Turkey has become a key global hub of illicit and terrorist financing – undermining U.S. counter-terrorism efforts against Sunni jihadists and playing a key role in busting Washington’s sanctions against Iran – according to a new report [PDF] published last week by Jonathan Schanzer, vice president for research at the Foundation for Defense...
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The Daily Beast on Thursday conveyed the contents of a letter signed by what the outlet described as “more than 80 top foreign policy figures from across the political spectrum,” calling on President Barack Obama to confront Turkey over Ankara’s ongoing crackdown against civil liberties, human rights, and the rule of law....
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Arabic, American, and Israeli outlets have all in recent days published pointed analysis questioning the degree to which Turkey can still be called a genuine democracy, as the country’s government moved to consolidate recently-passed measures that severely censor Internet use and empower Ankara to conduct broad online surveillance. Writing in...
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Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday announced that Ankara will refuse to normalize relations with Israel until Jerusalem lifts its blockade of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, raising fears that the Turkish leader was backsliding on commitments made to President Barack Obama in the context of a U.S-backed effort to achieve rapprochement between Turkey...
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Turkey under Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has developed something of a reputation – emphasized in what has become an annual tradition of watchdog criticism – for being the world’s top jailer of journalists. Turkey’s legislature recently passed a law institutionalizing mass censorship and surveillance of the Internet, triggering State...
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The State Department Thursday condemned new Turkish legislation passed last week that places sharp limits on internet use and freedom. “We share the concerns recently expressed by the OSCE’s representative on freedom of the media – and there was a whole statement that I’d point you to – that these proposed measures...
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National Journal on Thursday published analysis detailing how terror activities being facilitated by the Turkish government – Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other top officials have provided “protection and access” to terrorist members from a range of groups, including Hamas and Al Qaeda – have now reached a point where they “threaten future cooperation...
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Turkish media outlet Hurriyet Daily News described early on Monday the final compensation figure that Israel will provide to Turkey as part of a reconciliation deal between the two countries, years after Ankara largely froze bilateral relations in the aftermath of a U.N. report that confirmed Jerusalem’s legal interpretation of a 2010...
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Roughly 800 Turkish police officers were fired or reassigned on Thursday – 500 just from Ankara, and another 274 from Turkey’s third most populous city Izmir – marking the latest in a series of anti-judiciary purges being conducted by Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). The AKP has for months been locked in...
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The Swiss government yesterday fully suspended some trade bans on Iran and relaxed mandatory reporting requirements across a range of additional sectors, a day after news emerged that Iran intends to use banks in Japan, South Korea, and Switzerland to reestablish ties to the international financial system. Agence France-Presse reported on Tuesday that Tehran...
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