Turkey

Turkey's complex reasons for fighting in Syria and Iraq

But these efforts have been complicated in recent weeks by one of Washington's oldest allies in the region: Turkey.

The Turkish government is lashing out against factions currently battling ISIS. Ankara has been engaged in a very public war of words with the government in Iraq. At the same time, the Turkish military has been bombing US-backed Kurdish militants in Syria.

Part of this policy stems from Turkey's unenviable position, living alongside two of the bloodiest, most destabilizing conflicts the Middle East has seen in a generation.

 

Putin and Erdogan pledge deeper military contact after gas deal signed

President Vladimir Putin also said he and Recep Tayyip Erdogan had agreed on the need for aid to get to the northern Syrian city of Aleppo.

The two countries have signed a deal to construct two pipelines to send Russian gas under the Black Sea to Turkey.

Ties were strained after Turkey downed a Russian military jet last year.

But speaking at a joint news conference with Mr Putin, Mr Erdogan said he was confident that the normalisation of relations would take place rapidly.

Turkey blocks web drives after email leak

The Turkish government imposed the blocks after a hacktivist group leaked emails it said it had stolen from the nation's energy minister.

The Redhack group had threatened to publish the information unless left-wing dissidents were released.

In total, more than 57,000 emails were put online by the group.

 

Court papers

News about the block was broken by the Turkey Blocks digital rights group, which monitors net censorship in the county.

Islamic State group: Turkey and US 'ready to invade capital'

Mr Erdogan said US counterpart Barack Obama floated the idea of joint action against the militants when they met at the G20 summit in China.

He said Turkey would have "no problem" with such action.

Last month Turkey launched an operation inside Syria, targeting both IS and Kurdish rebels.

Turkish-backed militia drove IS from the border town of Jarablus, but Turkey has also been concerned with checking the advance of Kurdish forces whom it regards as terrorists.

US journalist Lindsey Snell detained in Turkey

Lindsey Snell was arrested earlier this month, US state department spokesman John Kirby said.

The Florida native recently posted on Facebook that she was kidnapped in July by Jabhat al Nusra, formerly al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, and had escaped.

The US said it was in touch with Turkish officials regarding the case.

Ms Snell is being held at a prison in the southern Hatay Province and consular officials had visited her on 26 August, Mr Kirby added.

Who is Lindsey Snell?

Turkey flexes muscle in northern Syria

On Saturday, the air force pounded more targets in the region. But in the bloody five-year-old conflict, replete with many power players and varying loyalties, it was unclear whether the latest airstrikes targeted ISIS or its other foes -- Syrian Kurdish fighters.

One Turkish soldier was killed in fighting on Saturday, and Turkish officials believe Kurdish fighters launched the rockets that killed him, according to Turkish sources and the state-run Anadolu Agency.

Turkey evacuates town amid anti-IS Syria campaign

Karkamis lies just across the border from Jarablus, an IS-held town which Turkish-backed rebels are expected to try to capture in the coming days.

A rebel force is massed in the area and preparing the offensive.

Turkey blames IS for a bomb attack that killed dozens of people in the south of the country at the weekend.

It says the group must now be cleared from the border region, and has been bombarding targets across the border in northern Syria ahead of an expected ground attack.

Putin mends broken relations with Turkey's Erdogan

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russian trade sanctions on Turkey would be phased out "step by step".

"The priority is to get back to the pre-crisis level of co-operation," he told Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in St Petersburg.

Their relations soured last November when Turkey shot down a Russian bomber on the Syrian border.

It is Mr Erdogan's first foreign visit since an attempted coup last month. He has since launched a far-reaching purge of the armed forces and other state institutions.

Gay Syrian refugee found beheaded, mutilated in Turkey

Wisam, who arrived in Istanbul about a year ago after fleeing Syria, went missing on July 23 and was found two days later in the city's Yenikapi district.

He previously had been threatened, kidnapped and raped, according to Kaos Gay and Lesbian Cultural Research and Solidarity Association (KAOS GL), a Turkey-based rights group. CNN is not using the victim's last name out of concern for his family's safety.

Migrant crisis: Germany warns Turkey against 'blackmailing EU'

Visa-free access to the EU is seen as a reward for Turkey's role in halting an influx of migrants into Europe.

But the move has been delayed because of a row over anti-terror legislation following Turkey's failed coup.

"It's up to Turkey whether there can be visa-travel or not," Mr Gabriel said.

He said Turkey was drastically distancing itself from Europe by "moving towards reintroducing the death penalty" which was a "flagrant contravention of the EU's charter of fundamental rights".