Jarabulus

As the Turkish, U.S. and French defense ministers were meeting in Brussels on Oct. 26 for an assessment on the situation in Mosul and Iraq in general, Ankara was focused on helping the Free Syria Army (FSA) take control in towns that are key for its border security.

The Turkish army hit 70 outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Unit (YPG) and 52 Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) targets in the past 24 hours as part of Operation Euphrates Shield in northern Syria, the military said on Oct. 22.

The Turkish army hit 70 outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Unit (YPG) and 52 Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) targets in the past 24 hours as part of Operation Euphrates Shield in northern Syria, the military said on Oct. 22.

The Constitutional Court has rejected the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP)'s appeal for the annulment of decree laws issued by the government since the declaration of a state of emergency after the failed July 15 coup attempt.

The Turkish Armed Forces has dismissed a further 233 soldiers over the failed coup attempt of July 15, the Defense Ministry announced on Oct. 12.

Some 201 of the dismissed soldiers were from the air force while the other 32 were from the naval forces. 

Some 158 of the dismissed personnel were officers. 

The Turkish parliament has approved Oct. 11 the extension of the state of emergency by three months, which was decided after the July 15 failed coup attempt. 

The Parliament vote came after a cabinet decision for the extension which was first mentioned by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. 

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has appealed against German prosecutors' decision to drop an investigation into a TV comic who wrote a crude poem about him.

German prosecutors previously said they were dropping the case against Jan Böhmermann, citing insufficient evidence that he had committed any crime.

A German court has convicted a 23-year-old German-Turkish dual national of membership in a terrorist organization for joining the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) to fight in Syria.

Two small earthquakes that occurred last week in the southwestern Turkish province of Denizli's Pamukkale district have caused collapses in the pool of the ancient city of Hierapolis. 

The first 4.1-magnitude quake occurred in the district on Sept. 27, followed by another 4.2-magnitude quake the next day. A number of smaller aftershocks were also felt. 

EnerjiSA, a joint venture between Turkey's Sabancı and Germany's E.ON, has brought electricity services to residents of Jarablus in northern Syria for the first time in four years, in cooperation with the Turkish Energy Ministry.