Author: Daily Sabah
The National Intelligence Organization (MIT) of Türkiye saw more than 44,000 job applications, mainly from people between the ages of 20 and 30, last year. The number is more than double the number of applications in 2023, according to Anadolu Agency (AA). Naturally, the secretive government agency has slightly changed its public image in recent years, while its counterterrorism operations, though with scarce details, are more public nowadays. The rising profile of the agency under its former director, Hakan Fidan, who now serves as foreign minister, and his successor, Ibrahim Kalın, are tied to more openness in the past years.…
A committee presenting reports to the Israeli government “warned” the Netanyahu administration about a “potential conflict” with Türkiye. The Nagel Committee, as it is informally known, is led by former National Security Council Chair Yaakov Nagel and since 2023, presents recommendations to the Ministry of Defense upon orders of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Their latest report disclosed by the Israeli media, cited the potential in the aftermath of the ouster of the Baathist regime in Syria last December. Israel was quick to occupy the Golan Heights, a point of contention between Tel Aviv and Damascus when the Assad regime fell.…
The Center for Countering Disinformation has disproven over 2,000 fake news and propaganda articles about Türkiye so far, Communications Director Fahrettin Altun announced Wednesday. Speaking at a communication consultation workshop in the capital Ankara, Altun said his office concluded some 4.5 million applications submitted to its Public Compliance System (CIMER) in 2024. “We will continue institutionalizing the fight against disinformation, one of our critical fields,” he said. “I wish systematic disinformation activities were not poisoning our media and communicational climate so we would not have to put up such a fight,” he added. Altun also lamented that the line between…
Widespread distrust is stoking financial troubles for the new leaders of the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) following the death of the group’s leader, Fetullah Gülen. The group’s so-called executive board of 12 members took over the reins after Gülen’s death in Pennsylvania in October, but their squabbling is growing into a tumultuous power struggle for the one to succeed Gülen as the next FETÖ ringleader, according to Turkish security sources. The terror group orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, in Türkiye, in which 252 people were killed and 2,734 wounded. Ankara also accuses FETÖ of being behind a…
Real Madrid and Mallorca will battle for a spot in the Spanish Super Cup final on Thursday at King Abdullah Sports City. Los Blancos enter the semifinal as reigning La Liga champions, while Mallorca secured their place as Copa del Rey runners-up last season. Madrid, fresh off lifting the FIFA Intercontinental Cup in December with a 3-0 win over Pachuca, have been in fine form. Their 4-2 victory over Sevilla in their final 2024 match was followed by a dramatic 2-1 win against Valencia last Friday. Despite Vinicius Junior’s red card, Luka Modric’s equalizer and Jude Bellingham’s stoppage-time winner propelled…
Real Madrid and Mallorca will battle for a spot in the Spanish Super Cup final on Thursday at King Abdullah Sports City. Los Blancos enter the semifinal as reigning La Liga champions, while Mallorca secured their place as Copa del Rey runners-up last season. Madrid, fresh off lifting the FIFA Intercontinental Cup in December with a 3-0 win over Pachuca, have been in fine form. Their 4-2 victory over Sevilla in their final 2024 match was followed by a dramatic 2-1 win against Valencia last Friday. Despite Vinicius Junior’s red card, Luka Modric’s equalizer and Jude Bellingham’s stoppage-time winner propelled…
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said President Erdoğan is his friend, as he noted that he’s someone he likes and respects, while highlighting Türkiye’s crucial role in Syria. Trump addressed key foreign policy issues during a press briefing at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida on Tuesday, emphasizing the situation in Syria and Türkiye’s critical role in the region. Trump, who significantly reduced the U.S. military presence in Syria during his previous term, responded cautiously to questions about the remaining 2,000 American troops in the country. When asked whether these troops would be withdrawn, Trump said, he wouldn’t respond because it’s part…
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Bashar Assad’s 13-yearlong oppressive rule in Syria inflicted more damage than previously thought, as he called for international support to help rebuild the country. “The cost of thirteen years of slaughterous policies exceeds $500 billion,” Erdoğan said, adding that Turkish expert teams visiting the country warn that the situation is far worse than anticipated. “With the collapse of the 61-year Baath dictatorship, a new era has begun. Not a day passes without new evidence exposing the barbarity of the Baath regime,” Erdoğan said. He continued by saying that Syria will need time to recover and…
Ankara on Tuesday hosted Masrour Barzani, prime minister of Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). Barzani first met Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan before the two held a meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the Presidential Complex. Barzani’s visit comes at a time of a new phase in Türkiye’s fight against the PKK terrorist group, whose last remaining strongholds are located in an area controlled by the KRG in northern Iraq and northeastern Syria bordering Türkiye. Türkiye often carries out counterterrorism operations in northern Iraq against the PKK and saw escalating support from the KRG in recent years, after past hostilities…
The main opposition, the Republican People’s Party (CHP), on Tuesday voiced tentative support for the recent initiative to end PKK terrorism in Türkiye. “Such a process should be based at Parliament, which would steer and supervise it,” CHP leader Özgür Özel told reporters in Ankara after receiving lawmakers from the PKK-linked Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party). Tuesday’s talks were the latest in a string of meetings DEM Party lawmakers Sırrı Süreyya Önder and Pervin Buldan have held since meeting jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan in the prison on Imralı Island near Istanbul. Önder and Buldan, accompanied by Ahmet…