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Turkey blocks access to Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp following ambassador’s assassination

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By Cara McGoogan

Turkey appears to have blocked access to major social media sites following the assassination of the Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov.

People in Turkey found themselves unable to access popular services such as Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp the day after the attack  in what appeared to be a crack down on internet communications. It follows the imposition of a national broadcast ban in the wake of the attack. 

Turkey Blocks, a site that monitors internet access within the country, said some users were experiencing “sever slowdowns” on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. It also reported problems with WhatsApp, but said the country’s most popular internet service provider TTNet had not yet been affected.  

Gunman Reportedly Detained After Trying to Enter US Embassy in Turkey

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An armed man attempted to enter the US embassy in the Turkish capital, local media said Tuesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — A gunman attempting to enter the US embassy in Ankara was stopped by police and has been detained, the Daily Sabah newspaper said in its official Twitter account.

The incident follows Monday’s murder of Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov who was killed by a gunman at an art gallery exhibition opening in Ankara. Three other people were also injured in the attack. The Russian Foreign Ministry said it considers the attack a terrorist act.

The Daily Sabah reported that the incident was over, adding that the embassy called on US citizens to avoid area around the embassy until Tuesday.

US Embassy in Ankara says security incident near the Embassy is over but US citizens should avoid the area until Tuesday morning

Updated Russia’s ambassador to Turkey dead in shooting. Gunman shouted ‘Allahu akbar’

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A gunman gestures near the body of an apparently wounded man at a photo gallery in Ankara on Monday. An Associated Press photographer said a gunman has fired shots at the Russian ambassador to Turkey. (Burhan Ozbilici/Associated Press)

Gunman shouted ‘Allahu akbar’ and smashed photos at exhibit where Karlov was speaking, witnesses say.

The Turkish police officer who killed Russian Ambassador Andrew Karlov has been identified as Mevlüt Mert Altıntaş of the Ankara Riot police.

Altıntaş, 22, was a graduate of Izmir Police School. He was not on duty when he made the attack at an art gallery on Monday, according to two Turkish Security sources who spoke to Reuters. He had previously been investigated for an attempted coup by the terrorist organization Haberturk. Russia’s foreign ministry confirmed that the ambassador, Andrew Karlov, had died in the attack. Altıntaş was shot and killed after assassinating Karlov.

Source: sputniknews.com

Andrey Karlov, the Russian Ambassador to Turkey was seriously wounded in a gun attack in the Turkish capital on Monday and was taken to hospital.

 

An Associated Press photographer said a gunman fired shots Karlov at a photo exhibition in the capital city, where the ambassador was making an address.

The ambassador was several minutes into a speech at the embassy-sponsored exhibition in the capital, Ankara, when a man wearing a suit and tie shouted “Allahu Akbar” and fired at least eight shots, according the photographer.

The attacker also said some words in Russian and smashed several of the photos hung for the exhibition.

Hurriyet newspaper said Turkish special forces had surrounded the building. NTV said three other people were wounded.

Russia and Turkey have been involved in conflict in Syria across the border from where over two million Syrian refugees have settled.

Turkey has been a staunch opponent of President Bashar al-Assad while Russia has deployed troops and its air force in support of the Syrian leader.

It was not immediately clear who carried out the attack. ISIS militants have been active in Turkey and carried out several bomb attacks on Turkish targets.

Breaking News: Russia’s ambassador shot, seriously wounded, in Turkey

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Andrey Karlov, the Russian ambassador to Turkey was seriously wounded in a gun attack in the Turkish capital on Monday and was taken to hospital, Turkey’s NTV and other broadcasters reported.

An Associated Press photographer says a gunman fired shots Karlov at a photo exhibition in the capital city, where the ambassador was making an address.

Photographs from the scene showed a man lying on the ground with an armed man dressed in a suit standing near him.

More to come

German school in Istanbul cancels Christmas celebrations.

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Twitter Ulf Poschardt @ulfposh

A German-funded school in Istanbul has told teachers they cannot even talk about Christmas in class. Berlin has expressed outrage as the school is financed with public funds.

Berlin expressed its dismay on Sunday that a German high school in Istanbul had canceled its Christmas celebrations.

“We do not understand the surprising decision of the leadership at Istanbul Lisesi,” said the foreign ministry. “It is a great pity that the good tradition of the intercultural exchange in the pre-Christmas period was suspended at a school with a long history of German-Turkish” friendship, the government said.

The elite high school was founded more than a century ago, employs around 35 German teachers and is co-financed by German public funds. Each December, the school has a small celebration for Christmas and teaches pupils about the holiday.

One week after the school’s choir was prevented from singing at the German consulate in Istanbul, they reportedly canceled the festivities.

https://twitter.com/ulfposh/status/810533166234615808

According to an email seen by German news agency DPA, the teachers cannot even mention Christmas inside their classroom.

“The topic of Christmas traditions and celebrations will not be discussed, taught or sung about, effective immediately, according to the notice by the Turkish management,” the head of school’s German department reportedly wrote.

No advent calendars

Responding to the protests from Berlin, the school management denied that they banned celebrating Christmas.

However, they said that German teacher have recently been “talking about Christmas and Christianity in a way that was not foreseen by the curriculum.”

Several German teachers confirmed to the “Spiegel” magazine that they were instructed to forgo Christmas songs and traditions. The school also wanted them to remove advent calendars from school premises, they said.

According to the magazine, the teachers requested anonymity as the staff is forbidden from talking to the media.

German newspaper “Die Welt” put its own spin on the situation, depicting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as the fiendish green Grinch famous in Dr. Seuss’ children’s tale for stealing Christmas.

Kurdish HDP party offices attacked across Turkey

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The party’s office in Istanbul’s Beylikdüzü district was attacked by a group of 30 to 40 people who broke down the door, smashed windows and started a fire.

Police and fire trucks were called to the scene.

In the Darica district of Kocaeli, an unidentified person or persons opened fire on HDP’s district office. The police were called to the scene. No injuries have been reported and it is believed the office was empty at the time of the attack, CNN Turk reported.

Kurdish media has also reported attacks on HDP offices in Ankara, Izmir, Çanakkale, Hatay, and Erzincan.

The attacks come the same day at least 13 Turkish soldiers were killed and 56 wounded in a car bombing in the central city of Kayseri.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet but in the hours after the bombing, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that “Turkey is under the threat of attacks by terrorist groups, especially the separatist terrorist organization which is trying to do its best to block Turkey’s progress,” referring to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

Erdogan has frequently accused HDP members of supporting the PKK. Many HDP MPs, including the two co-chairs, are facing terrorism charges.

Turkey 13 Turkish soldiers killed, 56 wounded in attack in Turkey’s Kayseri

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Some 13 soldiers were killed, 56 wounded in attack near Erciyes University in the central Turkish city of Kayseri early on Dec.17, Hurriyet Daily News reports, citing the Turkish Armed Forces.

A bus transporting soldiers was hit by an explosion near Erciyes University in the central Turkish city of Kayseri early on December17, wounding an unknown number of people, security sources said.

Ambulances were sent to the area after the explosion, the sources said. Turkey’s Dogan news agency said the blast hit the bus as it drove past a car believed to be packed with explosives.

Hospital sources in Kayseri confirmed that people had been killed and wounded after an explosion hit a bus there on Dec.17, although they were not able to give any details about the death toll.

Broadcaster NTV said the bus was carrying off-duty soldiers and civilians when it was hit by the blast near a bus stop at the campus of Erciyes University.

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister, Veysi Kaynak said blast that hit bus was a car bomb and it targeted bus carrying soldiers.

Kaynak also said, blast resembled attack in Beshiktash in Istanbul, confirming that there were wounded but unsure on number of deaths.

Meanwhile, Turkey’s media watchdog, the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK), imposed a temporary ban that includes live broadcast from the scene, footage taken from the time of the blast and afterwards, and images of bodies, the agency said in a statement.

An investigation to the attack is underway.

The blast came a week after a twin bombing outside an Istanbul soccer stadium killed more than 40 people and wounded more than 100, an attack claimed by Kurdish militants.

HRW accuses Turkey of ‘silencing’ 140 media outlets and 29 publishing houses had been shut down

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Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused the Turkish government of silencing independent media in an attempt to block scrutiny or criticism of Ankara’s large-scale crackdown on dissidents following an abortive July 15 military coup.

The New York-based rights group said in a report on Thursday that Turkey’s “assault” on critical journalism had accelerated after the putsch and that journalists had described the atmosphere in which they work as “stifling.”

The watchdog said some 140 media outlets and 29 publishing houses had been shut down since mid-July under post-coup emergency decrees, leaving over 2,500 journalists and media workers without jobs.

Accusing Ankara of using the criminal justice system as a tool against the media, the HRW also said the government in Turkey interfered with editorial independence and forced outlets to dismiss critical journalists.

“Keeping 148 journalists and media workers in jail and closing down 169 media and publishing outlets under the state of emergency shows how Turkey is deliberately flouting basic principles of human rights and rule of law central to democracy,” said Hugh Williamson, the Europe and Central Asia director at the HRW.

The Thursday report was based on interviews with 61 journalists, editors, lawyers, and press freedom activists as well as on reviews of court documents. It came after another report by the non-governmental media rights group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) earlier this week, which said Turkey had become the “world’s biggest prison for the media profession.”

ISIS “Dasesh” manufacturing arms on industrial scale with Turkish products

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In this file photo, a member of the Iraqi counter-terrorism forces walks by Daesh weapons factory in Fallujah, Iraq. (By Reuters)

Recent findings have revealed that the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group in Iraq is manufacturing weapons on an industrial scale, with products largely purchased in bulk from Turkey.

The London-based Conflict Armaments Research reported on Wednesday that Daesh has maintained a “robust and reliable” supply chain between Turkey and Iraq, enabling its members to produce tens of thousands of weapons in and around the northern city of Mosul.

The arms research group’s executive director James Bevan warned that the highly-trained terrorists could take their expertise with them as they are retreating in the wave of an Iraqi battle to liberate Mosul.

Bevan further said he believes Daesh has already moved its experienced bomb-makers out of Mosul and into northern Syria as well as southern Turkey.

“They place a very high value on technical capacity and they will do everything they can to preserve it,” he said.

Bevan went on to say that Daesh Takfiris highly rely on Turkey concerning the acquisition of bomb-making materials, noting that their demand exceeds the available level in Iraq.

Daesh on the defensive in Mosul

On Tuesday, fighters from the Popular Mobilization Units, commonly known as Hashd al-Sha’abi, destroyed four vehicles rigged with explosives as they were heading towards government troops in al-Sharayeh village west of the city of Tal Afar.

The vehicles reportedly had the national Iraqi flags on to mislead army soldiers.

Additionally, Iraqi volunteer fighters thwarted a Daesh offensive against Tal Aziz village west of Tal Afar, killing 10 militants. A pickup truck equipped with a 14.5mm heavy machine gun was destroyed in the process as well.

Iraq’s Joint Operations Command, citing commander of Nineveh Liberation Operation Lieutenant General Abdul Amir Yarallah, announced on Tuesday that security forces had wrested control over Hanoudah al-Kurd, Aziz Agha, Tal Aksa’, Northern Tal Sanam and Southern Tal Sanam villages west of Tal Afar, and hoisted the Iraqi flag over them.

Scores of Daesh militants were killed and large amounts of their munitions destroyed during the fierce clashes.

Iraqi counter-terrorism forces also retook al-Fallah al-Oula and Fallah al-Thaniyah neighborhoods on the eastern outskirts of Mosul from Daesh extremists.

Separately, Hashd al-Sha’abi fighters recaptured al-Khuwaitlah village plus the towns of Ashwah and Hossein Jom’ah west of Mosul.

On October 17, Iraqi army soldiers and allied forces launched a joint operation to retake Mosul from Daesh terrorists.

The Iraqi forces’ advance has, however, been slowed down due to the presence of hundreds of thousands of civilians, many of whom are prevented from leaving Mosul by Daesh.

Daesh has also increased its terror activities elsewhere across Iraqi in revenge for its losses in Mosul.

A senior Iraqi police official said Wednesday that Daesh terrorists have executed 28 people in the northern province of Kirkuk on charges of charges of cooperation with army forces and Kurdish Peshmerga fighters.

Brigadier General Sarhad Qadir, Kirkuk’s provincial police chief, told al-Sumaria television network on Wednesday that the victims were killed in an area of Hawija district using heavy machine guns.

Netherlands says will challenge the “long arm” of Turkish state

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The Netherlands said on Wednesday, December 14 it would challenge every instance of the “long arm” of Ankara extending to its territory, after a report the Turkish embassy had sent home a list of Dutch Turks who might have sympathized with July’s failed coup, according to Reuters.

The Dutch foreign minister summoned Turkey’s ambassador in The Hague after a report in De Telegraaf newspaper citing Yusuf Acar, who is both a diplomat and the chairman of the Dutch arm of Turkey’s Directorate of Religious Affairs, as acknowledging he had compiled the list of “Gulenists”.

Ankara accuses supporters of exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen of backing the short-lived coup in which over 240 people were killed. In Turkey, over 100,000 people have been detained, suspended or sacked from judiciary, media and civil service and tensions have spread within the 500,000 Dutch-Turkish community, with some suspected Gulenist sympathizers facing death threats.

In a statement, Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders said the Telegraaf report was “worrying.” “We’re going to ask for clarification about this,” Koenders said.

“In addition, we are going to engage with the Turkish authorities and the Diyanet organization in Ankara. That’s part of our policy of challenging every incident that concerns the “long arm” with our Turkish counterparts.”

Acar told De Telegraaf that he had assembled the list from publicly available sources in his capacity as an employee of the Turkish Embassy, and not as leader of the religious affairs directorate, the Diyanet.

Koenders said that “if true, that means the combination of a diplomatic status with the chairmanship of Diyanet is problematic.”

As recently as Friday, the Dutch Diyanet had issued a press statement denying any involvement with “collecting information on Gulenist sympathizers”.

Related links:

Reuters. Netherlands says it wary of ‘long arm’ of Turkish state