fethullah gulen

BERLIN, Nov 6 – A European Commission report on Turkey’s progress towards European Union membership cites problems with press freedoms and independence of the judiciary, Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung said on Sunday. The German newspaper said that the report, to be published on Wednesday, described “a significant relapse” in press freedom and said legal decisions over

ANKARA, Nov 5  – Turkish authorities ordered the formal arrest pending trial on Saturday of nine executives and journalists of a leading opposition newspaper who were detained on Monday, broadcaster NTV said. The detention of the editor-in-chief and senior staff of Cumhuriyet over the secularist newspaper’s alleged support for a failed coup in July was

By Daren Butler and Humeyra Pamuk ISTANBUL, Nov 1  – Turkey‘s secularist Cumhuriyet newspaper vowed “we will not surrender” in a front-page headline on Tuesday, a day after its editor and a dozen top staff were detained on accusations of supporting a failed July coup. Dozens of people staged a vigil in protest at the

By Humeyra Pamuk and Daren Butler ISTANBUL, Oct 31  – Turkish police detained the editor and a dozen senior staff from the main secularist opposition newspaper on Monday, a day after 10,000 more civil servants were sacked over suspected links to a failed July coup. Turkey’s crackdown since rogue soldiers tried to seize power on

ISTANBUL, Oct 30  – Turkish authorities have dismissed more than 10,000 civil servants over their suspected links with U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, blamed by Ankara for orchestrating the failed coup in July. Thousands of academics, teachers and health workers were among those removed through a new emergency rule decree published on the Official Gazette late

ANKARA, Oct 26 – Turkish authorities have replaced three quarters of provincial police heads, the Official Gazette showed on Wednesday, part of a sweeping crackdown that began in July after a failed coup. Since the coup attempt, Turkey has arrested 35,000 people and sacked or suspended more than 100,000 others in the civil service, judiciary,

By Luke Baker ISTANBUL, Oct 11 – Looking across Istanbul’s skyline, it is impossible not to be struck by the array of red-and-white, star-and-crescent flags fluttering from buildings, monuments, bridges and flagpoles. Patriotism in Turkey has always been strong, but in the wake of July’s failed coup by members of the military, President Tayyip Erdogan

ISTANBUL, Oct 6 – Twenty suspects including Turkish soldiers and a deputy governor were jailed pending trial on Thursday, accused of belonging to a “sleeper cell” to be activated if a July military coup attempt had been successful, state-run Anadolu Agency said. The move followed Wednesday’s dismissal of 540 soldiers from the naval and forces

ANKARA, Oct 5 – Turkey detained 55 military and intelligence agency personnel on Wednesday over suspected links with U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen and his network, accused by Ankara of orchestrating a failed coup in July, media reports said. In the latest of a stream of raids targeting those suspected of ties to the putsch, police

By Tuvan Gumrukcu and Humeyra Pamuk ANKARA/ISTANBUL, Oct 4 – Turkish authorities suspended nearly 13,000 police officers, detained dozens of air force officers and shut down a TV station on Tuesday, widening a state-ordered clampdown against perceived enemies in the wake of July’s failed coup. The police headquarters said 12,801 officers, including 2,523 chiefs, had