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Al-Qaeda chief kills Turkish hostage on film By Paul Willis (Filed: 24/09/2006) A video purporting to show the new leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq murdering a Turkish hostage has appeared on the internet. If authentic, the recording would be the first known footage of Abu Ayyoub al-Masri, a Sunni Muslim who is said to have assumed leadership of the organisation after the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in an American airstrike in June. The items were posted on Friday night with a statement identifying Masri, also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajer, as the executioner. Masri appears flanked by two men...

Turkish novelist wins free speech case By David Rennie, Europe Correspondent (Filed: 22/09/2006) A best-selling novelist was yesterday cleared by a Turkish court of insulting her country in a case regarded as the latest test of free speech for a nation vying to join the European Union. Both the government in Ankara and the European Commission expressed relief when Elif Shafak was acquitted of the charge of "insulting Turkishness". A protester in Istanbul vents her anger on a poster of Elif Shafak Nationalists had brought the case after she wrote a novel in which fictional characters discussed the massacre of...

Turkish pilot mistakes airports due to poor English 17.08.2006 Poor command of English is said to be why the pilot of a Turkish charter plane landed by mistake at a Polish airbase close to the western city of Poznan and not a civilian airport, situated a dozen kilometers away. After a 3 hour stop over, the plane with 200 Polish tourists on board was allowed to fly to the civilian airport. Ground control said the woman pilot of a Boeing 737 listened to their command but could not tell why she landed at the Krzesiny military airport. A spokesman for...

Turkey shortlists Rooivalk attack chopper Cape Town – It is an awe-inspiring sight, watching a nine-ton attack helicopter perform a loop and barrel rolls – the aeronautical equivalent of Luciano Pavarotti performing a perfect pike on the diving board. But this is exactly what Denel Aviation‘s CSH-2 Rooivalk attack helicopter can do – although that is not part of its operational flying capabilities. The Rooivalk was designed to fly in all weather conditions day or night at extremely low level, sometimes at an altitude of 10m, to avoid being detected. Developed in the 1990s, the Rooivalk (“Red Hawk”) is used...

Hakan Yildirim says he is fully behind Germany in the World Cup. If Turkey were in the competition, however, it would be a different story. In the Nordmarkt area of Dortmund, a quarter with many Turkish families, Mr Yildirim, 20, helps run his father's restaurant, the Saray grill. There are many German flags hanging from balconies and lampposts, and protruding from car windows. "We support Germany, of course. We live here, we eat their bread!" says Mr Yildirim. "Our families are here and our future is here." In other Turkish areas it is no different. There were reports of celebratory...

Greek, Turkish Jets Collide Over Aegean By DEREK GATOPOULOS, Associated Press Writer Warplanes from Greece and Turkey collided over the Aegean Sea as they shadowed each other Tuesday in disputed airspace, and officials said the Turkish pilot was rescued unhurt. There were conflicting reports on the fate of the Greek pilot. A Turkish Foreign Ministry statement said the Greek pilot had died, but officials in Athens said a rescue operation was still under way. The two F-16 fighter jets collided over international waters near the island of Karpathos after two Greek jets intercepted two Turkish warplanes, military officials from both...

Persecution and martyrdom of Christians under 20th century totalitarianism - mainly of Russian Orthodox Christians under Bolshevism - is by far the greatest crime in all of recorded history. It is several times greater than the Holocaust in terms of innocent lives brutally destroyed. It has killed more Christians in a few decades than all other causes put together in all ages, with Islam a distant second as the cause of their death and suffering. And yet it still remains a largely unknown, often minimized, or scandalously glossed over crime. According to the respected and reliable OUP World Christian...

USS PORTER, At Sea (NNS) -- USS Porter (DDG 78) departed the Black Sea country of Georgia April 10, after being at anchor outside the city of Poti for four days. Within hours, Porter was at work strengthening enduring and emerging partnerships not only with the Georgian navy, but also the Turkish navy. "I think it's the first time we have done a trilateral exercise underway with the Georgian, Turkish and U.S. Navies," noted Commander, Task Force 67 Capt. Bob Lally, who assumed tactical control of the guided-missile destroyer before it entered the Black Sea, April 4. "Cooperative training helps...

WASHINGTON, March 24, 2006 – Turkish-American relations are critical to the health of the United States, the top U.S. military officer said here today. In a wide-ranging interview, Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke to Murat Akgun of Turkey's NTV network about a number of aspects of life in Turkey's geopolitical neighborhood. Iraq dominated the discussion, with Pace talking about what's right and wrong in the country. He said the training of Iraqi security forces is moving ahead well. Iraqi troops, he said, control more than half of Baghdad and about a third of...

Troops are urged to avoid theaters with Turkish film Army says “Kurtlar Vadisi Irak” depicts GIs as indiscriminate killers A woman stands next to a billboard featuring the new Turkish movie “Valley of the Wolves Iraq” in Istanbul, Turkey. Tickets for the movie, the latest of a genre of pop culture works feeding off growing anti-American sentiment in Turkey, are selling out across the country. Soldiers in Europe have been advised to avoid movie theaters showing a new Turkish film that depicts U.S. soldiers as indiscriminate killers of Iraqis, according to an Army communication circulated last week. In a...

Chickens run rings around Turkish bird flu busters Colin Freeman in Kusadasi (Filed: 15/01/2006) For the boiler-suited bird flu team from Kusadasi town council, the question of why the chicken crossed the road was no laughing matter. Having pecked his way out of a wriggling sackful of condemned birds, the white cockerel sprinted from the council depot and across a dual carriageway, forcing several staff to dodge the rush-hour traffic in pursuit. A Turkish boy and a municipality worker try to catch chickens The chicken's escape was thwarted only by Ayhan Bekmez, one of 90 council staff pressed into service...

Turkish boy's death not bird flu Officials have been taking precautions in Turkey A 14-year-old Turkish boy who died at the weekend was not killed by bird flu, the country's health ministry says. The boy was initially feared to have died from the same virus that has killed more than 70 people in Asia. Three of his siblings, who were also taken ill, have also tested negative for the disease, while tests on two others have still not been returned. It is still not clear what did kill Mehmet Ali Kocyigit, officials said. "The disease is not caused by bird...

As bedtime approached, some of the children began to cry, fearful that "the soldiers" were going to come and kill them in their sleep.

ANKARA, Turkey - Turkish police detained a Syrian who is believed to have been a go-between for al-Qaida and a Turkish cell that carried out deadly 2003 bombings in Istanbul and said Wednesday they are pursuing other militants. Turkish media said the Syrian was one of 10 people detained who were plotting to attack Israeli cruise ships docking at vacation resorts on the Mediterranean coast, but police later denied the reports. Israel on Monday urged its citizens not to visit beach resorts on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey and five cruise liners carrying some 5,000 people were diverted from Turkey...

Rojda was 13 when she was raped two years ago by a neighbor in this hardscrabble Kurdish province. In order to "cleanse" her honor, she was forced to marry her attacker in an unofficial Islamic-style ceremony. He later was convicted of raping a 7-year-old boy and has been imprisoned. But Rojda's troubles were far from over, according to an account of her ordeal provided by her family and attorneys. She allegedly was raped again in March by her father-in-law, who she said demanded she prostitute herself to earn her keep. When Rojda refused, the relatives and attorneys charge, a group...

ANKARA, Turkey - A Turkish group uniting hundreds of businesses and organizations demanded Tuesday that Arnold Schwarzenegger's movies be banned from Turkish television to protest the California governor's use of the term genocide to describe the massacre of Armenians by Turks during World War I. Schwarzenegger, a former actor best known for his role in "The Terminator," declared April 24 a "Day of Remembrance of the Armenian Genocide." California has one of the largest populations of diaspora Armenians. An umbrella organization grouping some 300 Ankara-based associations, unions and businesses and led by the Ankara Chamber of Commerce said it launched...

ISTANBUL, Turkey - Turkish bookshops have a best seller, but some of them are hesitant about giving it too much display. It's "Mein Kampf." The popularity of Adolf Hitler's book, filled with anti-Jewish diatribes and dreams of world domination, is puzzling some Turks. Does it reflect rising anti-Semitic or anti-Western sentiment in Muslim Turkey? Or anger over Israel's treatment of the Palestinians and the war in Iraq (news - web sites)? Is it a backlash against the country's moves to join the European Union (news - web sites)? Or does it simply offer a cheap thrill? At least two new...

PRESIDENT STEPHANOPOULOS ADDRESSED GREEK EMIGRANTS IN BELGIUM Athens, 4 February 2005 (16:00 UTC+2) Hellenic Republic President Kostis Stephanopoulos addressed Greek emigrants during the last day of his visit to Belgium. Mr. Stephanopoulos was deeply moved when he referred to his origin saying that he comes from the Peloponese, Northern Epirus in south Albania and Cyprus and pointed out that he comes from two still occupied parts of Greece. He added that Europe is a new united motherland in which no nationality is lost. He called on the Greeks to welcome the immigrants arriving in Greece like the hospitable Belgium did,...

THE extent of a food poisoning outbreak at two Turkish restaurants in Melbourne's inner-north continues to grow, with authorities investigating more than 400 suspected cases. The Department of Human Services (DHS) has confirmed 24 cases, with seven people in hospital, including an 18-month-old baby. The Alasya Restaurant and Alasya 2, both in Sydney Road, Brunswick, were closed on Wednesday night after the outbreak was discovered. They underwent heavy cleaning yesterday. Bread from an adjoining bakery, Alasya Cakes, which was distributed to a number of restaurants and cafes around Melbourne, was recalled today after the department discovered it had not undergone...