10/10/2018

MEDIA/MIDDLE EAST/SAUDI ARABIA/TURKEY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “After Jamal Khashoggi entered Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul a little over a week ago and disappeared, leaders and media worldwide demanded the kingdom explain Turkish claims that the journalist had been killed by the Saudi government. The US initially stayed relatively quiet — but pressure for a more robust […]

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10/9/2018

MEDIA/SAUDI ARABIA/TURKEY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday [10-9-18] he plans to speak with Saudi Arabian officials about the disappearance of prominent Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who went missing a week ago. Trump, speaking at the White House, said he did not know details about Khashoggi’s disappearance. Asked if he had spoken […]

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10/9/2018

MEDIA/MELANIA/SAUDI ARABIA/TURKEY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s fiancée implored President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump ‘to help shed light on’ his disappearance in an op-ed published by The Washington Post Tuesday [10-9-18]. Khashoggi vanished on October 2 after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. As a columnist for the Post, he […]

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8/17/2018

RELIGION/SANCTIONS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TURKEY: “U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday [8-17-18] said the United States was not going to take Turkey’s detention of U.S. Christian pastor Andrew Brunson ‘sitting down,’ a day after his Treasury chief said Washington could hit Ankara with further sanctions. ‘They should have given him back a long time ago, and Turkey […]

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8/16/2018

ECONOMY/RELIGION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TURKEY: “Turkey’s battered lira weakened 3 percent on Friday [8-17-18] after a Turkish court rejected an American pastor’s appeal for release, drawing a stiff rebuke from President Donald Trump, who said the United States would not take the detention ‘sitting down.’ The case of Andrew Brunson, an evangelical Christian missionary from North Carolina […]

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8/16/2018

RELIGION/TURKEY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Turkey has taken advantage of the United States for many years. They are now holding our wonderful Christian Pastor, who I must now ask to represent our Country as a great patriot hostage. We will pay nothing for the release of an innocent man, but we are cutting back on Turkey!” -Donald […]

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8/3/2018

MIKE POMPEO/PRISONER/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TURKEY: “Declaring that ‘the clock had run out,’ Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged Turkey on Friday [8-3-18] to free an American pastor imprisoned on espionage charges, in a case that had spurred United States to impose sanctions against two top Turkish government officials. Mr. Pompeo discussed the case of the evangelical […]

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7/27/2018

ISRAEL/NATO/RELIGION/TURKEY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “US President Donald Trump asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to assist in the release of an American pastor detained in Turkey, Israeli and US officials told CNN on Friday [7-27-2018]. The Israeli official would not divulge details of their conversation, or when the request took place, but the two leaders spoke […]

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7/26/2018

RELIGION/SANCTIONS/TURKEY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Trump threatened Turkey with sanctions unless it releases detained U.S. pastor Andrew Brunson, who has been held for nearly two years in a case that has strained relations between the two countries. Mr. Trump’s threat, issued in a Twitter message Thursday [7-26-18] morning, came a day after Turkish authorities transferred the […]

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7/26/2018

RELIGION/SANCTIONS/TURKEY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The United States will impose large sanctions on Turkey for their long time detainment of Pastor Andrew Brunson, a great Christian, family man and wonderful human being. He is suffering greatly. This innocent man of faith should be released immediately!” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, July 26, 2018 10:22 am […]

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7/18/2018

TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TURKEY: “A total disgrace that Turkey will not release a respected U.S. Pastor, Andrew Brunson, from prison. He has been held hostage far too long. @RT_Erdogan should do something to free this wonderful Christian husband & father. He has done nothing wrong, and his family needs him!” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, July 18, 2018 […]

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3/11/2018

MILITARY/NATO/SYRIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TURKEY: “The U.S. military has sharply reduced combat operations at Turkey’s Incirlik air base and is considering permanent cutbacks there, according to U.S. officials, a shift they said was driven by tensions between Washington and Ankara. The base was the centerpiece of the U.S.-led fight against Islamic State for several years, but conflicting […]

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3/8/2018

CYBERWAR/INTELLIGENCE/NORTH KOREA/TURKEY: “Suspected North Korean hackers blitzed Turkish financial institutions and a government organization last week, seeking intelligence for a future heist, a new report says. The attacks on March 2 and 3, identified by cyber researcher McAfee LLC in a Thursday [3-8-18] report, attempted to lure targets with faux links to a popular cryptocurrency […]

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3/7/2018

FOREIGN POLICY/MILITARY/SYRIA/TURKEY: “The Turkish government took the extraordinary step on Wednesday [3-7-18] of asking the United States to stop Kurdish commanders from diverting their forces from areas of eastern Syria to the fight in Afrin in the west. The request followed an announcement from the Kurdish forces, which are allied with the United States in […]

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3/5/2018

AMBASSADOR/FOREIGN POLICY/TURKEY: “The U.S. Embassy in Ankara, Turkey closed Monday [3-5-18] due to an unspecified security threat, though local media reports the closure came as Turkish authorities detained several suspects on charges of plotting an attack against the embassy. According to The Anadolu Agency, the country’s state-run media outlet, the suspects are Iraqi nationals and […]

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2/21/2018

FOREIGN POLICY/CHINA/PAKISTAN/SAUDI ARABIA/TURKEY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Saudi Arabia joined Turkey and China in a move to block a U.S.-led attempt this week to place Pakistan on an international terror-financing watch list, according to officials involved in the process, in a rare disagreement between Riyadh and the Trump administration. Saudi Arabia’s move on behalf of Pakistan came […]

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2/21/2018

FOREIGN POLICY/NATO/TURKEY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Five months ago, President Donald Trump hailed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as a friend and said the two North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies had never been closer. But Mr. Trump’s optimistic view masked a more complicated reality: Turkey quickly has become one of the Trump administration’s most vexing relationships. Relations […]

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2/16/2018

FOREIGN POLICY/NATO/REX TILLERSON/STATE/TURKEY: “Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Friday [2-16-18] said the U.S. and Turkey won’t ‘act alone any longer,’ but the North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies fell short of immediate concrete steps to improve what the top U.S. diplomat described as a ‘crisis point’ in relations. The two countries instead pledged to form […]

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2/11/2018

FOREIGN POLICY/NATO/SYRIA/TURKEY: “Western diplomats hope to use a high-level gathering of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization this week to keep members U.S. and Turkey from going to battle against each other in Syria. They have already come close to direct conflict. Turkey, angered by U.S. support for Syrian Kurdish militants whom Ankara considers terrorists, has […]

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1/23/2018

FOREIGN POLICY/SYRIA/TURKEY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The White House sent out a message aimed at mollifying Turkey’s president on Tuesday [1-23-18], suggesting that the United States was easing off its support for the Syrian Kurds. That message was quickly contradicted by the Pentagon, which said it would continue to stand by the Kurds, even as Turkey invaded […]

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1/15/2018

FOREIGN POLICY/MILITARY/SYRIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TURKEY: “President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey lashed out on Monday [1-16-18] against a proposed American-trained force that would potentially position thousands of Kurdish militia fighters along Turkey’s southern border. The allied military headquarters in Baghdad that is leading the fight against the Islamic State in Syria said Sunday that it had […]

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11/26/2017

FOREIGN POLICY/LEGAL/STATE/TURKEY: “A trial opening in Manhattan on Monday [11-27-17] that could implicate prominent Turkish officials is exacerbating already inflamed tensions between the U.S. and Turkey, where authorities are calling the case an American plot to topple President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The arrest of Reza Zarrab, a Turkish gold trader, in Miami last year on […]

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11/6/2017

FOREIGN POLICY/IMMIGRATION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TURKEY: “The United States has partially resumed issuing visas in Turkey after getting assurances about the safety of staff at its missions there, the U.S. embassy said on Monday, in the first step to ease a diplomatic crisis between the two allies. The Turkish embassy in Washington said almost immediately it would […]

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10/9/2017

FOREIGN POLICY/IMMIGRATION/TURKEY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “First, the United States and Turkey temporarily stopped issuing visas to each other’s citizens. Then the Turkish lira plunged on international markets, and most travel between the two countries was curtailed. By midday Monday [10-10-17], fears rose that a minor diplomatic dispute threatened to flare up into a full diplomatic standoff. […]

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10/8/2017

IMMIGRATION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TURKEY: “The U.S. and Turkey on Sunday [10-8-17] stopped issuing nonimmigrant visas to each others’ citizens on Sunday as differences between the NATO allies escalated into measures that could affect thousands of travelers. The U.S. Embassy in Ankara made the first move, saying in a statement that ‘recent events have forced the United […]

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9/22/2017

AMBASSADOR/TURKEY: “Protesters were forcibly ejected from a speech by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in New York City on Thursday [9-22-17], in the latest U.S. confrontation involving protests against Turkey’s leader. Erdogan was speaking to an audience at the Marriott Marquis hotel in Times Square when, as the AP reports, someone shouted ‘Terrorist!’ As shouting […]

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9/12/2017

NATO/RUSSIA/TURKEY: “In the clearest sign of his pivot toward Russia and away from NATO and the West, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Tuesday [9-12-17] that Turkey had signed a deal to purchase a Russian surface-to-air missile system. The deal cements a recent rapprochement with Russia, despite differences over the war in Syria, and comes […]

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7/10/2017

NATO/STATE/TRUMP PEOPLE/TURKEY/REX TILLERSON: “U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Monday [7-10-17] acknowledged severe strains in U.S.-Turkey relations, although he said he is hopeful of mending ties with the NATO ally and partner in the anti-Islamic State coalition. He also said he hoped that the U.S. and Turkey could replicate an agreement reached last week […]

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5/22/2017

FOREIGN POLICY/TURKEY: “Turkey summoned the U.S. ambassador Monday [5-22-17] to object to how U.S. security personnel responded to a brawl between Turkish staff and protesters in Washington last week. The Turkish Foreign Ministry said it wanted an explanation from Ambassador John Bass for the “aggressive and unprofessional actions taken, contrary to diplomatic rules and practices, […]

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5/19/2017

FOREIGN POLICY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TURKEY: “On Tuesday [5-16-17] afternoon, President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan huddled at the White House — and then gave a joint press conference. Within hours, Erdogan was at the Turkish ambassador’s home in upper Northwest Washington, watching as his personal guards participated in a bloody and violent clash […]

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5/17/2017

FOREIGN POLICY/TURKEY: “Washington police used batons to break up a bloody clash Tuesday [5-16-17] between supporters and opponents of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after his White House meeting with President Donald Trump, casting a cloud over the Turkish leader’s visit to the U.S. Two people were arrested for assault and nine others injured outside […]

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5/16/2017

FOREIGN POLICY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TURKEY: “President Donald Trump, in hosting Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the White House Tuesday [5-16-17], extended his latest warm welcome to an authoritarian-style leader who had a strained relationship with the previous US administration. ‘We’ve had a great relationship and we will make it even better,’ Trump said in the […]

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5/16/2017

FOREIGN POLICY/TURKEY: “It was a great honor to welcome the President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, to the @WhiteHouse today! https://t.co/4BWjOCgnNv” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, May 16, 2017 02:38pm […]

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5/11/2017

CABINET/DEFENSE/FOREIGN POLICY/TRUMP PEOPLE/JAMES MATTIS/TURKEY: “U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis voiced strong support for Turkey’s fight against PKK militants after talks with Turkey’s prime minister on Thursday [5-11-17], as Ankara fumes over a U.S. decision to arm Kurdish fighters in Syria it equates to PKK allies. Mattis expressed optimism that Washington and Ankara would work through […]

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4/24/2017

FOREIGN POLICY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TURKEY: “President Trump issued a statement that studiously avoided the term ‘genocide’ as he marked the 102nd anniversary of the Armenian genocide on Monday [4-24-17], following past presidents’ decisions that it’s more important to avoid offending Turkey than support aggrieved Armenian Americans. ‘Beginning in 1915, one and a half million Armenians were […]

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