Author: Daily Sabah
Türkiye will not shy away from using an iron fist to realize its terror-free vision, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Tuesday. “We will take determined steps to turn our terror-free Türkiye and terror-free region vision into a reality,” Erdoğan vowed in a video message to mark the new year. “We are making every effort for this process, which will open up a new path for our country, to work in peace, mutual goodwill and understanding,” Erdoğan said, referring to a recent push by his government to end four decades of terrorism in Türkiye. “But we will not shy away from…
The year 2024 was a rollercoaster for the sports fandom, packed with unforgettable moments that kept them on the edge of their seats. Turkish giants Galatasaray capped the year with flair, defending their Süper Lig title and asserting their dominance in the Europa League. The Crescent-Stars defied expectations at Euro 2024, rising to the occasion when it mattered most. Turkish shooter Yusuf Dikeç captured the spotlight at the Paris Olympics with his poised brilliance, while Melissa Vargas led the Sultans of the Net to a year of remarkable triumphs. Lions’ roar Galatasaray, reigning Süper Lig champions for two consecutive seasons,…
A total of 536 suspects were captured in operations against the Daesh terrorist group in 57 provinces in the past 12 days, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced on Tuesday. “Operation Mace” was carried out in coordination with prosecutor’s offices, the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) and the counterterrorism department of the police, Yerlikaya said in a social media post. Since the 2019 collapse of their self-proclaimed “caliphate,” some suspected Daesh members have settled in Türkiye, operating a so-called Khorasan Province (Daesh-K) network, which looks for “new methods” and recruits more foreign members for its activities after constant counterterrorism operations became a…
Türkiye’s rise as an influential actor in the international community continued in 2024. Throughout the year, Ankara sought to normalize ties with countries it fell out with, further severed relations with some and played a key role in conflicts far away and in its region. A power broker pursuing a delicate balance between sides of various conflicts, Türkiye occasionally achieved its ambitious diplomatic goals. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, a veteran politician in power for over two decades as prime minister and president and Hakan Fidan, former intelligence chief turned foreign minister, led this diplomatic blitz. The year began with the…
Türkiye has welcomed remarks from the PKK’s jailed leader for supporting a process that may lead the terrorist group to lay down arms. “The presence of terrorism is poisoning democratic politics; we want a democracy not shadowed by terrorism,” Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz said Sunday in the first reaction from the Turkish government to landmark statements from Abdullah Öcalan. Öcalan is “ready to make a call” to back a new initiative by the Turkish government to end terrorism in Türkiye, a party close to the PKK said Sunday. Two lawmakers from the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), known…
It’s important that the new Syrian state is one where different ethnic and religious groups live side by side in peace, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told his Emirati counterpart Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in a phone call on Monday. Erdoğan and Al Nahyan discussed the latest situation in Syria following the ouster of Bashar Assad, in Palestine under Israeli attacks, as well as bilateral, regional and global issues, the Turkish Presidency’s Directorate of Communications said in a statement on X. Türkiye will never accept that the PKK/YPG terrorist group in Syria should be considered an interlocutor and the representative…
Turkish authorities on Monday said they captured two suspects who allegedly aided and abetted the perpetrator of a PKK terrorist attack in Istanbul two years ago. The suspects organized the illegal entry of Ahlam Albashir to Türkiye, who planted the bomb that killed six people and injured 99 others on Istanbul’s commercial hub, Istiklal Street, on Nov. 13, 2022. The suspects also supplied the materials for Albashir, provided a safe house, organized her transport to Istanbul and engaged in other smuggling activities, authorities said. Türkiye’s cultural and economic hub has been targeted several times by terrorist groups like the PKK…
At an altitude of 2,800 meters (over 9,185 feet), the Başkale district of the eastern province of Van hosts a military outpost defying the cold weather. Dressed in white against the backdrop of snow-white slopes, soldiers deployed on the Turkish-Iranian border patrol the area as temperatures at times drop as low as minus 25 degrees Celsius (minus 13 degrees Fahrenheit) The Güllük outpost is 83 kilometers (51.57 miles) away from downtown Van and long stretches of barren landscape straddle across the border. Soldiers utilize high technology and winter camouflage to perform multiple tasks, from fighting against smuggling and irregular migration…
Türkiye’s diplomatic efforts for global peace continued uninterruptedly in 2024 under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Throughout the year, Erdoğan visited 17 countries and attended international summits. Erdoğan launched a diplomatic blitz for solutions to regional and global issues, particularly the ongoing attacks of Israel targeting Palestinians. Along with visits abroad, he hosted heads of state and government from 18 countries. The president made his first visit of the year to Dubai on Feb. 13, where he attended as a guest of honor at the World Governments Summit, which took place with the theme of “Shaping Governments of…
Abdullah Öcalan, jailed leader of the terrorist group PKK, responded positively to a call by the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and expressed readiness to contribute to a process that may lead the group to lay down arms. In statements conveyed through two lawmakers from a party close to the group on Sunday, Öcalan said it was a “time of brotherhood and peace for Türkiye and the region.” Pervin Buldan and Sırrı Süreyya Önder, two lawmakers from the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM), visited Öcalan in Imralı, a Marmara Sea island where he is incarcerated, on Saturday. It was the…