Turkey Live Coverage (9 May): Kurds, Syria, Iraq, and the EU

1800 GMT: The Humanitarian Aid Association (İHH) says Iranian officials helped in determining the whereabouts of the two missing Turkish journalists in Syria.

1645 GMT: Speaking to reporters after the three-hour meeting, Parliament Speaker Cemil Çiçek said the drafting process would commence on Thursday. Political parties will create a catalogue of basic rights and freedoms on Thursday. He said: “The first step of this process is [to determine] basic rights and freedoms."

1625 GMT: In its the U.S.-Turkey Relations: A New Partnership report, the Independent Task Force of Council on Foreign Relations says that "Turkey may not yet have the status of one of Washington's traditional European allies but there is good strategic reason for the bilateral relationship to grow and mature into a mutually beneficial partnership that can manage a complex set of security, economic, humanitarian, and environmental problems." 

1600 GMT: Diyarbakir Dicle University's Rector Aysegul Jale Sarac complained about the insufficient number of academic personnel in the region and showed the 'label of terrorism' for professors' not choosing the eastern part of the country. 

1545 GMT: In response to speculations whether Tariq al-Hashemi will be returned to Iraq, deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said that they would not return someone they had given support to. 

1420 GMT: A specialist corporal was killed when he stepped on a land mine in a rural area of the province of Tunceli. An air-backed operation began immediately. 

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Turkey Live Coverage (2 May): After May Day Celebrations, Back to Politics

See also Syria, Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: "War Crimes" in Idlib, Deaths in Cairo

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2000 GMT: Former political advisor of PM Erdogan Cuneyd Zapsu says: "Syria will be a great market for Turkey as the administration in Damascus will change this year." 

1730 GMT: Hossein Ali, a member of the Kurdistan Alliance group --- an alliance between Kurdistan Democratic Party and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan --- in the Iraqi parliament, said:

The Iraqi Kurds' reliance on Turkey can jeopardize the political future of the Kurdistan region. All throughout history, Turkey has never been and never will be a point of reliance for Iraqi Kurds.

1600 GMT: Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc says the dismissal of Undersecretary of Public Security and Order Murat Ozcelik is out of the question. 

1445 GMT: Among those 100 journalists and 35 distributors who have been in jail since January 2012, 21 including 12 journalists have been put on trial for 254 years in prison, with charge of making "terrorism propaganda". By April 2011, only 47 journalists were in jail.

Besides, 120 summary of proceedings have been prepared for 24 MPs of Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) by prosecutors. 

1400 GMT: Turkish Foreign Ministry reiterates the conditions of a possible rapprochement with Israel.

On its Twitter account, the Ministry says Israel shall apologize, pay compensation to the families of those Turkish citizens killed on board of the Humanitarian Aid Convoy and lift the "inhuman blockade" of the Gaza Strip as soon as possible. 

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Turkey Live Coverage (23 April): The Kurdish Issue, Iraq, and the Region

1700 GMT: BDP's co-chairman Selahattin Demirtas announced his party's programme that is to start in the U.S. today. According to the official plan, the BDP commission will see Kubat Talabani, KRG's representative in Washington before meeting with Turkey's ambassador Namik Tan. The committee is also expected to meet with Assistant Secretary of State Philip Gordon, some senators and congressmen, San Fransisco Mayor Ed Lee and American Bar Association's Center for Human Rights. 

1555 GMT: BDP's MP Emine Ayna blamed Premier Erdogan for the deaths. Ayna said: "Erdogan has his own signature behind the deaths either of guerillas or of soldiers."

1540 GMT: Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) President Massoud Barzani claimed that he raised the agreement of F-16 jets sale to Baghdad during his recent visit to Washington. Barzani said:

The F-16 must not reach the hand of this man. We must either prevent him from having these weapons, or if he has them, he should not stay in his position.

1400 GMT: Ankara's ambassador Yunus Demirer was summoned by Iraqi officials following an exchange of complaints and accusations between Prime Minister Erdogan and his Iraqi counterpart Nuri al-Maliki. 

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Turkey Live Coverage (5 April): The "Proof" of Terrorism

1645 GMT: Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said during the joint press briefing with Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha that Syrian President Bashar Assad's continuing violence is nothing short of his "manouevres of deception" rather than "manouevres of retreat."

In response to Tehran's recent remarks on the venue of nuclear enrichment talks, Erdogan said:

Iran needs to be honest. It is losing credibility because they are not honest. This is not the language of diplomacy. It is the language of something else yet it does not suit to me.

1600 GMT: President Gul continues his speech at the War Academy. Gul says:

This environment of instability taking place in our nighbours is wanted to be turned into a new Cold War stage where regional and global power struggles will occur. 

It is possible that the tension focused on Iran's nuclear programme will lead to a close combar environment. Under these conditions, Turkey has no luxury to watch these developments from a distance.  

1510 GMT: Speaking at the War Academy, President Abdullah Gul welcomed Turkey's "virtuous power":

In the present day, one can neither speak about security without democracy, nor a real democracy without security. Hence, democracy is both the most effective way to fight terrorism and our most valuable merit that we should jealously preserve.

It is very important to separate our citizens who voice their demands within the democratic system without resorting to violence from those who are tied to terrorism.

I believe that Turkey should act as a ‘virtuous power.’ A ‘virtuous power’ cares not only about the military/political dimension of security, but also justice and human values side.

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Turkey Live Coverage (26 March): Has Assad Solved Erdogan's Kurdish Problem?

;1845 GMT: According to a survey conducted by the Ankara-based MetroPOLL Strategic and Social Research Center, 61.7 percent of respondents said they supported children's receiving education in their mother tongue on the condition that they learn Turkish.

1825 GMT: In order to increase the cooperation against the PKK-Syria camp, the Iraqi Kurdistan regional government Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani will make his first diplomatic visit to Ankara. 

1740 GMT: Ahead of the 'Friends of Syria' meeting on April 1, Ankara heeds the two-day meeting of Syrian opposition groups in İstanbul. Out of 200 representatives of the country, the only group left out of the two-day meeting is the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) because of its affiliation with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

"This is by far the most significant meeting as far as the Syrian opposition is concerned,” a Turkish official told journalists.

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Turkey Live Coverage (22 March): Military Operations Continue Against Kurdish Group

1920 GMT: Following Israel's confiscation of a Palestinian plot in Valaja village in the West Bank and its plan to turn it into a park for Jewish settlers, a statement released by the Turkish Foreign Ministry said that Israel's settlement activities despite all warnings by the international community are unacceptable.

It is also stated that Israel is blocking the peace process by its negative position and deprive vision of two state solution by physical conditions it creates in the region. 

1725 GMT: Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan said that almost no one earns less than $2 a day in Turkey, and the number of those who earn less than $4 a day is only 3.6 percent.

1650 GMT: A speculation is going on in Ankara that the ruling AKP government has adopted a new policy on the Kurdish issue.

According to officials, the government is abandoning dialogue and negotiations with the leaders of the outlawed terrorist/separatist organisation, PKK. Instead, some believe that the government will hold negotiations with the pro-Kurdish party, BDP; whereas others think that the priority will be given specifically to the Turkish public opinion, in order to prevent increasing anger of Turks against Kurdish people.

Just hours ago, Prime Minister Erdogan called on Kurdish citizens to abandon BDP. If BDP and Ocalan (the imprisoned leader of PKK) are sidelined, then with whom AKP is going to talk? If BDP is wanted to be negotiated with, then the question is that how is it possible to convince the party to change its strategies while the party-Kurdish base alliance is anchored on a nationalistic platform where Ocalan and PKK militia are seen as the leader and "guerillas" of a "freedom-seeking" nation, respectively? 

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Turkey Live Coverage (21 March): New Year Celebrations Turn into Deadly Clashes

1725 GMT: It is reported that Turkish border security units and gendarmerie forces have tightened security measures along the country's border with Syria in order to prevent Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) members and Syrian refugees from entering Turkey.

On Tuesday, it was reported that gendarmerie forces were questioning coming refugees on the border to see if they were really escaping from the violence in Syria. Besides, alongside the refugee camp in Hatay, two more camps were said to be formed in two other cities, Sanliurfa and Kilis. 

1645 GMT: At a conference, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said that Turkey would not allow any Cold War-like sectarian confrontation in the region. 

1625 GMT: Fifth police officer killed in the ongoing operation in Cudi, Sirnak. 

1610 GMT: One policeman injured in an explosion near the provincial office of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır. 

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Turkey Live Coverage (7 March): Erdogan Wants A Solution to Syria

2140 GMT: The Interior Ministry's confidential report on the Uludere massacre reached to the parliament. BDP's MP Ertigril Kurkcu said that the video images of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles per se do not let to an air strike, according to the findings of the report. 

CHP's Malik Ecder Ozdemir also stated that the special report found out that no local senior military officials knew about the air strike. Therefore, the report wants a broader investigation.

1930 GMT: Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu met privately with his Iranian and Azerbaijani counterparts, Ali Akbar Salehi and Elmar Mammadyarov repectively, in Nakhichevan. In these meetings, it is reported that Davutoglu and Mammadyarov talked about the current political situation in South Caucasus and Azeribaijan-NATO relations since this country is in NATO's Partnership for Peace program. On the other hand, Davutoglu and Salehi reportedly talked about Iran's prospective talks with P5+1 countries (the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany) and Turkey's strong willingness to host a possible meeting in Istanbul.

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Turkey After the Elections: A Deadlock in the Kurdish Opening?

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) ended up with less than 330 MPs out of 550 in the Parliament, short of the "super-majority" which would enable the AKP to amend the Constitution without resistance.

Meanwhile, the imprisoned leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), Abdullah Ocalan, declared that passive resistance, rather than armed conflict, would continue if two conditions were met: a halt to Turkish military operations and engagement with his leadership, reaching out to the militants and urging them to accept a democratic solution. 

Both these headline developments are now accompanied by other manoeuvres.

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Turkey Analysis: The Elections Bring An Embrace of Neo-Liberal "Stability"

At the end of the day, the people of Turkey voted for a hegemonic "stability" --- the continuation of a relatively settled neo-liberal period --- rather than a coalition government.

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