Turkey tracking for month of March 2017

When will Erdogan fall?
I can't stand the man but I love the stuff he says about the EU.  Hilarious!!

Turkish intelligence submits names of 122,000 ByLock users for prosecution

Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) has submitted a list of names and mobile phone numbers of 112,000 people who use ByLock, a mobile application that Turkish authorities believe is a communication tool between members of the faith-based Gülen movement, to the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office for prosecution.

According to the HaberTürk daily on Wednesday, MIT also forwarded the list and around 18 million chat messages between users of the app to the Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime Unit in Security General Directorate in Ankara.

Tens of thousands of civil servants, police officers and businessmen have either been dismissed or arrested for using ByLock since a failed coup attempt last July....

7.5 years jail time sought for teacher over comments during live talk show

An indictment prepared by an Istanbul prosecutor seeks up to a seven-and-a-half-year sentence for Turkish teacher Ayse Çelik on charges of “promoting terrorist organization propaganda” for comments made on Turkish television program the “Beyaz Show.”

On the night of Jan 8, 2016, a woman who introduced herself as Ayse Çelik went live on the “Beyaz Show,” hosted by renowned Turkish comedian Beyazit Öztürk, and talked about the clashes that had been raging for months between Kurdish militants and Turkish security forces in Diyarbakir, the largest city of the mainly Kurdish Southeast.........

FDD's @aykan_erdemir w/ @cenksidar on Turkey's media witch hunt & preposterous charges putting journalists in prison https://t.co/8VU0CDiNOn pic.twitter.com/ppK1a3fha1

— FDD (@followFDD) March 2, 2017

Merkel demands release of jailed journalist Yucel in Turkey
Yucel was jailed Monday pending a trial on charges of terrorist propaganda and inciting hatred
Berlin: Chancellor Angela Merkel has demanded the release of German journalist Deniz Yucel from Turkish custody.

Merkel called on Turkey to free Yucel and said Wednesday night that “independent journalism must be able to exist” journalists must be able to do their job.”

Yucel, 43, who was detained in Istanbul on Feb. 14 over his reports in German daily Welt about a hacker attack on the email account of Turkey’s energy minister, wrote defiantly in Welt on Thursday that “even though they robbed my freedom, their interrogations and reasoning still make me laugh.”....


Turkey’s Erdogan accuses Germany of 'Nazism' amid row over rallies

What good is it if a man gains great political power but permanently loses his country and its international partners? Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan might soon find out.
Erdogan is running an increasingly divisive campaign in the run-up to the April 16 referendum to possibly expand his role in Turkish politics. In recent days, his tone has become more disdainful
and dangerous than usual. On March 5, it was reported that several German municipalities
had canceled rallies by a Europe-based Turkish nongovernmental organization allied with
Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). The rallies would have involved
speeches by ministers of Erdogan’s AKP with the intention of whipping up votes to pass the
referendum among Turkish citizens living in Germany and other European countries.
Erdogan blamed the cancellations on the German federal government and charged that the
move was “not much different than Nazi practices.” The irony here is that Erdogan uttered
 remarks in 2016 that some observers interpreted as admiration for Adolf Hitler.....


Turkish military says 71 Kurdish militants killed in Syria in last week

The Turkish military said on Friday 71 Kurdish militants from the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia and the allied PKK had been killed in operations in Syria over the past week.
Turkey launched an operation to drive Islamic State away from its border with Syria in August, and has said that it would strike the US-backed YPG if necessary to prevent them seizing territory there....

Moment when #Dutch DSI Units disarmed the Bodyguards of #Turkey  Minister Kaya in #Rotterdam #Netherlands h/t @Brasco_Aad pic.twitter.com/DBWELnMQmZ

— Aldin ???? (@CT_operative) March 13, 2017

Turkey accused of unlawful killings, destruction in southeast: UN report

UN investigators documented numerous killings, disappearances and torture, as well as other human rights violations
About 2,000 people were killed and entire neighborhoods razed in southeastern Turkey in 18 months of government security operations characterised by massive destruction and serious human rights violations, the United Nations said on Friday.

The UN human rights office said in a report on the period July 2015-December 2016 that up to 500,000 people, mostly Kurds, had been displaced, while satellite imagery showed the "enormous scale of destruction of the housing stock by heavy weaponry".

The UN investigators documented numerous killings, disappearances and torture, as well as other human rights violations. The most serious abuses took place during periods of curfew imposed for several days at a time.

Almost 800 of those killed were members of the security forces, and an unspecified number of the other 1,200 may have been involved in violent or non-violent action against the state, the report said.......


Dutch police deport Turkish minister to Germany after barring her from consulate in Rotterdam

 Turkey’s family affairs minister has been escorted to the Dutch-German border as crowds of Turkish protesters rallied at the consulate in Rotterdam. The minister was earlier prevented from staging a pro-Erdogan rally outside the diplomatic premises.

Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya was detained by the Dutch police at the consulate before being further escorted to Germany, RTL News reported.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte issued a statement, calling the visit of the Turkish minister “irresponsible” and the rhetoric by Turkish authorities “unacceptable.”

“In mutual contact with Turkey, Netherlands has repeatedly made it clear that public order and security in our country should not be compromised,” Rutte said, adding that the Dutch government repeatedly told its Turkish counterparts that Kaya is “not welcome in the Netherlands.”

"Minister Kaya is on her way to Germany, accompanied by police. Her car is being driven back. This also applies to her guards and employees," Rotterdam’s mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb told news agency NOS.

In a televised statement, Aboutaleb accused Turkish officials at the general consulate of “misleading” him on the forthcoming visit of Kaya. The mayor claimed that the Turkish consul general told him nothing had been planned for that day in the consulate.....

Turkey’s Erdogan Wants Northern Syria and Iraq Annexed

His aim is longstanding. In December 2015, heavily armed Turkish forces invaded Iraq, an act of aggression, occupying territory near Mosul, on the phony pretext of combating ISIS he supports.

His real aim is seizing the area’s valued oil fields, a prize he’s long coveted.

Last August, he invaded northern Syria, his aggression code-named Operation Euphrates Shield – aiding anti-government forces, combating Kurdish YPG fighters, not terrorists.

His forces seized Jarabulus in northwestern Syria straightaway, continued advancing east.

Last November, he said his goal is gaining control over “5,000 square km (1,900 square miles) including al-Bab, Manbij and Tell Rifaat, creating a national structure and army for this expanded area to provide solid control and to allow the refugees return to these areas jointly with EU, and after these, focusing on IS’s de facto capital Raqqa and” YPG Kurdish fighters.

In late November, he said he launched cross-border military operations “to end the rule of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.” Days later, he retracted his statement. He can’t undo what he said.

America and other rogue states support his aggression, the Pentagon saying it supports YPG fighters. Obama said Turkey is a “strong NATO ally.” He lied claiming both countries are working to defeat ISIS.

US-installed NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg “welcome(d) Turkey’s increasing efforts to fight against ISIL. Turkey has a right to defend itself,” he said, ignoring his naked aggression in two regional countries, along with his tyrannical homeland rule........




Turkish Newspaper Depicts Merkel as Hitler


A Turkish daily has released its latest front cover bearing an illustration of the German chancellor wearing an SS uniform and a toothbrush mustache.
A Turkish daily newspaper published an illustration of German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a Nazi uniform next to a swastika on Friday, an act which is certain to throw another wrench into an already deeply damaged relationship between Germany and Turkey.

The image on Günes‘s front cover shows a grim-looking Ms. Merkel in an SS uniform detailed with insignia, sporting a toothbrush mustache like that of Adolf Hitler beside the words “Mrs. Hitler” in German and “ugly aunt” in Turkish.

“She is not at all different from Hitler,” the inner section reads....

Turkey targets Dutch with diplomatic sanctions as 'Nazi' row escalates

Turkey said on Monday it would suspend high-level diplomatic relations with the Netherlands after Dutch authorities prevented its ministers from speaking at rallies of expatriate Turks, deepening the row between the two NATO allies.

The sanctions - which include a ban on the Dutch ambassador and diplomatic flights from the Netherlands but do not appear to include economic measures or travel restrictions for ordinary citizens - mark another low point in relations between Turkey and the European Union, which it still officially aims to join....


NATO urges Turkey, Austria to end spat blocking programs

NATO urged Turkey and Austria on March 15 to settle a dispute over Ankara’s EU membership bid, which has led Turkey to block cooperation with the alliance’s partner countries.

Confirming press reports, a NATO official said: “We regret the current situation and the impact it is having on all of our cooperation programs with partners.”

“NATO supports constructive dialogue between countries. We count on our ally Turkey and our partner Austria to solve their bilateral issue swiftly,” the official said.

Austrian Defense Ministry spokesman Stefan Hirsch confirmed to AFP that the “Turkish blockade of Austria’s partner programs with NATO began several months ago.” ....


Germany Turkey: 30,000 Kurds in Frankfurt anti-Erdogan protest

Some 30,000 Turkish Kurds have held a demonstration in the German city of Frankfurt against the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Protesters came from all over Germany ahead of Kurdish new year celebrations.

They called for democracy and a No vote in next month's Turkish referendum on increasing presidential powers. Many carried symbols of the banned PKK....




Turkey 'spied' on pro-Gulen opponents in Germany

German Interior Minister Thomas De Maiziere has said Turkey will not be allowed to spy on Turks living in Germany.

Reports say the head of Turkey's intelligence service handed a list of people suspected of opposition sympathies to his German counterpart.

The list is said to include surveillance photos and personal data....




Kurdish voters stabbed outside Turkish consulate in Brussels – reports

Protests have erupted after Turkish government supporters allegedly attacked and injured three Kurds going to vote in Turkey’s constitutional referendum at its consulate in Brussels, local media report.
Three Kurds were attacked by knife-wielding supporters of the Turkish ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), Kurdish ANF news agency reports.

According to Le Soir.be, there was a brawl at 4pm local time between opponents and supporters of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.......




Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of March 26, 2017
Istanbul court orders release, pending trial, of at least 19 journalists
Istanbul's 25th Court for Serious Crimes today ordered the release, pending trial, of at least 19 journalists imprisoned in direct relation for their work following the July 2016 failed military coup, according to news reports. The court did not drop any charges against the journalists, who had been imprisoned awaiting trial for roughly eight months. They will now be required to check in with local police and are still banned from foreign travel. The journalists released by Istanbul's 25th Court for Serious Crimes today, and their outlets, are:......