Turkey Archives

The Three Monkeys of Gallipoli

March 5, 2016 By administrator

By Len Wicks/Tigran Hakobyan

By Len Wicks,

Privates Key, Turnbill and Cameron are deaf, dumb and blind, while WWI allies Canada, France and Russia (and even the Ottoman’s allies Austria and Germany) have the courage to recognise the worst of crimes – genocide.

Turkey effectively blames invading nations like New Zealand, Australia and the UK for the deaths, saying it had to ‘deport’ its Christian citizens in case they supported the Allies (‘deport’ means to kill more than 1.5 million Armenian children, women, aged and unarmed male citizens by burning, crucifixion, bayonets and other gruesome means, steal their property and crush more than 2,000 churches).

The truth is that Turks have been massacring indigenous Christians since they invaded Asia Minor in 1064 because of their Christian faith, while New Zealand, Australia and the UK shamefully appease Turkey, instead of defending human rights.

Lest we Forget (the genocide of Christians – Armenians, Assyrians and Greeks).

Note to veterans: the NZ, Australian and British cartoon figures are representing political leaders, not courageous Gallipoli soldiers, many of whom recognised this crime against humanity.

Note to publishers: the cartoon may be freely reproduced but must have the following credit: Len Wicks/Tigran Hakobyan. A larger image is available at http://originsdiscovery.com/Cartoon.JPG.

Terrorist State of Turkey Police raided the headquarters of the Zaman daily and used pepper gas against thousands of readers

March 4, 2016 By administrator

Police raided the headquarters of the Zaman daily and used pepper gas against thousands of readers late on Friday after an İstanbul court appointed trustees to take over the management of the Feza Media Group, which includes Turkey’s biggest-selling newspaper, the Zaman daily, as well as the Today’s Zaman daily and the Cihan news agency, dealing a fresh blow to the already battered media freedom in Turkey.

Zaman employees waiting near the entrance said police immediately tear-gassed readers to disperse them without even delivering the court decision.

Employees shouted ‘free press cannot be silenced,” as hundreds of police officers entered the building.

The decision was issued by the İstanbul 6th Criminal Court of Peace at the request of the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, which claimed that the media group acted upon orders from what it called the “Fethullahist Terrorist Organization/Parallel State Structure (FETÖ/PDY),” praising the group and helping it achieve its goals in its publications.

The prosecutor also claimed that the alleged terrorist group is cooperating with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorist organization to topple the Turkish government and that high-level officials of the two groups have had meetings abroad.

The court decision means that the entire management and the editorial board of Feza Media Group companies will be replaced by the three-member board named by the court.

https://youtu.be/wXnl44niSZA

A crowd of Zaman and Today’s Zaman journalists, readers and supporters gathered outside Zaman’s headquarters as court-appointed trustees were expected to arrive at any moment.

Zaman Editor-in-Chief Abdülhamit Bilici addressed his colleagues on the grounds of the newspaper, calling the court decision a “black day for democracy” in Turkey as journalists and other newspaper workers held up signs that read: “Don’t touch my newspaper” and chanted “free press cannot be silenced!”

“Today, we are experiencing a shameful day for media freedom in Turkey. Our media institutions are being seized,” Today’s Zaman Editor-in-Chief Sevgi Akarçeşme said as she addressed the crowd.

“As of today, the Constitution has been suspended,” she said, referencing to the fact that the Turkish Constitution forbids seizure of printing houses and press equipment.

Turkey: Hundreds of Kurd bodies ‘on hold’ in clash-hit Turkey town “Contentious Turkish crime against Humanity”

March 4, 2016 By administrator

n_96037_1 By Gülden Aydın – ŞIRNAK

The bodies of hundreds of people killed during clashes between Turkish security forces and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the southeastern town of Cizre are currently being held, with dozens of them rendered unidentifiable because of burns.

In large cold storages close to the Iraqi border crossing of Habur, the bodies of those killed are awaiting autopsies as well as identification, in laboratories set up by the Şırnak Forensic Institute alongside relatives and friends of the deceased.

The deceased were the casualties of a security operation against the Kurdish PKK in town centers, which led to fierce clashes in Cizre, a district in the southeastern Şırnak province, between Dec. 14, 2015, and Feb. 11.

Forensic institute officials are currently trying to identify the bodies, each stored in a numbered blue body bag. Officials have said the majority of bodies are burnt, making their identification almost impossible.

“We heard of his death on Feb. 13. Our father, Ahmet Tunç, went [to the forensic institute] to identify him, but failed to do so,” said Murat Tunç, the brother of 18-year-old Orhan Tunç who was killed in Cizre. The brother, uncle and several other relatives of the young man are still waiting for the body.

“Getting the body will not be enough. We will get a document from the attorney in Silopi for the funeral. Burial is prohibited in Cizre, so we will bury [the body of Orhan Tunç] in Şırnak,” he added. Silopi is another district in Şırnak that was kept under curfew for weeks.

“We want peace, we want an end to deaths,” said Halime, Orhan Tunç’s sister. “Do not let what happened in Cizre and Sur anywhere else, do not let the children become orphans.”

Local administration officials have yet to comment on the actual death toll, while the military said 666 “terrorists” were killed in Cizre. However, the Mesopotamia Association for Assistance to Families with Lost Relatives (MEYADER), a non-governmental organization that has unofficially recorded deaths in the southeastern town, put the total number at 167.

Families of the dead were allowed inside the laboratories for identification; however, only 30 of the bodies were reported to be identifiable. Forensic institute officials sent samples from the unidentifiable bodies and with family members’ samples to the Istanbul Forensic Institute for a series of large-scale DNA tests to help with the identification process.

Turkish authorities on Feb. 29 said the number of bodies waiting to be identified was 50. According to official stats, that number dropped to 44 on March 3.

After a weeks-long curfew that was imposed to prevent civilian casualties during military operations against terrorism, Cizre saw a row between the government and lawmakers from the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) early February, with the latter accusing the Turkish administration of failing to provide health services for civilians trapped inside three basement apartments, one in Cizre’s Nur neighborhood and two others in the Cudi neighborhood.

Syria: Russian MoD Accuses Turkey of Ongoing Hostilities in Syria’s Aleppo, Idlib

March 4, 2016 By administrator

Ankara is fully responsible for ongoing hostilities in Syria’s Aleppo and Idlib provinces as Turkey ensures steady supply of weapons to terrorists and keeps shelling groups of Kurdish militia fighting against al-Nusra Front, the Russian Defense Ministry said Friday.

HMEIMYM (Sputnik) — Last week, Russia and the United States reached an agreement on the ceasefire in Syria. The cessation of hostilities took effect at midnight on Saturday, Damascus time, generally holding across the country despite reported minor violations.

“Truck convoys with materiel and weaponry cross the border from Turkey to Syria round the clock. They are headed exclusively to areas controlled by al-Nusra Front and Ahrar ash-Sham terrorist groups,” Lt. Gen. Kuralenko, commander of the Hmeymim-based Russian center for Syrian reconciliation, told reporters.

Earlier, the Russian center on Syrian reconciliation said that it was receiving reports from the Syrian General Staff and Kurdish armed groups supporting the ceasefire, that complain of continuing artillery shelling from Turkey.

“Artillery shelling of Kurdish militia units, fighting against Nusra Front, continues from the territory of a Turkish border post near Yanankey,” Kuralenko said, adding that these actions hinder the restoration of peace and reconciliation in the Aleppo and Idlib provinces.

On February 13, Turkish artillery began shelling positions held by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), a Kurdish group with links to the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), in Syria’s Aleppo Province.

On February 25, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that the truce in Syria is not obligatory for Turkey to follow if the country feels a threat against its security.

Turkey Kurdish Forces: killed 4 security turkish members , 35 people injured in attacks in SE

March 4, 2016 By administrator

he attack was carried out around 6 a.m. (0400 GMT) by Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants in the town of Nusaybin, near the Syrian border. (Photo: DHA)

Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) detonated a car bomb near a police station in southeastern Turkey on Friday, killing two police officers and injuring 35 people, while on the same day two soldiers were killed by the PKK in the İdil district of Şırnak province.

The attack targeted the traffic police station and lodgings in Mardin‘s Nusaybin district, where the security forces are battling PKK terrorists. Two police officers died at the scene, while 35 people, including police officers and members of their families, were injured in the explosion.

The explosion caused extensive damage to the police lodgings and left a large crater on the road, images published by the private Doğan news agency showed.

According to media reports, two soldiers died during a clash with the PKK in İdil.

A fragile two-year-old settlement process between the Turkish government and the PKK collapsed in late July, reviving a three-decades-old conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people. Hundreds — many of them police officers and soldiers — have died in the renewed fighting.

The attack in Nusaybin comes amid a surge of violence in Turkey.

Last month, a suicide car bombing that targeted buses carrying military personnel in Ankara killed 29 people. The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), a Kurdish militant group that is an offshoot of the PKK, claimed responsibility for that attack.

On Thursday, police in İstanbul killed two female militants of the banned far-left group the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Army-Front (DHKP-C), who had hidden inside a building after attacking police with gunfire and a hand grenade.

Turkey: Reactions pour in against gov’t-orchestrated takeover of Zaman daily

March 4, 2016 By administrator

(Photo: Today’s Zaman)

Reactions have mounted in Turkey against a government-orchestrated move to seize the nation’s best-selling newspaper Zaman and its affiliate publications including Today’s Zaman as part of a crackdown on critical and independent media.

Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy Murat Emir spoke on Friday morning when the takeover of Zaman was still a rumor circulating on social media. Emir said that he saw the move as the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) trying to silence free and independent media.

Expressing that the media in Turkey faces new attacks every day, Emir said that the majority of these assaults were being done under the guise of the law. “We [CHP] condemn all attempts to subdue the free media. We are against all attacks [against the media] and believe these attacks must come to an end.”

Speaking to Zaman daily on Friday morning, Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) deputy Ümit Özdağ, who recently resigned from his position as deputy chairman of the MHP said he cannot believe the government is going to take over the Zaman daily and its subsidiaries.

CHP deputy Akif Ekici said of the takeover that he believes the current government in Turkey has the potential to take over newspapers, appoint trustees to media organizations, and file people into jails. “I don’t know where this oppression will end though,” he said.

Several staunchly pro-government journalists have claimed that two critical journalists who were recently released from prison will be re-arrested and that the government will silence a major critical media outlet, while a Twitter whistleblower claimed that trustees had already been appointed to take over the media group.

Dündar and Gül were arrested on Nov. 26, 2015 on charges of membership in a terrorist organization, espionage and revealing confidential documents. The charges stem from a terrorism investigation launched after Cumhuriyet published photos in May 2015 of weapons it said were being transferred to Syria in trucks operated by the National Intelligence Organization (MİT).

Columnist Abdurrahman Dilipak from the pro-government Yeni Akit daily argued in a column on Thursday that Cumhuriyet journalists Can Dündar and Erdem Gül may be re-arrested at any time.

“The release of Can [Dündar] and his colleague from prison may be the start of a new series of unfortunate things for them. At least, they may be arrested again. They may face graver accusations with new information and documents,” Dilipak wrote.

Star Daily columnist Cem Küçük, who is known for his open threats against media moguls and journalists critical of the government, also voiced similar claims on Tuesday, arguing that “Dündar will face new and more solid indictments.”

Cumhuriyet’s Dündar and Gül were freed after a Constitutional Court ruling on Feb. 25, which said their imprisonment amounted to a violation of their rights.

Küçük also said, “according to information he obtained,” Feza Media Group, which also includes Today’s Zaman, will be seized by the government. He argued that trustees will be appointed to the group soon.

Also on Thursday, Twitter whistleblower Fuat Avni claimed that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who “has no tolerance for any media group that would criticize his plans for a presidential switch,” ordered the seizure of Zaman daily, the main newspaper under the Feza Media Group.”

“He told off those who told him that there is no legal infrastructure to seize Zaman,” Avni claimed.

“He is taking the revenge for the Constitutional Court’s decision favoring the release of Can Dündar and Erdem Gül. The order [to seize Zaman] has been sent to [his] men at the judiciary,” he further claimed.

“They arranged Prosecutor Fuzuli Aydoğdu and the 6th Penal Court of Peace. They made the court to appoint trustees to the Zaman daily,” Avni wrote on Twitter. Avni also argued that any resistance to the seizure of Zaman Media Group will be brutally supressed by the police.

President Erdoğan openly said on Sunday he does not obey or respect the decision by the Constitutional Court that declared that the imprisonment of the journalists amounted to a violation of their rights.

“The Constitutional Court may have reached such a verdict. I will remain silent. I am not in a position to accept it,” Erdoğan told reporters before departing for a visit to some West African countries. “I do not obey it nor do I respect it.”

Dündar and Gül were arrested on charges of espionage and aiding a terrorist organization in November after the publication of video footage purporting to show Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MİT) helping to send weapons to Syria when they were intercepted in 2014 by gendarmerie forces. The arrest drew international condemnation and revived concern about media freedom in Turkey.

Erdoğan, who had described the interception of the MİT trucks as an act of espionage aimed at undermining Turkey internationally, vowed that Dündar and the newspaper would pay a “heavy price” for reporting on the incident. “I will not let him go [unpunished],” he said back in November.

Commenting on claims on more pressure on the critical media, Zaman daily Editor-in-Chief Abdülhamit Bilici said it does not befit a country ruled by democracy and the law to discuss such attempts in 2016. “Such demands and illegal attempts [to silence critical media] are not allowed in countries where democracy and the laws are functioning. We regret to see such comments and claims,” he added.

Bilici further said on Twitter that he hopes these claims are not true. “If these disgusting claims are true, I am calling on all democrats to stand by press freedom,” he said.

This is the second time the Zaman daily has become the target of government-orchestrated raids, as on Dec. 14 along police raided the İstanbul headquarters of the daily detaining total of 31 suspects, including Zaman’s former Editor-in-Chief Ekrem Dumanlı as part of a crackdown on dissenting media by the AK Party.

History The first country to recognize the Armenian Genocide was Turkey – 1918

March 4, 2016 By administrator

By Harut Sassounian The California Courier editor

The Armenian Genocide is discussed in the Turkish parliament rarely, and fewer still there are calls for its recognition.

On 14 January 2016, two of the three Armenian members recently elected to the Turkish Parliament have simply dared to raise the issue of the Armenian Genocide in their speeches in the Assembly.

Selina Dogan, representing the opposition party Kemalist CHP (Republican People’s Party), had made the following statement in Parliament: “Since this issue concerns not only Armenians but also Turkey, and therefore it should involve the Turkish parliament and not the other parliaments. Otherwise, every April 24 will continue to make statements always the same and we will promptly quickly cast it on our minds; I am convinced that none of us has any interest in doing so. I must remind you that during a public event in 2015 in Erzurum, the Prime Minister made it clear that deportation is a crime against humanity. “

Garo Paylan, representing the Kurdish opposition party HDP, then mounted the rostrum and also spoke of the Armenian Genocide. “One hundred years the Armenian people have been uprooted and destroyed by order of the state. My family – my grandfather and his family – has suffered also during these events. My grandfather lost both parents and became thereby orphan. I am a descendant of a generation of orphans and survivors of the sword, that live on these lands. My race was massacred. “

While Paylan spoke, several members of parliament shouted to express their disapproval. Baki Shimshek, member of the ultra-nationalist opposition party MHP, shouted in a threatening tone: “We are here in the Turkish National Assembly. Nobody can say that genocide was committed. Such behavior is unacceptable! “.

Despite the unusual nature of this debate is not the first time that statements on the Armenian Genocide were made in the Turkish parliament.

3 Armenian MPs: Selina Dogan, Markar Yesayan, Garo Paylan

In November 2014, Sebahat Tuncel HDP party proposed a resolution condemning the Armenian Genocide. Tuncel Erdogan asked insistently come before parliament to recognize the genocide and other massacres and ask forgiveness. The text of the resolution also asked Erdogan publicly reiterated his apology on one of the sites of the massacres, and he declares April 24 day official mourning. In addition, parliament should undertake to establish a Truth Commission that would make public all the public archives documents relating to the massacres. Finally, the proposed resolution addressed the issue of moral and material compensation for the descendants of victims. As expected, the resolution Tuncel was quickly removed to never see the day.

As I reported it a year ago, the proposed Tuncel was not the first resolution submitted to the Turkish parliament for recognition of the Armenian Genocide. On 4 November 1918, the new Ottoman Turkish parliament discussed at length the crimes committed by the Turkish government Young, after the presentation of a motion stating: “A population of a million people guilty of nothing except their belonging to the Armenian nation were massacred and exterminated, including women and children. “ In response, Interior Minister Fethi Okyar said: “The government’s intention is to repair all the injustices until now, within our means, to make possible the return home of those who were exiled, and to compensate them for their material losses as much as it can. “

As a result of this motion, a parliamentary commission of inquiry was created to gather all documents relating to the actions of those responsible for what was called “deportations and massacres of Armenians”. The proofs were delivered to the Turkish Military Tribunal and those who were found guilty were hanged or sentenced to long prison terms.

In addition to this parliamentary motion, we must remember the words of Kemal Ataturk, the first president of the Republic of Turkey, quoted in the Los Angeles examinator of August 1, 1926 to have said: “These survivors of the former party Youth Turkish expected accountable for the death of millions of our Christian subjects, brutally driven from their homes and massacred en masse “.

Together, the motion of the 1918 parliament, convictions by the Turkish Military Tribunals and the words of President Kemal Ataturk on the responsibility of the Turkish government of the time, characterize the genocide and make Turkey the first state to have recognized the Armenian Genocide!

Therefore, rather than wanting Turkey to recognize the Armenian Genocide, Armenians should reclaim their lands as his interior minister Fethi Okyar promised 98 years ago!

Gilbert Béguian translation for Armenews

Fethi Okyar was military attaché in Paris at the age of 29, from 1909 to 1911

ARMENIAN HERITAGE A petition to ask Turkey to indicate the origin “Armenian and Christian” church Dikran Honents Ani

March 3, 2016 By administrator

Model

A petition on the website “Change.org” by an Armenian organization of national heritage defense raised to date over 1300 signatures. It calls for the establishment of the historical truth about the signs of directions of the Armenian Church Dikran Honents Ani, the capital of the Armenian kingdom of Bagratuni. The indication by the church board, the petitioners request the placement of the words’ Armenian Christian Church. “ “As a historical capital of Armenia containing several nationalities, remains Ani Armenian, that is established in many historical documents and sources”. The statement also says that, now located on the territory of Turkey, it falsifies facing the international community such historical data on Armenian Ani. “For us it is particularly worrying to present Dikran Honents church during its renovation as a Chalcedonian church that could give rise to confusion and undermine the long-standing relations of friendship Georgian-Armenian. “As Armenians, the petitioners call on Turkey to indicate to visitors, the Armenian origin of this church Dikran Honents which is one of the architectural jewels of Ani,” the city of a thousand and one churches ” this capital of Bagratuni which is just a few kilometers from the Armenian border.

Krikor Amirzayan

Following the above article we received René Martayan few precise lines and pictures you find at the bottom of the article.

“Dear Sir,

Your article on the petition in the Surp Krikor Ani church caught my attention. Please find on some pics (taken in 2014) the points of discord are not as clear as it seems. On the sign outside of the church speak English explanations of St. Gregory the Illuminator which the fresco inside the church is beautiful like many others. St Gregory face It shows the king of Armenia. During my visit the goalkeeper was keen to show me around the church. We were alone. Pointing to the fresco of St Gregory, while I knew what it was, he told me that the person on the right side to the king of Armenia had long been locked in Armenia while showing me the direction of Khor Virap. So I aicompris of which they spoke. Indeed at no time did we speak of Armenian church. But these elements constitute a presumption of evidence. By against the outside wall of the cathedral a long inscription in Armenian carved in stone, explains the reasons for the construction of the cathedral. Best regards

René Martayan “

Austrailan MP Zimmerman calls Turkey recognize Armenian Genocide during maiden Parliamentary speech

March 2, 2016 By administrator

Trent Zimmerman MP calls for recognition of Armenian Genocide

CANBERRA: On Wednesday, 2nd March 2016, newly-elected Federal Member for North Sydney, Trent Zimmerman gave his maiden speech in the Australia’s House of Representatives, calling on Turkey to recognise and atone for the Armenian Genocide.

Zimmerman was elected at a recent by-election, taking the seat vacated by Joe Hockey MP (now Australia’s Ambassador to the United States), a long-time advocate for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

The Armenian National Committee of Australia’s (ANC Australia) Executive Administrator, Arin Markarian commented: “We thank Mr. Zimmerman for proving he will continue Mr. Hockey’s fine work on the advancement of recognition and justice for the Armenian Genocide.”
In his speech, Zimmerman acknowledged the “great historical injustices” that the Armenians have suffered, particularly through the Armenian Genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire in 1915.

He said: “The Armenians are a people who have suffered great historical injustices. They are one of the few people against whom genocide has been attempted, and the awful legacy of those events of 1915 in the Ottoman Empire is deeply felt in their community today.”

Zimmerman added: “We know such horrific events are best healed through reconciliation, recognition and atonement. I hope that we will see a day when Turkey, indeed the global community through the United Nations, properly recognises the Armenian Genocide.”

ANC Australia has written to Zimmerman, congratulating him on his maiden speech, wishing him a fruitful career representing the electorate of North Sydney and the greater Australian community.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE PORTION OF MR. ZIMMERMAN’S MAIDEN SPEECH

Turkey shuts down media businesses linked to Gulen

March 1, 2016 By administrator

Employees block the door as riot police try to enter Kanalturk and Bugun TV building in Istanbul, Turkey, October 28, 2015. ©Reuters

Authorities in Turkey have closed media outlets linked to Fethullah Gulen, a US-based cleric and arch-foe of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as Ankara continues its crackdown on dissent.

Last October, the state seized Koza Ipek Holding, a conglomerate connected to Gulen, as well as its media businesses, including the newspaper Bugun and television station Kanalturk, on accusation of financial irregularities.

Now, a stock exchange filing released late on Monday says operations were stopped due to “constant losses and the depletion of capital, while (the firms’) corporate entities will be retained.”

Gulen is regarded an outspoken opponent of Erdogan and his policies. The Turkish president has accused Gulen and his followers of plotting to overthrow the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), a charge that Gulen denies.

The preacher is wanted for purportedly running a “parallel” structure within Turkey’s state institutions.

A move by police and prosecutors considered sympathetic to Gulen to open a graft probe into Erdogan’s inner circle in 2013 prompted the Turkish government to launch a crackdown on Gulen’s commercial interests. Erdogan has also purged police and judiciary.

According to Erhan Basyurt, Bugun‘s former editor-in-chief until the state takeover, the media business had a valuation of USD 200 million in 2015, and the new management had shown investments, including acquisitions, as losses.

Turkish top judge stands up to Erdogan

In a separate development on Tuesday, Zuhtu Arslan, the president of Turkey’s Constitutional Court, defended his court’s independence after Erdogan and the justice minister slammed a ruling that the detention of two well-known journalists had violated their rights.

Erdogan said on Sunday he neither recognized nor respected the February 25 ruling by the tribunal that led to the release of Can Dundar, editor-in-chief of the opposition Cumhuriyet daily, and its Ankara bureau chief, Erdem Gul.

The opposition *Cumhuriyet* daily’s editor-in-chief Can Dundar (right at podium) and *Cumhuriyet* daily’s Ankara bureau chief Erdem Gul (left at podium) talk to the press and employees after being released from jail on February 26, 2016 at the *Cumhuriyet* headquarters in Istanbul. ©AFP

The two journalists have been under arrest since late November 2015 on charges of treason, espionage, and terrorist propaganda.

In late May 2015, Cumhuriyet posted on its website footage showing trucks belonging to Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) allegedly carrying weapons for Takfiri groups in neighboring Syria.

Ankara denied the allegations, saying the trucks had been carrying humanitarian aid to Syria.

“Decisions taken by the constitutional court using its authority, are binding for everyone and every institution,” Arslan told a legal conference in Ankara, adding, “We are doing our job. We do not look at who is making the application. We are not on anybody’s side or against anyone.”

Ankara has been accused of supporting militant groups fighting to topple the Syrian government since March 2011.