News archive of April 2017

Citing the lyrics of a popular Turkish love song, President Tayyip Erdoğan said on April 30 before departing for India that Turkey could "come overnight, all of a sudden without warning." He was referring to operations against the positions of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Iraq and of the People's Protection Units (YPG) positions in Syria, (the YPG being the Syrian extension of

He has been admired and criticized, even ridiculed, like few other public figures in Greece; he returned to Greece from various academic posts abroad to become an economic advisor to then- Prime Minister George Papandreou at the beginning of the Greek financial crisis in 2004; yet he eventually turned into a harsh critic of his policies.

They were three. Abdullah, Şükrü and Hulusi.

Three young men with big hopes for the future.

All three from Kayseri.

All three had studied in Kayseri's most influential schools.

All three were close to nationalist-religious circles. 

They were good friends.

The European Union is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. It declared May 9 as "Europe Day" in a summit held in Milan in 1985, celebrated in member countries and member candidate countries. The day has also been celebrated in EU member candidate country Turkey since 2000 with concerts and activities, though this year it will be a "quiet" day closed to the public.

Was he back? Did he ever go? Indeed the parliamentary group meeting of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) on May 2 at the party headquarters will remove a source of deception and put an end to the era of the "impartial president" system after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan formally becomes an AKP member.

It is not only the fact that we live in oppressive political circumstances, that freedoms are immensely curbed, and that submission is becoming the only option. Worse, we are now supposed to live under the terror of ambivalence.

The western Turkish province of İzmir is not only about sea, sun and sand, it also offers a diverse range of options from health centers to food festivals, İzmir Mayor Aziz Kocaoğlu has told the Hürriyet Daily News in an interview. 

Imagine tasting about 120 wines in four master classes and comparing your scores with those of two top wine experts. This is a challenge you can experience next weekend at St. Regis Istanbul on May 13 and 14.  

"Challenging MasterClasses with Oz Clarke and Caro Maurer MW" will surely be the wine event of the season.

Greek police say a black bag left outside a village cemetery in northern Greece contained two jars, each with an embryo in formaldehyde.

The shepherd who found the bag Saturday while tending to his flock in the village of Vryssaki, west of the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki, called police immediately after he opened it.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble was quoted in a newspaper interview on Sunday saying that Greece has made strong progress towards introducing reforms that could lead to the imminent release of further financial support.