Necdet

Thousands of people bid farewell to Tarık Akan, a renowned Turkish actor who died of lung cancer at the age of 66 in Istanbul on Sept. 16, following a ceremony at the Muhsin Ertuğrul Theater on Sept 18. 

Sixteen Turkish workers who were held captive by Shiite militias earlier this month in the Iraqi capital Baghdad have arrived in the Turkish capital late Sept. 30 after their release earlier in the day.

It was the year 2007, the month was May. Because of the Constitutional Court?s decision of the quorum of 367 members, Turkey was not able to elect its president and its political agenda was tangled.

A funeral was held Feb. 25 for the four Turkish jet pilots who lost their lives in a crash during a training exercise on Feb. 24 in the Eastern Anatolian province of Malatya.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel has begun talks with Turkish officials over the common threat posed by extremist jihadists in Iraq and Syria as Washington suggested the formation of a coalition to destroy the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

The prevention of President Abdullah Gül’s return to politics is an important political indicator. Gül’s exclusion from politics is indicative of how the Justice and Development Party (AKP) has changed its stance from the inclusive, reformist, moderate and center-oriented policies it followed from its inception in 2002 until 2010 to more radical and ideological politics.

Turkey’s top military board starts its annual three-day meetings Aug. 4 to review both military readiness and decide promotions in the army amid growing regional unrest that has put Turkish borders with Iraq and Syrian into jeopardy.

Presidential hopeful Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has belittled the portrayal of his main competitor Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu as an impartial statesman, saying the Turkish people will not be electing “an ornamental president” when they go to the ballot boxes next month.

Social media has become a factor threatening countries in the new world order, Turkey’s chief of staff, Gen. Necdet Özel, said May 29 at a military drill in İzmir.

“Different threats have occurred in the new world order. Countries are being subjected to colorful changes and seasonal revolutions formed by information technology and social media, Özel said.