Efkan Ala

Police used tear gas on Feb. 16 to disperse thousands of locals protesting a company's efforts to extract mine in Cerattepe region in the Black Sea province of Artvin.

Protestors, who blocked traffic with their vehicles starting late Feb. 15, threw stones at the security forces in response. The road is still blocked after the police intervention.

Germany and Turkey have built a new mechanism for their joint fight against terrorism, as both of the governments have named figures to help coordinate joint efforts by the interior ministries of the two countries.

The number of suspects detained over the suicide attack in Istanbul on Tuesday has increased to seven.

This was announced by Turkish Interior Minister Efkan Ala on Thursday, Hurriyet Daily News quotes him as saying.

On Wednesday, Ala stated that one suspect had been detained, while later Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu added that four more people had been arrested.

An explosion occurred on Jan. 12 in Istanbul's touristic Sultanahmet Square, killing 10 while wounding at least 15, Istanbul governor's office has said.

According to reports by private broadcaster CNN Türk, the explosion occurred by the obelisk of Theodosius in the touristic Sultanahmet Square in Istanbul's Fatih district. 

Turkey has placed an entry ban on more than 35,000 people from more than 120 countries over suspected links with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (SIL) to date, Interior Minister Efkan Ala has said.

Turkish Interior Minister Efkan Ala met with John Bass, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey, on Jan. 7 to discuss recent matters on border security and the fight against terrorism, the embassy said on its Twitter account. 

Turkey has up to now stopped more than 36,500 people who were allegedly planning to join the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) via Turkey, Interior Minister Efkan Ala said on Dec. 17.

A majority of the suspected ISIL members were prevented before they entered Turkey, while almost 2,800 were arrested in the country and then deported, Ala told the state-run Anadolu Agency.

The killing of Tahir Elçi, the head of Diyarbak?r Bar Association, in a gun attack Nov. 28 might be an assassination, Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu has said.

"There are two possibilities," he said during a televized speech on Nov. 28. 

"One of them is an assassination," he said, "If there is such a thing, this will be revealed," he said.

Tahir Elçi, a human rights activist and the head of the Bar Association in the southeastern province of Diyarbak?r, was killed in a gun attack following a press statement on Nov. 28, while two policemen were also killed during a clash just meters away. 

Tahir Elçi, the head of the Bar Association in Turkey's southeastern province of Diyarbak?r, was killed in a gun attack following a press meeting, as one policeman was also killed in a clash.

Interor Minister Efkan Ala said in a press meeting that attackers shot at security forces from a car after the press meeting, killing one policeman.