Latest Ankara News
Turkey mediates between Somalia and Ethiopia to ease diplomatic tensions
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey on Monday mediated talks between Somalia and Ethiopia to ease diplomatic tensions between the east African neighbors, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said. Tensions between the two African countries have simmered since Ethiopia signed a memorandum of...
Turkey's president accuses opposition of stoking racism after anti-Syrian rioting erupts
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused opposition parties of stoking xenophobia and racism on Monday, a day after residents in a neighborhood in central Turkey set Syrian-owned shops on fire. The rioting erupted in the Melikgazi region of central...
Turkey's president expresses willingness to restore diplomatic ties with Syria
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday that there is no obstacle preventing Turkey and Syria from restoring diplomatic ties that were cut off at the start of the Syrian civil war more than a decade ago. His comments came just days after Syrian...
Turkey's Erdogan pardons elderly generals imprisoned over 1997 'postmodern coup'
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday pardoned seven former top military officers who were sentenced to life terms in prison over the ouster of an Islamic-led government in 1997. The former generals, who are in their late 70s and 80s, were pardoned...
Turkey sentences pro-Kurdish politicians to lengthy prison terms over deadly 2014 riots
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A Turkish court on Thursday sentenced several pro-Kurdish politicians to between nine and 42 years in prison over deadly riots in 2014 by Kurds angered by what they perceived to be government inaction against Islamic State group militants who had besieged the Syrian border...
Greek and Turkish leaders seek to stress thawing relations but tensions remain under the surface
ISTANBUL (AP) — The leaders of Greece and Turkey met Monday for talks aimed at underlining their efforts to put aside decades-old disputes, but they also revealed deep divisions over the Israel-Hamas war. Speaking at a news conference in Ankara following the two-hour face-to-face...
Wary of wars in Gaza and Ukraine, old foes Turkey and Greece test a friendship initiative
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Old foes Turkey and Greece will test a five-month-old friendship initiative Monday when Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visits Ankara. The two NATO members, which share decades of mutual animosity, a tense border and disputed waters, agreed to...
Turkey formally opens another former Byzantine-era church as a mosque
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan formally opened a former Byzantine church in Istanbul as a mosque on Monday, four years after his government had designated it a Muslim house of prayer, despite criticism from neighboring Greece. Turkey formally converted...
Sudanese military leader's son dies of injuries following a motorcycle crash in Turkey
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — The son of Sudan’s army chief, Abdel Fattah Burhan, has died in hospital on Friday two months after he was severely injured in a motorcycle accident in the Turkish capital, Ankara, Turkey's state-run news agency reported. Mohammed Fattah Burhan Rahman was...
Turkey says it backs outgoing Dutch prime minister Rutte's candidacy for NATO chief
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey has told its NATO allies that Ankara will back the Netherlands’ outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s candidacy for the military alliance’s secretary general position, a senior Turkish official said Monday. The official said Turkey notified NATO...
