Turkey for the month of April 2018

Erdogan is pure evil. 

Turkish Lira Tumbles To Record Low After Erdogan Promise To "Rescue Investors From High Rates"

The Turkish Lira accelerated its recent demise today - breaking below two critical thresholds - as President Erdogan rebuffed investor calls for higher rates to tamp down excess growth (inflation), commenting that they "are speaking out of jealousy."...

Turkey demands return of plundered ancient artefacts

At least 150,000 treasures kept in leading museums such as the Louvre in Paris and London's Victoria and Albert Museum....

Erdogan rebuffs Moscow’s call to hand Afrin to Syrian government

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday rejected a call by Moscow to hand control of Afrin province to the Syrian government, saying Ankara would withdraw its forces when it felt the time was right.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at an April 9 news conference that Moscow expects Turkey to relinquish Afrin to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad after having driven out the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) in March. He asserted that Erdogan had “never said that Turkey wants to occupy Afrin.”

“We always proceed from the fact that the easiest way to normalize the situation in Afrin, now that Turkish representatives say that the main goals they set there have been achieved, would be to return the territory under the control of the Syrian government,” Lavrov said.

Erdogan: Close to 4,200 terrorists neutralized during Afrin op

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that nearly 4,200 terrorists had been neutralized since the launch of Operation Olive Branch in northwestern Syria's Afrin.

Turkish authorities often use the word "neutralized" in their statements to imply that the terrorists in question either surrendered or were killed or captured.....

Serious shortcomings’ seen in Turkey’s bid to join European Union

Turkey says the EU report is 'unable to be objective and balanced'
The EU on Tuesday put a damper on Turkey's efforts to join the bloc, saying Ankara's recent spats with European states were "not conducive to good neighbourly relations".

In its latest report on Turkey's long-stalled bid to become a member of the union, the European Commission said "serious shortcomings" on democracy and the rule of law remained.

The Turkish foreign ministry hit back at the report, saying the Commission showed "that it was once again unwilling to understand the difficulties of the period we are passing through" and was "far from understanding the realities of Turkey"....

Turkey’s state of emergency extended for seventh time 

The Turkish Parliament on April 18 extended the ongoing state of emergency for the seventh time for another three months, meaning the upcoming early elections on June 24 will be held under the emergency rule despite widespread disapproval from opposition parties.

Turkey Will Repatriate All Gold From The US In Attempt To Ditch The Dollar 

After Venezuela, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands prudently repatriated a substantial portion (if not all) of their physical gold held at the NY Fed or other western central banks in recent years, this morning Turkey also announced that it has decided to repatriate all its gold stored in the US Federal Reserve and deliver it to the Istanbul Stock Exchange, according to reports in Turkey's Yeni Safak. It won't be the first time Turkey has asked the NY Fed to ship the country's gold back: in recent years, Turkey repatriated 220 tons of gold from abroad, of which 28.7 tons was brought back from the US last year....

Turkey finds 3,000 Gulenists in military, two years after coup attempt

Defence minister said all would be sacked, as parliament approves extending state of emergency in Turkey for another three months
Turkish authorities have identified 3,000 people within the armed forces believed to be linked to the cleric Ankara blames for a 2016 failed coup, Defence Minister Nurettin Canikli said, adding they would be dismissed in the coming days....

Thousands of people have fled #Turkey due to the witch-hunt carried out by #Erdogan against #Gülenists. Many tried to escape from Turkey by illegal means as the government had cancelled their passports like many other thousands pic.twitter.com/EUroWv9fZt

— AlonBenMeir (@AlonBenMeir) May 1, 2018

Bosnia rejects Turkish extradition request against alleged 'Gulenists'

Bosnian court turns down Turkey request for extradition of national allegedly linked to schools run by US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen...

Enforced disappearences in Turkey

Time to act on enforced disappearances in Turkey

In blatant violation of national laws and an open defiance to its commitments under the international human rights laws, Turkish government under the oppressive regime of president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has started again resorting to enforced disappearances and some unlawful abductions, a practice that is reminiscent of dark periods pf 1990s....

Turkey's university faculties unite against being divided

Hundreds of protesters took to the streets in Istanbul and Ankara last week, demonstrating against the government's proposal to split off faculties from many of Turkey's universities to form "new" schools. The government says the move is a pragmatic way to deal with growth, but many opponents believe the plan is motivated simply by greed and politics, rather than what's best for students.