Turkey shocked by brutal massacre in Mardin

Bone fragments found in Diyarbakır

Hundreds of bone fragments were unearthed during excavations in the Deveboyu and Ziyarettepe areas of southeastern Diyarbakır province in a search for the bodies of two missing people.

April 4 -- Health Ministry bans manual sandblasting

The Health Ministry announced in a written statement that it has forbidden the manual sandblasting of denim, a process that has so far led to hundreds of workers contracting the deadly lung disease silicosis. The statement noted that the ministry banned the use of sand, sandblast powder and crystalline silica dust on denim.

April 7 -- Obama has talks with religious leaders

Following up on a message he delivered in the Turkish Parliament on April 6, US President Obama highlighted the importance of freedom of religion by having talks with religious leaders as well as touring Turkey’s most prominent mosque. At his İstanbul hotel, Obama spoke with İstanbul’s senior Muslim official, Grand Mufti Mustafa Çağrıcı; the city’s chief rabbi, İsak Haleva; Syrian Orthodox Archbishop Yusuf Çetin; and Archbishop Aram Atesyan, who represented the Armenian Patriarchate since the spiritual leader of Turkey’s Armenian Orthodox community, Patriarch Mesrob II (Mutafyan), was unable to attend the meeting due to health reasons.

April 13 -- Twenty detained in Ergenekon probe

Twenty individuals were detained in simultaneous police operations staged at 83 homes and offices belonging to 50 people in 18 cities as part of the ongoing Ergenekon investigation. The new detainees included Başkent University Rector Mehmet Haberal, Atatürkist Thought Association (ADD) Deputy Chairman Mustafa Yurtkuran, former Ondokuz Mayıs University Rector Ferit Bernay, former İnönü University Rector Fatih Hilmioğlu and Tijen Mergen, a member of the executive board of the Milliyet daily. The offices of Support for Modern Life Association (ÇYDD) Chairwoman Türkan Saylan were also searched.

April 20 --  Court merges Ergenekon with Council of State shooting case

The Ankara 11th High Criminal Court ruled to merge a case involving a shooting at the Council of State in 2006 with the ongoing trial against Ergenekon, a clandestine criminal network operating inside state institutions, including the armed forces. The court’s decision was long expected, since the Supreme Court of Appeals ruled last December to merge the Council of State case with the Ergenekon trial in İstanbul.

April 21 -- Munitions found on İstek foundation land

An arms cache was discovered buried underground on land owned by the İstek Foundation, founded and chaired by former İstanbul Mayor Bedrettin Dalan, a fugitive suspect in the Ergenekon investigation. Among the munitions found were hand grenades and a light anti-tank weapon (LAW).

May 4 -- (1) 44 killed in armed attack in Mardin

Masked assailants opened fire on civilians with automatic weapons during an engagement ceremony in the southeastern province of Mardin, killing 44 people and injuring two others. Reports suggested that the assault was the result of a dispute between families over the bride-to-be. The attack appeared to be the result of a blood feud and not a terrorist attack, Interior Minister Beşir Atalay said. Blood feuds are common among families in the region, where tribal ties and rivalries sometimes eclipse the power of the state.

May 10 -- Munitions found during excavations in Beykoz

Police officers retrieved a large cache of munitions from the sea off the Çubuklu Wharf in İstanbul’s Beykoz district. The weapons are believed to have been dumped in a panic by individuals involved link to the Ergenekon criminal organization, which is charged with plotting to overthrow the government.

May 13 -- Erdoğan tries to mend fences with Baku visit

Prime Minister Erdoğan appeared to put strained relations with Azerbaijan back on track after giving firm and clear assurances to the regional ally that Turkey would not open its closed border with Armenia unless the Armenian occupation of Azerbaijani territory ended. “There is a relation of cause and effect here. The occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh is a cause, and the closure of the border is an effect. Without the occupation ending, the gates will not be opened,” Erdoğan said at a joint press conference with Azerbaijani President İlham Aliyev during a visit to Baku.

May 17 -- Gül hopeful about solution of  Kurdish problem

President Abdullah Gül said Turkey’s Kurdish question would be resolved by improving the country’s democratic standards. Speaking to journalists during an official visit to Damascus, Gül said: “There is a common understanding regarding this issue among the state’s agencies. I am very hopeful. Turkey is doing comprehensive work to be able to solve its own problems.”

May 22 -- Boyfriend of Karabulut was not alone during murder

A forensic report on the death of Münevver Karabulut, whose body was found decapitated inside a dumpster in İstanbul in early March, revealed that her boyfriend, the main suspect in the murder case, may not have committed the murder on his own. The biology department at the Council of Forensic Medicine (ATK) discovered significant evidence supporting this conclusion after examining the Karabulut’s body. According to the findings, hair, saliva and tissue samples belonging to someone other than her boyfriend, Cem Garipoğlu, were found on the body. Based on the report, the police plan to ask for hair samples from the Garipoğlu family in order to perform DNA tests.

May 24 -- Young Civilians visit Yassıada to protest coup

Members of the Young Civilians, a group promoting democracy in Turkey, traveled to Yassıada, a small island in the Sea of Marmara where politicians were tried after Turkey’s May 27, 1960 coup. The group demonstrated against the coup and the executions of politicians.

May 26 -- Hospital fire claims eight lives in Bursa

A fire at a hospital in the western province of Bursa claimed the lives of eight patients in the hospital’s intensive care unit. The fire, which broke out in the radiology department in the basement of Bursa’s Şevket Yılmaz State Hospital, killed three female patients and five elderly male patients.

May 27 -- 7th Turkish Olympiads kick off in İstanbul

The seventh Turkish Olympiads started with a colorful opening ceremony at the Haliç Congress Center in İstanbul. Some 700 students from 115 countries participated in this year’s Olympiad. Competing in various categories, the students demonstrated their mastery of the Turkish language.

May 28 -- 6 soldiers dead in PKK attack

Six soldiers were killed and 11 others were wounded when a remote-controlled land mine exploded in Hakkari, near Turkey’s border with Iraq. The mine was believed to have been planted by the terrorist PKK.

May 30 -- Turkey confirms more H1N1 cases

Turkey confirmed its third and fourth cases of H1N1 influenza in two Turkish citizens who flew in from the United States, the Health Ministry said. The two were placed under observation in quarantine and were in good condition, the ministry announced in a statement.

June 17 -- Gül approves bill to clear mines

President Abdullah Gül approved a law concerning the clearing of land mines along Turkey’s border with Syria. A written statement released by the Presidential Press Office said the law had been sent to Gül for his signature. Gül signed the law after a month of meetings in Parliament and fierce debate.

June 20 -- 10 students killed in traffic accident in Ankara

Ten university students were killed and 18 others injured in a traffic accident in Ankara province. A bus carrying students from Ankara’s Gazi and Hacettepe universities, driven by Hacı Tanrıkurt, hit the barriers of a bridge at a spot called Çeltikçi, in Kızılcahamam, and overturned. Nine of the bus passengers were pronounced dead at the scene, while another died after being rushed to a hospital.

June 23 -- (2) Headscarved woman elected deputy in Brussels

Mahinur Özdemir, a Humanist Democratic Centre (cdH) deputy of Turkish descent who was elected to the Brussels-Capital Region parliament in regional elections held on June 7, became the first headscarved deputy in Belgium. Five other candidates of Turkish origin also entered regional parliaments in the country.

June 29 -- Gül wraps up China visit

President Gül wrapped up a six-day visit to China with a stop in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, populated by the ethnic Turkic Muslim Uighurs. In Urumqi, the capital of the autonomous region, Gül visited Xinjiang University, where he was granted the title of honorary professor.

June 30 -- Col. Çiçek arrested

Col. Dursun Çiçek, whose signature appears on a document titled the “Action Plan to Fight Reactionaryism,” allegedly prepared by the military, was arrested by a civilian court. Ergenekon prosecutors demanded the arrest of Çiçek on suspicion of conspiring against the government.

Obama focuses on model partnership

The United States and Turkey can build a “model partnership” between a predominantly Christian nation and a predominantly Muslim nation with a unity based on ideals and values rather than religious faiths, US President Barack Obama said during a visit to Ankara on April 6, stressing his eagerness to see this model partnership materialize. Obama’s remarks came in response to a question at a joint press conference following his talks with President Abdullah Gül.

Three dead in Bostancı shootout

A shootout between Turkish police and three leftist terrorists during a raid on an apartment building in İstanbul left three people dead and eight wounded. Police officer Semih Balaban, Mazlum Şeker, a civilian bystander, and Orhan Yılmazkaya, an alleged terrorist, were killed in the clashes while eight others, including seven policemen, were wounded by shrapnel from explosive devices.

Ten soldiers killed in PKK attacks

Ten soldiers were killed and two others wounded in two separate attacks carried out by members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in southeastern Turkey. In the first attack, nine soldiers were killed and two were wounded by an explosion in Diyarbakır. The second PKK attack took place in Hakkari’s Şemdinli district, where one soldier was killed when PKK terrorists opened fire on security forces.

Military plot to damage the gov’t revealed

Documents discovered as part of the ongoing Ergenekon investigation revealed plans to defame the ruling AK Party over claims of reactionaryism and weaken the Gülen movement and its support by having individuals arrested on charges of gang membership. The Taraf daily published documents seized in the office of Serdar Öztürk, the lawyer of a retired colonel arrested earlier this year on charges of membership in Ergenekon.

TSK has never opposed religion, says Başbuğ

Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ stated that the Turkish military has never been against religion, adding that certain groups have targeted the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) in a smear campaign bent on portraying them as opposed to religion. “The thought that religion may become a tool to achieve objectives causes the greatest harm to religion itself. The TSK has never been and will never be against religion,” he said during an annual evaluation speech at the War Academies Command in İstanbul.