Turkey

Earthquake survivors look at a collapsed building in Istanbul in August 1999. The magnitude 7.4 quake killed 17,000 people across northwestern Turkey.

World News

18 Years After Turkey's Deadly Quake, Safety Concerns Grow About The Next Big One

10:57am September 07, 2017

by Peter Kenyon

A 1999 quake killed 17,000. Experts are warning that Turkey is badly unprepared, and concern is growing since many urban green spaces meant as earthquake evacuation zones have been sold to developers.

Khaleed Khatib was the videographer for the Oscar-winning Netflix documentary The White Helmets. "This photo was after double tap of aircraft on July 27, 2014," he says, referring to an airstrike followed by another attack. "I don't know how I survived."

Whatever Happened To ... The Syrian Who Risked His Life And Won An Oscar?

7:00am September 04, 2017

by Maanvi Singh

Khaled Khatib captured much of the footage for The White Helmets, an Oscar-winning documentary about search and rescue volunteers in war-torn Aleppo. What's he doing now?

Suat Keceli, left, a retired stockroom worker, and his barber Yasar Ayhan pose in Ayhan's barber shop in Kasimpasa, the Istanbul neighborhood where President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan grew up. Keceli is a conservative Muslim who kept his daughter out of schoo

In Turkey, Schools Will Stop Teaching Evolution This Fall

7:00am August 20, 2017

When Turkish children head back to school, something will be missing from their textbooks: any mention of evolution. The government is phasing in what it calls a values-based curriculum.

Arabic signs have replaced Turkish ones in Istanbul's Fatih neighborhood, where many Syrian refugees have settled. Turkey has absorbed some 3 million Syrian refugees since the Syrian war began.

World News

For Syrian Refugees In Turkey, A Long Road To Regular Employment

4:56pm August 14, 2017

by Lauren Frayer

Many of the Syrians in Turkey are educated professionals who are under-employed, working off the books for low pay. A government program is trying to change that, but things are moving slowly.

People hold placards with hashtag #FREEDENIZ to protest the detention of German journalist Deniz Yucel in front of Turkish embassy in Berlin on Feb. 28, 2017.

World News

Tensions Escalate Between Turkey And Germany

12:01pm August 09, 2017

by Lauren Frayer

Turkey and Germany have been close allies — around 3 million Turks live in Germany. But in recent months a rift has developed, and it's complicated by Turkey's ongoing purge following a failed coup.

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A popular Turkish baklava shop, Faruk Güllüoğlu, is one of nearly 1,000 companies expropriated by the Turkish government since last year's failed coup. The company is now run by a government trustee.

World News

Turkish Businesses Snagged In Government's Post-Coup Crackdown

4:52pm August 03, 2017

by Lauren Frayer

Over the past year, Ankara has expropriated nearly 1,000 Turkish companies — from carpet makers to a popular brand of baklava. They're accused of having ties to organizers of last year's failed coup.

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Paramilitary police and members of the special forces escort unidentified suspects of last year's failed coup outside the courthouse at the start of the trial Tuesday in Ankara, Turkey.

World News

Nearly 500 People On Trial In Turkey Over Failed Coup

3:33pm August 01, 2017

by Merrit Kennedy

Charges include murder, violating the constitution and attempting to kill the president. They could face life in prison. The cleric Turkey claims is the coup's leader is being tried in absentia.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan waves to his supporters as he arrives to commemorate the one year anniversary of the July 15, 2016 failed coup attempt, in Istanbul, Saturday.

A Year Later, A Divided Turkey Remembers Failed Coup Attempt

2:19pm July 16, 2017

by Peter Kenyon

A year after the failed coup, President Erdogan honored the civilians who died resisting the effort to overthrow his government. "We will not forget, (and) will not let it be forgotten," he said.

Fethullah Gulen sits in a room at his compound in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania. He has lived in exile in the United States since the late 1990s. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan blames Gulen for last year's failed coup and is seeking his extradition.

Cleric Accused Of Plotting Turkish Coup Attempt: 'I Have Stood Against All Coups'

6:33pm July 11, 2017

by Robert Siegel

Nearing the anniversary of the coup attempt, Fethullah Gulen tells NPR's Robert Siegel that if he were to be extradited, he'd "go willingly." As for Turkey's president: "I want to spit in his face."

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Opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu throws flowers to supporters on Sunday during a massive rally in Istanbul concluding a 280-mile march from Ankara.

World News

Turkey Detains 42 Academics Allegedly Linked To U.S.-Based Cleric

4:26pm July 10, 2017

by Laurel Wamsley

Police made the arrests in early-morning raids. Authorities said some of the suspects used a messaging app called ByLock, which the government believes is used by followers of Fethullah Gulen.