Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan boasted that his nation has the “world’s freest press” Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported Saturday. “Nowhere in the world is the press freer than it is in Turkey. I’m very sure of myself when I say this,” he said in a televised speech to a conference in...

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Turkey in recent days has faced renewed criticism for bolstering non-state Islamist actors, including those who seek to supplant traditional American allies across the region and who are committed to the eradication of Israel. Reports over the weekend conveyed a shift in Qatari foreign policy, away from its traditional ally...

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Iran, the main ally of the Syrian regime, is trying to bring Turkey into an alliance with Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, according to leaked documents published in Al-Arab (Arabic link). The Iranians are doing this using a variety of methods, including emphasizing the growing conflict between the American and Turkish governments. In...

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A diplomatic spat between Ankara and the European Union expanded on Monday, after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan dismissed European criticism over a wave of arrests of media figures this weekend, which saw more than two dozen journalists around the country detained. Among the news outlets affected was Zaman, Turkey’s...

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Increasingly concerned for their safety, Turkey’s Jews are fleeing the country in greater numbers, according to a story today in Hurriyet Daily News, a Turkish newspaper. Citing a recent column in the Turkish-Jewish publication Salom by community leader Mois Gabay, Hurriyet reports: “We face threats, attacks and harassment every day. Hope is fading. Is...

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Turkey is on its way to a popular revolution and a “Turkish spring,” Arab analysts believe. Protests are increasing against the rule of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, especially in light of new corruption scandals. Tens of thousands of people demonstrated (Arabic link) over the last few days against low wages and...

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In a crackdown against domestic opposition, the Islamist government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrested over thirty people yesterday, including the editor of the country’s most popular newspaper, as well as other “police officers, journalists and media workers.” The New York Times reports: Eight other people were on a list of...

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A bipartisan group of lawmakers on Tuesday urged the Treasury Department take additional measures to sanction individuals and groups – including countries – providing financial and material support to Hamas. In a letter addressed to Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David Cohen, 24 of the 29 members of the...

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Imad al-Alami, a senior Hamas official with close ties to Iran, is currently operating out of Turkey according to a report published yesterday in Foreign Policy by Jonathan Schanzer and Grant Rumley, respectively the vice president for research and a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Schanzer...

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Turkey’s ratings on “perceived corruption” have increased sharply, according to a new report published by a global watchdog for government transparency. The report identifying the most and least corrupt countries in the world was published Wednesday by Transparency International. It uses a scale on which 100 represents the cleanest states and...

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