Barely a decade ago, the city of Kars had to fight hard to ensure it was connected to a new improved railway line stretching east across Turkey from Ankara. Now it is set to be a transit hub connecting southern Europe to China, via the Caspian.
A shepherd since childhood, 60-year-old Kamil Gurel reckoned he knew the terrain on the southern edge of Turkey's vast Konya Plain as well as anyone. Until one moonless night recently when, walking his flock back home, he fell about 40 meters down a hole that hadn't been there the week before.
There was much fanfare in early June when the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) moved into its new headquarters in Ankara district of Sogutozu. The building, 14 storeys of gleaming white marble, stands 400 meters from another occupied by the AKP's main rival, the Republican People's Party (CHP).
Turkey's Constitutional Court, in a decision with potentially profound repercussions for domestic tranquility, as well as the country's European Union bid, has invalidated the country's presidential election. The court's May 1 decision effectively endorses the Turkish military's intervention in the country's democratic process. It also means early parliamentary elections are likely.
Turkey's presidential vote was cast into disarray April 27, as opposition politicians engaged in political maneuvering in the hopes of thwarting the election of a moderate Islamist candidate.
Draped in flags, 370,000 Turks rallied in Ankara on April 14 against their religious-minded prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. It was a demonstration that emphasized both the intense opposition that Erdogan will face if he stands for president, and the depths of Turkey's cultural division.
Draped in flags, 370,000 Turks rallied in Ankara on April 14 against their religious-minded prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. It was a demonstration that emphasized both the intense opposition that Erdogan will face if he stands for president, and the depths of Turkey's cultural division.
Five Turkish punk rockers and their agent face up to 18 months in jail after a government official was offended by the lyrics of a song criticizing the country's unpopular university entrance exam.
Head of OSYM, Turkey's central examination board, Unal Yarimagan reportedly smiled when he first saw a clip of "OSYM, Kiss My Arse," by Deli (Mad), a group from the western city of Bursa.
