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As Syrian Conflict Rages, France Examines Potential Terrorism Risks
As the civil war grinds on between loyalists of Syrian President Bashar Assad and rebel forces fighting to depose him, concerns are rising that the conflict may become a magnet for aspiring jihadists...
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The Alawite Towns That Support Syria’s Assad — in Turkey
While the Alawites of Syria may not be monolithic in their support of their fellow Alawite President Bashar Assad, the dictator can find near unanimous backing among members of the sect across the...
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Must-Reads from Around the World
Pakistani Hindus — Hundreds of Pakistani Hindus have been arriving in India over the past month to avoid alleged religious persecution in their home country, notes VOA News. Since August, roughly 400...
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Turkey’s Massive Military Trial Opens Old Wounds and New Anxieties
It was meant to be a milestone for Turkish democracy. In a trial that ran for 21 months, more than 300 senior military officers — including two ex-generals — were accused of seeking to overthrow Prime...
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Turkey Retaliates Against Syria: How It May Give Rebel Soldiers Cover to Expand
It was not the first time Syria artillery has hit the Turkish town of Akcakale. But this time Ankara struck back—and the attendant show of force may just give the enemies of Bashar Assad a chance to...
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Turkey Rattles Its Saber at Syria but Remains Unlikely to Invade
Ankara feels compelled to respond to shelling that killed five Turks, but is in no position to intervene alone in Syria's civil war
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Will the Next Front in the Syrian Revolt Be with Turkey?
“We don’t want war, but this can’t remain unanswered,” says Mithat Acikkol, a resident of the southern Turkish border town of Akcakale, pointing to the house where a mortar bomb fired from Syria fell...
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France Holds Seven Suspects Thought to Be in a ‘Terrorism Cell’
French justice officials have opened legal proceedings against seven of 12 alleged jihadists arrested in sweeps across France on Oct. 6, during which one suspect died in a shootout with police. Though...
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Where Turkey Is Already at War: Are Kurdish Militants Doing Syria’s Bidding?
The police station in Sirnak, a town of 60,000 in southeastern Turkey, remains almost entirely covered with blue tarp, obscuring the damage done to its edifice nearly two months ago when a group of...
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Why Is Turkey’s Prime Minister at War with a Soap Opera?
Crammed with trinkets, eunuchs, wine, giggly harem girls, seduction and intrigue, Magnificent Century — a Turkish soap opera based on the life and reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, the 16th century...
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Kurdish Assassinations in Paris Turn a Spotlight on Turkey-PKK Talks
French justice authorities scrambled for clues Thursday into the assassination of three women in a Kurdish institute in Paris — a crime that appeared to have clear political overtones. Two of the...
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Why Turkey Is Talking to Its PKK Nemesis
Turks and Kurds may be trading accusations over responsibility for the execution-style murder of three Kurdish activists in the heart of Paris last week, but they agree on one point: the timing was no...
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Patriot Missiles Arrive in Turkey: How They Affect the Syria Equation
Barely 40 miles from the Syrian border, Gaziantep, a booming Turkish city of 1.3 million people, seems worlds removed from the conflict engulfing its southern neighbor. Yet, signs of the war raging...
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The U.S. Embassy Bombing in Turkey: The Unusual Suspects
At approximately 1:15 p.m. on Feb. 1, a man later identified as Ecevit Sanli, 40, stopped outside a personnel entrance of the U.S. embassy in Ankara and detonated a belt carrying 13 lb. (6 kg) of...
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The Big Prison By the Sea: Will Its Captives Change Turkey’s History?
On the face of it, Silivri is just another seaside town. Shuttered and sleepy in the winter, it throngs with ice cream stands and holiday-home owners from nearby Istanbul in the summer. Then there’s...
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Kurdish Rebels Fighting Turkey Release 8 Captives
(ANKARA, Turkey) — A Kurdish party official says Kurdish rebels have freed a group of captured soldiers and officials as part of peace efforts between Turkey and the rebels. The official says the...
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France May Aid Syrian Rebels Unilaterally If EU Doesn’t Lift Arms Embargo
France has significantly upped its efforts to unblock Western military support for rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad by calling for the European Union to lift its arms embargo in the...
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Kurdish Rebel Leader Declares Cease-Fire
(DIYARBAKIR, Turkey) — Turkey’s state-run television says jailed Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan has called for a cease-fire, a major step toward ending one of the world’s bloodiest insurgencies....
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In Deepest Kurdistan: A Wary Welcome for Peace with the Turks
Tucked into Turkey’s south-easternmost corner, between Iran and Iraq, nestled by mountains studded with ghost villages, Hakkâri, a town of 70,000, is forlorn, violent and cold. It is March 21, the day...
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Turkey’s Big Week Means New Clout In An Emerging Middle East
A sandstorm was kicking up at Ben Gurion International midday last Friday, winds bad enough to cancel the departure ceremony for President Obama’s winning trip to Israel. But in a sheet metal trailer...
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