Tracking Turkey for the month of August ...

and waiting for the day Erdogan get his comeuppance for what's he done to Syria.
 
Almost 500 appear in court in Turkey's biggest coup trial yet
People at the court outside Ankara chanted 'We want the death penalty!' and some threw nooses towards the suspects
Nearly 500 people appeared in court on Tuesday in the biggest trial yet of suspects from Turkey's failed coup, facing charges of conspiring to oust the government from an airbase seen as the plotters' hub.

Forty-one of those held were marched into the court outside Ankara one-by-one in a long line in front of television cameras and the public, with each suspect held by two members of the Turkish gendarmerie and flanked by an armed soldier.

People chanted "We want the death penalty!" and some threw nooses towards the suspects. The death penalty has been abolished in Turkey since 2004.

There were also chants of "Martyrs don't die, the nation won't be divided". Some people threw water bottles.........

Publisher mounts legal challenge to Turkey's detention of journalist Deniz Yucel

A German publishing group lodged a complaint to the European Court of Human Rights over Turkey's detention of reporter Deniz Yucel. He was detained in February and stands accused of spreading "terrorist propaganda."
The German publisher WeltN24 has accused Turkey of violating German-Turkish journalist Deniz Yucel's right to freedom of expression and lodged a complaint before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg on Friday.

Yucel's reported on Turkey for one of WeltN24's flagship dailies, "Die Welt," before being arrested by Turkish authorities in February for allegedly spreading terror propaganda.........

FETÖ terrorists to wear standard issue uniforms
The uniform for the FETÖ terrorist organization defendants will be almond-colored, and consists of a shirt and trousers
After one of the defendants appeared at the Fetullah Terror Organization (FETÖ) trial wearing a T-shirt reading “Hero”, sparking public outrage, a “uniform” for the suspects has been considered and decided on by Turkish authorities. The Ministry of Justice discussed the options regarding the prison uniform in detail with textile experts, after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recalled the Guantanamo prisoners’ “uniform” on the first anniversary of the July 15 coup attempt and said that it could be similarly administered for FETÖ terrorists.....

Turkey & Qatar stage military drills amid Gulf diplomatic crisis

 Turkey and Qatar have staged joint military drills showcasing their strategic alliance, according to Qatari media. It comes after Turkish troops moved into Qatar following a diplomatic and transport blockade imposed against Doha by several Arab countries.

The drills were aimed at preparing Qatar's military to defend "vital economic, strategic and infrastructure facilities," Al-Sharq newspaper reported, as quoted by Reuters......

Turkey Detains 42 Suspected Militants in Raids

Turkish police on Friday detained 42 people over suspected militant links in operations across two separate provinces, security sources said and media reported.
 Police detained 22 suspected Wahhabi Daesh [Arabic acronym for "ISIS" / "ISIL"] militants in operations across the eastern province of Elazig, security sources said.

Separately, police detained another 20 people in the southern province of Adana over alleged links to the Kurdistan Workers Party [PKK], the state-run Anadolu news agency said. It said authorities were still seeking 10 suspects.

Ankara had detained more than 5,000 Daesh suspects and deported some 3,290 foreign militants from 95 different countries in recent years, according to Turkish officials. It has also refused entry to at least 38,269 individuals. ....


Police detain 22 Daesh suspects in Turkey's eastern Elazig province

Turkish police detained 22 Daesh suspects in eastern Elazig province, reports said Friday.

Elazig police carried out counter-terrorism operations targeting the terrorist group in the city, governor's office said.

"22 suspects have been detained in simultaneous operations carried out on Aug. 11 as part of the investigation against Daesh terrorist organization" a statement by the office said.

The suspects were brought to the hospital for routine health check-ups and were then transferred to the police headquarters for inquiry.

Major Geopolitical Shift: Turkey Ends Its Support of Syria Opposition Rebels
 as ‘Goodwill Towards Damascus’
This is a potentially incredible breakthrough in the painful 7 year-long Syrian conflict.

As 21WIRE has pointed out previous, aside from Turkey’s key part in facilitating the creation and supply of anti-Syrian terrorist enclaves over the last 7 years, it has also played the central role in the dismantling of Syria’s manufacturing sector centered around the now devastated industrial hub of Aleppo.

That’s what makes this latest news almost unbelievable.

Since 2011, the leadership in Ankara has committed much of its southern territory, a good portion of financial and military resources, as well as nearly all of its diplomatic credibility… for one goal: to destabilize its neighbor and achieve regime change in Damascus.

Perhaps its renewed dialogue and a lucrative Southstream energy partnership with Russia, along with the relative success so far in the Astana Peace Process – and Washington’s disruptive military and financial backing of a prime Turkish arch-enemy, the Kurdish militia in northern Syria, has made Turkish President Erdogan and his inner circle realize that it’s time to reverse course on a 7 year failure, and immeasurable social, civil and economic destruction of their southern neighbor.....


'Enemies of Turkey': Erdogan tells 'countrymen' in Germany not to vote for Merkel's party 

 Turkey's president Recep Erdogan has once again lashed out against Germany, this time branding three of its political parties "enemies of Turkey" and urging his "countrymen" not to vote for them. German Chancellor Angela Merkel's CDU party was included on the list.

"I am calling on all my countrymen in Germany... the Christian Democrats (CDU), SDP, the Green Party are all enemies of Turkey. Support those political parties who are not enemies of Turkey," Erdogan said following Friday prayers in Istanbul, as quoted by Reuters.

"I call on them not to vote for those parties who have been engaged in such aggressive, disrespectful attitudes against Turkey, and I invite them to teach a lesson to those political parties at the ballot box," he said.......


‘Turkish President Erdogan has given up on the European Union’

 The relationship between Turkey and the EU are further deteriorating, Dr. Rainer Rothfuss, geopolitical analyst and consultant, told RT. Rainer Rupp, publicist and former German intelligence officer, also joins the conversation. 

Turkish President Recep Erdogan urged nearly 3 million German Turks not to cast their vote for Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats, Martin Schulz’s Social Democrat Party (SDP) or the Green Party in the upcoming German federal election because of the alleged anti-Turkish stance of the parties.

“You should give them the most beautiful lesson by providing your democratic right… You should vote for those who are not hostile to Turkey,” Erdogan said Saturday, the Hurriyet daily news reported.

Erdogan’s comments triggered a strong reaction from Sigmar Gabriel, the German Foreign Minister, who accused Erdogan of interference in the electoral process........


Turkish PM says further U.S. support to Kurdish YPG will cause problems: NTV

Any additional support given by the United States to Syrian Kurdish YPG fighters will cause problems for Turkey, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim was quoted as saying on Friday.

Speaking to reporters on his return flight from Vietnam, Yildirim also said Turkey was working in cooperation with Russia and Iran in Syria, and there should be no reason for the United States and Turkey to be on opposite sides.

“We are talking about two NATO nations, there should be no reason for there to be (problems). Of course, if they show a stance other than what they have told us on the YPG issue, it would be a problem,” Yildirim was quoted as saying by broadcaster NTV....

Second indictment for Erdogan guards over DC beatdown in May

Turkey’s fraught relations with the United States are heading for further turbulence after a grand jury in Washington indicted 15 Turkish security officials accused of attacking pro-Kurdish protesters in the US capital on May 16 during a visit by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. They include Muhsin Kose, the head of Erdogan’s security detail. In all, 19 people who engaged in acts of violence against the demonstrators outside the Turkish ambassador’s residence on Sheridan Circle were indicted.

Several wounded after blast hits bus in Turkey's Izmir

Seven people were wounded when an explosion hit a shuttle bus carrying prison guards in the Turkish coastal province of Izmir on Thursday, and authorities were investigating a possible terrorist attack, the local mayor said.

The bus was hit as it passed a garbage container at around 7:40 a.m. (0440 GMT), Levent Piristina, the mayor of Izmir’s Buca district, said on Twitter. ....