Turkey

ANKARA, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said he would try to facilitate the parliamentary ratification of Sweden's NATO membership as much as possible, but added that Stockhom had still not taken sufficient action on Kurdish militants.

Erdogan submitted a bill approving Sweden's NATO membership bid to parliament for ratification last month, a move welcomed by the alliance and Stockholm. Turkey had initially raised objections due to what it said was Sweden's harbouring of groups it deems terrorist.

ANKARA, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- Turkish security forces seized 1.1 tons of drugs in anti-narcotic operations across 44 provinces, the country's Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said Friday.

A total of 176 suspects were detained in the operations involving 387 teams, 985 police officers, two aircraft, and 27 narcotic detection dogs, Yerlikaya said on social media X.

The police seized 846 kg of methamphetamine, 223 kg of skunk, 11 kg of cocaine, 15 kg of marijuana, five kg of bonzai, 0.5 kg of heroin, 35,000 narcotic pills, 14 pistols, four rifles, and a large amount of money.

ISTANBUL, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) -- Turkish authorities have arrested 37 people suspected of being part of an Australia-based international crime syndicate, Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on Thursday.

The gang, known as Comanchero, is involved in drug trafficking, murder, kidnapping, and other crimes, Yerlikaya said in a post on the social media platform X.

The minister said the gang tried to smuggle drugs from different countries and launder the money they made from illegal activities in Türkiye, without revealing when or where the arrests took place.

ANKARA, Nov 1 (Reuters) - The Turkish parliament's foreign affairs committee will discuss ratifying Sweden's NATO membership bid as part of its regular agenda as the issue was not so urgent for Ankara as for some other countries, its chair said on Wednesday.

President Tayyip Erdogan submitted the ratification bill for Sweden's NATO membership bid to parliament last month, a move welcomed by Stockholm as it would clear the way for it to join the Western defence alliance.

ANKARA, Nov. 1 (Xinhua) -- Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Wednesday that Türkiye doesn't want the conflict in the Gaza Strip to spiral into a regional war.

"We do not want it to turn into a war that will affect the countries in the region. We call on actors to promote lasting peace," Fidan said at a joint press conference with his visiting Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir Abdollahian in the capital Ankara.

He said that Türkiye was ready to "take responsibility and be guarantor" if an agreement is reached to end the Israel-Hamas conflict.

31 October 2023; MEMO: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced last week in a pro-Palestinian rally that they would declare Israel a “war criminal” to the world. Authorities are now exploring ways to bring crimes committed by Israel against Palestinian civilians before the International Criminal Court (ICC), Daily Sabah reports.

01 November 2023; MEMO: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused Israel of losing its sense of statehood and acting instead like an organisation, Anadolu has reported. “It must be stopped immediately,” he added.

“The Israeli administration, backed by unconditional support from Europe and America, has been committing crimes against humanity in front of the entire world for exactly 25 days,” he said in a speech to the Turkish people after a government meeting in Ankara on Tuesday evening.

ANKARA, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- Türkiye's Foreign Ministry condemned on Monday "in the strongest terms" what it said was an Israeli attack on the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital in Gaza.

"There can be no justification for such an attack on the only cancer hospital in Gaza, since all necessary information, including the coordinates of the institution in question, was shared with the Israeli authorities in advance," the ministry said in a statement.

Israeli airstrikes severely damaged the Turkish-funded hospital, according to the Palestinian health authorities in Gaza.

30 October 2023; MEMO: The Turkish Red Crescent, on Monday, “strongly” condemned heavy bombing that rendered the Palestinian Red Crescent’s aid warehouse in Gaza unusable, Anadolu Agency reports.

ISTANBUL, October 28. /TASS/: Turkey will declare Israel a war criminal and will do it before the entire international community, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said at a mass rally in support of Palestine held at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport.

"We are going to declare Israel a war criminal. We will inform the international community, as we have already been working on it," he said.

Erdogan lambasted Israel as an invader and a group, pointing out that the Palestinian movement Hamas is not a terrorist organization.