Russia Warns Turkey About Turning Hagia Sophia Into a Mosque
Russian officials and the Orthodox church on Monday urged caution over calls in Turkey to alter the status of the Hagia Sophia, the historic former cathedral in Istanbul.
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Turkey
Pharma Bribes
Boston-based Alexion Pharmaceuticals will pay $21.5 million to settle charges of bribing officials in Turkey and Russia to get favorable treatment for its primary drug, Soliris, which treats a blood disease, the SEC said Thursday.
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Turkey’s State-Run Halkbank Wants to Gum Up Money-Laundering Trial
As President Donald Trump’s efforts to interfere with the remarkable money-laundering case come under scrutiny, Turkey’s state-run Halkbank asked a federal judge Tuesday to postpone trial for more than a year.
Read moreTurkey Sentences 121 to Life in Coup Trial
A Turkish court on Friday handed down life sentences to 121 people for taking part in the 2016 attempted overthrow of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, state media reported.
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Journalists Accused of Revealing Secrets on Trial in Turkey
Seven journalists went on trial on Wednesday, accused of revealing state secrets for their reports on the funeral of an intelligence officer who was killed in Libya.
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Trump Crony’s Gas Deal Reignites Conflict-of-Interest Concerns
On the campaign trail a year before his election, Donald Trump boasted in a radio interview that his real estate holdings in Istanbul could influence U.S.-Turkish foreign policy as president.
Read moreFrance Accuses Turkey of Violating Arms Embargo on Libya
France has accused Turkey of repeated violations of the U.N. arms embargo on conflict-torn Libya and says Ankara is an obstacle to securing a ceasefire there.
Read moreTurkey Deploys Troops Against Kurds in Iraq
Turkey launched an air and ground offensive against Kurds in northern Iraq on Wednesday, in a move likely to increase friction with the Baghdad government.
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White House Silent as US Consulate Worker Gets Prison in Turkey
The U.S. government’s failure to condemn a consulate worker’s sentencing Thursday speaks volumes. ‘I wouldn’t work for us,’ one Turkey expert said.
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Trump Towers Istanbul Partner Lobbied President and Cabinet on Pandemic
In three letters copied to the U.S. president, a Turkish businessman who partnered on the Trump Towers Istanbul deal implored White House officials to sizably boost trade with Turkey in response to the novel coronavirus.
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Virus Slows in European Union, but Rages Outside Its Borders
Countries in the Europe Union are slowly easing lockdowns with public officials hopeful the coronavirus pandemic is coming under control, but the virus and unrest now spreads at the bloc’s periphery in Russia, Turkey, Lebanon and North Africa, posing new threats to a badly damaged Europe.
Read moreTurkey’s State-Run Halkbank Pleads Not Guilty to Massive Sanctions Bust
Not even a pandemic’s relentless spread could stop the prosecution of Turkey’s state-run Halkbank, which pleaded not guilty Tuesday to a record-breaking money-laundering scheme.
Read moreSaudi Arabia Held to Fire in 9/11 Suit on Slaying of Khashoggi
A day after Turkish authorities charged 20 Saudis in connection with journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder, a New York federal judge advanced a bid Thursday to include that international scandal as part of a lawsuit seeking to hold the kingdom liable for the 9/11 attacks.
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Turkey Indicts 20 Saudis in Khashoggi Killing
Turkish prosecutors have charged two former aides of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and 18 other Saudi nationals with the 2018 killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, officials said Wednesday.
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Syrians in Idlib See the End Coming
“There’s nothing now. Nothing at all,” said Yasser Aboud as he looked away from his family’s few remaining belongings, dumped on the floor of the bare single room that would now be their home in the northwest Syrian city of Idlib.
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Tensions Ramped up Between Greece and Turkey
The Greek coastguard said Wednesday that one of its patrol boats was rammed by a Turkish coastguard vessel amid heightened tension between the two countries.
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Border Tensions High Between Turkey, Greece
Tensions are high on the border between Turkey and Greece after Ankara sent 1,000 special forces this week to help thousands of refugees and immigrants seeking to cross the border into the European Union.
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Rare Calm in Syria’s Idlib After Ceasefire Deal
Syria’s war-ravaged northwest woke up to relative calm Friday, its skies free of warplanes for the first day in months, after a Russian-Turkish ceasefire deal.
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For Putin, Victory in Syria Is Personal
When Turkey’s president visited Russia last summer, the sun shone as he shared ice cream and admired fighter jets with a friendly Vladimir Putin.
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Greece Uses Violence to Keep Refugees Out
Greek authorities fired tear gas and stun grenades Wednesday morning to repulse refugees trying to cross its land border from Turkey, as pressure continued on its frontier after Turkey said its own border with Europe was open to whomever wanted to cross.
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