Turkish coup d'état attempt

The government is drafting a package of comprehensive changes in the criminal procedures act and the penal code in order to make the trials of July 15 coup plotters more efficient, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ has told reporters.

Ongoing instability in Iraq and Syria has affected Turkey more than any other country, Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım said on Oct. 10. 
"The situation to our south in Iraq and Syria affects our country, Turkey, the most," said Yıldırım on Oct. 10 during his speech at the opening ceremony of the 23rd World Energy Congress in Istanbul. 

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım has paid a surprise and unscheduled visit to former President Abdullah Gül in the Maslak area of Istanbul. 

Yıldırım and Gül held a meeting in the latter's office for an hour on Oct. 10. The visit was a "courtesy visit," according to Anadolu Agency. 

Education Minister İsmet Yılmaz accompanied Yıldırım on the visit. 

Turkey is in the process of probing and analyzing around half a million digital documents seized during the July 15 coup investigation, the justice minister has said, emphasizing that the inquiry would leave no doubts that the putsch was carried out under Fethullah Gülen's direction. 

The 23rd World Energy Congress 2016, which will bring together more than 10,000 participants from 85 countries, including 250 ministers and top decision-makers in energy, started in Istanbul on Oct. 9. 

Since July 15, we have been living in a post-coup Turkey - and there is little doubt that it is getting more depressing every week. It is not depressing because the coup failed, of course. Had the coup attempt succeeded, everything would be much worse.

Abandoning visa liberalization talks with Turkey, as suggested by some EU governments, would be a stupid mistake, Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni has said, advising the re-scheduling of the implementation of visa-free travel for Turkish citizens as an October deadline is no longer realistic. 

A plan to pound key state buildings in Ankara with help from a laser-designating and rangefinder device (LİMÖS) on the night of the July 15 coup attempt failed when an anti-coup soldier shot dead a pro-coup general who was responsible for the plot. 

Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım has said he could separately meet with the leaders of two opposition parties next week to finalize weeks-long work on a small-scale constitutional amendment package. 

Turkey has issued yet another 166 arrest warrants for security employees indicted for links with the cleric Fethullah Gulen who, according to Turkish authorities, organised the coup on July 15, reported BNT.

Police units carried out simultaneous operations in 35 provinces of the country and in 26 parts of Istanbul earlier on Friday.