Author: Daily Sabah

Since the beginning of this week, Istanbul Electric Tram and Tunnel Company (IETT) transportation services have been severely disrupted across the city, leaving commuters in a state of uncertainty and frustration. A fire broke out at the Yenikapı station of the M2 Yenikapı-Hacıosman Metro Line on Nov. 14, 2024, causing significant disruptions. The cause of the fire, which occurred at the busy transit point, remains unknown. Upon receiving the alert, police, fire and medical teams were immediately dispatched to the scene to control the blaze. The fire led to a thick smoke buildup inside the station, affecting passengers in the…

Wednesday marked two years since a PKK terrorist attack claimed six lives in a bustling street in the heart of Istanbul. On a busy afternoon on Nov. 13, 2023, a PKK member planted an explosive device on Istiklal Street shortly before a blast ripped through the street packed with shoppers and tourists, killing six people, including a 9-year-old girl, and injuring 99 others. Türkiye’s cultural and economic hub has been targeted several times by terrorist groups like the PKK and Daesh in the past decade, but the bomb attack was the first in long years during which many attempts had…

On a presidential plane returning from Azerbaijan’s Baku, where he attended the World Leaders Climate Summit at COP29, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan expressed continued hope for normalization of relations with Syrian President Bashar Assad. “I still have hope that we can meet and put Türkiye-Syria relations on the right track,” Erdoğan said on Wednesday. The main reason behind this initiative, Erdoğan emphasized, is the need to eliminate terrorist organizations along the Türkiye-Syria border. “We need to dismantle the terrorist structures between Türkiye and Syria,” he said, stressing that a successful effort could also support Syria’s territorial integrity and stability. Erdoğan…

The incoming administration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will reconsider the U.S. Central Command’s (CENTCOM) ties with the PKK terrorist group’s Syrian branch YPG, according to a former NATO commander. Washington’s support for the PKK/YPG has rattled Turkish-American ties for years. The PKK, designated a terrorist group by Türkiye, the United States and the European Union, launched a bloody campaign of terrorism in the 1980s, targeting Turkish security forces and civilians, primarily in the southeastern Türkiye, close to the border with Iraq. More than 40,000 people were killed in the acts of terrorism, while the PKK leadership retains a swath…

A Syrian man detained for five years by members of the PKK terrorist group’s Syrian wing YPG for refusing to cooperate and allegedly communicating with Syrian opposition forces is haunted by what he called “endless and limitless torture.” Uways Bathavi of Tal Abyad, a northern Syrian town liberated from PKK/YPG terrorists with a Turkish operation in October 2019, was first offered a car, a gun and money to cooperate with the terrorist group. When Bathavi rejected it, the PKK/YPG terrorists detained him in September 2019, just six months after he got married. Accusing him of importing intelligence to Türkiye, the…

A bill modifying Türkiye’s anti-spying law is set to land at Parliament on Wednesday amid heated debate over its content. The text, first raised by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), would add a new definition of espionage for “crimes committed against the state security or for political interests” and allow prison terms of up to seven years for suspects found guilty of working for foreign interests. The changes are directed at the Turkish Penal Code’s Article 339, which stipulates, “Anyone who obtains information meant to be secret in quality for state security or domestic or foreign political…

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Monday warned that Israel aims to destroy Palestinian existence and ultimately annex all Palestinian territories with its brutal attacks, which have killed at least 44,000 Palestinians since last year. “Israel’s relentless offensive on the Gaza Strip and increasing crackdown on Palestinians in occupied West Bank are proof this is where the situation is headed, Erdoğan told an extraordinary summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Arab League in Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh. Türkiye is a major opponent of Israel’s brutal campaign amounting to genocide that targets Palestinians in Gaza and elsewhere. Ankara views…

Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. elections has increased hopes of ending the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Türkiye’s top diplomat said. “Türkiye supports the territorial integrity of Ukraine and our position on Crimea reflects this. However, we do not see this war as beneficial for either side,” Hakan Fidan told the Turkish newspaper Milliyet. From the first day of the conflict, Türkiye has insisted that diplomacy should be a priority, the minister recalled, adding that this has been conveyed to U.S. and Western officials many times. “We have used all means of diplomacy to bring the parties to the negotiating table. In…

A mayor from Türkiye’s opposition arrested for his alleged links to the PKK gave jobs to six members of the terrorist group following his election in March, according to a report from the Turkish newspaper Sabah. Ahmet Özer, mayor of Istanbul’s Esenyurt district and a member of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), was detained last month by anti-terrorist police over his connection to the PKK, blacklisted as a terror organization by Türkiye, the U.S. and the European Union. The six PKK members worked in the Esenyurt district municipality’s cultural affairs and cleaning directorates, according to documents obtained from Özer’s office.…

An early election is not on the table for Türkiye right now, Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş said Sunday, dismissing calls from the main opposition for general polls next year. “There is no point to raising a political debate over a topic that doesn’t exist,” Kurtulmuş told reporters on a flight back from a G-20 meeting in Brazil. “Parliament has been elected and will serve its term until 2028, as will President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan,” Kurtulmuş added. Türkiye went to polls in May last year where Erdoğan won against his main rival in two rounds of a presidential vote and his…