Tag Archives: Turkey

After the Jan. 1 interception of a truck in Hatay carrying weapons bound for Syria, the police who stopped the vehicle, as well as Hatay counterterrorism officers, were relocated. The Adana prosecutor filed a criminal complaint alleging obstruction of justice by government officials, including the Interior Minister and Turkish intelligence, for preventing a search of […]

Security forces seized a truck in Hatay province carrying arms and ammunition that was headed for the Syrian border. The Hatay governor then tried to take the truck from the soldiers but failed; the Hatay public prosecutor is investigating. Opposition political parties vowed to block government efforts to curb the powers of judges and prosecutors. […]

A Turkish news outlet reported that Turkey has shipped 47 tonnes of weapons to Syrian rebels since June, including 29 tonnes in September. Last month the Interior Ministry said hundreds of Turkish jihadists were fighting alongside al Qaeda forces in Syria. Foreign Minister Davutoğlu denied the weapons claims; another official said only shotguns and ammunition […]

Interior Minister Güler denied allegations that police allowed a truck to unload nearly 1,000 warheads destined for Syria at a crossing checkpoint in Hatay near an al Qaeda camp. The government plans to turn a 5th century monastery in Istanbul into a mosque. Turkey joined Iran in calling for a ceasefire in Syria prior to […]

The Interior Ministry reported that over 500 Turkish citizens, including some who trained with al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan, have gone to Syria and joined the Al Nusrah Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham. The government said 13 Turkish fighters with the Al Nusrah Front have been killed in Syria, […]

Protesters and police clashed in Istanbul after police demanded the removal of a banner that accused Prime Minister Erdogan of supporting al Qaeda in the Kurdish region of Rojava in Syria. A security analyst said fighters have been entering Syria illegally through southern Turkish towns for the past three years.

Authorities are investigating reports that vehicles stolen in Turkey are being used for illegal activities in Syria or the transport of illicit materials into Syria. The military claimed that Kurdistan Workers Party militants fired at a military convoy in Mardin near the Syrian border; there were no reported casualties. Deputy Prime Minister Arınç indicated that […]

Turkey asked NATO to extend the deployment of Patriot missiles along the Syrian border for another year, due to an ongoing “serious” threat. Six missile batteries, sent by Germany, the Netherlands, and the US, were installed early this year to protect against a possible attack from Syria.

Authorities seized chemical materials from a three-vehicle convoy that was attempting to cross the border near Reyhanli into Syria on Nov. 2; two of the three drivers managed to flee into Syria but a third was arrested. The confiscated materials, which “could be transformed into weapons,” the Army said, included about a ton of sulphur […]

Hytham Qassap, the only Syrian among six men arrested in Adana in May and charged with trying to obtain chemical weapons materials for the Al Nusrah Front and the Ahrar al Sham, was released pending trial; the five other suspects, all Turks, were all released after tests showed the materials seized were not sarin gas, […]