Free Republic

If our NATO partner and ally by treaty Turkey is conducting genocide and war crimes against the Kurds, then perhaps we should call on all our NATO partners and allies to condemn Turkey? We are currently committed by treaty to defend TURKEY, NOT the Kurds. We could tear up the treaties with Turkey and NATO and then enter into a mutual defense treaty with Kurdistan, but then what will Russia and Iran do? Oh, wait, there is no country named Kurdistan. This is the way world wars are started.

The U.S. on Monday urged Turkish troops and Kurdish forces in northern Syria to halt their fighting, saying it hinders efforts to defeat the Islamic State group. But Turkey's president vowed to press ahead with the military operation until the IS and Kurdish Syrian fighters no longer pose a security threat to Ankara. It was the first U.S. criticism of its NATO ally since it launched a U.S.-backed incursion into northern Syria to help Syrian rebels seize the town of Jarablus from the Islamic State group. They have been clashing with Kurdish Syrian forces around the town to try to...

Turkey has grown increasingly vocal, and even belligerent, in criticizing the Kurds and U.S. military support for their cause in Syria and Iraq. The situation took a disturbing turn when Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu threatened to attack Kurdish fighters in Syria if they are found to be passing American weapons back to Kurdish insurgents in Syria. As if Syria was not in enough of a military and diplomatic meltdown already, a NATO member is considering bombing the vital U.S. ally on the ground against ISIS while American planes and drones are flying missions out of a Turkish airbase.

There are also almost 200 injured after two explosions in capital Ankara, with unconfirmed reports they were caused by a suicide bomber The death toll from a suspected terrorist blast in the Turkish capital has risen to 97, with dozens more seriously injured. Two suspected terrorist blasts rocked Ankara on Sunday morning, leaving 200 people hurt. Unconfirmed reports said the explosions were caused by a suicide bomber targeting a peace rally, where demonstrators were singing, dancing and waving flags Footage shows dozens of people waving flags and singing before they’re rocked by a huge blast behind them. Pictures from the...

ANKARA - At least 86 people were killed when two suspected suicide bombers hit a rally of pro-Kurdish and leftist activists outside Ankara's main train station on Saturday, weeks ahead of an election, in the deadliest attack of its kind on Turkish soil. Bodies covered by flags and banners, including those of the pro-Kurdish opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), lay scattered on the road among bloodstains and body parts. "Like other terror attacks, the one at the Ankara train station targets our unity, togetherness, brotherhood and future," President Tayyip Erdogan said in a statement, calling for "solidarity and determination". Health...

Two years ago a former supporter, the Lebanese editor Jihad al-Zein, wrote: “Erdogan’s behavior has seemed closer to that of an old-style Arab military ruler,” and who can disagree? The Turkish election results in June were a major setback for the ruling AK (Justice and Development) Party and even more so for President Erdogan, who had reckoned that his party would be returned with an overwhelming majority, which would make it possible to change the constitution and give him full executive power. Instead of 400 seats in Turkey’s 550-seat parliament, which Erdogan had called for, the AKP ended up with...

ISTANBUL — Turkish voters delivered a rebuke on Sunday to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as his party lost its majority in Parliament in a historic election that dealt a blow to his ambition to rewrite Turkey’s Constitution and increase his power. The election results represented a significant setback to Mr. Erdogan, an Islamist who has steadily increased his power as president, a partly but not solely ceremonial post. After more than a decade as prime minister, Mr. Erdogan has pushed for more control of the judiciary and cracked down on any form of criticism, including prosecutions of those who insult...

The mould-breaking outcome of TurkeyÂ’s general election on Sunday will be viewed as a personal rebuff for the president, Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan, and as a historic political breakthrough for the countryÂ’s 18 million-strong Kurdish minority, which will be represented by a political party in parliament for the first time.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has suffered a serious setback in the parliamentary elections Sunday, according to initial reports. Four hours after the ballots closed, it appeared that Erdogan's AKP party will not have the required majority for passing reforms in the Turkish constitution. With 90% of the votes counted, the Kurdish HDP party received about 11% of the votes, according to Turkish-language CNN. This places it past the 10% threshold required for entering parliament and would give it about 80 MPs. The party has never before passed the threshold. According to reports, AKP received 42 or 43% of the...

More than 53.7 million Turkish voters head to the polls on June 7 for a crucial parliamentary election. The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has framed the June 7 election in Turkey as a key hurdle on the path to the powerful presidential system that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan wants to introduce. With about 99 percent of the vote counted and despite being well ahead of other parties with the support of around 42 percent of the populace, the AKP seemed set to received fewer than 276 seats – the bare minimum to keep its parliamentary majority. The Kurdish...