Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Monday that associating terrorism solely with Muslims is the greatest obstacle to globally combatting terrorism.
“Do we say Christian terror? Do we say Jewish terror? Are there no Christians and Jews who are involved in terrorism? There are,” Erdoğan said at a symposium on international drug policies and public health in Istanbul.
“Nobody can join Islam and terrorism. The world Islam itself means peace. Is it possible to associate a religion that demands peace with terrorism? The aim is to taint Islam with Daesh and other terror groups,” he added.
“I invite the whole world to unite around a stance against terrorism that is principled and result-oriented.”
A Turkish prosecutor has sought aggravated life sentences for Yusuf Nazik, a key plotter of 2013 Reyhanli attack, judicial sources said on Monday.The prosecutor asked the court to slap Nazik with 53 times aggravated jail term on charges of “destroying the state’s unity and integrity” and “killing intentionally” 52 people, including five children, according to sources who asked not to be named, due to restrictions on speaking to the media.Those injured in the attack and relatives of the victims also attended the hearing at 9th Heavy Criminal Court in capital Ankara, where the attorney of the plotter Nazik was not present.Turkish soldier injured in PKK rocket attackDuring the hearing, Ahmet Tuna, father of a victim, asked Nazik to tell who provided financial support for him during the past five years after the attack and who helped him to cross to Syria from Turkey in the wake of the attack.The hearing was postponed to Feb. 14 as Nazik’s attorney did not take part in the hearing.Arrested by Turkish intelligence in the Syrian port city of Latakia on Sept. 12, Nazik, 34, has confessed to playing a role in the deadly bombing in the town of Reyhanli in Hatay, southern Turkey which killed 53 people.Some 912 buildings, 891 workplaces, and 148 vehicles were also heavily damaged in the attack.Twenty arrested for suspected PKK/KCK links in TurkeyPKK terrorists abuse, rape female members
Multiple life terms sought for plotter of 2013 Reyhanli attack
A Turkish soldier was injured in a rocket attack targeting an outpost in the eastern border province of Iğdır, security sources said Monday.PKK terrorists targeted Martyr Bülent Aydın border outpost on Turkey-Iran border late Sunday, said the sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.The soldier, who was wounded in the leg, was taken to Iğdır State Hospital.An operation was launched to nab the terrorists.In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of nearly 40,000 people.Turkey remands 12 PKK terrorists plotting Istanbul attackPKK terror group increases presence in Iraq’s Kirkuk with Israeli support16 PKK/KCK suspects arrested in southern Turkey
Turkish soldier injured in PKK rocket attack
Turkey’s fight against terror
President Erdoğan lauded the success Turkey’s resolute stance against terrorism has yielded.
“One the most important outcomes of Turkey’s fight against terror is the progress we have made in terms dealing great blows to the drug trade. Terrorism cannot be fought unless it is targeted in all aspects,” Erdoğan said.
Erdoğan said that Turkey's fight against drug trafficking also harms terrorist organizations.
"Addiction and terror resemble each other. The swamp must be drained for an effective fight against both," he added.
At least 20 people including former officials of the opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) were arrested in Turkey's western Izmir province for their suspected links to PKK/KCK terror group, security sources said Monday. The arrests came after Izmir and Menemen Public Prosecutor’s Offices issued arrest warrants for 28 people, who were allegedly spreading the terror group’s propaganda, said sources who asked not to be named, due to restrictions on speaking to the media.The HDP’s former provincial co-chair M.G. and former Menemen district head M.A. were among the arrested suspects, the sources said.A police hunt for other suspects is underway.In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of nearly 40,000 people.PKK terrorists abuse, rape female membersTurkey remands 12 PKK terrorists plotting Istanbul attack
Twenty arrested for suspected PKK/KCK links in Turkey
The PKK terrorist organization is not only known for its activities against civilians but also for molestation and rape scandals within the group.According to testimonies obtained by Anadolu Agency, the PKK terror group does not only destroy social structures, but it also corrupts and degenerates structures that undermines the identity of women in their own ranks.The testimonies of women terrorists, who have been captured by Turkish security forces or escaped from the terrorist organization, revealed the use of sexual abuse and rape by the PKK terrorists on fellow female members and children.In the testimony to the judicial authorities, a female member of the PKK, identified by the initials A.L., said a male PKK terrorist abused her physically and verbally and tried to rape her.She noted that not only her but other women in the organization were also subjected to abuses and harassment, saying that’s the reason she decided to leave the terror ranks.Another female member, identified by the initials B.B., said in her testimony that not only women but also nearly 30 children -- including girls and boys -- between the ages of 9 and 14 at the youth battalion of the PKK were sexually abused.She said she had witnessed some girls were brought to local hospitals for abortion.In another testimony, a female terrorist, identified by the initials M.T., said the “high-ranking” terrorists had raped and sexually assaulted female members of the PKK.The incidents were covered up due to the involvement of the “high-ranking” members of the terrorist group.Another female insider, identified by initial, K.A., also said that the terrorist members in commanding positions sexually abuse the female terrorists of the organization."There is no power to prevent this," she said.Turkey remands 12 PKK terrorists plotting Istanbul attack'Ugly face'She said that she knows many women, who fled the terrorist organization after seeing its "ugly face.”Another terrorist, identified by the initials Y.S., said women are used as sexual objects by the male terrorist members.She said that the sexual abuses are not only limited to women, adding: "They even rape little children abducted from Syria," she added.Earlier, a PKK terrorist, who surrendered to Turkish security forces on Sept. 9, confessed that the group would give drugs to minors, especially young girls, and then sexually abuse them.In August, Anadolu Agency also compiled information about a number of young people who were subjected to such abuse and ended up committing suicide. Moreover, those who resisted sexual abuse were executed by the terrorist group.In one case, a young woman, named Dilan, committed suicide using a hand grenade after being abused by PKK ringleader Murat Karayilan.In another case, a 19-year-old terrorist, identified by the initials S.A., was executed by the PKK after she complained of rape. She is said to have been gang raped by 12 PKK members in a cell.The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey as well as the U.S. and EU.In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK has been responsible for the death of some 40,000 people, including women and children.PKK terror group increases presence in Iraq’s Kirkuk with Israeli support16 PKK/KCK suspects arrested in southern Turkey
PKK terrorists abuse, rape female members
"Therefore, the struggle against addictive products is also a struggle to dry out the resources of terrorism," he said.
The Turkish president reiterated it was not an accident that drugs, alcohol and tobacco fuel terrorist organizations.
He said 52,000 people have been put in jail in Turkey on charges related to drug trafficking.
He added that electronic addiction was also a big threat to the society.
French police detained at least 100 people on Saturday in anti-government protests which sparked by rise in fuel prices in the country, according to security sources.The protests which turned violent as the security forces used tear gas to disperse the “yellow vests” in Paris’ key points, especially on Champs-Elysees.The protesters named after the high-visibility jackets staged the nationwide protests last week.So far, at least two people have been killed, over 750 people, including 136 security guards were injured and 693 people have been detained during one-week demonstrations.Galeri: Paris rocked by second weekend of 'yellow vest' protestsOver a thousand demonstrators also gathered in front of Elysee Palace calling for President Emmanuel Macron to resign.However, French president slammed the violent protesters, saying "Shame on those who attacked citizens, journalists and politicians" on Twitter.He said there is no place for violence in France.Some 106,000 people took part in around 1,600 demonstrations across the country, according to French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner.Demonstrations over the government’s reform policies have recently increased across the country.Millions of people had also taken part in the nationwide demonstrations in May and June.
Over hundred detained in fuel price protests in France
Police fired tear gas and used water cannon to disperse protesters in Paris who are angry over rising fuel costs and President Emmanuel Macron's economic policies, the second weekend of "yellow vest" protests that have caused disruption across France.Several hundred protesters had converged on the Champs Elysees where they faced police sent to prevent them from reaching the nearby presidential Elysee Palace.Some protesters sang the national anthem while others carried signs with slogans saying "Macron, resignation" and "Macron, thief".For more than a week, protesters clad in the fluorescent yellow jackets that all motorists in France must have in their cars have blocked highways across the country with burning barricades and convoys of slow-moving trucks, obstructing access to fuel depots, shopping centres and some factories.Galeri: Paris rocked by second weekend of 'yellow vest' protestsThey are opposed to taxes Macron introduced last year on diesel and petrol which are designed to encourage people to shift to more environmentally friendly transport. Alongside the tax, the government has offered incentives to buy green or electric vehicles.Security forces are concerned that far-left and far-right extremists may infiltrate the demonstrations, escalating the crowd-control challenges. Around 30,000 people are expected to protest in Paris alone, Denis Jacob, secretary general of police union Alternative Police, told Reuters."We know there are ultra-right and ultra-left infiltrators. You can also expect gangs from the suburbs and 'black-blocks'," he said, referring to a militant protest force.Some 3,000 police officers have been drafted in to work in Paris on Saturday, city hall said, with security forces having to handle a demonstration against sexual violence, a soccer match and a rugby game in the capital on the same day.Last Saturday, when nearly 300,000 people took part in the first yellow vest demonstrations countrywide, retailers' daily revenue fell 35 percent, according to consumer groups.Video: French police fire tear gas at fuel price protesters in ParisProtests SpreadThe unrest is a dilemma for Macron who casts himself as a champion against climate change but has been derided as out of touch with common folk and is fighting a slump in popularity.Despite calls for calm from the government, the yellow vest protests have spread to French territories abroad, including the Indian Ocean island of Reunion, where cars were set on fire.The unrest has left two dead and 606 injured in mainland France, the Interior Ministry said on Thursday.While the movement, which has no leader, began as a backlash against higher fuel prices, it has tapped into broader frustration at the sense of a squeeze on household spending power under Macron's 18-month-old government.Since coming to power, Macron has seen off trade union and street demonstrations against his changes to the labour rules, and overhauled the heavily indebted state rail operator. Foreign investors have largely cheered his pro-business administration.But political foes have dismissed him as the "president of the rich" for ending a wealth tax, and voters appear to be growing restless, with the 40-year-old president's popularity slumped at barely 20 percent.
French police fire tear gas at fuel price protesters
“The world is silent and does not see Paris”
Erdoğan called for more coverage of the protests that have rocked France’s Paris and left at least two people dead. Over 750 people, including 136 security guards, were injured and 693 people have been detained during the one-week demonstrations.
“During the Gezi events, international media was always covering Taksim. There are terror events in Paris at the moment, and international media is silent. The world is silent and does not see Paris. Why? Because they don’t want them to be tainted but regardless of this, the world is watching
French police detained at least 100 people on Saturday in anti-government protests which sparked by rise in fuel prices in the country, according to security sources. The protests which turned violent as the security forces used tear gas to disperse the “yellow vests” in Paris’ key points, especially on Champs-Elysees.
The protesters named after the high-visibility jackets staged the nationwide protests last week. Over a thousand demonstrators also gathered in front of Elysee Palace calling for President Emmanuel Macron to resign.