ANKARA, Turkey – Israel should be barred from the United Nations while it ignores the organization’s calls to stop fighting in Gaza, Turkey’s prime minister said Friday, urging the world not to turn a blind eye to Israel’s “savagery.”
“How is such a country, which totally ignores and does not implement resolutions of the U.N. Security Council, allowed to enter through the gates of the U.N.?” Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.
Erdogan spoke before U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrived in Ankara. Erdogan’s comments reflected growing anger in Turkey, Israel’s best friend in the …

ANKARA, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) — Thousands of people on Sunday joined demonstrations across Turkey to protest against the Israeli raids on Gaza, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.
Political parties and non-governmental organizations held demonstrations in different provinces protesting the Israeli strikes, according to the report.
Thousands of people attended the demonstrations, chanting slogans and carrying banners condemning Israel and demanding an immediate halt to Israeli bombing in Gaza Strip, said the report, adding that some protesters burnt Israeli flags and effigies.

Turkish fighter jets have launched airstrikes on the hideouts of Kurdish militants stationed in northern parts of neighboring Iraq.
Warplanes bombed Kurdistan Worker’s Party [PKK] targets during operations that were carried out over the weekend, Turkish military sources revealed.
The army is also targeting mobile PKK fighters operating inside Turkey close to the Iraqi border, the sources added.
Meanwhile, a PKK spokesman confirmed the attacks and said that three Turkish soldiers had been killed the days before the air raids.

Turkish Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul is in Israel for a two-day visit, the focus of which is to examine a batch of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that Turkey is slated to acquire, Turkish officials said.
According to Turkish media reports, last year Turkey began operating the medium-altitude Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Elbit-made Heron UAVs over northern Iraq, home to scores of Kurdish rebel bases.

KABUL, – Turkey is willing to do more to train Afghanistan’s security forces, the Turkish foreign minister said, after calls from Afghan and U.S. leaders for help to build up the army and police in their fight with Taliban insurgents.
As violence reaches its worst level in Afghanistan since the Taliban were toppled in 2001, NATO leaders recognise that strengthening the Afghan army, and particularly the notoriously corrupt police, is key to suppressing the insurgency.