Turkish government

The Turkish government is rolling up its sleeves to improve the local digital game market, which has reached over $300 million over the past few years, using a new roadmap.

The Constitutional Court’s landmark verdict on the Balyoz (Sledgehammer) coup case came only a few days after officials from Turkey and the European Union met at a working group meeting to allow the former to fulfill benchmarks for the opening of Chapter 23: Judiciary and fundamental rights.

The number of Syrians taking refuge in Turkey has reached 1.05 million with no peaceful end in sight to the civil war-torn country, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Beşir Atalay said on June 19.

Atalay said a total of 22 camps in Turkey were hosting 218,632 refugees, with some camps hosting as many as 35,000-40,000 individuals.

The Turkish government has updated its official terrorist organization list, removing the al-Nusra Front from the group listed under the title “al-Qaeda in Iraq.” However, the changes published in the Official Gazette on June 18 kept al-Nusra listed as a “terrorist organization.” 

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has accused the Iraqi authorities of not protecting the Turkish consulate in Mosul and the 49 Turkish citizens who were kidnapped by jihadist terrorists last week, vowing that all efforts are being exerted for their immediate release.

“It is always very difficult to do business in Iraq. But we sensed something more extraordinary happening in the field a week prior to the advance of Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) to Mosul,” a friend who is doing business in Iraq told me. “Everyone was saying ‘a crisis is coming,’” said a Turkish official who has knowledge of the developments.

In the aftermath of the abduction of dozens of Turkish citizens by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Mosul, the Turkish government has drawn contingency plans for the Consulate General in Basra in addition to its embassy in the capital city of Baghdad, a senior Turkish diplomat said on June 16.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden has discussed the growing insurgency in Iraq with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for the second time in three days, while Ankara established a crisis desk to inform the Turkish public daily about 80 Turks taken hostage by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in northern Iraq.

Two lawmakers from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) have accused the government of protecting and cooperating with jihadist militants of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the al-Nusra Front, while the Turkish government quickly denied the claim.

The Turkish government has replaced more than 2,500 judges and prosecutors, in its latest mass purge in the police and judiciary.