News stories by Jacques N. Couvas

ANKARA, Jun 08 (IPS) - The results of the Turkish elections of Jun. 7 have put an end to the suspense that has dominated national politics in the past three months. For the first time in this Asian republic's history, a Kurdish party has succeeded in being elected to the legislature, with an impressive 15 percent of the seats available.

ANKARA, Jun 21 (IPS) - The announcement this week of the personality chosen by Turkey's opposition parties to run for the office of the President of the Republic has taken the majority of the Turks by surprise.

ANKARA, Jun 16 (IPS) - Eighteen months after a ceasefire between the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and Turkey's security forces took effect, clouds of trouble are gathering in the country's south-east.

ANKARA, May 25 (IPS) - The decision late Thursday by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to proceed with its first shipment of crude oil to Europe out of the port of Ceyhan in southern Turkey has received mixed reactions from all the parties concerned.

ANKARA, Jun 08 (IPS) - Now approaching its third week, the "Occupy Taksim" movement, a peaceful sit-in to save Istanbul's Gezi Park from redevelopment, has taken on a festival-like atmosphere, with protesters organising to stand guard around the clock, provide uninterrupted food and water supplies, and carry out a self-initiated cleaning of the grounds.

ANKARA, Jun 08 (IPS) - As protests in Turkey stretch into their second week, the precise terms and conditions that could bring the social unrest to an end are unclear, though many speculate about what would end the deadlock between the government and protesters.

ANKARA, Jun 05 (IPS) - "Peace at home, peace in the world" is the official motto of the Turkish Republic. Coined in 1931 by the republic's founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, it implies a causal relationship, but the events this week in Istanbul and dozens of other cities of Turkey suggest that causality can work in reverse order, too.

ANKARA, May 13 (IPS) - The peaceful withdrawal from Turkey of combatants from the Kurdistan's Workers Party (PKK) began last Wednesday but is already at risk of being compromised following a twin car bomb explosion on Saturday afternoon. The terrorist attack in Rayhanli in the Syrian border province of Hatay caused 46 civilian deaths and at least 155 injuries.

ANKARA, Nov 18 (IPS) - There was a sigh of relief in Ankara as Abdullah Ocalan, leader of the outlawed Kurdish Workers Party (PKK), on Sunday put an end to the 68-day hunger strike of 682 Kurdish prisoners and nine members of the Turkish Parliament.

A new 10-year blueprint for assisting the poorest countries on the planet to join the league of the more fortunate ones was approved Friday at the closing of the Fourth U.N. Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC-IV) held May 9- 13 here.