber near Istanbul&#8217;s Besiktas soccer stadium were the latest large-scale assault to traumatize a nation confronting an array of security threats. There was no immediate claim of responsibility but one official said suspicions were focused on Kurdish militants.</p>
<div id="dynamiccontent"></div>
<p>Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus told the private news channel CNN Turk that &#8220;arrows point to the PKK.&#8221;</p>
<p>He was referring to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers&#8217; Party, which has waged a decades-long insurgency.</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">13689</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Twin bombing outside Istanbul soccer stadium kills 29, wounds 166</title>
		<link>https://9newsng.com/twin-bombing-outside-istanbul-soccer-stadium-kills-29-wounds-166/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[9News Nigeria]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 11 Dec 2016 07:13:22 +0000</pubDate>
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					<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/twin-bombing-outside-istanbul-soccer-stadium-kills-29-wounds-166/" title="Twin bombing outside Istanbul soccer stadium kills 29, wounds 166" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/20105010/Twin-bombing-outside-Istanbul-soccer-stadium-kills-29-wounds-166-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Twin bombing outside Istanbul soccer stadium kills 29 wounds 166" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Twin bombing outside Istanbul soccer stadium kills 29, wounds 166 71"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>By Humeyra Pamuk and Murad Sezer &#124; ISTANBUL &#8211; Two bombs exploded less than a minute apart, killing 29 people and wounding 166 outside a soccer stadium in Istanbul on Saturday night, in a co-ordinated attack on police shortly after a match between two of Turkey&#8217;s top teams. First a car bomb exploded outside the Vodafone [&#8230;]</p>
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										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/twin-bombing-outside-istanbul-soccer-stadium-kills-29-wounds-166/" title="Twin bombing outside Istanbul soccer stadium kills 29, wounds 166" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/20105010/Twin-bombing-outside-Istanbul-soccer-stadium-kills-29-wounds-166-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Twin bombing outside Istanbul soccer stadium kills 29 wounds 166" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Twin bombing outside Istanbul soccer stadium kills 29, wounds 166 72"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<div id="article-byline"><span class="author">By <a href="http://www.reuters.com/journalists/humeyra-pamuk" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Humeyra Pamuk</a> and <a href="http://www.reuters.com/journalists/murad-sezer" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Murad Sezer</a></span> <span class="location"><span class="divider">|</span> ISTANBUL &#8211; </span>Two bombs exploded less than a minute apart, killing 29 people and wounding 166 outside a soccer stadium in Istanbul on Saturday night, in a co-ordinated attack on police shortly after a match between two of Turkey&#8217;s top teams.</div>
<p>First a car bomb exploded outside the Vodafone Arena, home to Istanbul&#8217;s Besiktas soccer team, leaving flaming wreckage on the street. Forty-five seconds later, a suspect wearing explosives detonated them while surrounded by police in an adjacent park, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus told a news conference.</p>
<p>President Tayyip Erdogan described the blasts as a terrorist attack on police and civilians. He said the aim of the bombings, two hours after the end of a match attended by thousands of people, had been to cause the maximum number of casualties.</p>
<p>&#8220;Nobody should doubt that with God&#8217;s will, we as a country and a nation will overcome terror, terrorist organisations &#8230; and the forces behind them,&#8221; he said in a statement.</p>
<p>The attack shook a soccer-mad nation still trying to recover from a series of deadly bombings this year in cities including Istanbul and the capital Ankara, some blamed on the Islamic State jihadist group and others claimed by Kurdish militants.</p>
<p>There was no immediate claim of responsibility. But the blasts came less than a week after Islamic State urged its supporters to target Turkey&#8217;s &#8220;security, military, economic and media establishment&#8221;.</p>
<p>&#8220;It was like hell. The flames went all the way up to the sky. I was drinking tea at the cafe next to the mosque,&#8221; said Omer Yilmaz, who works as a cleaner at the nearby Dolmabahce mosque, directly across the road from the stadium.</p>
<p>&#8220;People ducked under the tables, women began crying. Football fans drinking tea at the cafe sought shelter, it was horrible,&#8221; he told Reuters.</p>
<p>Turkey is a member of the NATO military alliance and part of the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State. It launched a military incursion into Syria in August against the radical Islamist group. It is also fighting a Kurdish militant insurgency in its own southeast.</p>
<p>VICTIMS MAINLY POLICE</p>
<p>Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said the first explosion, which came around two hours after the end of the match between Besiktas and Bursaspor, was at an assembly point for riot police officers. The second came as police surrounded the suicide bomber in the nearby Macka park.</p>
<p>Two of those killed in the blasts were civilians. The other 27 were police officers, including a police chief and another senior officer, Soylu said. He said 17 of the wounded were undergoing surgery and another six were in intensive care.</p>
<p>Soylu also said 10 people had been detained based on evidence from the detonated vehicle, but gave no indication of who the authorities thought might be behind the attack.</p>
<p>A Reuters photographer said many riot police officers were seriously wounded. Armed police sealed off streets. A police water cannon doused the wreckage of a burned-out car and there were two separate fires on the road outside the stadium.</p>
<p>Bursaspor said none of its fans appeared to have been injured. Both it and Besiktas condemned the bombings.</p>
<p>&#8220;Those attacking our nation&#8217;s unity and solidarity will never win,&#8221; Sports Minister Akif Cagatay Kilic said on Twitter. Transport Minister Ahmet Arslan, also writing on Twitter, described it as a terrorist attack.</p>
<p>NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg condemned what he described as &#8220;horrific acts of terror&#8221;, while European leaders also sent messages of solidarity. The United States condemned the attack and said it stood with its NATO ally.</p>
<p>The bombings come five months after Turkey was shaken by a failed military coup, in which more than 240 people were killed, many of them in Istanbul, as rogue soldiers commandeered tanks and fighter jets in a bid to seize power.</p>
<p>Istanbul has seen several other attacks this year, including in June, when around 45 people were killed and hundreds wounded as three suspected Islamic State militants carried out a gun and bomb attack on its main Ataturk airport.</p>
<p>(Additional reporting by Orhan Coskun, Ece Toksabay, Tuvan Gumrukcu, Umit Bektas in Ankara, Osman Orsal in Istanbul; Writing by Nick Tattersall; Editing by David Dolan, Matthew Lewis and David Gregorio)</p>
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		<title>Erdogan warns Europe that Turkey could open migrant gates</title>
		<link>https://9newsng.com/erdogan-warns-europe-that-turkey-could-open-migrant-gates/</link>
		
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		<pubDate>Fri, 25 Nov 2016 17:34:39 +0000</pubDate>
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					<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/erdogan-warns-europe-that-turkey-could-open-migrant-gates/" title="Erdogan warns Europe that Turkey could open migrant gates" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/19114655/Turkey-Demands-Answer-on-EU-Membership-Visa-Deal-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Turkey Demands Answer on EU Membership Visa Deal" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Erdogan warns Europe that Turkey could open migrant gates 73"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>By Daren Butler ISTANBUL (Reuters) &#8211; President Tayyip Erdogan warned on Friday that Turkey could open its gates for migrants to Europe if pushed into a corner by the European Union, a day after European lawmakers voted for a temporary halt to EU membership talks with Ankara. Members of the European Parliament voted for a [&#8230;]</p>
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										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/erdogan-warns-europe-that-turkey-could-open-migrant-gates/" title="Erdogan warns Europe that Turkey could open migrant gates" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/19114655/Turkey-Demands-Answer-on-EU-Membership-Visa-Deal-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Turkey Demands Answer on EU Membership Visa Deal" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Erdogan warns Europe that Turkey could open migrant gates 74"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>By Daren Butler<span id="midArticle_byline"></span></p>
<p><span class="articleLocation">ISTANBUL</span> (Reuters) &#8211; President Tayyip Erdogan warned on Friday that Turkey could open its gates for migrants to Europe if pushed into a corner by the European Union, a day after European lawmakers voted for a temporary halt to EU membership talks with Ankara.</p>
<p>Members of the European Parliament voted for a non-binding motion on Thursday urging the European Commission and national governments to institute what they acknowledge would be a largely symbolic freeze in negotiations because of Turkey&#8217;s &#8220;disproportionate&#8221; reaction to July&#8217;s failed coup.</p>
<p>Brussels has been treading a delicate line with Turkey. Despite its increased concerns over human rights and press freedoms, it needs Turkish cooperation to keep down the number of refugees and migrants reaching Europe from its shores.</p>
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<p>&#8220;If you go any further, these border gates will be opened. Neither me nor my people will be affected by these empty threats,&#8221; Erdogan told a congress on womens&#8217; justice in Istanbul, in reaction to Thursday&#8217;s vote.</p>
<p>&#8220;It wouldn&#8217;t matter if all of you approved the (European parliament) vote,&#8221; he said, in comments broadcast live.</p>
<p>More than 1.3 million people arrived in Europe last year, triggering bitter disputes between EU member states over how to handle them. The migrant deal with Turkey, though criticised by rights groups, has reduced the influx via Turkey to a trickle.</p>
<p>Turkey says it is home to the world&#8217;s largest refugee population, housing some 2.7 million Syrians and 300,000 Iraqis.</p>
<p>EU governments are unlikely to take heed of the European Parliament vote. Austria has led calls to stop Turkey&#8217;s membership talks but Germany, France and most other EU states for now back continued engagement and fear putting at risk Erdogan&#8217;s collaboration on migration.</p>
<p>Erdogan also said a controversial ruling party proposal that could allow men accused of sexual abuse to avoid sentence, which was withdrawn for review this week, had not prepared carefully, and believed that the issue would be brought back to parliament with a wider consensus. <span id="midArticle_byline"></span></p>
<p>The proposal would have allowed sentencing to be indefinitely postponed in cases of sexual abuse committed &#8220;without force, threat or deception&#8221; before Nov. 16, 2016, if the perpetrator married the victim.</p>
<p>The government said the bill was meant to remedy the situation of men sent to jail after they married girls under the age of 18, in religious ceremonies and with family consent. It rejected suggestions the plan amounted to an &#8220;amnesty for rape&#8221;.</p>
<p>(Writing by Nick Tattersall; Editing by Humeyra Pamuk and David Dolan)</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">12534</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Turkey dismisses close to 15,000 more in post-coup probe &#8211; official decree</title>
		<link>https://9newsng.com/turkey-dismisses-close-to-15000-more-in-post-coup-probe-official-decree/</link>
		
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		<pubDate>Tue, 22 Nov 2016 05:53:30 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Europe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Turkey]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.9newsng.com/?p=12243</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/turkey-dismisses-close-to-15000-more-in-post-coup-probe-official-decree/" title="Turkey dismisses close to 15,000 more in post-coup probe &#8211; official decree" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/20192116/Turkey-dismisses-close-to-15000-more-in-post-coup-probe-official-decree-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Turkey dismisses close to 15000 more in post coup probe official decree" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Turkey dismisses close to 15,000 more in post-coup probe - official decree 75"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>ANKARA (Reuters) &#8211; Turkey dismissed close to 15,000 more civil servants, military officials, police and others and shut down more than 500 institutions and news outlets on Tuesday over alleged links to a failed coup in July, an official decree said. Some 1,988 personnel from the Turkish Armed Forces, 7,586 from the police force, 403 [&#8230;]</p>
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										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/turkey-dismisses-close-to-15000-more-in-post-coup-probe-official-decree/" title="Turkey dismisses close to 15,000 more in post-coup probe &#8211; official decree" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/20192116/Turkey-dismisses-close-to-15000-more-in-post-coup-probe-official-decree-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Turkey dismisses close to 15000 more in post coup probe official decree" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Turkey dismisses close to 15,000 more in post-coup probe - official decree 76"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p><span class="articleLocation">ANKARA</span> (Reuters) &#8211; Turkey dismissed close to 15,000 more civil servants, military officials, police and others and shut down more than 500 institutions and news outlets on Tuesday over alleged links to a failed coup in July, an official decree said.<span id="midArticle_byline"></span></p>
<p>Some 1,988 personnel from the Turkish Armed Forces, 7,586 from the police force, 403 from the gendarmerie, and more than 5,000 from public institutions were dismissed in Tuesday&#8217;s crackdown. The total number dismissed since the July coup attempt exceeds 110,000.</p>
<p>The decree also announced the closing of more than 550 institutions, 18 charities, and nine media outlets.</p>
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<p>(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by Paul Tait)</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">12243</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Fed up with EU, President Erdogan says Turkey could join Shanghai bloc</title>
		<link>https://9newsng.com/fed-up-with-eu-president-erdogan-says-turkey-could-join-shanghai-bloc/</link>
		
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		<pubDate>Sun, 20 Nov 2016 11:31:29 +0000</pubDate>
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		<category><![CDATA[Turkey]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.9newsng.com/?p=12051</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/fed-up-with-eu-president-erdogan-says-turkey-could-join-shanghai-bloc/" title="Fed up with EU, President Erdogan says Turkey could join Shanghai bloc" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/20181846/Turkish-President-Tayyip-Erdogan-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Fed up with EU, President Erdogan says Turkey could join Shanghai bloc 77"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>ISTANBUL (Reuters) &#8211; President Tayyip Erdogan was quoted on Sunday as saying that Turkey did not need to join the European Union &#8220;at all costs&#8221; and could instead become part of a security bloc dominated by China, Russia and Central Asian nations. NATO member Turkey&#8217;s prospects of joining the EU look more remote than ever [&#8230;]</p>
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										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/fed-up-with-eu-president-erdogan-says-turkey-could-join-shanghai-bloc/" title="Fed up with EU, President Erdogan says Turkey could join Shanghai bloc" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/20181846/Turkish-President-Tayyip-Erdogan-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Fed up with EU, President Erdogan says Turkey could join Shanghai bloc 78"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p><span class="articleLocation">ISTANBUL</span> (Reuters) &#8211; President Tayyip Erdogan was quoted on Sunday as saying that Turkey did not need to join the European Union &#8220;at all costs&#8221; and could instead become part of a security bloc dominated by China, Russia and Central Asian nations.<span id="midArticle_byline"></span></p>
<p>NATO member Turkey&#8217;s prospects of joining the EU look more remote than ever after 11 years of negotiations. European leaders have been critical of its record on democratic freedoms, while Ankara has grown increasingly exasperated by what it sees as Western condescension.</p>
<p>&#8220;Turkey must feel at ease. It mustn&#8217;t say &#8216;for me it&#8217;s the European Union at all costs&#8217;. That&#8217;s my view,&#8221; Erdogan was quoted by the Hurriyet newspaper as telling reporters on his plane on the way back from a visit to Pakistan and Uzbekistan.</p>
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<p>&#8220;Why shouldn&#8217;t Turkey be in the Shanghai Five? I said this to (Russian President) Mr Putin, to (Kazakh President) Nazarbayev, to those who are in the Shanghai Five now,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>&#8220;I hope that if there is a positive development there, I think if Turkey were to join the Shanghai Five, it will enable it to act with much greater ease.&#8221;</p>
<p>China, Russia and four Central Asian nations &#8212; Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan &#8212; formed the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in 2001 as a regional security bloc to fight threats posed by radical Islam and drug trafficking from neighbouring Afghanistan.</p>
<p>Turkish membership of the SCO, which had initially not included Uzbekistan and been known as the Shanghai Five, would be likely to alarm Western allies and fellow NATO members.</p>
<p>Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan speak Turkic languages, and Ankara signed up in 2013 as a &#8220;dialogue partner&#8221; saying it shared &#8220;the same destiny&#8221; as members of the bloc.</p>
<p>Mongolia, India, Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan are SCO observers, while Belarus, like Turkey, is a dialogue partner.</p>
<p>Dialogue partners are entitled to take part in ministerial-level and some other meetings of the SCO, but do not have voting rights.<span id="midArticle_byline"></span></p>
<p>Erdogan last week urged Turks to be patient until the end of the year over relations with Europe and said a referendum could be held on EU membership in 2017.</p>
<p>The EU is treading a fine line in relations with Turkey: it needs Ankara&#8217;s continued help in curbing a huge flow of migrants, especially from Syria, but is alarmed by Turkey&#8217;s crackdown on opponents since a failed coup attempt in July.</p>
<p>More than 110,000 people have been sacked or suspended since the abortive putsch, and some 36,000 arrested. Media outlets have also been shut down.</p>
<p>The government says the crackdown is justified by the gravity of the threat to the state from the events of July 15, in which more than 240 people were killed.</p>
<p>(Reporting by Daren Butler; Writing by Nick Tattersall; Editing by Keith Weir)</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">12051</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Turkish warplanes strike 15 targets in Syria&#8217;s al Bab area &#8211; military</title>
		<link>https://9newsng.com/turkish-warplanes-strike-15-targets-in-syrias-al-bab-area-military/</link>
		
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		<pubDate>Mon, 14 Nov 2016 07:32:58 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Europe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Turkey]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.9newsng.com/?p=11424</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/turkish-warplanes-strike-15-targets-in-syrias-al-bab-area-military/" title="Turkish warplanes strike 15 targets in Syria&#8217;s al Bab area &#8211; military" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/20162922/Turkish-warplanes-strike-15-targets-in-Syrias-al-Bab-area-military-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Turkish warplanes strike 15 targets in Syrias al Bab area military" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Turkish warplanes strike 15 targets in Syria&#039;s al Bab area - military 79"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>ISTANBUL (Reuters) &#8211; Turkish warplanes struck 15 targets in the al Bab area of northern Syria on Sunday in an operation with Syrian rebels to drive Islamic State (IS) militants out of the border region, the Turkish military said on Monday. President Tayyip Erdogan has said seizing control of al Bab, around 30 km (19 [&#8230;]</p>
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										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/turkish-warplanes-strike-15-targets-in-syrias-al-bab-area-military/" title="Turkish warplanes strike 15 targets in Syria&#8217;s al Bab area &#8211; military" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/20162922/Turkish-warplanes-strike-15-targets-in-Syrias-al-Bab-area-military-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Turkish warplanes strike 15 targets in Syrias al Bab area military" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Turkish warplanes strike 15 targets in Syria&#039;s al Bab area - military 80"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p><span class="articleLocation">ISTANBUL</span> (Reuters) &#8211; Turkish warplanes struck 15 targets in the al Bab area of northern Syria on Sunday in an operation with Syrian rebels to drive Islamic State (IS) militants out of the border region, the Turkish military said on Monday.<span id="midArticle_byline"></span></p>
<p>President Tayyip Erdogan has said seizing control of al Bab, around 30 km (19 miles) south of the border, is a goal of the operation before targeting Manbij, from which Kurdish-led forces recently drove IS, and the IS stronghold of Raqqa.</p>
<p>Ten Islamic State defensive positions, command centres and an ammunition store were destroyed in the strikes, the army said in a statement. Nine Syrian rebels were killed and 52 wounded during clashes in the region, it added.</p>
<p>The Turkish military launched the operation, dubbed &#8216;Euphrates Shield&#8217;, on Aug. 24 and the rebel forces have so far seized control of about 1,620 square km (625 square miles) of territory, the military said.</p>
<p>The operation has also targeted the Kurdish YPG militia in the region and 10 of the group&#8217;s fighters were &#8216;neutralised&#8217; in shelling over the last 24 hours as they tried to seize control of the Tal Jijan area, the statement said.</p>
<p>The YPG is an ally of the United States in its fight against Islamic State. Ankara denounces the YPG as an affiliate of the PKK, which has fought the Turkish military in southeast Turkey for three decades and which is designated as a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.</p>
<p>(Reporting by Orhan Coskun; Editing by Daren Butler and Clarence Fernandez)</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">11424</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Turkish district governor dies after southeast bomb attack &#8211; media</title>
		<link>https://9newsng.com/turkish-district-governor-dies-after-southeast-bomb-attack-media/</link>
		
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		<pubDate>Fri, 11 Nov 2016 08:16:34 +0000</pubDate>
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		<category><![CDATA[Turkey]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.9newsng.com/?p=11195</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/turkish-district-governor-dies-after-southeast-bomb-attack-media/" title="Turkish district governor dies after southeast bomb attack &#8211; media" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/20161545/Turkish-district-governor-dies-after-southeast-bomb-attack-media-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Turkish district governor dies after southeast bomb attack media" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Turkish district governor dies after southeast bomb attack - media 81"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>ISTANBUL (Reuters) &#8211; A Turkish district governor wounded in a bomb attack on his office in the largely Kurdish southeast has died in hospital, the state-run Anadolu Agency and other media said on Friday. Suspected Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants carried out Thursday&#8217;s attack in the Derik district of Mardin province with an improvised explosive [&#8230;]</p>
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										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/turkish-district-governor-dies-after-southeast-bomb-attack-media/" title="Turkish district governor dies after southeast bomb attack &#8211; media" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/20161545/Turkish-district-governor-dies-after-southeast-bomb-attack-media-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Turkish district governor dies after southeast bomb attack media" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Turkish district governor dies after southeast bomb attack - media 82"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p><span class="articleLocation">ISTANBUL</span> (Reuters) &#8211; A Turkish district governor wounded in a bomb attack on his office in the largely Kurdish southeast has died in hospital, the state-run Anadolu Agency and other media said on Friday.<span id="midArticle_byline"></span></p>
<p>Suspected Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants carried out Thursday&#8217;s attack in the Derik district of Mardin province with an improvised explosive device, wounding three people, according to the Mardin governor&#8217;s office.</p>
<p>Derik district governor Muhammed Fatih Safiturk was one of three people hurt in the attack, suffering second-degree burns. He died at a hospital in the city of Gaziantep on Friday morning, having been flown there by helicopter for treatment, the Dogan news agency said.</p>
<p>Safiturk had been given the additional responsibility in July of running the local municipality as part of a series of moves to replace elected officials from the Democratic Regions&#8217; Party (DBP), a sister party of the pro-Kurdish Peoples&#8217; Democratic Party (HDP).</p>
<p>Ankara accuses the HDP, parliament&#8217;s third biggest party, of links to the PKK, which is fighting for autonomy in the largely Kurdish southeast. The HDP denies any direct links and says it is working for a peaceful resolution of the conflict.</p>
<p>There was no claim of responsibility for Thursday&#8217;s attack but the PKK often carries out bomb and rocket attacks in the southeast, where violence has raged since a two-year-old PKK ceasefire collapsed in July last year.</p>
<p>More than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict since the PKK took up arms in 1984. It is considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.</p>
<p>(Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Nick Tattersall)</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">11195</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Turkey draws Western condemnation over arrest of Kurdish lawmakers</title>
		<link>https://9newsng.com/turkey-draws-western-condemnation-over-arrest-of-kurdish-lawmakers/</link>
		
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		<pubDate>Sat, 05 Nov 2016 07:51:26 +0000</pubDate>
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					<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/turkey-draws-western-condemnation-over-arrest-of-kurdish-lawmakers/" title="Turkey draws Western condemnation over arrest of Kurdish lawmakers" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/19114655/Turkey-Demands-Answer-on-EU-Membership-Visa-Deal-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Turkey Demands Answer on EU Membership Visa Deal" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Turkey draws Western condemnation over arrest of Kurdish lawmakers 83"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) &#8211; Turkish authorities arrested the leaders of the country&#8217;s main pro-Kurdish opposition party in a terrorism investigation on Friday, drawing strong international condemnation of a widening crackdown on dissent under President Tayyip Erdogan. Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag, co-leaders of the Peoples&#8217; Democratic Party (HDP), were jailed pending trial after being held [&#8230;]</p>
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										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/turkey-draws-western-condemnation-over-arrest-of-kurdish-lawmakers/" title="Turkey draws Western condemnation over arrest of Kurdish lawmakers" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/19114655/Turkey-Demands-Answer-on-EU-Membership-Visa-Deal-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Turkey Demands Answer on EU Membership Visa Deal" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Turkey draws Western condemnation over arrest of Kurdish lawmakers 84"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p><span class="articleLocation">DIYARBAKIR, Turkey</span> (Reuters) &#8211; Turkish authorities arrested the leaders of the country&#8217;s main pro-Kurdish opposition party in a terrorism investigation on Friday, drawing strong international condemnation of a widening crackdown on dissent under President Tayyip Erdogan.<span id="midArticle_byline"></span></p>
<p>Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag, co-leaders of the Peoples&#8217; Democratic Party (HDP), were jailed pending trial after being held in overnight raids, officials said. Ten other HDP lawmakers were also detained, although some were later released.</p>
<p>The arrest of elected members of the Turkish parliament&#8217;s third largest party, and the detention or suspension of more than 110,000 officials since a failed coup in July, may &#8220;go beyond what is permissible&#8221;, the U.N. human rights office said.</p>
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<p>The United States expressed deep concern, while Germany and Denmark summoned Turkish diplomats over the Kurdish detentions, and European Parliament President Martin Schulz said the actions &#8220;call into question the basis for the sustainable relationship between the EU and Turkey&#8221;.</p>
<p>Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told reporters: &#8220;Turkey is a nation of laws, nobody has preferential treatment before the law &#8230; What has been done is within the rule of law.&#8221;</p>
<p>The HDP lawmakers were arrested after they refused to give testimony in a probe linked to &#8220;terrorist propaganda&#8221;, Yildirim said, adding: &#8220;Politics can&#8217;t be a shield for committing crimes&#8221;.</p>
<p>Hours after the detentions, a car bomb killed nine people and wounded more than 100 near a police station in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir where some of the lawmakers were being held.</p>
<p>The HDP, which made history last year by becoming the first Kurdish party to win 10 percent of the vote and enter parliament, said the detentions risked triggering civil war.</p>
<p>In a video message on a website close to the Kurdish PKK militants, one of the group&#8217;s top commanders, Murat Karayilan, said the group would intensify its three-decade-old armed struggle against Turkey and called on Kurds &#8211; the country&#8217;s largest minority &#8211; to react.</p>
<p>Islamic State jihadists later claimed responsibility for the attack in Diyarbakir, according to the militant group&#8217;s Amaq news agency.<span id="midArticle_byline"></span></p>
<p>Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a speech released on Thursday had called for attacks on Turkey, saying it had sided with the enemy, with Turkish troops fighting them in Syria.</p>
<p>SOCIAL MEDIA BLOCKED</p>
<p>Access was restricted to social media including Twitter, WhatsApp, YouTube and Facebook &#8211; making them so slow they were effectively impossible to use &#8211; and a ban imposed on media coverage of the car bomb. Asked about the measures, Yildirim said access would return to normal &#8220;once the danger is removed&#8221;.</p>
<p>U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said: &#8220;The United States is deeply concerned by the Turkish government&#8217;s detentions of opposition members of parliament &#8230; and by government restrictions on Internet access today.&#8221;</p>
<p>He also condemned Friday&#8217;s bombing and urged the PKK to &#8220;cease its senseless brutal attacks&#8221;.</p>
<p>The arrests of elected lawmakers from the HDP, which won more than five million votes at the last general election, heightened concern among Western allies about the political direction of Turkey, a NATO member and a buffer between Europe and the conflicts raging in Syria and Iraq.</p>
<p>European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said she was &#8220;extremely worried&#8221; by the arrests, and raised her concerns in a telephone call with Turkey&#8217;s foreign and EU affairs ministers late on Friday.</p>
<p>German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Ankara had a right to fight terrorism, but could not use it to justify gagging opponents.<span id="midArticle_byline"></span></p>
<p>Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu accused EU member states of supporting the PKK and dismissed the bloc&#8217;s criticism as &#8220;unacceptable&#8221;. Turkey began negotiations to join the EU in 2005, but has made glacial progress, and there is no prospect of it joining anytime soon.</p>
<p>CURRENCY FALLS</p>
<p>Southeastern Turkey has been rocked by political turmoil and violence for more than a year after the collapse of a ceasefire with the PKK, deemed a terrorist organisation by the United States and European Union as well as Turkey.</p>
<p>Erdogan and the ruling AK Party accuse the HDP of links to the PKK. The HDP denies direct links and says it is working for a peaceful resolution of the Kurdish conflict.</p>
<p>After the arrests, the Turkish lira currency TRYTOM=D3 hit fresh record lows against the dollar, while the cost of insuring Turkish government debt against default hit its highest in over a month.</p>
<p>In a statement on Twitter, still accessible in Turkey through virtual private networks, the HDP called for the international community &#8220;to react against the Erdogan regime&#8217;s coup&#8221;, while party spokesman Ayhan Bilgen described the detentions as an attempt to provoke a civil war.</p>
<p>&#8220;I will not hesitate to be held accountable in front of a fair and impartial judiciary. There is nothing I cannot answer for,&#8221; the arrested Demirtas said in a statement to the prosecutor, which was shared by HDP lawmaker Besime Konca.</p>
<p>&#8220;But I refuse to be an actor in this judicial theatre just because it was ordered by Erdogan, whose own political past is suspicious&#8221;, he said.<span id="midArticle_byline"></span></p>
<p>Police also raided and searched the party&#8217;s head office in central Ankara. Police cars and armed vehicles had closed the entrances to the street of the HDP headquarters.</p>
<p>A group of protesters chanting slogans tried to reach the party offices, but were stopped by police before they could enter the street, a Reuters witness said.</p>
<p>The HDP is the third-largest party in the 550-seat Turkish parliament, with 59 seats. Parliamentarians in Turkey normally enjoy immunity from prosecution, but the immunity of many lawmakers, including HDP deputies, was lifted earlier this year.</p>
<p>(Reporting by Ece Toksabay, Ayla Jean Yackley, Humeyra Pamuk, Daren Butler, Tuvan Gumrukcu, Gulsen Solaker, Can Sezer, Birsen Altayli, Orhan Coskun, Ercan Gurses, Tulay Karadeniz and David Dolan; Alastair Macdonald and Alissa de Carbonnel in Brussels, Tom Miles in Geneva, David Alexander in Washington, Noah Barkin and Andrea Shalal in Berlin, writing by Nick Tattersall; editing by Peter Graff, Mark Trevelyan and G Crosse)</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">10762</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Turkish military says hits 71 IS targets in northern Syria</title>
		<link>https://9newsng.com/turkish-military-says-hits-71-is-targets-in-northern-syria/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[9News Nigeria]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 05 Nov 2016 07:44:50 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Europe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Turkey]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.9newsng.com/?p=10754</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/turkish-military-says-hits-71-is-targets-in-northern-syria/" title="Turkish military says hits 71 IS targets in northern Syria" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/22093046/Turkish-Soldiers-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Turkish Soldiers" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Turkish military says hits 71 IS targets in northern Syria 85"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>ANKARA (Reuters) &#8211; Turkey&#8217;s military hit 71 Islamic State targets in Syria over the last 24 hours, the army said on Saturday, intensifying strikes against the militant group, which has claimed responsibility for the latest bomb attack in southeast Turkey. Five Islamic State fighters were killed in the strikes, as were five Turkey-backed rebels and [&#8230;]</p>
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										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/turkish-military-says-hits-71-is-targets-in-northern-syria/" title="Turkish military says hits 71 IS targets in northern Syria" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/22093046/Turkish-Soldiers-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Turkish Soldiers" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Turkish military says hits 71 IS targets in northern Syria 86"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p><span class="articleLocation">ANKARA</span> (Reuters) &#8211; Turkey&#8217;s military hit 71 Islamic State targets in Syria over the last 24 hours, the army said on Saturday, intensifying strikes against the militant group, which has claimed responsibility for the latest bomb attack in southeast Turkey.<span id="midArticle_byline"></span></p>
<p>Five Islamic State fighters were killed in the strikes, as were five Turkey-backed rebels and one Turkish soldier, the army said in its statement. It said coalition forces conducted five air strikes, killing another eight Islamic State militants.</p>
<p>Turkey is backing a group of Syrian Arabs and Turkmen in northern Syria in its Euphrates Shield operation, which has swept Islamic State from its southern border.</p>
<p>The Sunni hardline group has claimed responsibility for a car bomb in the southeastern Turkish city of Diyarbakir on Friday that killed nine people and wounded more than 100.</p>
<p>(Reporting by Orhan Coskun; Writing by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by David Dolan)</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">10754</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Turkey detains pro-Kurdish lawmakers, car bomb kills at least eight</title>
		<link>https://9newsng.com/turkey-detains-pro-kurdish-lawmakers-car-bomb-kills-at-least-eight/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[9News Nigeria]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 04 Nov 2016 15:14:38 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Europe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Turkey]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[World]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.9newsng.com/?p=10702</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/turkey-detains-pro-kurdish-lawmakers-car-bomb-kills-at-least-eight/" title="Turkey detains pro-Kurdish lawmakers, car bomb kills at least eight" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/14081951/Turkey-detains-pro-Kurdish-lawmakers-car-bomb-kills-at-least-eight-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Turkey detains pro Kurdish lawmakers car bomb kills at least eight" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Turkey detains pro-Kurdish lawmakers, car bomb kills at least eight 87"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) &#8211; Turkish authorities arrested the leaders of the country&#8217;s main pro-Kurdish opposition party in a terrorism probe on Friday, drawing European and U.N. condemnation of a widening crackdown on dissent under President Tayyip Erdogan. Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag, co-leaders of the Peoples&#8217; Democratic Party (HDP), were jailed pending trial after being [&#8230;]</p>
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										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/turkey-detains-pro-kurdish-lawmakers-car-bomb-kills-at-least-eight/" title="Turkey detains pro-Kurdish lawmakers, car bomb kills at least eight" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/14081951/Turkey-detains-pro-Kurdish-lawmakers-car-bomb-kills-at-least-eight-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Turkey detains pro Kurdish lawmakers car bomb kills at least eight" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Turkey detains pro-Kurdish lawmakers, car bomb kills at least eight 88"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p><span class="articleLocation">DIYARBAKIR, Turkey</span> (Reuters) &#8211; Turkish authorities arrested the leaders of the country&#8217;s main pro-Kurdish opposition party in a terrorism probe on Friday, drawing European and U.N. condemnation of a widening crackdown on dissent under President Tayyip Erdogan.<span id="midArticle_byline"></span></p>
<p>Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag, co-leaders of the Peoples&#8217; Democratic Party (HDP), were jailed pending trial after being held in overnight raids, officials said. Ten other HDP lawmakers were also detained, although some were later released.</p>
<p>The arrest of elected members of parliament&#8217;s third largest party, and the detention or suspension of more than 110,000 officials since a failed coup in July, may &#8220;go beyond what is permissible&#8221;, the U.N. human rights office said.</p>
<p>Germany and Denmark summoned Turkish diplomats over the Kurdish detentions, while European Parliament President Martin Schulz said the actions &#8220;call into question the basis for the sustainable relationship between the EU and Turkey&#8221;.</p>
<p>&#8220;Turkey is a nation of laws, nobody has preferential treatment before the law &#8230; What&#8217;s been done is within the rule of law,&#8221; Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told reporters. The HDP lawmakers were arrested after they refused to give testimony in a probe linked to &#8220;terrorist propaganda&#8221;.</p>
<p>&#8220;Politics can&#8217;t be a shield for committing crimes,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>Hours after their detentions, a car bomb planted by suspected Kurdish PKK militants killed nine and wounded more than 100 near a police station in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir, where some of the lawmakers were being held.</p>
<p>The HDP, which made history last year by becoming the first Kurdish party to win 10 percent of the vote and enter parliament, said the detentions risked triggering civil war.</p>
<p>In a video message on a website close to the PKK, one of the militant group&#8217;s top commanders, Murat Karayilan, said the group would intensify its three-decade old armed struggle against Turkey and called on Kurds, the country&#8217;s largest minority, to react.</p>
<p>INTERNATIONAL CONCERN</p>
<p>The arrests of elected lawmakers from the HDP, which won more than five million votes at the last general election, heightened concern among Western allies about the political direction of Turkey, a NATO member and a buffer between Europe and the conflicts in Syria and Iraq.</p>
<p>The government introduced a nationwide state of emergency after the failed July 15 coup which gave it broad powers to round up suspects linked to the putsch. More than 110,000 civil servants, soldiers, police, judges and other officials have been suspended or detained, as have journalists.</p>
<p>The authorities have also used the emergency powers to round up pro-Kurdish opposition activists and politicians, including Diyarbakir&#8217;s joint mayors, who were detained late last month, and has closed all major Kurdish media outlets.</p>
<p>Erdogan and senior government officials have increasingly discussed reintroducing the death penalty in the wake of the failed coup, and earlier this week journalists from a leading secularist opposition newspaper were detained.</p>
<p>&#8220;Very bad news from Turkey. Again. Now HDP members of parliament are being detained,&#8221; the European Parliament&#8217;s Turkey rapporteur, Kati Piri, said on Twitter of a country that is seeking membership of the EU.</p>
<p>EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said she was &#8220;extremely worried&#8221; by the arrests and had called a meeting of EU national envoys in Ankara.</p>
<p>SOCIAL MEDIA BLOCKED<span id="midArticle_byline"></span></p>
<p>Southeastern Turkey has been rocked by political turmoil and violence for more than a year after the collapse of a ceasefire with the PKK, deemed a terrorist organisation by the United States and European Union as well as Turkey.</p>
<p>Erdogan and the ruling AK Party accuse the HDP of links to the PKK. The HDP denies direct links and says it is working for a peaceful resolution of the Kurdish conflict.</p>
<p>Access was &#8220;throttled&#8221; to social media including Twitter, WhatsApp, YouTube and Facebook &#8211; making the sites so slow they were effectively impossible to use &#8211; and a ban imposed on media coverage of the car bomb. Asked about the measures, Yildirim said access would return to normal &#8220;once the danger is removed&#8221;.</p>
<p>The lira hit a new low against the dollar of 3.14 after the arrests, while the cost of insuring Turkish government debt against default hit its highest in over a month.</p>
<p>&#8220;JUDICIAL THEATRE&#8221;In a statement on Twitter, still accessible in Turkey through virtual private networks (VPN), the HDP called for the international community &#8220;to react against the Erdogan regime&#8217;s coup&#8221;, while party spokesman Ayhan Bilgen described the detentions as an attempt to provoke a civil war.</p>
<p>&#8220;I will not hesitate to be held accountable in front of a fair and impartial judiciary. There is nothing I cannot answer for,&#8221; Demirtas said in a statement to the prosecutor, which was shared by HDP lawmaker Besime Konca.</p>
<p>&#8220;But I refuse to be an actor in this judicial theatre just because it was ordered by Erdogan, whose own political past is suspicious,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>Police also raided and searched the party&#8217;s head office in central Ankara. Police cars and armed vehicles had closed the entrances to the street of the HDP headquarters.<span id="midArticle_byline"></span></p>
<p>A group of protesters chanting slogans tried to reach the party offices, but were stopped by police before they could enter the street, a Reuters witness said.</p>
<p>The HDP is the third-largest party in the 550-seat Turkish parliament, with 59 seats. Parliamentarians in Turkey normally enjoy immunity from prosecution, but the immunity of many lawmakers, including HDP deputies, was lifted earlier this year.</p>
<p>(Reporting by Ece Toksabay, Ayla Jean Yackley, Humeyra Pamuk, Daren Butler, Tuvan Gumrukcu, Gulsen Solaker, Can Sezer, Birsen Altayli, Orhan Coskun, Ercan Gurses, Tulay Karadeniz and David Dolan; Alastair Macdonald in Brussels, Tom Miles in Geneva, Noah Barkin and Andrea Shalal in Berlin; writing by Nick Tattersall; editing by Peter Graff and Giles Elgood)</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">10702</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Turkish police detain editor of opposition Cumhuriyet newspaper &#8211; media</title>
		<link>https://9newsng.com/turkish-police-detain-editor-of-opposition-cumhuriyet-newspaper-media/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[9News Nigeria]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 31 Oct 2016 06:33:50 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Europe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Turkey]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.9newsng.com/?p=10234</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/turkish-police-detain-editor-of-opposition-cumhuriyet-newspaper-media/" title="Turkish police detain editor of opposition Cumhuriyet newspaper &#8211; media" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/14043035/Turkish-police-detain-editor-of-opposition-Cumhuriyet-newspaper-media-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Turkish police detain editor of opposition Cumhuriyet newspaper media" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Turkish police detain editor of opposition Cumhuriyet newspaper - media 89"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>ISTANBUL (Reuters) &#8211; Turkish police on Monday detained the editor-in-chief of the opposition secularist Cumhuriyet newspaper and said homes of the paper&#8217;s executives and writers were being searched, broadcaster CNN Turk and other media reported. Prosecutors have issued detention warrants for a total of 13 executives and writers at the newspaper including editor Murat Sabuncu [&#8230;]</p>
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										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/turkish-police-detain-editor-of-opposition-cumhuriyet-newspaper-media/" title="Turkish police detain editor of opposition Cumhuriyet newspaper &#8211; media" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/14043035/Turkish-police-detain-editor-of-opposition-Cumhuriyet-newspaper-media-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Turkish police detain editor of opposition Cumhuriyet newspaper media" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Turkish police detain editor of opposition Cumhuriyet newspaper - media 90"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p><span class="articleLocation">ISTANBUL</span> (Reuters) &#8211; Turkish police on Monday detained the editor-in-chief of the opposition secularist Cumhuriyet newspaper and said homes of the paper&#8217;s executives and writers were being searched, broadcaster CNN Turk and other media reported.<span id="midArticle_byline"></span></p>
<p>Prosecutors have issued detention warrants for a total of 13 executives and writers at the newspaper including editor Murat Sabuncu and the paper&#8217;s chairman, CNN Turk said, adding that one of its writers had been detained in the capital Ankara.</p>
<p>The pro-government Yeni Safak newspaper said on its website they were being investigated over alleged links to U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, accused by Ankara of orchestrating a failed coup in July, as well as links to Kurdish militants.</p>
<p>Cumhuriyet&#8217;s previous editor Can Dundar was sentenced to six years for publishing state secrets involving Ankara&#8217;s Syria operations. His conviction sparked censure from rights groups and Western governments worried about worsening human rights in Turkey under President Tayyip Erdogan.</p>
<p>The police operation comes after Turkey at the weekend dismissed a further 10,000 civil servants and closed 15 more media outlets over suspected links with militant groups and Gulen.</p>
<p>More than 100,000 people had already been sacked or suspended and 37,000 arrested since the abortive putsch in an unprecedented crackdown that Erdogan says is crucial to wipe out Gulen&#8217;s network from the state apparatus.</p>
<p>(Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Robert Birsel and Clarence Fernandez)</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">10234</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>No Nigerian students detained in Turkey – envoy</title>
		<link>https://9newsng.com/no-nigerian-students-detained-in-turkey-envoy/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Timothy Stephen]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 25 Oct 2016 22:11:11 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Breaking News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nigeria News]]></category>
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					<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/no-nigerian-students-detained-in-turkey-envoy/" title="No Nigerian students detained in Turkey – envoy" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/12065500/Hakan-Cakil-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Hakan Cakil" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="No Nigerian students detained in Turkey – envoy 91"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>Turkish ambassador to Nigeria, Hakan Cakil, yesterday cleared the air on the reported detention of 50 Nigerian students by the country’s authorities, since the July 15 failed coup. He said that there is no foreign student either from Nigeria or elsewhere that is held by Turkish authorities at the moment. Cakil explained that the government [&#8230;]</p>
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										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/no-nigerian-students-detained-in-turkey-envoy/" title="No Nigerian students detained in Turkey – envoy" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/12065500/Hakan-Cakil-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Hakan Cakil" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="No Nigerian students detained in Turkey – envoy 92"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>Turkish ambassador to <a href="https://9newsng.com/list-of-nigerian-states-labeled-as-high-risk-by-the-u-s/">Nigeria</a>, Hakan Cakil, yesterday cleared the air on the reported detention of 50 Nigerian students by the country’s authorities, since the July 15 failed coup.</p>
<p>He said that there is no foreign student either from Nigeria or elsewhere that is held by Turkish authorities at the moment.</p>
<p>Cakil explained that the government has transferred 259 Nigerian students studying in private universities that were closed down by government after the coup to state universities.</p>
<p>The envoy made the clarification during an interaction with newsmen in Abuja.</p>
<p>His clarification is coming days after the former governor of Abia State, Dr Orji Uzor Kalu, wrote to the country’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoan asking the release of 50 Nigerian students.</p>
<p>The former governor, who wrote on behalf of the Uzor Kalu Foundation, praised Erdoan for his democratic credentials but pleaded with him to unconditionally release the students.</p>
<p>The letter read in part: “I am sending you this heartfelt letter to appeal to your paternal love and the long-existing ties between Turkey and Nigeria, for the unconditional release of our 50 students. They are in Turkey primarily to seek knowledge in your institutions of higher learning.”</p>
<p>Asked if his Turkey was keeping Nigerian students in custody, Cakil insisted that Turkey’s authorities do not have any Nigerian student in its cells.</p>
<p>“I can tell you that there is no truth that 50 Nigerian students are detained in Turkey,” he said.</p>
<p>“The Nigerian ministry of Foreign Affairs called me twice when the news came that 50 Nigerian students have been detained in Turkey. I spent one week in Turkey to clarify this. At the end it was discovered that the report is false. There is no Nigerian students under detention or arrest. None of the foreign students is detained or subjected to arbitrary treatment.”</p>
<p>The ambassador said the Turkish embassy had to sponsor the President of National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) to Turkey to investigate whether or not 50 Nigerian students were in detention in Turkey.</p>
<p>“NANS led a protest to our embassy demanding the release of 50 Nigerian students some days ago. I came out and addressed the students. I asked them to nominate one person among themselves to go to Turkey and find out the truth. NANS president was nominated and we sent him to Turkey. He spoke with Nigerian students in Turkey. He spoke with key authorities in the country. He returned on October 22 and admitted that no Nigerian student is in detention. I challenge anybody to visit Turkey and find out the truth.”</p>
<p>The ambassador denied insinuations that Turkey, in a bid to retaliate against Nigeria’s refusal to close down Turkish international schools in Nigeria as requested by the authorities, decided to detain students.</p>
<p>“I don’t know how the rumours came about but what is certain is that Turkey’s foreign policy does not encourage such thing. There is no truth in the rumour,” the ambassador said.</p>
<p>He added that “Turkey has excellent relations with Nigeria.”</p>
<p>Asked the fate of Nigerian students in the private universities closed down after the coup, Cakil said the 259 students were transferred to state-owned universities. He argued that the state universities were of better standard than the private ones.</p>
<p>The envoy disclosed that scores of Nigerian students would soon be awarded scholarship by Turkey.</p>
<div><strong>  Source: Today.ng </strong></div>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">9554</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Explosion hits southern Turkey&#8217;s Antalya, some casualties</title>
		<link>https://9newsng.com/explosion-hits-southern-turkeys-antalya-some-casualties/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Timothy Stephen]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 25 Oct 2016 19:31:08 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Breaking News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Terrorism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Turkey]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.9newsng.com/?p=9505</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/explosion-hits-southern-turkeys-antalya-some-casualties/" title="Explosion hits southern Turkey&#8217;s Antalya, some casualties" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/12065309/turkey-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="turkey" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Explosion hits southern Turkey&#039;s Antalya, some casualties 93"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>An explosion outside a chamber of commerce building in Turkey&#8217;s southern resort city of Antalya wounded several people on Tuesday but the mayor said there were no life-threatening injuries and the blast may have been an accident. Turkey is on high alert after repeated bombings blamed on Islamic State and Kurdish militants this year. Authorities [&#8230;]</p>
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										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/explosion-hits-southern-turkeys-antalya-some-casualties/" title="Explosion hits southern Turkey&#8217;s Antalya, some casualties" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/12065309/turkey-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="turkey" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Explosion hits southern Turkey&#039;s Antalya, some casualties 94"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>An explosion outside a chamber of commerce building in Turkey&#8217;s southern resort city of Antalya wounded several people on Tuesday but the mayor said there were no life-threatening injuries and the blast may have been an accident.</p>
<p>Turkey is on high alert after repeated bombings blamed on Islamic State and Kurdish militants this year. Authorities in the capital Ankara banned public meetings this month for fear of further attacks, and the U.S. State Department has urged U.S. citizens to carefully consider the need to travel to Turkey.</p>
<p>The cause of the blast a few kilometers from the airport in Antalya, a major tourist resort on the Mediterranean coast, was not immediately clear. In August, two rockets hit a commercial facility near a resort town in the province, but caused no casualties.</p>
<p>&#8220;It could be an explosion caused by an accident. Initial information suggests there are no life-threatening (injuries),&#8221; Antalya Mayor Menderes Turel told broadcaster CNN Turk.</p>
<p>Smoke rose from the remnants of one vehicle in the car park outside the chamber of commerce and industry building and surrounding vehicles were damaged. The blast left cracks in the facade of the building and blew out windows, TV footage showed.</p>
<p>There was no claim of responsibility for the August rocket attack, but Kurdish and far-left militants have staged similar strikes, mostly against the security forces, in the past.</p>
<p>In August, a suicide bomber thought to have links to Islamic State killed at least 50 people in an attack on a wedding party in the southeastern city of Gaziantep. Three suspected Islamic State suicide bombers killed more than 40 people in a gun and bomb attack at Istanbul&#8217;s main airport in June.</p>
<p><strong>Source: Reuters </strong></p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">9505</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Two suicide bombers killed in Turkey</title>
		<link>https://9newsng.com/two-suicide-bombers-killed-in-turkey/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Timothy Stephen]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 08 Oct 2016 08:31:42 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Breaking News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Terrorism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Turkey]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.9newsng.com/?p=8051</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/two-suicide-bombers-killed-in-turkey/" title="Two suicide bombers killed in Turkey" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/22162353/turkey2-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="turkey2" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Two suicide bombers killed in Turkey 95"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>Two suicide bombers have blown themselves up near the Turkish capital, Ankara, after they were approached by police. The militants, believed to be a male and female, were suspected of planning to carry out a car bomb attack, the state-run Anadolu news agency reports. They detonated the devices after they were asked to surrender their [&#8230;]</p>
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										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/two-suicide-bombers-killed-in-turkey/" title="Two suicide bombers killed in Turkey" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/22162353/turkey2-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="turkey2" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Two suicide bombers killed in Turkey 96"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p class="story-body__introduction">Two suicide bombers have blown themselves up near the Turkish capital, Ankara, after they were approached by police.</p>
<p>The militants, believed to be a male and female, were suspected of planning to carry out a car bomb attack, the state-run Anadolu news agency reports.</p>
<p>They detonated the devices after they were asked to surrender their weapons.</p>
<p>Police had been acting on a tip-off, Ankara&#8217;s governor said, suggesting a link to Kurdish separatists.</p>
<p>Erkan Topaca said police had found the pair hiding at a horse farm in the district of Haymana, just outside the capital.</p>
<p>He said: &#8220;The organisation they are connected to is not clear yet but according to information we have received it is highly likely that [the man] is linked to the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party).&#8221;</p>
<p>The BBC&#8217;s Mark Lowen in Ankara says the pair were said to be flying a Turkish flag from their car as cover and a third person is now being sought.</p>
<p>Plastic explosives and ammonium nitrate were found with the vehicle.</p>
<p>Kurdish militants have carried out a wave of bombings across Turkey since a ceasefire broke down in 2015.</p>
<p>The Turkish president has vowed that the PKK, which has waged a four-decades-long fight in Turkey, will be &#8220;annihilated&#8221;.</p>
<p>But, our correspondent says, with the attacks continuing and hostility deepening between Kurds and the Turkish state, there is little sign of the insurgency ending and neither side has shown a willingness to return to peace negotiations.</p>
<p><strong>Source: BBC </strong></p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">8051</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Reps probe arrest of Nigerian students in Turkey</title>
		<link>https://9newsng.com/reps-probe-arrest-of-nigerian-students-in-turkey/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Timothy Stephen]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 05 Oct 2016 11:13:24 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Breaking News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nigeria News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Trending News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Turkey]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.9newsng.com/?p=7719</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/reps-probe-arrest-of-nigerian-students-in-turkey/" title="Reps probe arrest of Nigerian students in Turkey" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/22145420/2016_10largeimg05_Oct_2016_005922758-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="2016 10largeimg05 Oct 2016 005922758" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Reps probe arrest of Nigerian students in Turkey 97"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>The House of Representatives has mandated four of its committees to carry out a thorough investigation into the recent arrest of 50 Nigerian students by the Turkish authorities in Istanbul. The committees are on tertiary education, interior, foreign affairs and Diaspora. The committees are to also look into the disagreement between the Nigerian and the [&#8230;]</p>
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										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/reps-probe-arrest-of-nigerian-students-in-turkey/" title="Reps probe arrest of Nigerian students in Turkey" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/22145420/2016_10largeimg05_Oct_2016_005922758-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="2016 10largeimg05 Oct 2016 005922758" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Reps probe arrest of Nigerian students in Turkey 98"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>The House of Representatives has mandated four of its committees to carry out a thorough investigation into the recent arrest of 50 Nigerian students by the Turkish authorities in Istanbul.</p>
<p>The committees are on tertiary education, interior, foreign affairs and Diaspora. The committees are to also look into the disagreement between the Nigerian and the Turkish governments whose representatives were expected to meet yesterday in Abuja over the arrest.</p>
<p>The resolution followed the adoption of a motion by Rep Solomon Bulus Maren (PDP, Plateau), after which the House also urged the federal government to explore all diplomatic means of rescuing the students and resolving the matter.</p>
<p>Maren said the students were being held in a dark room and were sleeping on bare floors, while others were sick already without any form of medication due to the condition in which they are illegally detained.</p>
<p>The detained students, he said, were forced into signing documents for deportation, pay penalties on the allegation of illegal entry into Turkey, humiliated and abused.</p>
<p>More disturbing, he added, was the fact that out of the 102 countries that have students in Turkey, only Nigerian students were treated in such manner, whereas other countries have sorted out theirs diplomatically.</p>
<p>In his contribution, the chairman of the committee on tertiary education, Rep Mainu Suleiman (APC, Kano) described the treatment as “crude and merciless and a vendetta against Nigerians.”</p>
<p>The House has called on the Federal Ministry of Works, Power and Housing to dismantle all unauthorized speed bumps erected on federal highways nationwide.</p>
<p>Adopting a motion by Rep Abdulrazak Namdas (APC, Adamawa), the House urged the ministry to construct pedestrian bridges on dangerous spots to check deaths.</p>
<p><strong>Source: Daily Trust</strong></p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">7719</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Turkey Demands Answer on EU Membership, Visa Deal</title>
		<link>https://9newsng.com/turkey-demands-answer-on-eu-membership-visa-deal/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[9News Nigeria]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 02 Oct 2016 06:27:55 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Europe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Turkey]]></category>
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					<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/turkey-demands-answer-on-eu-membership-visa-deal/" title="Turkey Demands Answer on EU Membership, Visa Deal" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/19114655/Turkey-Demands-Answer-on-EU-Membership-Visa-Deal-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Turkey Demands Answer on EU Membership Visa Deal" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Turkey Demands Answer on EU Membership, Visa Deal 99"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>Turkey’s president on Saturday warned that his country had reached the endgame in its decadelong bid for European Union membership. Speaking to lawmakers at the opening of the parliamentary session, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said it is time for Brussels to decide whether it wants Ankara as a full member. Turkey is ready, he added. Erdogan [&#8230;]</p>
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										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/turkey-demands-answer-on-eu-membership-visa-deal/" title="Turkey Demands Answer on EU Membership, Visa Deal" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/19114655/Turkey-Demands-Answer-on-EU-Membership-Visa-Deal-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Turkey Demands Answer on EU Membership Visa Deal" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Turkey Demands Answer on EU Membership, Visa Deal 100"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>Turkey’s president on Saturday warned that his country had reached the endgame in its decadelong bid for European Union membership.</p>
<p>Speaking to lawmakers at the opening of the parliamentary session, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said it is time for Brussels to decide whether it wants Ankara as a full member. Turkey is ready, he added.</p>
<p>Erdogan criticized the stalling of a visa liberalization deal, which was supposed to be finalized this month.</p>
<p>“This stance is a declaration that the European Union does not wish to keep the promise it made Turkey,” Erdogan said.</p>
<p>The promise is part of the deal with Ankara to stop thousands of migrants from crossing the Aegean Sea to Greece. Erdogan told Brussels it needs to start allowing Turks visa-free travel to the European Union this month.</p>
<p>Erdogan also criticized the U.S. Congress for overriding President Barack Obama’s veto of a bill allowing victims of the 9/11 attacks to sue Saudi Arabia. He called it unfortunate and said he expected it to be reversed as soon as possible.</p>
<p>Ankara and Riyadh have tightened their relations considerably in the past months as they pursue joint interests in Syria. Erdogan recently hosted Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef for talks in his palace.</p>
<p>Turkey’s relations with the European Union and the United States have been strained in the wake of the July 15 coup attempt.</p>
<p>Turkey has requested the extradition of U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, maintaining that Gulen, a former ally of Erdogan, masterminded the coup attempt by renegade officers in the military.</p>
<p>EU officials have been among the most vocal critics of Turkey’s crackdown against the alleged coup plotters and their supporters.</p>
<p>&#8211; VOA</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">7415</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>32,000 people arrested since failed coup in Turkey</title>
		<link>https://9newsng.com/32000-people-arrested-since-failed-coup-in-turkey/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Timothy Stephen]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 29 Sep 2016 09:54:35 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Breaking News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Turkey]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.9newsng.com/?p=7133</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/32000-people-arrested-since-failed-coup-in-turkey/" title="32,000 people arrested since failed coup in Turkey" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/19090154/turkey-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="turkey" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="32,000 people arrested since failed coup in Turkey 101"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>Turkish Justice Minister, Bekir Bozdag, said on Wednesday in Istanbul as the government carried out another crackdown, that 32,000 people have been arrested since the failed coup in July. Bozdag explained that among those arrested, some are remanded in custody, while others have been freed on bail. He added: “Government has also fired by decree [&#8230;]</p>
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										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/32000-people-arrested-since-failed-coup-in-turkey/" title="32,000 people arrested since failed coup in Turkey" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/19090154/turkey-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="turkey" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="32,000 people arrested since failed coup in Turkey 102"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>Turkish Justice Minister, Bekir Bozdag, said on Wednesday in Istanbul as the government carried out another crackdown, that 32,000 people have been arrested since the failed coup in July.</p>
<p>Bozdag explained that among those arrested, some are remanded in custody, while others have been freed on bail.</p>
<p>He added: “Government has also fired by decree more than 50,000 civil servants and suspended tens of thousands more.”</p>
<p>The minister said government has released some 38,000 prisoners, jailed before the coup, to free up space for the wave of new arrests, all of whom are accused of having some links to the coup an the alleged mastermind, Fethullah Gulen.</p>
<p>Bozdag said further that government also planned to build dozens of new prisons, amid reports of overcrowding.</p>
<p>The July 15 coup d’état attempt in Turkey saw tanks rolled onto the streets of Ankara and Istanbul.</p>
<p>Uniformed soldiers blocked the famous Bosphorus Bridge connecting the European and Asian sides of Istanbul.</p>
<p>The attempt was carried out by a faction within the Turkish Armed Forces that organised themselves as the Peace at Home Council.</p>
<p>Media outlets were forced off air and social media experienced outages.</p>
<p>Shortly before midnight local time, a faction of the military issued a statement, saying the “political administration has lost all legitimacy and has been forced to withdraw”.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the Turkish government blamed the coup on Fethullah Gulen, a US-based Turkish cleric, who denied the charges.</p>
<p>Ankara is demanding his extradition from the United States.</p>
<p>Gulen said that he would obey any extradition ruling from the United States and insisted that he had nothing to do with the uprising.</p>
<p><strong>Source: Today.ng </strong></p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">7133</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Turkey ready to join U.S. in capturing Syrian city from Islamic State &#8211; Erdogan</title>
		<link>https://9newsng.com/turkey-ready-to-join-u-s-in-capturing-syrian-city-from-islamic-state-erdogan/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[9News Nigeria]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 07 Sep 2016 10:56:59 +0000</pubDate>
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		<category><![CDATA[Middle East]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Syria]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Turkey]]></category>
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					<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/turkey-ready-to-join-u-s-in-capturing-syrian-city-from-islamic-state-erdogan/" title="Turkey ready to join U.S. in capturing Syrian city from Islamic State &#8211; Erdogan" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/10142434/Turkey-ready-to-join-U.S.-in-capturing-Syrian-city-from-Islamic-State-Erdogan-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Turkey ready to join U.S. in capturing Syrian city from Islamic State Erdogan" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Turkey ready to join U.S. in capturing Syrian city from Islamic State - Erdogan 103"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>By Daren Butler and Humeyra Pamuk ISTANBUL (Reuters) &#8211; Turkey would be ready to join any initiative proposed by the United States to capture an Islamic State stronghold in Syria, President Tayyip Erdogan said in remarks published on Wednesday, as Turkish-backed forces took more Syrian land from jihadists. Obama floated the idea of joint action [&#8230;]</p>
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										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/turkey-ready-to-join-u-s-in-capturing-syrian-city-from-islamic-state-erdogan/" title="Turkey ready to join U.S. in capturing Syrian city from Islamic State &#8211; Erdogan" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/10142434/Turkey-ready-to-join-U.S.-in-capturing-Syrian-city-from-Islamic-State-Erdogan-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Turkey ready to join U.S. in capturing Syrian city from Islamic State Erdogan" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Turkey ready to join U.S. in capturing Syrian city from Islamic State - Erdogan 104"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>By Daren Butler and Humeyra Pamuk<span id="midArticle_byline"></span></p>
<p><strong><span class="articleLocation">ISTANBUL</span> (Reuters)</strong> &#8211; Turkey would be ready to join any initiative proposed by the United States to capture an Islamic State stronghold in Syria, President Tayyip Erdogan said in remarks published on Wednesday, as Turkish-backed forces took more Syrian land from jihadists.</p>
<p>Obama floated the idea of joint action with Turkey to capture Raqqa during talks between the two leaders at a G20 summit in China, Erdogan said, according to Wednesday&#8217;s edition of Turkey&#8217;s Hurriyet daily.Turkey launched an offensive in northern Syria on Aug. 24 to clear Islamic State from its border and to prevent territorial gains by the Kurdish YPG militia, which Ankara believes has links to Kurdish insurgents fighting on its soil.</p>
<p>&#8220;Obama wants to do some things together concerning Raqqa in particular,&#8221; Erdogan told reporters on his plane that arrived early on Tuesday, referring to Islamic State&#8217;s de facto capital. He was speaking after meetings in China with Obama, Russian President Vladimir Putin and other world leaders.</p>
<p>&#8220;We stated that would not be a problem from our perspective. We said, &#8216;Let our soldiers come together, whatever is necessary will be done&#8217;,&#8221; the Turkish president said, adding that a specific Turkish role would depend on further talks.</p>
<p>U.S. officials have welcomed Turkish efforts to dislodge Islamic State from Syrian strongholds but voiced concern when Turkish troops engaged fighters aligned to the YPG, a force Washington sees as a valuable ally in battling jihadists.</p>
<p>Turkish-backed forces clashed with YPG fighters in the initial stages of the two-week old Turkish incursion into Syria, but have since shifted their focus onto territory held by Islamic State and captured a string of villages.</p>
<p>Turkey&#8217;s military said late on Tuesday that three Turkish soldiers were killed when two tanks were hit by rockets fired by Islamic State. Four others were wounded, it said.</p>
<p>The military also said the Free Syrian Army, a loose-knit rebel force backed by Turkey, had taken six more villages, also located in Islamic State-held areas.</p>
<p>Turkey and its rebel allies now control a 90-km stretch of land on the Syrian side of the border and are pushing south.<span id="midArticle_byline"></span></p>
<p>Ankara wants international support to take control of a rectangle of territory stretching about 40 km into Syria, creating a buffer between two Kurdish-held cantons to the east and west and against Islamic State to the south.</p>
<p>Turkey says such a &#8220;safe zone&#8221; would help stem the flood of Syrian refugees. But the idea has yet to gain traction from the United States and Russia, both engaged in Syria, because of the military demands of policing such a zone.</p>
<p>Turkey, meanwhile, has been sending more military hardware south. The army sent 15 more tanks to the Islahiye district near the border, bringing the total number of tanks and armoured vehicles in that area to 90, Dogan news agency reported.</p>
<p>&#8220;We do not have the chance to take a backward step. If we take a backward step terror groups like Daesh, PKK, PYD and YPG will settle there,&#8221; Erdogan said, according to Hurriyet.</p>
<p>Daesh is another term for Islamic State, while the PYD is the political wing of Kurdish YPG militia, which Ankara says is an extension of Turkey&#8217;s outlawed PKK, a Kurdish militant group that is fighting for autonomy in Turkey&#8217;s southeast.</p>
<p>(Writing by Humeyra Pamuk and Edmund Blair; Editing by Nick Tattersall and Raissa Kasolowsky)</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">5283</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>UNHCR Worries EU-Turkey Refugee Deal Could Unravel</title>
		<link>https://9newsng.com/unhcr-worries-eu-turkey-refugee-deal-could-unravel/</link>
		
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		<pubDate>Sun, 28 Aug 2016 10:11:02 +0000</pubDate>
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					<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/unhcr-worries-eu-turkey-refugee-deal-could-unravel/" title="UNHCR Worries EU-Turkey Refugee Deal Could Unravel" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/05120343/UNHCR-Worries-EU-Turkey-Refugee-Deal-Could-Unravel-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="UNHCR Worries EU Turkey Refugee Deal Could Unravel" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="UNHCR Worries EU-Turkey Refugee Deal Could Unravel 105"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>GENEVA —  The U.N. refugee agency has expressed concern that the agreement between the European Union and Turkey to curb the flow of Syrian and other refugees into Europe could unravel. The EU-Turkey deal looks increasingly shaky as Turkish authorities warn they will pull out unless the European Union keeps its pledge to ease visa [&#8230;]</p>
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										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/unhcr-worries-eu-turkey-refugee-deal-could-unravel/" title="UNHCR Worries EU-Turkey Refugee Deal Could Unravel" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/05120343/UNHCR-Worries-EU-Turkey-Refugee-Deal-Could-Unravel-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="UNHCR Worries EU Turkey Refugee Deal Could Unravel" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="UNHCR Worries EU-Turkey Refugee Deal Could Unravel 106"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p><span class="dateline">GENEVA — </span></p>
<p>The U.N. refugee agency has expressed concern that the agreement between the European Union and Turkey to curb the flow of Syrian and other refugees into Europe could unravel.</p>
<p>The EU-Turkey deal looks increasingly shaky as Turkish authorities warn they will pull out unless the European Union keeps its pledge to ease visa restrictions on Turkey.</p>
<p>U.N. refugee agency spokesman William Spindler said the UNHCR is following the situation closely. He told VOA the agency cannot afford to be complacent and has to be prepared for any contingencies.</p>
<p>“Although we had some concerns about this deal at the beginning, we do not see any other alternative,&#8221; he said. &#8220;There is no plan B. So, we are very worried that if this situation changes, we might see again &#8230; widespread suffering by people, deaths at sea and so on. So, we do not want to see that repeated.”</p>
<p>Spindler accuses the EU of not living up to its commitments. Last September, he notes, the EU agreed to relocate 160,000 refugees in Greece and Italy among 24 member countries. To date, he said, fewer than 4,000 asylum seekers have been relocated.</p>
<p>“There is the impression in Europe that this crisis is over because we do not see the images, the horrible images that we saw last year,&#8221; he said. &#8220;&#8230; The situation has obviously improved dramatically from last year, but we still need to deal with it.”</p>
<p>Last year, more than 1 million refugees and migrants crossed the Mediterranean Sea into Europe. Slightly more than one-quarter of that number has arrived so far this year.</p>
<p>The U.N. Children’s Fund reports a sudden increase in the number of arrivals in Greece. UNICEF spokeswoman Sarah Crowe said hundreds more refugees and migrant children are becoming stranded in Greece, adding to the nearly 27,500 already there.</p>
<p>“The most effective tool at a time like this for children who are in limbo, stranded, exposed to risks is really a sense of stability — getting children into the routine of class work, into the routine of learning and into the routine of activities,” she said.</p>
<p>Crowe said UNICEF is supporting learning and recreational activities for refugee children in a camp near the Greek capital, Athens. She said education programs also are being scaled up in other camps.</p>
<p>&#8211; VOA</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">4557</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Turkey set to release 38,000 prisoners, makes space in jails after coup</title>
		<link>https://9newsng.com/turkey-set-to-release-38000-prisoners-makes-space-in-jails-after-coup/</link>
		
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		<pubDate>Wed, 17 Aug 2016 08:50:33 +0000</pubDate>
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					<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/turkey-set-to-release-38000-prisoners-makes-space-in-jails-after-coup/" title="Turkey set to release 38,000 prisoners, makes space in jails after coup" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/04011457/Turkey-set-to-release-38000-prisoners-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Turkey set to release 38000 prisoners" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Turkey set to release 38,000 prisoners, makes space in jails after coup 107"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>By Daren Butler &#124; ISTANBUL Turkey will release some 38,000 prisoners under a penal reform announced on Wednesday as the arrests of tens of thousands of people suspected of links to last month&#8217;s attempted coup burden overstretched jails. The reform, extending an existing probation scheme, was one of a series of measures outlined on Wednesday [&#8230;]</p>
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										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/turkey-set-to-release-38000-prisoners-makes-space-in-jails-after-coup/" title="Turkey set to release 38,000 prisoners, makes space in jails after coup" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/04011457/Turkey-set-to-release-38000-prisoners-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Turkey set to release 38000 prisoners" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Turkey set to release 38,000 prisoners, makes space in jails after coup 108"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<div id="article-byline"><span class="author">By <a href="http://www.reuters.com/journalists/daren-butler" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Daren Butler</a></span> <span class="location"><span class="divider">|</span> ISTANBUL</span></div>
<p>Turkey will release some 38,000 prisoners under a penal reform announced on Wednesday as the arrests of tens of thousands of people suspected of links to last month&#8217;s attempted coup burden overstretched jails.</p>
<p>The reform, extending an existing probation scheme, was one of a series of measures outlined on Wednesday in two new decrees under a state of emergency declared after the July 15 failed putsch during which 240 people were killed. The government gave no reason for the reform.</p>
<p>Turkey&#8217;s Western allies worry President Tayyip Erdogan is using the crackdown to target dissent. Angrily dismissing Western concerns over stability in the NATO member, Turkish officials say they are rooting out a serious internal threat.</p>
<p>The decrees, published in the country&#8217;s Official Gazette, also ordered the dismissal of 2,360 more police officers, more than 100 military personnel and 196 staff at Turkey&#8217;s information and communication technology authority, BTK.</p>
<p>Those dismissed were described as having links to U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara accuses of orchestrating the putsch when rogue troops commandeered tanks and jets in an attempt to overthrow the government. Gulen denies involvement in the coup.</p>
<p>Under the penal reform, convicts with up to two years left in sentences are eligible for release on probation, extending the period from one year. The &#8220;supervised release&#8221; excludes those convicted of terrorism, murder, violent or sexual crimes.</p>
<p>To be eligible for the scheme, prisoners must have served half of their sentences. Previously they were required to have already served two thirds of their sentence.</p>
<p>&#8220;This measure is not an amnesty,&#8221; Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag wrote on Twitter of the penal reform. &#8220;Around 38,000 people will be released from&#8230; jail in the first stage as a result of this measure.&#8221;</p>
<p>He did not say why the reform was needed but Turkey&#8217;s prison population has trebled over the last 15 years. There were 188,000 prisoners in Turkey as of March, some 8,000 more than the existing capacity.</p>
<p>Another measure said the president could appoint as head of the armed forces any general or admiral, removing the requirement that the military chief be a top commander of the army, navy or air force. Under another move, the TIB telecoms authority will be closed.</p>
<p>TEACHERS, JUDGES, EXECUTIVES</p>
<p>Alongside tens of thousands of civil servants suspended or dismissed, more than 35,000 people have been detained in the purge. Judges, journalists, police, and teachers are among those targeted for suspected links to Gulen&#8217;s movement.</p>
<p>Turkish police on Tuesday searched the offices of a nationwide retail chain and a healthcare and technology company, detaining executives who authorities accuse of helping finance Gulen&#8217;s network.</p>
<p>Erdogan, already accused by critics of creeping authoritarianism before the coup bid, says Gulen and his followers infiltrated government institutions to create a &#8216;parallel state&#8217; in an attempt to take over the country.</p>
<p>Western criticism of the purge and Ankara&#8217;s demands U.S. officials extradite Gulen have already frayed ties with Washington and the European Union, increasing tensions over an EU deal with Turkey to stem the flow of migrants.</p>
<p>Incensed over a perceived lack of Western sympathy over the coup attempt, Erdogan has also revived relations with Russia, a detente Western officials worry may be used by both leaders to pressure the European Union and NATO.</p>
<p>Measures in Wednesday&#8217;s decrees will also enable former air force pilots to return to duty, making up for a deficit resulting from the dismissal of military pilots in the wake of the putsch attempt.</p>
<p>Turkey declared a three-month state of emergency on July 21.</p>
<p>Under previous emergency rule decrees, Turkey had already dismissed thousands of security force members as well as ordering the closure of thousands of private schools, charities and other institutions suspected of links to Gulen.</p>
<p>(Editing by Patrick Markey and Anna Willard)</p>
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		<title>Turkey&#8217;s President Erdogan renews ties with Russia amid suspected US coup roles</title>
		<link>https://9newsng.com/turkeys-president-erdogan-renews-ties-with-russia-amid-suspected-us-coup-roles/</link>
		
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		<pubDate>Tue, 09 Aug 2016 07:06:30 +0000</pubDate>
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					<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/turkeys-president-erdogan-renews-ties-with-russia-amid-suspected-us-coup-roles/" title="Turkey&#8217;s President Erdogan renews ties with Russia amid suspected US coup roles" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/03120508/Russia-Turkey-ties-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Russia Turkey ties" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Turkey&#039;s President Erdogan renews ties with Russia amid suspected US coup roles 109"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is due to hold talks in St Petersburg with President Vladimir Putin and says he wants to &#8220;reset&#8221; ties with Russia. It is Mr Erdogan&#8217;s first foreign visit since an attempted coup last month. Relations between the two countries were plunged into crisis last year when Turkey shot down a [&#8230;]</p>
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										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/turkeys-president-erdogan-renews-ties-with-russia-amid-suspected-us-coup-roles/" title="Turkey&#8217;s President Erdogan renews ties with Russia amid suspected US coup roles" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/03120508/Russia-Turkey-ties-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Russia Turkey ties" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Turkey&#039;s President Erdogan renews ties with Russia amid suspected US coup roles 110"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p class="story-body__introduction"><strong>Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is due to hold talks in St Petersburg with President Vladimir Putin and says he wants to &#8220;reset&#8221; ties with Russia.</strong></p>
<p>It is Mr Erdogan&#8217;s first foreign visit since an attempted coup last month.</p>
<p>Relations between the two countries were plunged into crisis last year when Turkey shot down a Russian military jet on the Syrian border.</p>
<p>The visit comes as Turkey&#8217;s ties with the West have cooled over criticism of a crackdown on alleged coup-plotters.</p>
<p>Before leaving Turkey, Mr Erdogan referred to President Putin as his &#8220;friend&#8221; and said he wanted to open a new page in relations with Russia.</p>
<p>Erdogan unnerves West with Putin visit</p>
<p>&#8220;This visit strikes me as a new milepost in our bilateral relations, starting again from a clean slate,&#8221; Mr Erdogan told Russia&#8217;s Tass news agency.</p>
<p>Relations between the two countries were badly damaged when Turkey shot down the military jet last November, leading Russia to impose trade sanctions and suspend Russian package tours to Turkey.</p>
<p>In June, the Kremlin said Mr Erdogan had apologised for the downing of the jet and had sent a message expressing &#8220;sympathy and deep condolences&#8221; to the family of the dead pilot.</p>
<p>Tuesday&#8217;s talks in Moscow are expected to focus on re-starting trade and investment and on restoring important tourism and travel ties.</p>
<p>The two leaders will also seek common ground in resolving the conflict in Syria where they still back opposing sides.</p>
<p>The BBC&#8217;s Sarah Rainsford says Russia is keen to capitalise on Turkey&#8217;s cooling relations with the West following the failed coup.</p>
<p>Mr Erdogan has been angered by criticism from the EU and the US of the mass round-up of suspected coup plotters.</p>
<p>The crackdown has seen tens of thousands of public sector workers suspended or dismissed, with many having their passports cancelled.</p>
<p>About 18,000 people have been detained or arrested and there has been a massive reshuffle of the military.</p>
<p>&#8211; BBC</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">3551</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Turkish Govt Links 17 Nigerian Schools To Coup</title>
		<link>https://9newsng.com/turkish-govt-links-17-nigerian-schools-to-coup/</link>
		
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		<pubDate>Fri, 29 Jul 2016 08:00:03 +0000</pubDate>
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					<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/turkish-govt-links-17-nigerian-schools-to-coup/" title="Turkish Govt Links 17 Nigerian Schools To Coup" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/22092257/NIgeria-Turkish-Nile-University-150x150.png" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="NIgeria Turkish Nile University" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Turkish Govt Links 17 Nigerian Schools To Coup 111"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>The Turkish Government has linked 17 schools in Nigeria to the July 15 failed coup in Turkey. It stated that the owners of the schools allegedly have links with the Gulen Movement believed to be mastermind of the coup. “They are raising funds through the schools and they are using these funds for the illegal [&#8230;]</p>
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										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/turkish-govt-links-17-nigerian-schools-to-coup/" title="Turkish Govt Links 17 Nigerian Schools To Coup" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/22092257/NIgeria-Turkish-Nile-University-150x150.png" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="NIgeria Turkish Nile University" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Turkish Govt Links 17 Nigerian Schools To Coup 112"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p><strong>The Turkish Government has linked 17 schools in <a href="https://9newsng.com/list-of-nigerian-states-labeled-as-high-risk-by-the-u-s/">Nigeria</a> to the July 15 failed coup in Turkey. It stated that the owners of the schools allegedly have links with the Gulen Movement believed to be mastermind of the coup.</strong></p>
<p>“They are raising funds through the schools and they are using these funds for the illegal activities,” the Turkish Ambassador to Nigeria, Hakan Cakil, stated yesterday. Hence, the Turkish Ambassador has called on the Federal Government to close 17 Turkish schools in Nigeria over alleged link with a terrorist movement involved in the July 15 failed coup attempt in Turkey. Some of the schools are Nigerian Turkish International College (NTIC), Ahmadu Bello Way by Kashim Ibrahim Way, Wuse 2, Abuja; NTIC Rigachukun, along Kaduna- Zaria Road, Kaduna; NTIC, Hadeja Road bypass by Ring Road, Yankaba, Kano; NTIC, Mamudoo, Potiskum, Yobe; NTIC, Isheri: OGD Drive, Lagos- Ibadan, Expressway, Ogun State; and NTIC, Nursery &amp; Primary School, 4A, Agbaoku St. Off Opepi Road, Ikeja, Lagos; Galaxy University Preparatory Centre; Nigerian Turkish Nile University.</p>
<p>The colleges have staff strength of over 1000 academic and non-academic personnel with a total of 4,025 students in which 17 per cent of them are on scholarship. The schools started activities in a rented building with only 14 pioneer students in Abuja in 1998. According to the ambassador, investigations by the Turkish government have linked the Fethullah Gulen Terrorist Organisation (FETO) to the failed coup attempt, which claimed over 300 lives. President Recep Erdogan has ordered the closure of 1,043 private schools, 1,229 charities, 15 universities and 35 medical institutions after the failed military coup.</p>
<p>The Erdogan-led government has detained a nephew of Fethullah Gulen, the United States-based Muslim cleric accused by Ankara of masterminding the failed coup attempt. The ambassador, who made the call when the Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, Senator Shehu Sani, paid him a courtesy visit, said the Turkish Government had nothing to do with the schools.</p>
<p>He said the Turkish government was dissociating itself from any school bearing the country’s name in Nigeria, adding that while country had schools in other countries, it had none in Nigeria. “We are requesting the Nigerian government to close down the schools. I have requested officially, both orally and in writing, the closure of these schools. Also, I have sent a letter to Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama (Foreign Minister) and Mr. Abba Kyari (Chief of Staff to the President) about this subject and requested their support for the closure of the schools. “I will also send letters to the Chairmen of Committees on Foreign Affairs in the National Assembly, as well as the Senate Majority Leader over the issue and I am going to enclose some documents in English on how the group members are engaged in the army, police and the judiciary.</p>
<p>“In Nigeria, there are 17 schools, which belong to the Gulen Movement, one in Kano, one in Kaduna, one in Abuja, Lagos etc and they are offering scholarships. “We are starting some legal procedures to take the name of Turkish out of the name of the schools. They are not schools of the Turkish Government. “They are misleading the public and allocating scholarships to the children of the high bureaucracy and after they graduate from school, they send the children to Turkey to attend their universities,” he said. The ambassador said the Turkish government had closed down all schools linked to the movement in Turkey.</p>
<p>“Turkish government has already closed down all primary, secondary, high schools and universities owned by the group in Turkey. “In our system, it is allowed for the foundation to establish schools if they fulfill some requirements and that is how they established these schools. This is an issue that the Turkish Government has attached so much importance. “Recently, my minister called Mr. Onyeama and briefed him about these schools because they are raising funds through the schools and they are using these funds for their illegal activities.</p>
<p>“This is a matter of national security for us in Turkey. I have instructions from my government to follow up this matter and we will be very happy to obtain the support of Nigerian legislators on that issue,” he said. He promised to engage other relevant government officials on the matter, adding that: “I will take the matter up to the Federal Executive Council (FEC). I have also requested an audience with the Minister of Education. “You may be aware that the government of Turkey started to investigate those responsible for the coup attempt. “It is really clear that the Gulen Movement is behind the coup.</p>
<p>There are some testimonies by detained military officials. They are confessing that they are in connection with the Gulen Movement and they have been members of the Gulen Movement for a long time and they have been planning this coup for a long time, nearly five months. “The Government of Turkey has started to take some legal actions against the leader of the movement. He is now based in the United States. His extradition is a legal matter between Turkey and the United States,” he said.</p>
<p>On the relations between Nigeria and Turkey, the ambassador said he was optimistic that the trade between the two countries, which declined due to the drop in oil price, would pick up soon.</p>
<p>The Deputy Chairman, Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, Senator Shehu Sani, said Turkey had the legitimate right to be concerned about its security in view of the failed coup attempt.</p>
<p>He, however, urged the Turkish government to operate within the ambits of the law in bringing those responsible for the incidence to book. Meanwhile, the management of Nigerian Turkish International Schools, Nigerian Nile Turkish University and Nizamiye Turkish Hospital, under the name First Surat Group of Companies, said they are responsible to the Nigerian government alone. Speaking with New Telegraph in Abuja yesterday, spokesperson for the Nigerian Turkish Nile University, Cemal Yigit, said the schools, hospital and the university owned by the Group are private and non-governmental entities are opened and functional, noting that there’s no way they can be shut or closed down by the ambassador. According to him, it</p>
<p>was laughable to associate political upheavals in Turkey with schools in Nigeria, stressing that Turkish businesses owned by private investors in Nigeria have nothing to do with the recently aborted coup in Turkey. He added that the directive by the ambassador was just a deliberate misinformation. His words: “What can I call it? Definite campaign on Turkish International Schools by Turkish government all over the world and that is what the Turkish Ambassador in Nigeria is doing.</p>
<p>“The Nigerian Turkish International Schools, Nizamiye Hospital and Nigerian Turkish Nile University, under First Surat Group of Companies, are private investments here in Nigeria owned by some Turkish investors and their responsibilities are to Nigerian authorities.</p>
<p>“They accountable to Nigerian government. This Turkish group of companies, schools, and hospitals have nothing to do with Turkish government. They are non-governmental and non-political entities. The Turkish schools are opened, the hospital is opened and the university is opened and functional. There’s no way they can be closed or shut down. “This is just a deliberate misinformation by the Ambassador of Turkey in Nigeria.”</p>
<p><em>Source: New Telegraph</em></p>
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		<title>Turkey coup arrests hit 6,000 as Erdogan roots out &#8216;virus&#8217;</title>
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		<pubDate>Sun, 17 Jul 2016 17:21:52 +0000</pubDate>
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					<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/turkey-coup-arrests-hit-6000-as-erdogan-roots-out-virus/" title="Turkey coup arrests hit 6,000 as Erdogan roots out &#8216;virus&#8217;" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/22052539/Thousands-have-attended-funerals-for-a-number-of-those-killed-during-the-coup-attempt-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Thousands have attended funerals for a number of those killed during the coup attempt" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Turkey coup arrests hit 6,000 as Erdogan roots out &#039;virus&#039; 115"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>[BBC]  Turkey has arrested 6,000 people after a failed coup, with President Erdogan vowing to purge state bodies of the &#8220;virus&#8221; that caused the revolt. Mr Erdogan&#8217;s top military aide Col Ali Yazici is among those now in custody. The number of those killed in the weekend violence had risen to 290, the foreign ministry [&#8230;]</p>
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										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/turkey-coup-arrests-hit-6000-as-erdogan-roots-out-virus/" title="Turkey coup arrests hit 6,000 as Erdogan roots out &#8216;virus&#8217;" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/22052539/Thousands-have-attended-funerals-for-a-number-of-those-killed-during-the-coup-attempt-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Thousands have attended funerals for a number of those killed during the coup attempt" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Turkey coup arrests hit 6,000 as Erdogan roots out &#039;virus&#039; 120"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p class="story-body__introduction"><strong>[BBC]  Turkey has arrested 6,000 people after a failed coup, with President Erdogan vowing to purge state bodies of the &#8220;virus&#8221; that caused the revolt.</strong></p>
<p>Mr Erdogan&#8217;s top military aide Col Ali Yazici is among those now in custody.</p>
<p>The number of those killed in the weekend violence had risen to 290, the foreign ministry said. More than 100 of them had been involved in the coup.</p>
<p>Security forces are reported to have met resistance from some coup-plotters who were being arrested.</p>
<p>Warning shots were fired at Istanbul&#8217;s second largest airport, and also at a military base in central Konya province, unnamed officials said.</p>
<p>&#8220;We will continue to cleanse the virus from all state institutions, because this virus has spread. Unfortunately like a cancer, this virus has enveloped the state,&#8221; Recep Tayyip Erdogan told mourners at at a funeral in Istanbul for victims of the coup.</p>
<p>The president repeated an accusation that US-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen was behind the plot. Mr Gulen strongly denies any involvement.</p>
<h2 class="story-body__crosshead">Drama not quite over yet &#8211; BBC&#8217;s Selin Gerit in Istanbul</h2>
<p><img loading="lazy" loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone" src="http://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/8EBE/production/_90424563_867457a0-a0ef-4b52-9cb4-453e33ddc963.jpg" width="624" height="200" alt="90424563 867457a0 a0ef 4b52 9cb4 453e33ddc963" title="Turkey coup arrests hit 6,000 as Erdogan roots out &#039;virus&#039; 116"></p>
<p>Emotions are running high as funerals for those killed during the coup plot are held. President Erdogan was among those mourning in Istanbul for the brother of one of his closest advisers.</p>
<p>&#8220;My glorious nation has given the best response to the coup plotters,&#8221; Mr Erdogan said in a televised speech frequently interrupted by chants of &#8220;God is Great!&#8221; Whenever he made a reference to Fethullah Gulen, the roar of boos would come from the crowd.</p>
<p>Turkey has been through a dramatic 48 hours, on a scale even this country &#8211; with a turbulent past of three previous coups and a further two military interventions &#8211; had never seen before. And it is not totally over yet.</p>
<p>As more than 6,000 have been detained and the expectation that numbers could rise further, one Twitter user commented &#8220;this is an opportunity for the governing party to cleanse out all opposition to the presidential system&#8221;.</p>
<p>Mr Erdogan&#8217;s critics wonder if he could he make use of the latest events as leverage to push harder for a constitutional change that would further enhance his powers.</p>
<hr class="story-body__line" />
<p>Among the latest arrests to be reported was the commander of Incirlik air base in the south used by US-led coalition jets for raids against the so-called Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria. Unnamed officials said Gen Bekir Ercan Van and 10 other soldiers had been detained for their role in the coup.</p>
<p>Also on Sunday, more than 50 senior soldiers were detained in the western province of Denizli, including the garrison commander.</p>
<p>Those arrested on Saturday were reported to include Gen Erdal Ozturk, commander of the Third Army; Gen Adem Huduti, commander of the Second Army; and Akin Ozturk, the former Chief of Air Staff.</p>
<p>One of Turkey&#8217;s most senior judges, Alparslan Altan, has also been taken into custody.</p>
<p><figure style="width: 718px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="" src="http://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/D7C0/production/_90423255_mediaitem90423253.jpg" width="718" height="404" alt="90423255 mediaitem90423253" title="Turkey coup arrests hit 6,000 as Erdogan roots out &#039;virus&#039; 117"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Thousands of soldiers have been rounded up and judges arrested in the aftermath of the failed coup</figcaption></figure></p>
<p><figure style="width: 718px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="http://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/14E26/production/_90424558_3175a858-c7b2-4128-83d5-784be4ab50e8.jpg" width="718" height="404" alt="90424558 3175a858 c7b2 4128 83d5 784be4ab50e8" title="Turkey coup arrests hit 6,000 as Erdogan roots out &#039;virus&#039; 118"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Turkey has been through a dramatic couple of days</dd>
<dd class="wp-caption-dd"></figcaption></figure></p>
<p><img loading="lazy" loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone" src="http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/54DA/production/_90422712_mediaitem90422711.jpg" width="718" height="404" alt="90422712 mediaitem90422711" title="Turkey coup arrests hit 6,000 as Erdogan roots out &#039;virus&#039; 119"></p>
<p>President Erdogan has called on the US to extradite Fethullah Gulen, 75, who heads the popular Hizmet movement and is said to count military chiefs and mid-level bureaucrats among his followers.</p>
<p>Once allies, Mr Erdogan has long accused Mr Gulen and his supporters of plotting against him.</p>
<p>US Secretary of State John Kerry said of any extradition, that Turkey should &#8220;present us with any legitimate evidence that withstands scrutiny&#8221;.</p>
<p>Mr Gulen has denied any involvement in the coup. He has been in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania for the past 15 years, said: &#8220;I don&#8217;t even know who my followers [in Turkey] are.&#8221;</p>
<p>Mr Kerry strongly rebuked a Turkish minister who suggested Washington was behind the coup. He said &#8220;utterly false&#8221; insinuations were &#8220;harmful to our bilateral relations&#8221;.</p>
<p>US President Barack Obama has joined other world leaders in calling for all parties in Turkey to &#8220;act within the rule of law&#8221;.</p>
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		<title>Istanbul Airport Attackers Identified: &#8216;Russian, Uzbek and Kyrgyz&#8217;- AP</title>
		<link>https://9newsng.com/istanbul-airport-attackers-identified-russian-uzbek-and-kyrgyz-ap/</link>
		
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		<pubDate>Thu, 30 Jun 2016 16:40:24 +0000</pubDate>
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					<description><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/istanbul-airport-attackers-identified-russian-uzbek-and-kyrgyz-ap/" title="Istanbul Airport Attackers Identified: &#8216;Russian, Uzbek and Kyrgyz&#8217;- AP" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/21111936/Istanbul-Airport-Attackers-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Istanbul Airport Attackers" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Istanbul Airport Attackers Identified: &#039;Russian, Uzbek and Kyrgyz&#039;- AP 121"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
<p>ISTANBUL (AP) — The three suicide bombers who attacked Istanbul airport were a Russian, an Uzbek and a Kyrgyz, a senior Turkish official said Thursday, hours after police carried out sweeping raids across the city looking for Islamic State suspects. Tuesday&#8217;s gunfire and suicide bombing attack at Ataturk Airport killed 43 people and wounded more [&#8230;]</p>
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										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://9newsng.com/istanbul-airport-attackers-identified-russian-uzbek-and-kyrgyz-ap/" title="Istanbul Airport Attackers Identified: &#8216;Russian, Uzbek and Kyrgyz&#8217;- AP" rel="nofollow"><img width="150" height="150" src="https://pub-c2bc1600c0ae4735bcabd5f23f03a1c5.r2.dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/21111936/Istanbul-Airport-Attackers-150x150.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Istanbul Airport Attackers" style="float: left; margin-right: 5px;" link_thumbnail="1" decoding="async" loading="lazy" title="Istanbul Airport Attackers Identified: &#039;Russian, Uzbek and Kyrgyz&#039;- AP 122"></a><p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://9newsng.com">9News Nigeria</a></p>
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<p>ISTANBUL (AP) — The three suicide bombers who attacked Istanbul airport were a Russian, an Uzbek and a Kyrgyz, a senior Turkish official said Thursday, hours after police carried out sweeping raids across the city looking for Islamic State suspects. Tuesday&#8217;s gunfire and suicide bombing attack at Ataturk Airport killed 43 people and wounded more than 230 others.</p>
<p>The day opened with police conducting raids on 16 locations in Istanbul, rounding up 13 people suspected of having links to the Islamic State group, the most likely perpetrator of the attack at one of the world&#8217;s busiest airports. The manhunt spanned three neighborhoods on the city&#8217;s Asian and European sides.</p>
<p>The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government regulations, did not name the attackers.</p>
<div id="dynamiccontent"> &#8220;A medical team is working around the clock to conclude the identification process,&#8221; the official told journalists, noting that extensive soft-tissue damage had complicated efforts to identify the attackers. The official could not confirm Turkish media reports that the Russian national was from the restive Daghestan region.</div>
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<div id="trc_header_53459" class="trc_rbox_header trc_rbox_border_elm">From the start, Turkish authorities have said all information suggests the attack was the work of IS, which this week boasted to have cells in Turkey, among other countries.</div>
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<p>There was no immediate claim of responsibility by the militant group, which used Turkey as a crossing point to establish itself in neighboring Syria and Iraq. The group has repeatedly threatened Turkey in its propaganda publications.</p>
<p>Interior Minister Efkan Ala said 43 people were killed in the attack, including 19 foreign nationals. Of those who were wounded, 94 remained in hospital, the Istanbul Governor&#8217;s office reported.</p>
<p>Unconfirmed details of the attack continued to emerge on Turkish media.</p>
<p>The private Dogan news agency said the Russian attacker had entered the country one month ago and left his passport in a house the men had rented in the neighborhood of Fatih.</p>
<p>The Karsi newspaper, quoting police sources, said the trio was part of a seven-person cell who entered Turkey on May 25. The assailants raised the suspicion of airport security on the day of the attack because they showed up in winter jackets on a summer day, several media reported.</p>
<p>The Dogan news agency broadcast footage of the Istanbul police raids. It showed a special forces police team entering a building carrying what appeared to be a steel shield to protect from possible counterattack during the raid.</p>
<p>In separate large-scale police operations, nine suspects believed to be linked to the IS group were also detained in the coastal city of Izmir. It was not clear if the suspects had any links to the carnage at the airport.</p>
<p>The Izmir raids unfolded simultaneously in the neighborhoods of Konak, Bucak, Karabaglar and Bornova, according to Anadolu Agency. Police seized three hunting rifles and documents relating to IS.</p>
<p>The report said the suspects were in contact with IS militants in Syria and were engaged in &#8220;activities that were in line with the organization&#8217;s aims and interests,&#8221; including providing financial sources, recruits and logistical support.</p>
<p>Days before the Istanbul attack, on June 25, security forces killed two suspected Islamic State militants who were trying to cross the border illegally and ignored orders from security forces to stop, according to local media reports.</p>
<p>One of the two militants was wanted by Turkey on suspicion that he would carry out suicide attacks in the capital Ankara or in the southern city of Adana, Anadolu said.</p>
<p>Turkey shares long, porous borders with both Syria and Iraq, where IS controls large pockets of territory. The government has blamed IS for several major bombings over the past year, including in the capital Ankara, and on tourists in Istanbul.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Fraser reported from Ankara, Turkey. Zeynep Bilginsoy in Istanbul contributed reporting.</p>
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