Turkey

Turkish police has surrounded the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul following disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi, prominent Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist, inside. Khashogg is thought to be in the building, Turkish sources have told Middle East Eye.

“Turkish authorities contacted their Saudi counterparts at around 9pm local time (7pm BST) on Tuesday evening, informing them that security forces had surrounded the consulate.”, said a source quoted by the Middle East Eye.

ANKARA, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signaled on Monday a potentially new military offensive in neighboring Syria against a Kurdish faction, aiming to secure control of the northern region east of the Euphrates River.

Speaking at the opening of the parliament in Ankara, Erdogan said that Turkey would act against the People's Protection Units (YPG) militia, the Syrian affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is designated by Turkey, the United States and EU as a terrorist organization.

By Aziz Aslan 

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey; 20 Sep 2018; AA: A Turkish lawyer on Thursday filed a criminal complaint against several Myanmar officials on charges of committing genocide against Rohingya Muslims and crimes against humanity in Myanmar's Rakhine State.  

Lawyer Hasan Bozdas submitted the complaint against 22 high-ranking officials of the southeast Asian nation to the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, also accusing them of other crimes to be revealed after investigations.  

ANKARA, September 17. /TASS/. Turkey is determined to continue strengthening its military positions in Syria’s Idlib province, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters upon returning from Azerbaijan on Monday.

"It is true that we have been strengthening the positions of our troops [in Idlib]. We cannot afford to have any weak spots," he said, as cited by the Haberturk newspaper. "If we don’t strengthen our observation points, then someone else will take the initiative, which may lead to civilian harm," Erdogan added.

ANKARA, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- Turkey will review and freeze the new government investment projects as part of efforts to keep budget balance and fight against double-digit inflation, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday.

"We are not considering any fresh investments right now," Erdogan told his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) provincial heads in Ankara.

One day earlier, Erdogan said in another speech that Turkey "will not start any projects which have barely been kicked off or which have not even been tendered yet."

ANKARA, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Qatari emir has given Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a Boeing 747-8 aircraft as a gift, reportedly the world's largest and most expensive private jet, a local newspaper reported Thursday.

The luxurious jet, worth about 367 million U.S. dollars, landed in Istanbul's Sahiba Gokcen International Airport from France, Daily Yeni Safak reported.

By Hasan Namli

BATMAN, Turkey; 10 Sep 2018; AA: A small Islamic monastery, also known as zawiya, in southeastern Turkey dating back to the 12th century was relocated Monday to a new site to prevent it from flooding when a new dam opens. 

A 256-wheeler flatbed truck moved the shrine part of the 850-ton ancient Artuqid-era religious school for one-and-a-half hours, to a cultural park in the district of Hasankeyf in the Batman province.  

The first part of the zawiya was carried some 2.4 kilometers away from its original spot. 

TASS, September 2. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated that his country is not willing to ask anybody for permission to buy S-400 defense missile systems from Russia, the Milliyet newspaper reported.

"We have made an agreement with Russia on S-400, and some are concerned by that. I’m sorry, but we’re not going to ask anyone for permission," the newspaper quotes Erdogan.

On August 31, the Turkish leader said that Turkey hopes to receive the missile systems "as soon as possible".

ANKARA, Sep. 2 (Xinhua) -- As the Turkish-U.S. ties remain deeply strained, Ankara's relationship with Europe is steadily warming, where cooperation seems to have taken the upper hand over confrontation.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is scheduled to pay a state visit to Germany in late September, the first of its kind in four years.

Meanwhile, the Turkish leader is also likely to host a summit between France, Germany and Russia, in the absence of the United States, to discuss the Syria issue.

By Diyar Guldogan

ANKARA; 28.08.2018; AA: Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu spoke with his Pakistani counterpart Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Tuesday and voiced Ankara's desire to further strengthen ties with Islamabad, according to the Pakistani Foreign Ministry.

In a statement, the ministry said: "Mr. Cavusoglu expressed a strong desire of the government of Turkey to strengthen the existing close and friendly relations between the two countries.