Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu on June 17 engaged in war of words over the 80 Turkish citizen hostages taken by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Iraq.

As Turkey is spending efforts to become a more transparent state, a so-called parallel structure has attempted to topple the government, Turkish Interior Minister Efkan Ala has said at a U.S. conference. Ala’s remarks were referring to the Gülen movement under the U.S.-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, who resides in Pennsylvania in self-exile.

Turkey’s consulate in the Iraqi city of Basra has been evacuated due to security concerns, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu announced June 17. The 18 consulate staff members, including the consul general were were taken to Kuwait, Davutoğlu wrote via his Twitter account.

Turkey's major opposition parties have nominated a single candidate for the upcoming presidential elections by choosing the former chief of an Islamic body.

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.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has refused to comment on the nomination of Ekmelettin İhsanoğlu as the joint opposition presidential candidate, simply stating that the “most valuable evaluation” will be made by the people in the election.

The delay in the government’s Kanal Istanbul project, which aims to reshape Istanbul’s European side with an artificial waterway, has led to changes in plans for the third airport, as land excavated in the canal project was planned to be used to raise the elevation of the airport.

It is apparent Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli have agreed on a joint candidate.

Turkey is facing increasing risks on its borders. Syria was bad enough and now we have the situation in Iraq. Turkey also has strained relations with the West due to Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s policies and generally abrasive attitude, which is seen as being authoritarian in nature.

Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, a senior academic and diplomat nominated June 16 by Turkey’s two major opposition parties as their joint candidate to run against an expected bid by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the August presidential election, has actually become a more visible figure for the Turkish public after his election as the head of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in