Latest Istanbul Stories

By SUZAN FRASER By Suzan Fraser The Associated Press ISTANBUL, Turkey Gunmen believed to be inspired by al-Qaida stormed a guard post at the U.S. consulate on Wednesday, touching off a firefight that killed three police and three assailants in the latest sign of Turkey's difficulty in clamping down on homegrown militants. The bearded gunmen emerged from a car and fatally shot a traffic officer , then swarmed the guard quarters at the entrance to the consulate, where two policemen were...

Text of report in English by Turkish news agency Anatolia ADANA/ANKARA (A.A) -09.07.2008 -US Consul in the southern province of Adana thanked Wednesday the Turkish police for the bravery displayed during the armed attack on police post outside the US Consulate General in Istanbul. US Consul Eric Green said they were saddened by the armed attack and said, "we are grateful to the Turkish police for the bravery they displayed.""We always take the necessary measures for our security, and will...

Text of report in English by Turkish news agency Anatolia ISTANBUL (A.A) -09.07.2008 -Istanbul Governor Muammer Guler said Wednesday that police identified the perpetrators of the armed attack on US Consulate General in Istanbul. Guler told reporters after visiting wounded police officers at the Istinye State Hospital in Istanbul that all current evidence indicated that three of the assailants, who were killed during the attack, were of Turkish origin. Guler said the attack was captured by...

BOSTON, Massachusetts, July 3 /PRNewswire/ -- The July 5 issue of the leading medical journal, The Lancet, highlights the Declaration of Istanbul on Organ Trafficking and Transplant Tourism, an important affirmation of ethical principles and practices adopted on May 2, 2008, at an International Summit of more than 150 healthcare professionals, officials, scientists, ethicists and legal scholars from 78 countries and 20 international organizations. A Commentary, authored by the 32-member...

By Grose, Thomas K IFEES fosters international collaboration to improve skills and provide uniform standards. BY THOMAS K. GROSE ISTANBUL-After the old Soviet Union crumbled, the now-independent country of Kazakhstan was left with the clunky remains of a Soviet-style system of higher education. That was a problem particularly for its technical schools, which the Kazakhs hoped would churn out the skilled and innovative engineers and technicians required for a 21st-century, market-based...

All Nippon Airways and Turkish Airlines will commence a codesharing agreement from July 1, 2008, in which All Nippon will place its flight code NH on Turkish Airlines's four weekly flights between Istanbul, Turkey, and Tokyo Narita, and its two weekly flights between Istanbul and Osaka Kansai. All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Turkish Airlines have previously tied up their frequent flyer programs when Turkish Airlines joined the Star Alliance, allowing ANA Mileage Club (AMC) members to accrue and...

By AFSANA AHMED Move aside Angelina Jolie and A Mighty Heart - the story of journalist Daniel Pearl, come in Apoorva Lakhia and Mission Istanbul. Giving media professionals around the world a much needed shot in the arm is this daring director who has always been fascinated by the bravado of journos. "They display unique courage whether they report truth or gossip," says Lakhia whose new film, the espionage thriller Mission Istanbul, has four characters playing journalists on the war...

Turkish private airline restarts regular flights to northern Iraq ANKARA, June 16 (Xinhua) -- A privately owned Turkish airline announced that it would launch regular flights between Istanbul and the northern Iraqi city of Arbil starting from June 29, local newspaper Today's Zaman reported on Monday. The Turkish airline company Atlasjet had long considered Istanbul- Arbil flights, but the project had been stalled many times for various reasons such as security and flight safety concerns,...

By Thomas Grove ANTALYA, Turkey (Reuters) - A shadowy Kurdish rebel group threatened on Tuesday to turn Turkey "into hell" after their two-day bombing spree killed three people and wounded dozens at popular tourist resorts. The Kurdish Liberation Hawks (TAK) said it bombed a busy shopping area in the coastal resort Antalya on Monday, killing three people and wounding dozens, including European and Middle Eastern tourists. The blast followed four bombs on the Mediterranean resort of...

By Thomas Grove ANTALYA, Turkey (Reuters) - A shadowy Kurdish rebel group has claimed responsibility for a bomb blast that killed three people and injured dozens in a Turkish tourist resort, a news agency said on Tuesday. Firat News Agency, which has close links to Kurdish rebels, reported that the Kurdistan Liberation Hawks (TAK) had said they were behind Monday's attack on Turkey's top coastal hub Antalya. The report could not be immediately confirmed. Monday was the second...