National Intelligence Organization

Prominent Turkish journalists Can Dündar and Erdem Gül have appeared in Istanbul's Ça?layan courthouse for the second hearing of an "espionage" trial which followed the duo's reports for daily Cumhuriyet about Turkish intelligence trucks transporting hidden weapons to Syria in November 2014. 

For the past seven months the Turkish army and police forces have been fighting a quasi-uprising led by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in southeastern towns near the Syrian, Iraqi and Iranian borders, but on March 30 Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu had a 3.5-hour meeting in Ankara on another security issue bothering the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Parti).

On March 22, the International Press Institute (IPI) called on the Turkish authorities to "obey their oaths to uphold the country's Constitution and to respect decisions by the Constitutional Court upholding human rights." This call also included the recent decision to release the controversially charged Cumhuriyet editors.

One suspect, who was detained in the southeastern province of Gaziantep over the March 19 Istanbul suicide attack, was arrested on March 23.

An Istanbul court ruled for the arrest of Erkan Çapk?n for allegedly having connections to the suicide bomber of the March 19 attack, Mehmet Öztürk.

Three suspected members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) were detained in Istanbul on March 22 following intelligence received by police concerning a planned attack targeting German institutions and schools in the city.

Turkey has officially put into effect a new regulation against human trafficking, as part of measures to try to stem the flow of refugees heading to Europe through illegal means.

The main opposition Republican People's Party's (CHP) has filed a criminal complaint into President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an, Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu, National Intelligence Organization (M?T) Chief Hakan Fidan and other senior officials, on charges of "aiding and abetting a terrorist organization." The complaint relates to their involvement the long-stalled peace process aimed at ending the

Turkish Constitutional Court has violated the constitution in a decision that paved the way for the release of two jailed Cumhuriyet journalists, President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an told journalists during a visit to the Turkish Embassy resident in the Nigerian capital, Abuja.

Turkish lawmakers have engaged in a noisy and almost physical dispute in parliament over remarks by President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an on a top court ruling that led to the release of two journalists who were arrested in late 2015 over a news story on state-owned trucks allegedly carrying weapons to Syria.

Two Turkish journalists - daily editor-in-chief Cumhuriyet Can Dündar and its Ankara bureau chief Erdem Gül - were released from prison in the early hours of Feb. 26 after being in pre-trial detention for 92 days. The release came after a decision by the Constitutional Court on the evening of Feb. 25.