Tanju Bilgiç

Turkey has slapped a ban on 20,000 suspected foreign fighters, preventing them from heading to Syria and Iraq, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tanju Bilgiç said Sept. 2, a day after one soldier was killed another went missing in a suspected attack by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) on the Syrian border with Kilis.

Five officials from Turkey's Foreign Ministry resigned before an Aug. 31 deadline to run in the upcoming parliamentary elections on Nov. 1, ministry spokesperson Tanju Bilgiç said Sept. 2.

Masked men in military and police uniforms kidnapped 18 Turkish workers and engineers in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad on Sept. 2. Turkish nationals were selected from a group of workers during the incident, the Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tanju Bilgiç told reporters. 

Turkey has introduced visa requirements for Libyans, due to security concerns, the Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Aug. 27. 

Turkey annulled a memorandum of agreement with Libya from 2009 waiving visas for nationals of both countries, with Libyan citizens having to apply for a visa to travel to Turkey as of Sept. 24, Tanju Bilgiç told reporters on Aug. 27. 

The report by McClatchy, the U.S. publishing company, alleging that Turkish intelligence tipped off the al Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front, and led to the recent routing by the group of opposition forces trained in Turkey by the U.S., has seriously ruffled Ankara?s feathers.

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Tanju Bilgic said the report was an ?ill-intentioned and lowly slander.?

Turkey has strongly denied a news report suggesting that Turkish authorities orchestrated the kidnapping of a group of U.S.-trained moderate Syrian fighters after they entered Syria last month to confront fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), arguing that the report was "intentional."

Turkey is not eager to embrace a recently-proposed Russian initiative to form a regional alliance to battle the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). 

Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tanju Bilgiç said any other plan regarding ISIL other than the ongoing international coalition effort is not on Turkey?s agenda. 

The U.S. State Department has announced its support for fighters in Northern Syria contains a broad array of groups, including for the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), the armed wing of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), in contradiction with statements from the Turkish Foreign Ministry. 

Turkey awaits the U.S. air force units to arrive at the ?ncirlik air base for broader operations against the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) in Syria, a ranking Turkish official who asked not to be named told Hürriyet Daily News on July 30.

Adana?s ?ncirlik airbase is ready to go as a launching pad for American strikes on ISIL following a deal between Ankara and Washington Turkey?s strategically placed ?ncirlik airbase in Adana is ready any time for airstrikes by coalition forces against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) now that a cabinet motion has gone into effect, a Turkish official has said.