Latest news with #TurkishGovernment
CTV News
3 days ago
- Politics
- CTV News
Zelenskyy renews offer to meet with Putin as officials say Russian attacks kill child in Ukraine
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday renewed his offer to meet with Russian leader Vladimir Putin and negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine, as delegations from both governments prepared to hold a third round of direct talks. Russian forces, meanwhile, pounded three Ukrainian cities in nighttime attacks that officials said killed a child. Putin has spurned Zelenskyy's previous offers of a face-to-face meeting to end Europe's biggest conflict since World War II. But the Ukrainian leader insists that lower-level delegations like the ones expected for talks in Istanbul on Wednesday don't have the political heft to stop the fighting, when each side's demands on ending Russia's full-scale invasion, launched on Feb. 24, 2022, of its neighbor remain so far apart. 'Ukraine never wanted this war, and it is Russia that must end the war that it itself started,' Zelenskyy said in a Telegram post. Zelenskyy's announcement late Monday that the negotiations would take place generated little hope that they would deliver any progress on ending the war. That is despite the Trump administration's efforts to push forward peace efforts, which have stalled because Putin is reluctant to budge from his demands. The previous two rounds were held in Istanbul, and Russian media reports said that the Turkish city likely would also host the meeting this time. The talks in May and June led to a series of exchanges of prisoners of war and the bodies of fallen soldiers, but produced no other agreements. The war has continued unabated, meanwhile. Russia is driving hard to break through at eastern and northeastern points on the 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line. It is also firing upwards of 700 drones a night at Ukrainian cities. Zelenskyy said that at the next Istanbul talks, Ukraine wants to secure the release of more prisoners from Russian captivity and the return of children Ukraine says were abducted. The Ukrainian delegation will be headed by former Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, who is now the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine. It will include representatives of Ukrainian intelligence, the Foreign Affairs Ministry, and the president's office, Zelenskyy said. Russian forces struck four Ukrainian cities in three regions in overnight attacks, killing a child and wounding at least 24 other people, officials said Tuesday, a day before a planned third round of direct peace talks between delegations from Moscow and Kyiv. From dusk on Monday evening, Russia struck the Ukrainian regions of Sumy in the northeast, Odesa in the south and eastern Kramatorsk. In Kramatorsk, a glide bomb hit an apartment building, starting a fire, according to the head of the city's military administration, Oleksandr Honcharenko. A boy born in 2015 was killed, local officials said, without giving his exact age. Five other people were reported wounded. The Sumy region came under multiple waves of attacks, the regional military administration reported. A drone hit a gas station in the town of Putyvl, wounding four people, including a 5-year-old boy, it said. A second drone strike hit the same location less than two hours later, wounding seven other people. After dark, two powerful Russian glide bombs were dropped on Sumy city, wounding 13 people, including a 6-year-old boy. According to regional authorities, five apartment buildings, two private homes and a shopping mall were damaged in the attack. The blasts shattered windows and destroyed balconies in residential buildings, acting Mayor Artem Kobzar said. Russia's Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said Tuesday that air defenses downed 35 Ukrainian long-range drones over several regions overnight, including three over the Moscow region. ___ Illia Novikov, The Associated Press
LBCI
17-07-2025
- Politics
- LBCI
Erdogan accuses Israel of using the Druze as a pretext to expand into Syria
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday accused Israel of using the Druze minority in Syria as a pretext for expanding into the war-torn country. "Israel, using the Druze as an excuse, has been expanding its banditry into neighbouring Syria over the past two days," Erdogan said in a televised speech after the weekly cabinet meeting. AFP
CNN
11-07-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Kurdish PKK militants burn weapons in landmark step to end decades-long Turkey conflict
A ceremony in northern Iraq on Friday saw a handful of Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants lay down their weapons, a small but hugely symbolic gesture that marks the beginning of an end to a conflict with the Turkish state that's lasted nearly five decades and cost tens of thousands of lives. Politicians and observers gathered for the ceremony held in the ancient cave of Casene near the town of Sulaymaniyah, where about 30 men and women from the militant group placed their weapons in a large cauldron that was later set on fire. The PKK fighters announced in a statement their intent to continue the 'struggle for freedom' through 'democratic politics and legal means.' 'We hereby, of our own free will, and in your presence, destroy our weapons,' the statement said. Turkish news channels breathlessly reported on the ceremony although, aside from a small group of invited observers, journalists were not allowed into the area. Turkish channels showed helicopters flying over the cave where the ceremony was expected to take place. Convoys of white pick-up trucks and black vans were seen driving to the area. A senior Turkish official said Friday's move was an 'irreversible turning point' and described it as a 'milestone.' In May, the PKK, which is listed as a terror group in Turkey, the United States and the European Union, announced it would cease 'all activities' and dissolve after a call from its jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan. The Kurdish issue has come 'to a point where it can be resolved through democratic politics,' the PKK said in a statement at the time. In a rare video statement this week, the leader urged the Turkish parliament to set up a commission to manage the broader peace process. Founded by Ocalan in 1978, the PKK has waged a war against the Turkish state for decades. The group initially fought for an independent state in the Turkey's predominantly Kurdish southeast. But in recent years, it has called for more autonomy and more comprehensive cultural rights within the country instead. This is not the first time that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has tried to end the conflict, which is estimated to have killed more than 40,000 people. He courted the Kurdish vote in earlier years by granting them more rights and reversing restrictions on the use of their language. In 2013, Erdogan worked with the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party on the brief peace process with the PKK. Those talks collapsed in 2015, leading to crackdowns against the pro-Kurdish party, which has been accused by the Turkish government of having links to the PKK and its affiliates. Selahattin Demirtas, a popular Kurdish politician and co-leader of the Peoples' Democratic Party who once ran as a presidential candidate remains in jail after being detained in 2016 and charged with 'vague and wide-reaching accusations' including 'undermining the unity and territorial integrity of the State,' according to Human Rights Watch. Kurds are the biggest minority in Turkey, making up between 15% and 20% of the population, according to Minority Rights Group International. They also have a significant presence in northern Syria, northern Iraq and Iran.
CNN
11-07-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Kurdish PKK militants burn weapons in landmark step to end decades-long Turkey conflict
A ceremony in northern Iraq on Friday saw a handful of Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants lay down their weapons, a small but hugely symbolic gesture that marks the beginning of an end to a conflict with the Turkish state that's lasted nearly five decades and cost tens of thousands of lives. Politicians and observers gathered for the ceremony held in the ancient cave of Casene near the town of Sulaymaniyah, where about 30 men and women from the militant group placed their weapons in a large cauldron that was later set on fire. The PKK fighters announced in a statement their intent to continue the 'struggle for freedom' through 'democratic politics and legal means.' 'We hereby, of our own free will, and in your presence, destroy our weapons,' the statement said. Turkish news channels breathlessly reported on the ceremony although, aside from a small group of invited observers, journalists were not allowed into the area. Turkish channels showed helicopters flying over the cave where the ceremony was expected to take place. Convoys of white pick-up trucks and black vans were seen driving to the area. A senior Turkish official said Friday's move was an 'irreversible turning point' and described it as a 'milestone.' In May, the PKK, which is listed as a terror group in Turkey, the United States and the European Union, announced it would cease 'all activities' and dissolve after a call from its jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan. The Kurdish issue has come 'to a point where it can be resolved through democratic politics,' the PKK said in a statement at the time. In a rare video statement this week, the leader urged the Turkish parliament to set up a commission to manage the broader peace process. Founded by Ocalan in 1978, the PKK has waged a war against the Turkish state for decades. The group initially fought for an independent state in the Turkey's predominantly Kurdish southeast. But in recent years, it has called for more autonomy and more comprehensive cultural rights within the country instead. This is not the first time that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has tried to end the conflict, which is estimated to have killed more than 40,000 people. He courted the Kurdish vote in earlier years by granting them more rights and reversing restrictions on the use of their language. In 2013, Erdogan worked with the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party on the brief peace process with the PKK. Those talks collapsed in 2015, leading to crackdowns against the pro-Kurdish party, which has been accused by the Turkish government of having links to the PKK and its affiliates. Selahattin Demirtas, a popular Kurdish politician and co-leader of the Peoples' Democratic Party who once ran as a presidential candidate remains in jail after being detained in 2016 and charged with 'vague and wide-reaching accusations' including 'undermining the unity and territorial integrity of the State,' according to Human Rights Watch. Kurds are the biggest minority in Turkey, making up between 15% and 20% of the population, according to Minority Rights Group International. They also have a significant presence in northern Syria, northern Iraq and Iran.
CNN
11-07-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Kurdish PKK militants burn weapons in landmark step to end decades-long Turkey conflict
A ceremony in northern Iraq on Friday saw a handful of Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants lay down their weapons, a small but hugely symbolic gesture that marks the beginning of an end to a conflict with the Turkish state that's lasted nearly five decades and cost tens of thousands of lives. Politicians and observers gathered for the ceremony held in the ancient cave of Casene near the town of Sulaymaniyah, where about 30 men and women from the militant group placed their weapons in a large cauldron that was later set on fire. The PKK fighters announced in a statement their intent to continue the 'struggle for freedom' through 'democratic politics and legal means.' 'We hereby, of our own free will, and in your presence, destroy our weapons,' the statement said. Turkish news channels breathlessly reported on the ceremony although, aside from a small group of invited observers, journalists were not allowed into the area. Turkish channels showed helicopters flying over the cave where the ceremony was expected to take place. Convoys of white pick-up trucks and black vans were seen driving to the area. A senior Turkish official said Friday's move was an 'irreversible turning point' and described it as a 'milestone.' In May, the PKK, which is listed as a terror group in Turkey, the United States and the European Union, announced it would cease 'all activities' and dissolve after a call from its jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan. The Kurdish issue has come 'to a point where it can be resolved through democratic politics,' the PKK said in a statement at the time. In a rare video statement this week, the leader urged the Turkish parliament to set up a commission to manage the broader peace process. Founded by Ocalan in 1978, the PKK has waged a war against the Turkish state for decades. The group initially fought for an independent state in the Turkey's predominantly Kurdish southeast. But in recent years, it has called for more autonomy and more comprehensive cultural rights within the country instead. This is not the first time that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has tried to end the conflict, which is estimated to have killed more than 40,000 people. He courted the Kurdish vote in earlier years by granting them more rights and reversing restrictions on the use of their language. In 2013, Erdogan worked with the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party on the brief peace process with the PKK. Those talks collapsed in 2015, leading to crackdowns against the pro-Kurdish party, which has been accused by the Turkish government of having links to the PKK and its affiliates. Selahattin Demirtas, a popular Kurdish politician and co-leader of the Peoples' Democratic Party who once ran as a presidential candidate remains in jail after being detained in 2016 and charged with 'vague and wide-reaching accusations' including 'undermining the unity and territorial integrity of the State,' according to Human Rights Watch. Kurds are the biggest minority in Turkey, making up between 15% and 20% of the population, according to Minority Rights Group International. They also have a significant presence in northern Syria, northern Iraq and Iran.
