Tag: Turkey

How to Make Turkey Gravy Ahead of Time [+Video] – Oh Sweet Basil
[ad_1]
Learn how to make the perfect turkey gravy for the holiday season with this step by step guide! Impress your guests with this delicious and easy recipe.

It has been over 10 years that I’ve sat down with the intent of posting about how to make turkey gravy. But then I get busy with Thanksgiving and the next thing you know, we are moving on to Christmas and I didn’t even notice that I failed once again. And so this year it’s March, and I’m tackling Thanksgiving. You’re welcome.

Turkey gravy is something I’m a little picky about. I don’t want it clumpy, lumpy, salty or herby. I want it perfectly flavored and perfectly smooth. The richness comes from cooking down the neck, giblets or leg meat and the best part is…

YOU CAN MAKE IT AHEAD!

AND FREEZE IT!

So let’s jump in!

How to Make Turkey Gravy Ahead of Time

Ingredients for Homemade Turkey Gravy

We are going to start this recipe by making our own turkey stock which we will then use to make the gravy. Here is what you will need for each step:

For the Homemade Turkey Stock
- Turkey Neck, Giblets, Legs, Wings, etc: We will roast and simmer these to infuse maximum turkey flavor. You can even add a ham hock if you have one for deeper flavor.
- Olive Oil
- Seasonings and Herbs: Salt, Fresh Parsley, Black Pepper, Bay Leaves, Fresh Thyme
- Vegetables: Celery, Carrots, Onion, Baby Bella Mushrooms, Garlic
- Chicken Broth
- Turkey Trimmings
- White Cooking Wine
For the Gravy
- Unsalted Butter
- All-Purpose Flour
- Turkey Drippings
- Homemade Turkey Stock
The measurements for each ingredient can be found in the recipe card down below. Keep scrolling for all the details.

Turkey Gravy Recipe: Step by Step Guide

This is a make-ahead recipe, so it should be started a few days, to even a few weeks before Thanksgiving. If you don’t have time, store-bought will work but will not be as flavorful. You’ll also be surprised about how easy it is to make your own. Here are the basic steps:

1: Roast the Turkey Pieces
- Place the turkey neck, giblets, legs, wings, etc on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and toss with the salt, pepper, parsley, and bay leaf.
- Roast at 425 degrees F for 50-60 minutes. When it is done, drain the fat.
2: Chop the Vegetables
- While the turkey is roasting, chop all the vegetables. For the garlic, just chop the whole bulb in half and use one half leaving the skins on.
3: Deglaze the Pan
- Add a little cooking wine to the cookie sheet that the turkey roasted on and scrap all the little brown bits from the bottom.
4: Simmer the Broth
- Pour 2 cups of chicken broth to a dutch oven (or saucepan) and add the chopped vegetables and roasted turkey to the pot. Add the wine and bring it to a simmer.
- Pour in the rest of the broth, the thyme and garlic cloves, bring to a simmer and then reduce the heat and let it simmer for 1 hour.
5: Strain and Cool
- Pour everything through a fine mesh strainer, discard all the meat and veggies, and store the broth in the fridge until cool. Strain off the fat once cool.
6: Make the Gravy
- Using a new sauce pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and increase to medium-high heat. Stir the roux constantly until the mixture is a deep golden brown.
- Reduce the heat to low and whisk in 2 cups of the turkey broth we made. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a simmer. Let it simmer until it thickens. Add the turkey drippings of you have any from your roasted turkey.
- Reduce the heat to low again, add the remaining turkey broth and stir together. Increase the heat to medium-high heat, bring to a simmer and let it simmer until it thickens.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
All of these instructions can also be found in the recipe card at the end of the post. Keep scrolling for all the details.

What to Eat with Turkey Gravy

Creamy mashed potatoes is the first thing that comes to mind, but homemade turkey gravy is also delicious on top of stuffing, as a dip for your homemade rolls, and on top of your turkey, of course! To be honest, I just drizzle it all over my entire Thanksgiving plate.

Can I Use Cornstarch Instead of Flour?

If you’re looking to make gravy that is gluten-free, you can use cornstarch instead of flour to thicken the gravy. Instead of creating the roux with butter and flour, heat the turkey stock and drippings to a simmer. In a small bowl, combine 2 tablespoons of water with 1 tablespoon of cornstarch and whisk to combine to create a slurry. Slowly add the cornstarch mixture to the turkey stock and whisk until thickened.

You’ll lose a little richness in flavor since you’ll be missing the butter, but this is an option for thickening the gravy.

Cornaby’s EZ Gel is another great option for thickening gravy. Add the turkey stock and drippings to a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Whisk in 1 tablespoon of EZ Gel at a time until desired consistency.

Storing and Make Ahead

The thing I love most about this recipe is that you can make it up to 2 weeks ahead of time. That means one less thing to do on Thanksgiving day. There are a couple of options for making it ahead. First, you can freeze the turkey stock, then let it thaw and make the gravy as directed.

The other option is to the make the gravy and then store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a few days or freeze it for up to 2 weeks. Reheat it on the stovetop.

My Ideal Thanksgiving Menu

This easy turkey gravy recipe needs to be on your Thanksgiving menu this year, and here are my other favorite Thanksgiving recipes to make as well:

Impress your family and friends with this delicious homemade turkey gravy recipe made from scratch using drippings from your Thanksgiving turkey. Perfect for the holidays or any special meal!
Servings: 1 batch

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 2 hours 10 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours 35 minutes

Description

Learn how to make the perfect turkey gravy for the holiday season with this step by step guide! Impress your guests with this delicious and easy recipe.

For the Homemade Turkey Stock

Reserved turkey neck, giblets, legs, wings, etc., ham hock for deeper flavor

Olive Oil

1/4 teaspoon Salt

1 Tablespoon Parsley

1/2 teaspoon Pepper

1 Bay Leaf

3 Stalks Celery

2 Carrots, large

1 Onion, large

1/2 Cup Baby Bella Mushrooms

1/2 Bulb Garlic

6 Cups Chicken Broth, divided, plus extra as needed

1/2 Cup Turkey Trimmings, chopped

1/4 Cup White Wine, cooking

3 Sprigs Fresh Thyme

2 Cloves Garlic, peeled

Turkey Stock

This is a make-ahead recipe, so it should be started a few days, to even a few weeks before Thanksgiving. If you don’t have time, store-bought will work but will not be as flavorful.

On a sheet pan, add your turkey legs and ham hock or wings and drizzle with olive oil and about 1/4 teaspoon salt. Add parsley, pepper and bay leaf and stir to combine. Roast at 425 for 50-60 minutes.

Reserved turkey neck, giblets, legs, wings, etc., Olive Oil, 1/4 teaspoon Salt, 1 Tablespoon Parsley, 1/2 teaspoon Pepper, 1 Bay Leaf

Pull the meat from the oven and drain the fat from the meat.

Chop the celery and carrots. Cut the onion, skin on in large pieces and slice the baby bella mushrooms. Take 1/2 bulb of garlic, skin on and chop it in half again. Leaving the skins on, adds color.

3 Stalks Celery, 2 Carrots, 1 Onion, 1/2 Cup Baby Bella Mushrooms, 1/2 Bulb Garlic

Add a little white cooking wine to deglaze the bottom of the cookie sheet, scraping everything up. Add 2 cups of broth to a dutch oven along with the veggies and meat.

6 Cups Chicken Broth, 1/4 Cup White Wine, 1/2 Cup Turkey Trimmings

Stir in wine and bring to simmer, scraping up any browned bits. Add 4 cups broth and the thyme sprigs and garlic cloves and bring to a simmer over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 1 hour.

3 Sprigs Fresh Thyme, 2 Cloves Garlic

Pull everything out and strain in a fine mesh strainer put in fridge until cool and then strain off fat, discarding solids. You will have about 3 1/2 to 4 cups stock. Turkey stock can be refrigerated for up to 2 days or frozen for a few months which is what I do.

Make the Gravy

This section can also be done completely ahead of time or the day of as you will need meat trimmings and the giblets.

Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add flour and increase heat to medium-high. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is deep golden brown, 5 to 8 minutes. Reduce heat to low and slowly whisk in 2 cups of your previously made, strained stock.

4 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter, 5 Tablespoons All-Purpose Flour, 4 Cups Homemade Stock

Increase heat to medium-high and bring to simmer. Simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes. Add drippings, if using.

1/2 Cup Turkey Drippings

Reduce heat down to low and whisk in the remaining strained stock until smooth. Increase heat to medium-high and bring back to a simmer. Simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Gravy can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 weeks; to reheat, bring to simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally.

Serving: 1batchCalories: 1268kcalCarbohydrates: 105gProtein: 61gFat: 64gSaturated Fat: 33gPolyunsaturated Fat: 5gMonounsaturated Fat: 19gTrans Fat: 2gCholesterol: 227mgSodium: 7616mgPotassium: 2715mgFiber: 9gSugar: 36gVitamin A: 22564IUVitamin C: 28mgCalcium: 271mgIron: 8mg

Author: Sweet Basil

Course: 50+ Homemade Condiment Recipes
Recommended Products
[ad_2]

Carrian Cheney

Source link
October 26, 2024
Kurdish militants claim responsibility for deadly attack on Turkish defense firm

[ad_1]

BAGHDAD (AP) — A banned Kurdish militant group on Friday claimed responsibility for an attack on the headquarters of a key defense company in Ankara that killed at least five people.

A statement from the military wing of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, PKK, said Wednesday’s attack on the premises of the aerospace and defense company TUSAS was carried out by two members of its so-called “Immortal Battalion” in response to Turkish “massacres” and other actions in Kurdish regions.

A man and a woman stormed TUSAS’ premises on the outskirts of Ankara, setting off explosives and opening fire. Four TUSAS employees were killed there. The assailants arrived on the scene in a taxi that they had commandeered by killing its driver. More than 20 people were injured in the attack.

The woman assailant took her own life by detonating an explosive device after being injured in an exchange of fire at the entrance of the complex, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said. The male attacker hurled hand grenades at approaching security forces, then also detonated himself in the restroom of a nearby building “realizing there was no way out,” the minister said.

Turkey blamed the attack on the PKK and immediately launched a series of aerial strikes on locations and facilities suspected to be used by the militant group in northern Iraq or by its affiliates in northern Syria.

The attack on TUSAS came at a time of growing signs of a possible new attempt at dialogue to end the more than four-decade-old conflict between the PKK and Turkey’s military.

Earlier this week, the leader of Turkey’s far-right nationalist party that’s allied with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan raised the possibility that Abdullah Ocalan, the PKK’s imprisoned leader, could be granted parole if he renounces violence and disbands his organization.

Ocalan, who is serving a life sentence on a prison island off Istanbul, said in a message conveyed by his nephew on Thursday that he was ready to work for peace.

The PKK’s military wing, the People’s Defense Center, said, however, that the attack was not related to the latest “political agenda,” insisting it was planned long before.

It said TUSAS was chosen as a target because weapons produced there “killed thousands of civilians, including children and women, in Kurdistan.”

TUSAS designs, manufactures and assembles civilian and military aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles and other defense industry and space systems. Its defense systems have been credited as key to Turkey gaining an upper hand in its fight against Kurdish militants.

On Friday, an Iraqi security official said Turkish warplanes intensified their airstrikes on sites belonging to the PKK and other loyal forces in northern Iraq’s Sinjar district. The intensive bombing targeted tunnels, headquarters and military points of the PKK and the Sinjar Protection Units inside the Sinjar Mountain area.

A local official and a security official said the bombings killed five Yazidis. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

The Turkish defense ministry said 34 alleged PKK targets including caves, shelters, depots and other facilities were hit in an aerial operation overnight. Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency said drones operated by the national intelligence agency have struck 120 suspected sites since Wednesday’s attack.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said Thursday that the Turkish warplanes and drones struck bakeries, a power station, oil facilities and local police checkpoints. At least 12 civilians were killed and 25 others were wounded.

The People’s Defense Center statement claimed there were no casualties among PKK fighters in the airstrikes.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a group of journalists on his return from a trip to Russia late Thursday that the two TUSAS assailants had infiltrated from Syria, but did not provide details.

Addressing a defense industry fair in Istanbul on Friday, he said Turkey was determined to stamp out the militant group.

“Although our pain is great because of our martyrs, our determination to fight against the scoundrels is much greater,” Erdogan said. “We will continue to crush those who think they can make us step back with such treachery.”

On Friday, Turkish police detained 176 suspected PKK members in operations across Turkey, the Interior Ministry said.

Police also detained a man who hurled rocks at the entrance of the headquarters of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party, DEM, Anadolu reported. DEM party spokeswoman Aysegul Dogan said on the media platform X that the entrance door and windows were broken in the attack.

The PKK has been fighting for autonomy in southeastern Turkey in a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people since the 1980s. It is considered a terrorist group by Turkey and its Western allies.

__

Associated Press writer Suzan Fraser contributed from Ankara, Turkey.

[ad_2]

Source link

October 25, 2024
Headquarters of state-owned Turkish Aerospace Industries hit by deadly

[ad_1]

Ankara — A huge explosion outside the headquarters of Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) near Ankara left a number of people “dead and injured,” Turkey’s interior minister said Wednesday, describing it as a “terrorist attack.”

“A terrorist attack was carried out against the Turkish Aerospace Industries… Unfortunately, we have martyrs and injured people,” Ali Yerlikaya wrote on X after local media reported a blast and shooting outside the site some 25 miles outside Ankara.

TAI is owned by Turkey’s government and military.

Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) logo is seen displayed during the Farnborough International Airshow 2024, in a July 23, 2024 file photo taken in Farnborough, England.

Getty

[ad_2]

Source link

October 23, 2024
Fethullah Gülen, the Turkish Cleric and Erdogan Rival, Dies

[ad_1]

SAYLORSBURG, Pa. — Fethullah Gülen, a reclusive U.S.-based Islamic cleric who inspired a global social movement while facing accusations he masterminded a failed 2016 coup in his native Turkey, has died.

Abdullah Bozkurt, the former editor of the Gulen-linked Today’s Zaman newspaper, who is now in exile in Sweden, said Monday that he spoke to Gulen’s nephew, Kemal Gulen, who confirmed the death. Fethullah Gülen was in his eighties and had long been in ill health.

The state-run Anadolu Agency quoted Turkish Foreign Ministry Hakan Fidan as saying the death has been confirmed by Turkish intelligence sources.

Gülen spent the last decades of his life in self-exile, living on a gated compound in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains from where he continued to wield influence among his millions of followers in Turkey and throughout the world. He espoused a philosophy that blended Sufism — a mystical form of Islam — with staunch advocacy of democracy, education, science and interfaith dialogue.

Gülen began as an ally of Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, but became a foe. He called Erdogan an authoritarian bent on accumulating power and crushing dissent. Erdogan cast Gülen as a terrorist, accusing him of orchestrating the attempted military coup on the night of July 15, 2016, when factions within the military used tanks, warplanes and helicopters to try to overthrow Erdogan’s government.

Heeding a call from the president, thousands took to the streets to oppose the takeover attempt. The coup-plotters fired at crowds and bombed parliament and other government buildings. A total of 251 people were killed and around 2,200 others were wounded. Around 35 alleged coup plotters were also killed.

Gülen adamantly denied involvement, and his supporters dismissed the charges as ridiculous and politically motivated. Turkey put Gülen on its most-wanted list and demanded his extradition, but the United States showed little inclination to send him back, saying it needed more evidence. Gülen was never charged with a crime in the U.S., and he consistently denounced terrorism as well as the coup plotters.

In Turkey, Gülen’s movement — sometimes known as Hizmet, Turkish for “service” — was subjected to a broad crackdown. The government arrested tens of thousands of people for their alleged link to the coup plot, sacked more than 130,000 suspected supporters from civil service jobs and more than 23,000 from the military, and shuttered hundreds of businesses, schools and media organizations tied to Gülen.

Gülen called the crackdown a witch hunt and denounced Turkey’s leaders as “tyrants.”

“The last year has taken a toll on me as hundreds of thousands of innocent Turkish citizens are being punished simply because the government decides they are somehow ‘connected’ to me or the Hizmet movement and treats that alleged connection as a crime,” he said on the one-year anniversary of the failed coup.

Turkish Foreign Minister Fidan said Monday that Gülen’s death “will not make us complacent. Our nation and state will continue to fight against this organization, as they do against all terrorist organizations.”

Fethullah Gülen was born in Erzurum, in eastern Turkey. His official birth date was April 27, 1941, but that has long been in dispute. Y. Alp Aslandogan, who leads a New York-based group that promotes Gülen’s ideas and work, said Gülen was actually born sometime in 1938.

Trained as an imam, or prayer leader, Gülen gained notice in Turkey some 50 years ago. He preached tolerance and dialogue between faiths, and he believed religion and science could go hand in hand. His belief in merging Islam with Western values and Turkish nationalism struck a chord with Turks, earning him millions of followers.

Gülen’s acolytes built a loosely affiliated global network of charitable foundations, professional associations, businesses and schools in more than 100 countries, including 150 taxpayer-funded charter schools throughout the United States. In Turkey, supporters ran universities, hospitals, charities, a bank and a large media empire with newspapers and radio and TV stations.

But Gülen was viewed with suspicion by some in his homeland, a deeply polarized country split between those loyal to its fiercely secular traditions and supporters of the Islamic-based party associated with Erdogan that came to power in 2002.

Gülen had long refrained from openly supporting any political party, but his movement forged a de facto alliance with Erdogan against the country’s old guard of staunch, military-backed secularists, and Gülen’s media empire threw its weight behind Erdogan’s Islamic-oriented government.

Gülenists helped the governing party win multiple elections. But the Erdogan-Gulen alliance began to crumble after the movement criticized government policy and exposed alleged corruption among Erdogan’s inner circle. Erdogan, who denied the allegations, grew weary of the growing influence of Gülen’s movement.

The Turkish leader accused Gülen’s followers of infiltrating the country’s police and judiciary and setting up a parallel state, and began agitating for Gülen’s extradition to Turkey even before the failed 2016 coup.

The cleric had lived in the United States since 1999, when he came to seek medical treatment.

In 2000, with Gülen still in the U.S, Turkish authorities charged him with leading an Islamist plot to overthrow the country’s secular form of government and establish a religious state.

Some of the accusations against him were based on a tape recording on which Gülen was alleged to have told supporters of an Islamic state to bide their time: “If they come out too early, the world will quash their heads.” Gülen said his comments were taken out of context.

The cleric was tried in absentia and acquitted, but he never returned to his homeland. He won a lengthy legal battle against the administration of then-President George W. Bush to obtain permanent residency in the U.S.

Rarely seen in public, Gülen lived quietly on the grounds of an Islamic retreat center in the Poconos. He occupied a small apartment on the sprawling compound and left mostly only to see doctors for ailments that included heart disease and diabetes, spending much of his time in prayer and meditation and receiving visitors from around the world.

Gülen never married and did not have children. It is not known who, if anyone, will lead the movement.

___

Associated Press Writer Suzan Fraser contributed from Ankara, Turkey.

[ad_2]

Mike Rubinkam / AP

Source link

October 21, 2024
How to Cook a Turkey in a Bowl (The BEST Method!) – Oh Sweet Basil
[ad_1]
Stressed at the thought of cooking a turkey? Don’t be! We’ve made dozens of turkeys over the years and we’ve figured out how to cook a turkey perfectly every time. Spoiler: the best way to cook a turkey is in a bowl!

I know, this isn’t your typical roast turkey recipe, but look how brown it got and can you see how it’s falling apart?!

The BEST Turkey Recipe

My friend Brittany was chatting with me over Thanksgiving dinner last year all about turkeys. You see, Brittany doesn’t cook a turkey in the traditional way. In fact, she totally blew my mind when she told me, the best way to cook a turkey — this turkey in a bowl recipe — is life changing.

Yes, it’s a turkey that is literally cooked in a big bowl in the oven.

You’re going to want to buy a big bowl and try this one out for yourself. It’s the simplest and quickest way to prepare turkey that I’ve ever seen, but the results are fall apart moist and tender.

Watch How to Make the Juiciest Turkey in a Bowl

Turkey Basics

Before we get too far into this, I want to cover a few of the basics so you know if is the right fit for your eating schedule:
- A frozen turkey will need thaw 24 hours per every 5 pounds.
- Turkey will need to cook for 1 hour per pound.
- Safe internal temperature for a turkey is 175 degrees F the thigh and 165 degrees F in the breast.
So let’s assume you are going to roast a 18 pound turkey that is frozen when you purchase it and you want to have your meal on Thursday afternoon. Here is your brief timeline:
- Remove turkey from freezer to thaw in the fridge: 4 days ahead of time (Sunday afternoon – Wednesday afternoon)
- Turkey roasts in the oven: 15 hours
- Turkey rests: 30 minutes
The turkey will be falling off the bones and probably won’t even really need to be carved! Now here are those same steps in a little more detail…

Turkey in a Bowl Ingredients

To make the best turkey recipe possible, here are the ingredients you’ll need:
- Garlic
- Olive Oil
- Whole Turkey
- Butter
- Lemon Zest
- Fresh Sage
- Fresh Thyme
- Paprika
- Kosher Salt
Really, that’s it! Cooking a turkey requires far less ingredients than you’d think. If you’d like to make turkey gravy from the drippings (which you should definitely do!), you’ll also need some water and cornstarch when making this whole turkey recipe.

Supplies Needed for This Easy Turkey Recipe

In addition to the ingredients listed above, you’ll also need to buy a big oven-safe bowl. Because I’ve got lazy bones, I generally order this 20 QT bowl from Amazon, but you could totally check out kitchen stores in your area as well.

It’s actually totally worth the investment too as we use this bowl to mix up big snack mixes like our 5-Minute Reese’s Snack Mix and 5-Minute Halloween Snack mix, plus we make bread in it, and so on.

How to Cook a Turkey in a Bowl

For this easy turkey recipe, you’ll basically be creating your own slow cooker in the oven. The good news is, you don’t have to ever peek, test the temperature, or anything. No roasting pan, no brine…you literally pop it in the oven and don’t think about it for hours. You can be busy making other things without ever basting, turning, or even touching the turkey!

Here’s a basic rundown of how to make a turkey in a bowl:
1. Roast: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Roast an entire bulb of garlic until softened, then squeeze the garlic cloves out of the bulb.
2. Mix: Combine the garlic gloves with softened butter, herbs, spices, and lemon zest in a small bowl and mix with a fork to combine.
3. Prep: Remove the neck and giblets and pat the turkey dry both inside and out with paper towels.
4. Rub: Scoop some of the butter mixture up in your hand and rub the turkey all over with the butter mixture outside and underneath the skin.
  
  NOTE: If your turkey is really large, you may need to double the herb butter mixture.
5. Prep: Reduce the heat of the oven to 250 degrees F. You made need to move the racks around for the bowl to fit. Place turkey into the bowl breast side down and cover the bowl tightly with foil.
6. Cook: Place the bowl into the oven and roast for 1 hour for every pound of turkey (up to 15 hours).
7. Rest: Carefully remove the bowl from the oven. It will be quite heavy so be careful! Remove the foil being careful to not be burned by the steam as you do so.
8. Remove: Using long tongs, remove the turkey the bowl and place it on a platter and let it rest.
9. Pour: Pour the leftover turkey drippings in the bowl into a saucepan or large glass measuring cup. Then transfer it to a gravy fat separator.
10. Make Gravy: Pour the dripping back into a medium saucepan and bring to a soft boil over medium high heat. Whisk in the cornstarch slurry and whisk everything together until thickened.
11. Slice: Separate the turkey from the bones and place on a serving platter, slicing larger pieces if necessary. I’ve actually never had to carve a turkey in a bowl because it literally just falls apart it’s so tender.
All of these instructions can be found in the recipe card found down at the end of the post.

How Much Turkey Do I Need Per Person?

Figuring out what size turkey you need to buy can be challenging. As a general rule of thumb, you should count on each person eating roughly 1 pound of turkey. You’ll likely wind up with leftovers this way, which is fine in my book! You can make turkey tetrazzini, turkey club sandwich, or turkey soup.

For reference, an 18-pound turkey will feed about 25 people with leftovers. And to serve over 50 guests, try using two 20 to 22-pound turkeys.

How Long to Cook a Turkey

The general rule for cooking a whole turkey using this cooking method is about an hour a pound at 250 degrees Fahrenheit.

We use an 18-pound turkey, but by 15 hours it’s totally done and falling apart. If you have a turkey bigger than 15 pounds, you will most likely find the exact same thing, but if you open the bowl and it’s not done, just give it another hour or two. Note that I’ve never had to add extra time.

Tips on How to Cook a Turkey

Always place the turkey breast side down when cooking a turkey in a bowl. Even traditional roasting should start out breast side down and then be flipped in the cooking process.

As you remove (or attempt to remove) the turkey, everything will be falling apart back into the bowl. You literally cannot lift the turkey out. Because of this, we prefer to drain out the juice and make the gravy and then remove the turkey.

And if you want to make this turkey recipe a little healthier, feel free to ditch the butter and only use seasonings and herbs to flavor the turkey in a bowl. Just make sure to spray the bowl with nonstick cooking spray before adding the turkey so nothing sticks.

What to Eat with Turkey in a Bowl

This tender, flavorful and totally juicy Thanksgiving turkey is great with all your favorite Thanksgiving side dishes. Some of our must have are:

Variations for Turkey

You can make this turkey in a bowl into whatever you want. There are endless options for flavoring your turkey.

Herb Turkey — We love fresh herbs, so try mincing up poultry herbs such as rosemary, thyme, sage, and parsley. And don’t forget salt as that’s where the majority of flavor will come from. Rub these chopped herbs all over and under the skin alone or with softened butter for an ultra flavorful, moist turkey.

Smoky Turkey — Just like our Smoked Turkey Breast Recipe, you can really bring home those warm flavors by mixing together cumin, smoked paprika, brown sugar, salt, pepper, chili powder, garlic powder, and ground mustard. This combination of spices makes for a unique homemade turkey your friends and family won’t soon forget!

Citrus Turkey — Try adding orange or lemon zest to butter along with fresh herbs for a bright whole turkey.

How to Reheat Turkey

If you have leftover turkey after Thanksgiving, I recommend reheating it in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. You’ll want to reheat the turkey in a baking dish and add a splash of turkey broth or leftover pan drippings to keep the turkey moist. Then, wrap the baking dish tightly with aluminum foil to seal in the moisture and cook the turkey until heated through (about 20 to 30 minutes).

Can You Freeze Turkey?

Absolutely! Turkey can be frozen for up to 4 months. I love using frozen turkey in casseroles, soups, stews, and on sandwiches. You all know I love using my food saver to freeze turkey, but sealing it in a freezer bag will work too!

Discover a unique and easy way to cook a delicious turkey in a bowl with simple ingredients. Watch our step-by-step video tutorial for a perfect holiday meal.

More Turkey Recipes:
Servings: 25 servings

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 15 hours

Additional Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 15 hours 35 minutes

Description

Stressed at the thought of cooking a turkey? Don’t be! We’ve made dozens of turkeys over the years and we’ve figured out how to cook a turkey perfectly every time. Spoiler: the best way to cook a turkey is in a bowl!

Turkey Basics

A frozen turkey will need thaw 24 hours per every 5 pounds.

Turkey will need to cook for 1 hour per pound.

Safe internal temperature for a turkey is 175 degrees F the thigh and 165 degrees F in the breast.

Turkey in a Bowl

Heat an oven to 400 degrees F.

Place the garlic bulb on a cutting board and slice off the very top to expose the garlic.

1 Bulb Garlic

Drizzle with olive oil.

Olive Oil

Wrap the bulb in foil and place in the oven for 30 minutes.

Remove the garlic from the oven and squeeze out the soft garlic cloves into a bowl.

Add the softened butter, herbs and spices.

3 Tablespoons Butter, 2 Lemons, 1 Tablespoon Thyme, 1 Tablespoon Sage, 2 teaspoons Paprika, 2 Tablespoons Kosher Salt

Stir to combine.

Rub the turkey with the butter mixture under the skin and over it.

18 Pound Turkey

If your turkey is extra large you may need to double the butter.

Place the turkey breast side down in a 20 QT stainless steel bowl.

Cover tightly with foil and bake for 1 hour a pound at 250 degrees, up to 15 hours.

Carefully remove from the oven and remove the liquid to a gravy fat separator.

Pour the drippings into a pan over medium high heat.

Mix the cornstarch and water in a small bowl.

2 Tablespoons Cornstarch, 2 Tablespoons Water

Once the drippings are simmering, whisk in the cornstarch mixture until smooth and thick. If you don’t need all of the slurry don’t use it, or make more if you ended up with a lot of drippings.

Remove the turkey from the bowl to a platter, no need to cut as it’s all shredded.

Leftovers can be frozen for up to 3 months. Remove the meat from the bones before freezing.

Serving: 2slicesCalories: 640kcalCarbohydrates: 2gProtein: 93gFat: 26gSaturated Fat: 8gPolyunsaturated Fat: 16gCholesterol: 360mgSodium: 855mg

Author: Sweet Basil

Course: 10 Best Turkey Recipes on the Internet, 100 Family Favorite Easy Healthy Recipes

Cuisine: American
Recommended Products

REMEMBER TO SUBSCRIBE TO our FREE Oh Sweet Basil NEWSLETTER AND RECEIVE EASY RECIPES DELIVERED INTO YOUR INBOX EVERY DAY!

When you try a recipe, please use the hashtag #ohsweetbasil on INSTAGRAM for a chance to be featured in our stories! FOLLOW OH, SWEET BASIL ON FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | PINTEREST | TWITTER FOR ALL OF OUR LATEST CONTENT, RECIPES AND STORIES.
[ad_2]

Carrian Cheney

Source link
October 14, 2024
The Most Amazing Apple Pecan Smoked Turkey Breast [+Video] – Oh Sweet Basil
[ad_1]
Impress your family and friends with this delicious apple pecan smoked turkey breast recipe. With a step-by-step video tutorial, you’ll have the perfect centerpiece for your holiday meal!

There is not a more juicy and flavorful turkey than this smoked turkey breast. It is our current favorite for Thanksgiving. I thought that Instant Pot Turkey was incredible, but man, this one just totally one upped that recipe.

We aren’t lacking for turkey recipes on our site. We love a juicy turkey slice for dinner, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t keep adding to it. That fried turkey from years ago is still ad favorite, the classic oven roasted whole turkey never disappoints, and we make the herb roasted turkey breast all year round for a healthy dinner recipe idea that isn’t chicken.

So even if you’re like us and there are other turkey recipes you’ve made before, take a chance and make the most amazing apple pecan smoked turkey recipe this Thanksgiving.

Ingredients for Smoked Turkey Breast

This list might look a little overwhelming at first, but there are a few components to this recipe in order for it to come together just perfectly! You need your smoker supplies, brine ingredients, rub ingredients and turkey gravy ingredients. Here is everything you’ll need:

For the Smoker
- Pecan Pellets or Chips
- Tin Pan
Turkey Brine
- Maple Syrup
- Brown Sugar
- Kosher Salt
- Apple Juice
- Orange Juice
- Chicken Broth
- Smoked Paprika
- Turkey Breast: Buy a bone-in turkey breast for the best flavor and texture.
Turkey Rub
- Brown Sugar
- Seasonings and Spices: Smoked Paprika, Ground Mustard, Kosher Salt, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Chipotle Chili Pepper Seasoning, Pepper and Cumin
- Butter
Steaming Liquids

Gravy

This is meant to be just a quick overview of the ingredients you will need. The measurements and details for each ingredient can be found in the recipe card at the end of the post.

Turkey Basics

Before we jump in to making this smoked turkey, I want to cover a few of the basics:
- A frozen turkey will need thaw 24 hours per every 5 pounds.
- Turkey will need to smoke for 25-30 minutes per pound.
- Safe internal temperature for a turkey is 165 degrees F in the breast.
So let’s assume you are going to roast a 6.5 pound turkey that is frozen when you purchase it and you want to have your meal on Thursday afternoon. Here is your brief timeline:
- Remove turkey from freezer to thaw in the fridge: 2 days ahead of time (Tuesday afternoon – Wednesday evening)
- Brine: 10-12 hours (Wednesday evening – Thursday morning)
- Turkey smokes: 3-3.5 hours
- Turkey rests: 20 minutes
Now the turkey is ready to carve and eat Thursday afternoon! Now here are those same steps in a little more detail…

How to Make Apple Smoked Turkey Breast

Alright, let’s get down to how to make The Most Amazing Apple Pecan Smoked Turkey Breast. Start out by brining your turkey breast. Even though it’s not an entire bird, brining is essential to a tender and flavorful turkey breast.

How to Brine a Turkey

Brining a turkey needs two specific ingredients and then the remaining ingredients vary based upon your own individual recipes.
1. Liquid- Your turkey breast (or whole turkey) will sit in a liquid anywhere from 8-24 hours. The kind of liquid does in fact make a difference as they will help to flavor the meat. Brining, as well as marinating is not made to soak into the center of the meat, but to flavor the outside so well that as it cooks that flavor emerges.
2. Salt- It’s preferred that you use Kosher salt for brining as it’s a more coarse salt which will help to break down the meat, soak in the liquid for a more juicy meat and finally, the salt helps to flavor the meat more than just a rub later on.
Combine all the ingredients for the brine into a large pot with a lid. Rinse the turkey breast thoroughly and then submerge in the brining liquid. Store in the fridge with the lid on for 10-12 hours or overnight.

Next up is the rub on the turkey. Do not ever make a turkey without this step as this is where all of those yummy flavors are going to come from. Here’s what you need to do:

Rub for a Turkey
1. Spices- You usually see a lot of herbs with turkey, but spices are great to bring out a little extra flavor. In this case, we throw in smoked paprika to really drive home the flavor but also the color with that deep red. Cumin, garlic and even ground mustard bring a balance to the spices that creates a warm, aromatic experience.
2. Sugar- Just a stitch of brown sugar like any good BBQ or Smoked recipe adds the tiniest amount of sweetness which really balances the garlic and smokiness.
3. Butter- Butter is essential to add a little more juiciness and flavor to the meat. It also helps the spices to stick to the meat.
Combine all the ingredients for the rub and set aside. Remove the turkey from the brine and pat it dry with paper towels. Spread the rub all over the turkey breast, under and on top of the skin.

That’s not all though, you still need to fill a drip pan with liquids that will help to steam the bird as it smokes. Trust us on this one, you do not want to just go with water.

Drip Pan with Juices

Fill a tin pan, we just get ours at the local grocery store, with pineapple juice and water. Even though this is an apple juice brined turkey the pineapple juice adds a really interesting level of flavor to the bird and the gravy.

Apple or orange juice may be used if you can’t find pineapple juice in the can.

How Long to Smoke a Turkey Breast

Preheat your Traeger smoker to 300 degrees F with pecan pellets. Place the drip pan with the smoking liquids in it under the rack of the smoker. Then put the turkey breast side down, on the smoker grill grate and close the lid.

Let it smoke for 3 – 3 ½ hours or until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the turkey breast reads 165 degrees F.

Once it has reached the desired temperature, remove the turkey from the smoker and tent it with foil for 20 minutes to let it rest. RESERVE the drippings in the drip pan to make the gravy.

Combine the water and cornstarch in a small bowl and whisk together to combine. Pour all the drippings from the turkey into a saucepan on the stove top and bring to a boil. Once boiling, slowly add the cornstarch mixture and whisk everything together until thickened.

read more: Looking for Traeger recipes? Try our Traeger Smoked Chicken Breasts next! Or check out our tutorial on How to Make Smoked Chicken (this recipe is for a whole chicken!).

Watch How This Smoked Turkey is Made…

Can Smoked Turkey be Pink?

A smoked turkey will sometimes have a pink ring around the meat, but that’s from the smoke and flavor, it doesn’t mean that you need to keep cooking the turkey.

In fact, sometimes that pink hue can really penetrate into the meat, so it’s important to recognize if it’s the smoke or raw meat, which do in fact look different.

What Goes with Smoked Turkey

Oh my goodness, let’s talk about sides before we forget. Here are a few of our favorite things to go with smoked turkey.

And it can’t be Thanksgiving without pies too! So make a pecan pie, razzleberry pie, lemon meringue pie and of course, classic pumpkin pie!

What Temperature for Smoked Turkey

Depending on your smoker and how much time you have you will want to adjust the temperature of the Traeger Pellet Smoker. We prefer 300 degrees F for 3-3 ½ hours. You could also do 325 degrees F for 2 ½-3 hours, but we much prefer to have a low and slow meat.

Can You Freeze Smoked Turkey?

You can easily freeze smoked turkey, but only keep it in a freezer bag in the freezer for up to 2 weeks. If you wish to keep it for 1-2 months, use a Food Saver like Cade and I have.

BEST. INVESTMENT. EVER.

How to Reheat Smoked Turkey

Place turkey in a casserole dish, and cover well with aluminum foil. Heat the oven to 350 degrees and cook only until warm.

You can also use a microwave with paper towels wrapped around the meat to keep it from drying out.

Take your Thanksgiving turkey to the next level with this mouth-watering apple pecan smoked turkey breast recipe.

Thanksgiving RECIPES:
Servings: 6

Prep Time: 1 day

Cook Time: 12 hours

Total Time: 1 day 12 hours

Description

Take your Thanksgiving turkey to the next level with this mouth-watering apple pecan smoked turkey breast recipe.

For the Brine

In a large pot, add the brine ingredients. Stir to combine.

1/2 Cup Maple Syrup, 1/4 Cup Brown Sugar, 1 Cup Kosher Salt, 4 Cups Apple Juice, 1 Cup Orange Juice, 32 ounces Chicken Broth, 1 teaspoon Smoked Paprika

Rinse the turkey breast thoroughly.

6.5 lb Turkey Breast

Place the turkey in the brine and put the lid on the pot. Refrigerate 10-12 hours or overnight.

For the Smoker

Remove the turkey from the brine, discarding all liquid and pat the turkey completely dry.

In a bowl, combine the spice ingredients and stir to mix.

3 Tablespoons Brown Sugar, 1 ½ Tablespoons Smoked Paprika, 2 teaspoons Ground Mustard, 1 Tablespoon Kosher Salt, 1 teaspoon Onion Powder, 1 ½ teaspoons Garlic Powder, 1 teaspoon Chipotle Chili Pepper Seasoning, 1 teaspoon Pepper, 1 ½ teaspoon Cumin

Add the butter and stir again.

6 Tablespoons Butter

Rub the mixture all over under and over the skin of the turkey.

Heat a Traeger Smoker to 300 degrees F with pecan pellets or chips.

Pecan Pellets

Place the pineapple juice and water in a tin pan under the rack in the smoker.

3/4 Cup Pineapple Juice, 3/4 Cup Water

Put the turkey, breast side down, on the smoker rack and close the lid.

Smoke for 3 to 3 ½ hours depending on your smoker.

Remove the turkey to rest for 20 minutes under tented foil, reserving the drippings in the tin pan.

Tin Pan

Slice the turkey and serve with gravy.

For the Gravy

Pour the drippings into a Gravy Fat Separator .

Heat a skillet to medium high heat and pour off the drippings, avoiding too much fat.

Whisk together the cornstarch and water and as the drippings begin to simmer, whisk in the cornstarch slurry.

1-2 Tablespoon Cornstarch, 1-2 Tablespoon Water

Continue to whisk as the gravy thickens and serve immediately.

Turkey Basics

A frozen turkey will need thaw 24 hours per every 5 pounds.

Turkey will need to smoke for 25-30 minutes per pound.

Safe internal temperature for a turkey is 165 degrees F in the breast.

Turkey Timeline

Remove turkey from freezer to thaw in the fridge: 2 days ahead of time (Tuesday afternoon – Wednesday evening)

Brine: 10-12 hours (Wednesday evening – Thursday morning)

Turkey smokes: 3-3.5 hours

Turkey rests: 20 minutes

You may use apple juice or apple cider. If you don’t have either, Place 1 Cup of Apple Cider Vinegar in a cup and fill the rest with water.
Smoked turkey can be frozen for up to 3 months.

Serving: 12ozCalories: 868kcalCarbohydrates: 64gProtein: 108gFat: 21gSaturated Fat: 9gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 298mgSodium: 21713mgPotassium: 1677mgFiber: 2gSugar: 54gVitamin A: 1670IUVitamin C: 25mgCalcium: 171mgIron: 4mg

Author: Sweet Basil

Course: 10 Best Turkey Recipes on the Internet
Recommended Products

REMEMBER TO SUBSCRIBE TO our FREE Oh Sweet Basil NEWSLETTER AND RECEIVE EASY RECIPES DELIVERED INTO YOUR INBOX EVERY DAY!

When you try a recipe, please use the hashtag #ohsweetbasil on INSTAGRAM for a chance to be featured in our stories! FOLLOW OH, SWEET BASIL ON FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | PINTEREST | TWITTER FOR ALL OF OUR LATEST CONTENT, RECIPES AND STORIES.
[ad_2]

Carrian Cheney

Source link
October 13, 2024

Thanksgiving Turkey

[ad_1]

Step-by-step, this Thanksgiving turkey recipe is easy to follow and makes a tender juicy turkey with crispy skin.

Whether you’re cooking for a small group or a large crowd, I’ve included my best tips to help you take your turkey from preparation to perfection.

Thanksgiving Turkey on a plate with herbs , cranberries and orange slices

It’s a step-by-step guide that even beginners can use to make a perfect Thanksgiving turkey!
The result will be a centerpiece with golden brown and crispy buttery skin and tender, juicy meat.
No brining is required (although if you’d like to brine the bird, you can—more on that below).
Homemade turkey gravy can be made from the drippings and it’s delicous!

What Size Turkey to Buy?

Servings	6	10	16
Turkey (no leftovers)	7.5 lbs	12.5 lbs	20 lbs
Turkey (with leftovers)	9 lbs	15 lbs	24 lbs

onion , broth , butter , herbs , carrots , turkey , celery and seasonings to make Thanksgiving Turkey

Ingredients for Roasting Turkey

Turkey: Keep a fresh turkey in its original packaging in a rimmed baking dish (to catch any leaks) in the refrigerator until ready to prepare. Thaw a frozen turkey for 1 day for each 4 to 5 pounds in the refrigerator—refer to the chart below.

Seasonings: I use a combination of butter, salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning. You can also use your favorite turkey seasoning blend to lock in savory flavor—reduce the salt if needed.

Variations: Feel free to add sprigs of fresh herbs like sage, rosemary, thyme, and parsley. Onions, carrots, and celery infuse roast turkey and the drippings with flavor; you can also add mushrooms. No rack? No problem! Place the turkey on a raft of veggies and the juices will soak into the veggies as it roasts.

Thawing Times in the Refrigerator

Thaw a turkey for one day for each 4 to 5 lbs.

8 – 12 pounds	2 to 3 days
12 – 16 pounds	3 to 4 days
16 – 20 pounds	4 to 5 days
20 – 24 pounds	5 to 6 days

Thawing Times in Cold Water

For a faster method, keep the frozen turkey submerged (breast side down) in cold water until thawed. Change the water frequently to ensure it stays cold. Thaw for 30 minutes per pound turkey.

8 – 12 pounds	4 to 6 hours
12 – 16 pounds	6 to 8 hours
16 – 20 pounds	8 to 10 hours
20 – 24 pounds	10 to 12 hours

folded turkey on a sheet pan to make Thanksgiving Turkey — Tuck the wing tips under

A brine can be a wet brine or dry brine. It’s a mixture of salt, sugar, and seasonings that the turkey is soaked in or covered in for a day or so before cooking.

I love a brined turkey because it adds adds lots of flavor and makes the meat extra tender and juicy.

The truth is, although I love brine, I don’t usually brine my turkey. It adds an extra day to the preparation time. If you have time, by all means, use this turkey brine recipe, you won’t regret it.

How to Prepare a Thanksgiving Turkey

Here is an overview of the steps—the full detailed recipe is below.

Remove giblets and neck from the thawed turkey and add them them to the roasting pan (or discard them if you’d prefer).
Tuck the wing tips under. Add herbs/onion or stuffing to the cavity.
Tie the legs with kitchen twine. Dab the skin dry with paper towel.
Combine butter and seasonings and rub over the skin.

adding vegetables and giblets to dish to make a Thanksgiving Turkey

How to Cook a Thanksgiving Turkey

Now that the turkey is prepared as above, it’s time to get cooking!

Add carrots, celery, onion, neck, and broth to the pan. Top with a rack if you have one.
Place the turkey on the rack (or directly on the vegetables if you don’t have a rack).
Roast according to the recipe below.
Let the turkey rest on a plate once cooked while you prepare the gravy.

I prefer to cook the turkey unstuffed and cook the stuffing in a casserole dish or in a slow cooker. The turkey cooks more evenly and doesn’t dry out while waiting for the stuffing to reach the correct temperature since the stuffing will need to reach 165°F.

Instead of stuffing, loosely fill the cavity of the bird with ¼ or ½ of an onion and herbs. You can also add cloves of garlic or ½ of a lemon.

How Long to Cook a Turkey

For the best (and safest!) results, always use a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat away from the bone (usually the thigh). It should read 160°F before removing it from the oven. The final temperature for roast turkey is 165°F, but it will continue to cook as it rests (this is called carryover cooking). Removing it from the oven ensures it doesn’t overcook and dry out.

Cooking Times

A stuffed turkey will need extra time in the oven. Ensure the stuffing is chilled (not warm) before stuffing a turkey. The stuffing should reach 165°F in the center.

Size	Unstuffed	Stuffed
8-12 pounds	2 ½ to 3 hours	3 to 3 ½ hours
12-14 pounds	3 to 3 ¾ hours	3 ½ to 4 hours
14-18 pounds	3 ½ to 4 hours	4 to 4 ½ hours
18-22 pounds	3 ¾ to 4 ½ hours	4 ½ to 5 hours
22-24 pounds	4 ½ to 5 hours	5 ½ to 6 ¼ hours

Cooking times can vary, use an instant read thermometer to ensure the turkey reaches 165°F in the thickest part of the meat away from the bone. Remove the turkey from the oven at 160°F, as it will continue to cook as it rests.

How to Carve a Turkey

The best way to carve a turkey (or whole-cooked poultry) is to start with a sharp carving knife, a paring knife, a serving fork, and kitchen shears for cutting pieces of turkey skin and the wings. A clean, sturdy cutting board is key for keeping the bird in place while you carve, preferably with grooved edges that catch the drippings. Finally, have a serving platter nearby to place the meat, trimmings, and garnishes. For more tips and tricks, check out this helpful post with videos.

Hold the end of each leg and slice downward through the skin until you hear the joint pop.
Separate the thighs from the drumsticks at the joints using the paring knife.
Serve the drumstick or thighs whole, or hold the drumstick vertically on the cutting board and slice the meat off with the paring knife, rotating as needed.
Repeat for the thighs, feeling for the bone and using the paring knife to shear the meat away.
Following the shape of the breast, use the knife to slice the meat from the bone on each side and lift it away. Cut the turkey breast in even slices, skin on, against the grain.
Use kitchen shears to cut the wings and place them on the serving platter.

Holly’s Turkey Tips

Use a meat thermometer.
Skip the basting: Frequently basting turkey adds to the cooking time as the oven cools each time you open it.
Let it rest: The best way to ensure a juicy turkey is to let it rest before slicing. As the outer part of the turkey cools slightly, the juices circulate back into the meat. This applies to everything from a meatloaf to a pork tenderloin.
Save that turkey carcass! You can freeze it whole or break the bones down and freeze them in zippered bags to make a rich and flavorful h omemade stock or broth.

The Best Thanksgiving Side Dishes

Of course I pair the best Thanksgiving turkey recipe with the best side dishes!! Here are our tried and true favorites.

Did you enjoy this Thanksgiving Turkey Recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below.

image of Everyday Comfort cookbook by Holly Nilsson of Spend With Pennies plus text

No ratings yet↑ Click stars to rate now!
Or to leave a comment, click here!

Thanksgiving Turkey

This is the best Thanksgiving turkey recipe with crisp golden brown skin and juicy and tender meat.

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 3 hours

Rest Time 40 minutes

Total Time 4 hours

Instant Read Thermometer on white background

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Remove the thawed turkey from the fridge 45 to 60 minutes before roasting.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Peel each onion and cut into 1-inch wedges.
In a small bowl, combine butter, poultry seasoning, salt, and pepper and mix well. Set aside.
Remove the giblets and neck from inside the turkey cavity (not all turkeys have this) and set aside.
Loosely fill the cavity of the turkey with half of the onion and a handful of herbs if using.
Crisscross the legs and tie them together with kitchen string or tuck under the flap of skin at the tail if your turkey has one to hold them in place. Twist the tips of the wings under the turkey.
Pat the skin of the turkey dry with paper towels and rub with the butter mixture.
Add a rack to a large rimmed roasting pan (optional). Halve the carrots and celery (or keep whole if you aren’t using a rack). Add them and the rest of the onion to the bottom of the pan along with the turkey neck and giblets. Add the broth to the pan.
Place the turkey on the rack, breast side up.
Place the roasting pan in the oven and immediately reduce the heat to 325°F. Roast the turkey uncovered for about 14 to 16 minutes per pound or until the turkey reaches 158 to 160°F in the thickest part of the thigh *see cooking times below. If the skin on the breast starts to brown too much, loosely tent a piece of foil overtop.
Remove the turkey from the oven and transfer it to a rimmed baking sheet or a platter. Loosely tent it with aluminum foil and let it rest for 20 to 30 minutes before carving.
Make gravy from the drippings while the turkey rests if desired.

Prep Tips:
– You can find thawing times here.
– A larger turkey may need extra butter/seasoning.
– If you do not have a rack, the turkey can be cooked directly on the vegetables.
– For even cooking, I recommend cooking the stuffing on the side.
– Fresh herbs can include parsley, thyme, rosemary and/or sage.
Cooking Temperature
Place a thermometer in the thickest part of the thigh, ensuring it doesn’t touch the bone. The turkey should reach 165°F—remove it from the oven at 158 to 160°F as it will continue to rise in temperature as it rests.
Cooking Times (approximate)

8 to 12 pounds Unstuffed: 2 ¾ to 3 hours, Stuffed: 3 to 3 ½ hours
12 to 14 pounds Unstuffed: 3 to 3 ¾ hours, Stuffed: 3 ½ to 4 hours
14 to 18 pounds Unstuffed: 3 ¾ to 4 ¼ hours, Stuffed: 4 to 4 ¼ hours
18 to 20 pound Unstuffed: 4 ¼ to 4 ½ hours, Stuffed: 4 ¼ to 4 ¾ hours
20 to 24 pounds Unstuffed: 4 ½ to 5 hours, Stuffed: 4 ¾ to 5 ¼ hours

Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.

Course Dinner, Main Course, Turkey

Cuisine American

© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.

succulent Thanksgiving Turkey in the dish with writing

plated Thanksgiving Turkey with orange slices and cranberries with a title

Thanksgiving Turkey cooked on a plate and close up photo with a title

[ad_2]

Holly Nilsson

Source link

October 11, 2024

Turkish Airlines pilot dies mid-flight, forcing emergency landing in New York

[ad_1]

NTSB looks at pilot mental health guidelines

NTSB reviewing mental health guidelines for pilots

06:37

A Turkish Airlines pilot died after collapsing mid-flight, forcing the Turkish national carrier to make an emergency landing in New York, the airline said Wednesday. The incident occurred after the plane took off from Seattle on Tuesday evening, airline spokesman Yahya Ustun wrote on social media.

“The pilot of our Airbus 350… flight TK204 from Seattle to Istanbul collapsed during the flight,” he wrote. “After an unsuccessful attempt to give first aid, the flight crew of another pilot and a co-pilot decided to make an emergency landing, but he died before landing.”

A map posted by flight tracking data company FlightAware appears to show the plane flying over northern Canada before diverting south toward New York.

The 59-year-old pilot, who had worked for Turkish Airlines since 2007, had passed a medical examination in March, during which there was no indication of any health problems, Ustun wrote.

“We wish God’s mercy upon our captain and patience to his grieving family, all his colleagues and loved ones,” he said.

[ad_2]

Source link

October 9, 2024
Moment shotgun-wielding woman holds up kid’s hospital threatening to kill

[ad_1]

THIS is the horrifying moment a shotgun-wielding woman storms into a children’s hospital claiming she has a bomb.

Concerning footage shows the woman, identified as 45-year-old Birgul G, terrifying staff at the Necip Fazil City Hospital in Turkey as she threatens to open fire.

5

Birgul G. 45, pointed the gun at hospital staff and threatened to open fire in the scary footageCredit: Newsflash

5

Hospital staff were forced to hide under tables and chairsCredit: Newsflash

5

Birgul G was later charged with ‘threat’ and ‘deprivation of liberty’Credit: Newsflash

5

The moment the woman was apprehended by security guards in the hospitalCredit: Newsflash

Birgul G entered the Women’s and Children’s Department in the Kahramanmaras medical facility late on Saturday, October 5.

Doctors and nurses can be seen hiding under tables in fear as the woman enters with the shotgun and points it at the workers.

She can be heard screaming at people trying to calm her down with a police report after the horror ordeal saying she claimed she had a bomb on her.

Police found she had a paper bag on her which was where she said the bomb was planted.

When officers checked they found no bomb or explosive device in the bag or on her possessions.

The footage was filmed by a trembling woman inside the hospital who was forced to hide behind a chair and medical table.

Security guards arrived swiftly and managed to subdue the woman before handing her to cops who took her to the local station for questioning.

No one was injured in the incident.

Birgul G told cops she didn’t intend on harming anyone despite the threats and having the powerful weapon on her.

She instead claimed it was a cry for help after years of abuse from her drug-addicted son.

On the day of the ordeal she says she was feeling unwell and chose the hospital because it was nearby to her home.

Birgul G said in her police statement, according to news site Artigercek: “I could not stand my son’s torture any longer.

“I had no intention of harming anyone. I did not go to shoot anyone.

“I went to the hospital thinking that if someone saw the gun in my hand, they might kill me.”

The woman was later charged with “threat” and “deprivation of liberty”.

She is still being held in custody but is expected to be sent to prison in the coming days.

We can’t understand what happened, but all of our colleagues are very scared, they are in a very bad condition.

Dr. Lütfi TiyekliPresident of the Kahramanmaraş Medical Chamber

The Kahramanmaras Governor’s Office released a statement on the scary situation saying: “A 1979-born Turkish citizen named B.G., who attempted an attack inside the hospital by claiming that there was a bomb device in the package she was holding, was subdued by the security forces who arrived at the scene.

“It was determined through observation by the teams that the paper bag mentioned by the individual was empty and visible from the outside.

“In the investigation and her statement, it was revealed that she was receiving psychiatric treatment and did not feel well.

“Stating that her intention was to harm herself and that she chose the hospital because it was close to her residence.

“No citizens or healthcare workers were harmed in the hospital due to the incident.”

Dr. Lütfi Tiyekli, the President of the Kahramanmaraş Medical Chamber, did say some of the staff were left seriously affected by the evening.

He said on Saturday: “Today, violence in healthcare was narrowly avoided at Kahramanmaraş Children’s Hospital.

“We can’t understand what happened, but all of our colleagues are very scared, they are in a very bad condition, we are trying to understand the incident.”

5

Brave staff tried to calm down the woman as she screamed at themCredit: Newsflash

[ad_2]

Georgie English

Source link

October 7, 2024
Body found in search for Brit who went missing from holiday resort in Turkey

[ad_1]

A BODY has been found in the search for a British man who went missing in Turkey.

Ben Crook was last seen in the Seven City Hotel resort in Antalya n September 25 before his family launched a desperate appeal for help.

3

A body has been found in the hunt for missing Welshman Ben Crook in TurkeyCredit: Handout

3

The missing person poster for BenCredit: Handout

After days of searching for missing Ben, 32, a relative announced on social media that a body has been found by the search team.

Cops say the body is believed to belong to the Brit.

The Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) confirmed the tragic find on Saturday as they said: “We are supporting the family of a British man who has died in Turkey and we are in contact with the local authorities.”

His family launched a desperate appeal last month to help find Ben with them saying he was from Abertridwr in Caerphilly County Borough.

read more in missing Brits

They said he was last sighted in Kaleici which sits in the centre of the city of Antalya.

He was wearing a black Versace shirt, black shorts, and white Nike trainers with a blue tick when he disappeared.

It comes as a top Brit climber and her American pal are missing after scaling a 23,000ft mountain in treacherous conditions.

Briton Fay Manners, 37, and Michelle Dvorak, 31, have been missing for over two days after trekking up the looming Chaukhamba mountain in northern India.

The head of the rescue operation told The Sun that his team are planning to go up the same route up the mountain on Sunday.

He said: “There are so many agencies working here. They are all working in coordination with each other.

Rescue Efforts Intensify for Missing Climbers on Chaukhamba Peak

“The Indian Army, Indian Air Force, the District Administration, State Administration, along with my team, the State Disaster Response Force.

“We hope to evacuate these two ladies as soon as possible.”

Another body of a Brit who went missing on holiday was tragically found in September.

The unnamed holidaymaker is thought to have got lost while hiking in the south of Lanzarote before his body was found at the entrance to Los Ajaches – a protected natural park.

That came just weeks after a British hiker was found dead as another went missing after they got lost in the mountains of Majorca during a storm.

The body was reportedly found near the spot where cops had begun their search in the Spanish paradise island.

3

Ben disappeared from the Seven City Hotel resort in Antalya, Turkey on September 25Credit: Getty

[ad_2]

Georgie English

Source link

October 5, 2024
For Olympic pole vaulters, hammer throwers, getting there (with your equipment) is half the fun

[ad_1]

SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) — One of America’s very best in the medieval-looking pursuit of hammer throw thought she had seen it all when it came to lugging that 8.8-pound hunk of metal, along with the handles and the chain, across the globe.

Then, a few years back, DeAnna Price arrived in Beijing.

The note from the Transportation Security Authority notifying her they had opened her case wasn’t all that unusual. The hole they drilled into the hammer in an apparent attempt to find contraband or weapons, then sealed up with epoxy — well, give those security guards a gold medal for leaving no stone unturned.

“I definitely sent them a bill for that one,” Price said of her ruined piece of equipment that goes for around $1,000.

Thankfully for the 2019 world champion, the TSA reimbursed her.

Price’s ordeal is one of hundreds of tales from the road for all the hammer throwers, pole vaulters, javelin hurlers and shot putters who have descended on Paris to bring the “field” to Olympic track and field, starting Friday. For most of them, simply making it to the games is the dream of a lifetime. Getting their equipment there — sometimes, that feels like quite a triumph, as well.

Pole vaulters are often first to the airport

When pole vaulter Sam Kendricks arrived in Croatia a few years ago but his poles did not, he figured he’d do what he’d done many times before and borrow a different pole that was around the same dimensions and stiffness as his. Not ideal, but what else could he do?

Out of nowhere, as he was warming up, he heard sirens approaching the stadium.

The emergency? Turns out, the poles had been located, and the mayor had gotten in touch with the town’s police force to rush them to Kendricks. Paramedics carted them out to him just in time for him to jump.

He won that day. Talk about the “VIP” treatment — Very Important Poles.

“You become this animal of a stress sponge,” Kendricks said of the typical trials and tribulations involved in parading his poles from place to place. “You eat everybody else’s stress because you’re first in the airport and you’re the last to leave.”

Convincing a gate agent that 17-foot poles can fit on a plane

Need to get a pole to Poland, rush a discus to Denmark or hurry a hammer to Hungary? Kendricks’ partners on the pole-vault circuit, Sandi Morris, can point you in the right direction.

The Olympic silver medalist not only has a travel-agent’s familiarity with airline timetables, she can also tell you which carriers barely blink an eye at a 17-foot-long piece of checked luggage and which ones do.

She typically shows up at the airport five hours early. But she’s the first to concede that, sometimes, all the planning in the world can’t overcome bad luck. Morris knows if she walks up to the wrong ticket agent — say, one who doesn’t know the difference between the pole vault and a pet carrier, a flurry of calls will ensue and new arrangements will have to be made on the fly.

In case of emergency, she stores one set of poles in Europe with fellow vaulter Renaud Lavillenie. Morris has heard many tales of poles being broken in transit. Katie Moon, she said, had it happen to her one time.

“You have to just be ready for anything,” said Morris, who didn’t qualify for Paris. “Because sometimes you encounter somebody who’s never seen poles before and they can’t believe that they can fit them on the plane. So then it takes three hours to get on the plane.”

Using video to explain their sport to security officials

Hammer thrower and U.S. Olympic trials champion Daniel Haugh got stopped by authorities in Turkey, who were genuinely baffled by the contents of his travel case. He had to pull out his phone and show the Turkish police videos on his Instagram account to demonstrate what he did for a living.

“It was a whole ordeal,” Haugh said.

Other times, security has inspected his equipment but forgot to close the latch on the case.

“If you don’t have the lock on the outside, you’ll just get an empty case that they didn’t latch shut,” he said. “And there’s no hammers inside.”

You aren’t allowed to carry on a 16-pound metal ball

If permitted, American shot putter Payton Otterdahl would carry that 16-pound metal ball on the plane with him. But that’s not an option.

“It’s a weapon, apparently,” Otterdahl explained.

Thousands of years ago, huge rocks the size of the “shot” that Otterdahl and Co. use today were, indeed, used as weapons. Legend has it that ancient and medieval cultures used to have contests involving “throwing the stone” to see who their strongest men were for battle.

Not until the 19th century in Scotland did people start “putting” that 16-pound rock of metal for cash and prizes.

None of which makes Otterdahl’s life any easier.

Before his trips, he carefully packs the shot in his suitcase. Same with Italy’s Leonardo Fabbri, the shot put silver medalist at world championships last year, who wraps it inside his clothes to keep it secure.

“It’s my baby,” Fabbri said. “It’s worth more to me than anything else, because together we want to achieve great things.”

On point

Javelins don’t weigh that much (between 600 and 800 grams) but they’re more than twice as long as the longest golf club. And given that they are, essentially, spears with sharp points makes it tricky to get them through the airport.

American javelin thrower Curtis Thompson has seen meticulously packed and protected javelins come out of their carrying tubes with scratches — or, worse, sometimes even bent. There is always the option of throwing the “house javelin” — the one they keep at the stadium — if theirs don’t arrive.

“We just hope for the best and if something happens, you just try to adapt,” said Thompson, who usually brings three or four javelins with him just in case.

Decathletes are the world’s greatest luggage packers

They often bestow the title of “World’s Greatest Athlete” on the champion of the Olympic decathlon.

Too bad there’s no gold medal for packing luggage, too.

Decathlete Harrison Williams recalled walking through the airport for the 2019 world championships in Doha with two baggage carts loaded down with his poles, javelin and a few more bags that contained his discus and shot.

“It’s comical the amount of stuff we have to bring,” said Williams, who also has an entire suitcase dedicated to shoes.

The questions from bystanders are inevitable. In college at Stanford, he and his teammates used to joke they were carrying goal posts or the mast for a sailboat.

“People rarely guess poles unless they know pole vault,” Williams said.

Getting to Olympic trials in Eugene, Oregon, was a family affair for decathlete Zach Ziemek. He flew out of Madison, Wisconsin, with boxes containing a shot put, two discuses and his shoes. His wife and father traveled from a different airport to transport his poles.

“That flight they were on was a 12-hour travel day, but me flying out of Madison was a six-hour travel day,” Ziemek said. “So, it was a team effort.”

The easiest equipment to pack is clearly the discus

The discus is compact and sleek enough to fit into a carry-on bag. Still, the circular apparatus frequently raises eyebrows at security. That’s why Germany’s Henrik Janssen packs his 2-kilogram disc with his clothes.

American discus thrower Joseph Brown used to get stopped and quizzed about what he was carrying. He signed up for TSA Precheck and hasn’t been bothered since.

“Now, it’s a breeze,” Brown said.

So much easier than what some of these field athletes have to schlep.

“I get really jealous of the discus throwers and shot putters,” says Price, the hammer thrower. “But I’m not jealous of the pole vaulters. They are a different breed of amazingness.”

Says Kendricks, the two-time world champion in field’s “longest” event: “That’s why you see so much camaraderie out there on the track, because we walk a very difficult road together. It’s an unseen burden sometimes.”

___

AP Sports Writer Andrew Dampf contributed to this report.

___

AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

[ad_2]

Source link

August 16, 2024
As Instagram remains blocked in Turkey, Erdogan accuses social media companies of ‘digital fascism’

[ad_1]

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused social media platforms of “digital fascism” on Monday for allegedly censoring photographs of Palestinian “martyrs.”

The Turkish leader’s comments came as Turkish officials were engaged in discussions with representatives of the social media platform, Instagram, to reinstate access to millions of its users in Turkey.

The Information and Communication Technologies Authority barred access to Instagram on Aug.2 without providing a reason. Government officials said the ban was imposed because Instagram failed to abide by Turkish regulations.

Several media reports said however, that the action was in response to Instagram removing posts by Turkish users that expressed condolences over the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh. It was the latest instance of a clampdown on websites in the country which has a track record of censoring social media and other online platforms.

“They cannot even tolerate photographs of Palestinian martyrs and immediately ban them,” Erdogan said at a human rights event. “We are confronted with a digital fascism that is disguised as freedom.”

Unlike its Western allies, Turkey does not consider Hamas a terror organization. A strong critic of Israel’s military actions in Gaza, Erdogan has described the group as a liberation movement.

Erdogan went on to state that social media websites were allegedly allowing all kinds of propaganda by groups considered terrorists in Turkey.

“We have tried to establish a line of dialogue through our relevant institutions. However, we have not yet been able to achieve the desired cooperation,” Erdogan said.

The transportation and infrastructure minister, Abdulkadir Uraloglu, said Turkish authorities had met with representatives of the Meta-owned company last week and held a fresh round of talks on Monday without reaching a resolution.

“We didn’t get the exact result we wanted,” Uraloglu said. “We don’t think there will be any progress today.”

Instagram has more than 57 million users in Turkey, a nation of 85 million people, according to We Are Social Media, a digital marketing news company based in New York.

The Electronic Commerce Operators’ Association estimates that Instagram and other social media platforms per day generate about 930 million Turkish lira ($27 million) worth of e-commerce.

[ad_2]

Source link

August 6, 2024
Greece shuts Acropolis, 2 firefighters killed in Italy as southern Europe swelters in a heat wave

[ad_1]

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A heat wave across southern Europe forced authorities in Greece to close the Acropolis Wednesday for several hours and two firefighters died while putting out a fire in the Basilicata region in southern Italy, Italian authorities said.

Italy added Palermo, Sicily, to the list of 13 cities in the country with a severe heat warning. Elderly people in the city of Verona were urged to stay indoors, while sprinklers were set up to cool passersby.

Greece’s Culture Ministry ordered the closure of the Acropolis — the country’s biggest cultural attraction — from midday for five hours.

Tourists hoping to visit the Parthenon temple atop the Acropolis queued early in the morning to beat the worst of the heat, while the Red Cross handed chilled bottled water and information fliers to those waiting in line.

“We got it done and got out quick, and now we’re going to some air conditions and some more libation and enjoy the day,” said Toby Dunlap, who was visiting from Pennsylvania and had just toured the Acropolis. “But it’s hot up there, it really is. If you don’t come prepared, you’re going to sweat.”

Meteorologists said the hot air from Africa was forecast to continue through Sunday, with heat wave temperatures expected to peak at 43 degrees C (109 F).

In Albania, the heat led the government to reschedule working hours for civil servants, making it easier for some to work from home. Neighboring North Macedonia struggled with dozens of wildfires that had broken out in the previous 24 hours. One major blaze stretched across nearly 30 kilometers (21 miles). Firefighting aircraft from Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Romania and Turkey responded to the country’s call for assistance.

In western Turkey, firefighters — aided by more than a dozen water-dropping aircraft — managed to bring a wildfire near the town of Bergama under control several hours after it ignited. The cause of the blaze, which was fanned by strong winds, was not immediately known.

The municipality of Turkey’s largest city Istanbul issued a heat warning on Tuesday, saying temperatures would rise between 3-6 degrees C (5.4-10.8 degrees F) above seasonal norms until July 28.

Several Spanish cities, including Granada and Toledo, are bracing for temperatures as high as 44 degrees C (111 F) forecast for later in the week in the country’s hottest spots in the south.

___

Barry reported from Milan, Italy. Srdjan Nedeljkovic in Athens, Greece, Nicole Winfield in Rome, Konstantin Testorides in Skopje, North Macedonia, Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey and Llazar Semini in Amsterdam contributed to this report.

___

This story corrects Fahrenheit conversion to 5.4-10.8 degrees F.

[ad_2]

Source link

July 27, 2024
Turbulence hits Qatar Airways flight to Dublin, injuring 12 people

[ad_1]

Twelve people were injured during a Qatar Airways flight hit by turbulence while en route from Doha to Dublin on Sunday, officials said.

The flight QR107, which landed in Dublin just before 1 p.m. local time, experienced turbulence while airborne over Turkey, Dublin Airport officials said in a statement. The aircraft was met by emergency personnel, including airport police and fire and rescue.

Six passengers and six crew members reported injuries from the flight.

“The Dublin Airport team continues to provide full assistance on the ground to passengers and airline staff,” the statement said.

The airport did not provide details on the severity of the injuries.

This comes after a Singapore Airlines flight carrying 211 passengers and 18 crew members was hit extreme turbulence in the Irrawaddy basin last week, hurling people and items around the cabin. The plane made a sharp 6000-foot descent in about three minutes, after which it diverted to Thailand. The drop came out 10 hours into the flight from London as the Boeing 777 finished crossing the Andaman Sea and approached the Thai coast. Thunderstorms were reported in the area.

73-year-old man dies, dozens injured when severe turbulence hits flight headed to Singapore

02:02

A 73-year-old British man died of a suspected heart attack and dozens of passengers and crew members were injured, some critically. An investigation is underway.

Singapore Airlines has issued a deep apology over the incident. Its CEO, Goh Choon Phong, has pledged it will cooperate fully in the investigation and has visited those in the hospital to offer his support.

While turbulence is the most common type of accident involving air carriers, according to a 2021 National Transportation Safety Board report, deaths and serious injuries are rare.

But in July 2023, four people were injured by severe turbulence on a domestic U.S. flight in Florida.

On Sunday, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” that while the extreme turbulence that was experienced on the Singapore Airlines flight is very rare, “turbulence can happen and sometimes it can happen unexpectedly.”

“Our climate is evolving. Our policies and our technology and our infrastructure have to evolve accordingly, too. This is all about making sure that we stay ahead of the curve, keeping aviation as safe as it is,” he told “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan. “It’s not for nothing, that it became the safest form of travel in America. We’ve got to treat that not as some mission accomplished, but something you have to continually refresh to keep that safety record up.”

Lucia Suarez Sang

Lucia Suarez Sang is an associate managing editor at CBSNews.com. Previously, Lucia was the director of digital content at FOX61 News in Connecticut and has previously written for outlets including FoxNews.com, Fox News Latino and the Rutland Herald.

[ad_2]

Source link

May 26, 2024
Kurdish People Fast Facts | CNN

[ad_1]

CNN
—

Here’s a look at Kurdish people. Kurds do not have an official homeland or country. Most reside within countries in the Middle East including northern Iraq, eastern Turkey, western Iran and small portions of northern Syria and Armenia.

Area: Roughly 74,000 sq mi

Population: approximately 25-30 million (some Kurds reside outside of Kurdistan)

Religion: Most are Sunni Muslims; some practice Sufism, a type of mystic Islam

Kurds have never achieved nation-state status, making Kurdistan a non-governmental region and one of the largest stateless nations in the world.

Portions of the region are recognized by two countries: Iran, where the province of Kordestan lies; and northern Iraq, site of the autonomous region known as Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) or Iraqi Kurdistan.

Kurds were mostly nomadic until the end of World War I and the breakup of the Ottoman Empire.

Kurds make up about 10% of the population in Syria, 19% of the population of Turkey, 15-20% of the population of Iraq and are one of the largest ethnic minorities in Iran.

The Peshmerga is a more than 100,000-strong national military force which protects Iraqi Kurdistan, and includes female fighters.

October 30, 1918 – (TURKEY) The Armistice of Mudros marks the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I.

November 3, 1918 – (IRAQ) With the discovery of oil in the Kurdish province of Mosul, British forces occupy the region.

August 10, 1920 – (TURKEY) The Treaty of Sèvres outlines the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, with Turkey renouncing rights over certain areas in Asia and North Africa. It calls for the recognition of new independent states, including an autonomous Kurdistan. It is never ratified.

July 24, 1923 – (TURKEY) The Allies and the former Ottoman Empire sign and ratify the Treaty of Lausanne, which recognizes Turkey as an independent nation. In the final treaty marking the conclusion of World War I, the Allies drop demands for an autonomous Turkish Kurdistan. The Kurdish region is eventually divided among several countries.

1923 – (IRAQ) Former Kurdish Governor Sheikh Mahmud Barzinji stages an uprising against British rule, declaring a Kurdish kingdom in Sulaimaniya in northern Iraq.

1924 – (IRAQ) British Forces retake Sulaimaniya.

1943-1945 – (IRAQ/IRAN) Mustafa Barzani leads an uprising, gaining control of areas of Erbil and Badinan. When the uprising is defeated, Barzani and his forces retreat to Kurdish areas in Iran and align with nationalist fighters under the leadership of Qazi Muhammad.

January 1946 – (IRAN) The Kurdish Republic of Mahābād is established as a Kurdish state, with backing from the Soviet Union. The short-lived country encompasses the city of Mahābād in Iran, which is largely Kurdish and near the Iraq border. However, Soviets withdraw the same year and the Republic of Mahābād collapses.

August 16, 1946 – (IRAQ) The Kurdish Democratic Party of Iraq (KDP) is established.

1957 – (SYRIA) 250 Kurdish children die in an arson attack on a cinema. It is blamed on Arab nationalists.

1958 – (SYRIA) The government formally bans all Kurdish-language publications.

1958 – (IRAQ) After Iraq’s 1958 revolution, a new constitution is established, which declares Arabs and Kurds as “partners in this homeland.”

1961 – (IRAQ) KDP begins a rebellion in northern Iraq. Within two weeks, the Iraqi government dissolves the Kurdish Democratic Party.

March 1970 – (IRAQ) A peace agreement between Iraqi government and Kurds grants the Kurds autonomy. Kurdish is recognized as an official language, and an amendment to the constitution states: “the Iraqi people is made up of two nationalities: the Arab nationality and the Kurdish nationality.”

March 6, 1975 – (ALGERIA) Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi of Iran sign a treaty. Iraq gives up claims to the Shatt-al-Arab waterway, while Iran agrees to end its support of the independence seeking Kurds.

June 1975 – (IRAQ) Former KDP Leader Jalal Talabani, establishes the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). The following year, PUK takes up an armed campaign against the Iraqi government.

1978 – (IRAQ) KDP and PUK forces clash, leaving many dead.

1978 – (TURKEY) Abdullah Öcalan forms the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a Kurdish separatist group.

Late 1970s – (IRAQ) The Baath Party, under Hussein’s leadership, uproots Kurds from areas with Kurdish majorities, and settles southern-Iraqi Arabs into those regions. Into the 1980s, Kurds are forcibly removed from the Iranian border as Kurds are suspected of aiding Iranian forces during the Iran-Iraq War.

1979 – (IRAQ) Mustafa Barzani dies in Washington, DC. His son, Massoud Barzani, is elected president of KDP following his death.

1980 – (IRAQ) The Iran-Iraq War begins. Although the KDP forces work closely with Iran, the PUK does not.

1983 – (IRAQ) PUK agrees to a ceasefire with Iraq and begins negotiations on Kurdish autonomy.

August 1984 – (TURKEY) PKK launches a violent separatist campaign in Turkey, starting with killing two soldiers. The conflict eventually spreads to Iran, Iraq and Syria.

1985 – (IRAQ) The ceasefire between Iraq and PUK breaks down.

1986 – (IRAQ) After an Iranian-sponsored reconciliation, both KDP and PUK receive support from Tehran.

1987 – (TURKEY) Turkey imposes a state of emergency in the southeastern region of the country in response to PKK attacks.

February-August 1988 – (IRAQ) During Operation Anfal (“spoils” in Arabic), created to quell Kurdish resistance, the Iraqi military uses large quantities of chemical weapons on Kurdish civilians. Iraqi forces destroy more than 4,000 villages in Kurdistan. It is believed that some 100,000 Kurds were killed.

March 16, 1988 – (IRAQ) Iraq uses poison gas against the Kurdish people in Halabja in northern Iraq. Thousands of people are believed to have died in the attack.

1990-1991 – (IRAQ) The Gulf War begins when Hussein invades Kuwait, seeking its oil reserves. There is a mass exodus of Kurds out of Iraq as more than a million flee into Turkey and Iran.

February 28, 1991 – (IRAQ) Hussein agrees to a ceasefire, ending the Gulf War.

March 1991 – (IRAQ) Kurdish uprising begins, and in two weeks, the Kurdish militia gains control of Iraqi Kurdistan, including the oil-rich town of Kirkuk. After allied support to the Kurds is denied, Iraq crushes the uprising. Two million Kurds flee, but are forced to hide out in the mountains as Turkey closes its border.

April 1991 – (IRAQ) A safe haven is established in Iraqi Kurdistan by the United States, the United Kingdom and France. Iraqi forces are barred from operating within the region, and Kurds begin autonomous rule, with KDP leading the north and PUK leading the south.

1992 – (IRAQ) In an anti-PKK operation, 20,000 Turkish troops enter Kurdish safe havens in Iraq.

1994-1998 – (IRAQ) PUK and KDP members engage in armed conflict, known as the Fratricide War, in Iraqi Kurdistan.

1995 – (IRAQ) Approximately 35,000 Turkish troops launch an offensive against Kurds in northern Iraq.

1996 – (IRAQ) Iraq launches attacks against Kurdish cities, including Erbil and Kirkuk.

October 8, 1997 – (TURKEY) The United States lists PKK as a terrorist group.

1998 – (IRAQ) The conflict between KDP and PUK ends, and a peace agreement is reached. This is brokered by the United States, and the accord is signed in Washington.

1999 – (TURKEY) PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan is captured in Nairobi, Kenya, by Turkish officials.

2002 – (TURKEY) Under pressure from the European Union, Turkey legalizes broadcasts and education in the Kurdish language. Turkish forces still combat PKK, including military incursions into northern Iraq.

May 2002 – (TURKEY) The European Union designates the PKK as a terrorist organization.

February 1, 2004 – (IRAQ) Two suicide bombs kill more than 50 people in Erbil. The targets are the headquarters of KDP and PUK, and several top Kurdish officials from both parties are killed.

March 2004 – (SYRIA) Nine people are killed at a football (soccer) arena in Qamishli after clashes with riot police. Kurds demonstrate throughout the city, and unrest spreads to nearby towns in the following days, after security forces open fire at the funerals.

June 2004 – (TURKEY) State TV broadcasts Kurdish-language programs for the first time.

April 6-7, 2005 – (IRAQ) Kurdish leader Talabani is selected the country’s president by the transitional national assembly, and is sworn in the next day.

July 2005 – (TURKEY) Six people die from a bomb planted on a train by a Kurdish guerrilla. Turkish officials blame the PKK.

2005 – (IRAQ) The 2005 Iraqi constitution upholds Kurdish autonomy, and designates Kurdistan as an autonomous federal region.

August-September 2006 – (TURKEY) A wave of bomb attacks target a resort area in Turkey, as well as Istanbul. Separatist group Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAC) claims responsibility for most of the attacks and threatens it will turn Turkey into “hell.”

December 2007 – (TURKEY) Turkey launches attacks in Iraqi Kurdistan, targeting PKK outposts.

2009 – (TURKEY) A policy called the Kurdish Initiative increases Kurdish language rights and reduces military presence in the mostly Kurdish southeast.

September 2010 – (IRAN) A bomb detonates during a parade in Mahābād, leaving 12 dead and dozens injured. No group claims responsibility for the attack, but authorities blame Kurdish separatists. In 2014, authorities arrest members of Koumaleh, a Kurdish armed group, for the attack.

April 2011 – (SYRIA) Syria grants citizenship to thousands in the Kurdish region. According to Human Rights Watch, an exceptional census stripped 20% of Kurdish Syrians of their citizenship in 1962.

October 2011 – (SYRIA) Meshaal Tammo, a Syrian Kurdish activist, is assassinated. Many Kurds blame Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime for the assassination.

October 19, 2011 – (TURKEY) Kurdish militants kill 24 Turkish troops near the Iraqi border, a PKK base area.

June 2012 – (TURKEY) Turkish forces strike PKK rebel bases in Iraq after a PKK attack in southern Turkey kills eight Turkish soldiers.

July 2012 – (SYRIA) Amid the country’s civil war, Syrian security forces retreat from several Kurdish towns in the northeastern part of the country.

August 2012 – (TURKEY) Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warns that any attempts by the PKK to launch cross-border attacks from Syria would be met by force; the Turkish Army then performs a large exercise less than a mile from border villages now controlled by the Syrian Kurdish group Democratic Union Party (PYD).

December 2012 – (TURKEY) Erdogan announces the government has begun peace talks with the PKK.

January 10, 2013 – (FRANCE) Three Kurdish women are found shot dead in Paris, one of whom was a founding member of the PKK.

March 21, 2013 – (TURKEY) Imprisoned PKK founder Abdullah Ocalan calls for dialogue: a letter from him is read in the Turkish Parliament, “We for tens of years gave up our lives for this struggle, we paid a price. We have come to a point at which the guns must be silent and ideas must talk.”

March 25, 2013 – (TURKEY) Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan and Iraqi Kurdistan Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani negotiate a framework deal that includes an outline for a direct pipeline export of oil and gas. The pipeline would have the Kurdish crude oil transported from the Kurdish Regional Government directly into Turkey, allowing the KRG to be a competitive supplier of oil to Turkey.

June 2014 – (IRAQ) Refugees flee fighting and flood into Iraqi Kurdistan to the north as ISIS militants take over Mosul. Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) closes then reopens, with restrictions, border crossings used by those fleeing ISIS.

June 23, 2014 – (IRAQ) Iraqi Kurdistan President Barzani says that “Iraq is obviously falling apart, and it’s obvious that the federal or central government has lost control over everything.”

Early August 2014 – (IRAQ) Reportedly 40,000 Yazidi, a minority group of Kurdish descent, flee to a mountainous region in northwestern Iraq to escape ISIS, after the group storms Sinjar, a town near the Syrian border. Also, 100,000 Christians flee to Erbil, after Kurdish leadership there promises protection in the city.

August 11, 2014 – (IRAQ) Kurdish fighters in Kurdistan, who are called Peshmerga, work with Iraqi armed forces to deliver aid to Yazidis stranded on Mount Sinjar after fleeing ISIS fighters.

August 12, 2014 – (IRAQ) Some Yazidi tell CNN that PKK fighters control parts of the mountain, and have offered food and protection from ISIS.

December 2, 2014 – (IRAQ) The government of Iraq and the government of Iraqi Kurdistan sign an agreement to share oil revenues and military resources. Iraq will now pay the salaries of Peshmerga fighters battling ISIS and act as an intermediary to deliver US weapons to Kurdish forces. The Kurdistan government will deliver more than half a million barrels of oil daily to the Iraqi government. Profits from the sale of the oil will be split between the two governments.

January 26, 2015 – (SYRIA) After 112 days of fighting, the YPG, Kurdish fighters also known as the People’s Protection Units, take control of the city of Kobani from ISIS.

March 21, 2015 – (TURKEY) In a letter read to thousands during a celebration in the city of Diyarbakir, imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan urges fighters under his command to lay down their arms, stop waging war against the Turkish state and join a “congress.”

May 18, 2015 – (TURKEY) In the run-up to parliamentary elections on June 7, an explosion rocks the office of the Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) in Adana, in southeastern Turkey. Six people are injured.

June 7, 2015 – (TURKEY) Three-year-old fledgling party Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) receives more than 13% of the vote, winning 80 seats in the 550-seat parliament.

June 16, 2015 – (SYRIA) Kurdish forces in the Syrian town, Tal Abyad say they have defeated ISIS fighters and taken back the town on the Turkish border.

June 23, 2015 – (SYRIA) Kurdish fighters announce that they have taken back the town of Ain Issa, located 30 miles north of the ISIS stronghold, Raqqa, a city proclaimed to be the capital of the caliphate. A military base near Ain Issa, which had been occupied by ISIS since last August, is abandoned by the terrorist group the night before the Kurdish forces seize the town.

February 17, 2016 – (IRAQ) Turkish airstrikes target some of the PKK’s top figures in northern Iraq’s Haftanin region. Airstrikes come after a terrorist attack in Turkey kills 28, although no Kurdish group has claimed responsibility for those attacks.

March 13, 2016 – (TURKEY) A car bomb attack kills at least 37 people in Ankara. The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons, or TAK – an offshoot of the Kurdish separatist group PKK – takes responsibility for the attack.

March 17, 2016 – (SYRIA) Kurds declare that a swath of northeastern Syria is now a separate autonomous region under Kurdish control. The claim stirs up controversy, as Syrian and Turkish officials say it goes against the goal of creating a unified country after years of civil war.

July 20, 2016 – (TURKEY) Following a failed coup attempt, President Erdogan declares a state of emergency. In the first three months, pro-Kurdish media outlets are shut down, and tens of thousands of civil servants with alleged PKK connections are dismissed or suspended. The purge includes ministers of parliament, military leaders, police, teachers and mayors, including in the Kurdish-majority city of Diyarbakir.

September 25, 2017 – (IRAQ) Iraqi Kurds vote in favor of declaring independence from Iraq. More than 92% of the roughly 3 million people vote “yes” to independence.

March 23, 2019 – (SYRIA) Kurdish forces announce they have captured the eastern Syrian pocket of Baghouz, the last populated area under ISIS rule.

October 9, 2019 – (TURKEY/SYRIA) Turkey launches a military offensive into northeastern Syria, just days after US President Donald Trump’s administration announced that US troops would leave the border area. Erdogan’s “Operation Peace Spring” is an effort to drive away Kurdish forces from the border, and use the area to resettle around two million Syrian refugees. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) who operate in the region are Kurdish-led, and still hold thousands of ISIS fighters captured in battle.

October 17, 2019 – (TURKEY/SYRIA) US Vice President Mike Pence announces that he and Erdogan agreed to a ceasefire halting Turkey’s incursion into northern Syria. The Turkish government insists that the agreement is not a ceasefire, but only a “pause” on operations in the region.

November 15, 2019 – (TURKEY/SYRIA) Turkey’s decision to launch a military operation targeting US-Kurdish partners in northern Syria and the Trump administration’s subsequent retreat allowed ISIS to rebuild itself and boosted its ability to launch attacks abroad, the Pentagon’s Inspector General says in an Operation Inherent Resolve quarterly report.

March 24, 2020 – (SYRIA) The SDF releases a statement calling for a humanitarian truce in response to a United Nations appeal for a global ceasefire to combat the coronavirus.

July 30, 2020 – (SYRIA) During a US Senate committee hearing, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo confirms the Trump administration’s support for the Delta Crescent Energy firm’s deal to develop and modernize oil fields in northeast Syria under control of the SDF. The following week, Syria’s foreign ministry calls the deal an attempt to “steal” the oil.

February 8, 2021 – (SYRIA) Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby is questioned about the Delta Crescent Energy deal during a press conference. He says that the US Department of Defense under the Joe Biden administration is focused on fighting ISIS. It is not aiding a private company.

January 20-26, 2022 – (SYRIA) ISIS lays siege to a prison in northeast Syria, in an attempt to break out thousands of the group’s members who were detained in 2019. In coordination with US-led coalition airstrikes, SDF regains control of the prison. This is believed to be the biggest coordinated attack by ISIS since the fall of the caliphate three years prior.

September 16, 2022 – (IRAN) Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman, dies after being detained by “morality police” and taken to a “re-education center,” allegedly for not abiding by the country’s conservative dress code. Public anger over her death combines with a range of grievances against the Islamic Republic’s oppressive regime to fuel months of nationwide demonstrations, which continue despite law makers urging the country’s judiciary to “show no leniency” to protesters.

November 12, 2022 – (IRAN) The Norway-based Iran Human Rights NGO (IHRNGO) group claims Iranian security forces have killed at least 326 people since nationwide protests erupted two months ago. Authorities have unleashed a deadly crackdown on demonstrators, with reports of forced detentions and physical abuse being used to target the country’s Kurdish minority group.

[ad_2]

Source link

April 10, 2024
Denver International Airport adds new nonstop destination — the longest direct flight from DIA

[ad_1]

A new nonstop Turkish Airlines flight from Denver International Airport will carry travelers 6,152 miles between Denver and Istanbul — the longest flight from DIA.

The recruitment of Turkish Airlines brings the number of airlines at DIA to 26. Flight searches on Google on Thursday morning showed round-trip flights available starting June 11 for around $1,329 roundtrip.

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston and DIA chief executive Phil Washington planned to announce the flight Thursday morning. The new service is expected to bring a $54 million annual economic impact in Colorado and support the creation of about 350 new jobs around the state. The flight will take about 13 hours, longer than the 12-hour direct flight between Denver and Tokyo.

DIA officials in recent years have prioritized “expanding our global connections” as part of their strategic plan for serving 100 million passengers a year by 2027 and more than 120 million by 2045, the airport’s 50th anniversary. A primary goal is to “expand the air networks to the continent of Africa and other disconnected destinations.”

A 21-person delegation of airport, city government, and business officials from Denver visited Ethiopia in February 2023 on a trade mission to build relationships. They offered economic incentives as part of their efforts to persuade Ethiopian Airlines and, eventually, Egypt Air to commit to starting service to Denver with several flights a week. Another delegation visited Turkey in October 2022 to explore possibilities for starting a Turkish Airlines flight between Denver and Istanbul.

The new flight announced Thursday “does not diminish in any way our desire” to line up a flight to other cities, said Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce president J.J. Ament, who joined both delegations.

“A flight to Istanbul opens up India, and it also opens up Africa for us,” Ament said.

“The imperative is that we continue to increase Denver’s global reach and the reach of Colorado and the Rocky Mountain West with DIA as the gateway airport,” he said. “Being able to reach new parts of the world, growing parts of the world, is what is going to keep Colorado globally relevant.”

DIA is the largest airport in the United States by size, covering 53 square miles of land. It also ranks among the busiest airports in the world. A record 77 million passengers went through DIA in 2023, up from 69 million in 2019.

The airport offers flights to 217 destinations, predominantly domestic. But international air travel, including air cargo operations, has grown steadily and in 2023 brought more than 4 million travelers, up 21% since 2022.

Earlier this year, airport officials announced new nonstop flights from DIA on Aer Lingus to Dublin, Ireland, starting on May 17. Other cities that DIA travelers can reach nonstop include London, Paris, Zurich, Reykjavik, Iceland, Munich, Frankfurt, Tokyo, and a dozen cities in Mexico and Central America.

[ad_2]

Bruce Finley

Source link

April 4, 2024
Syrian Civil War Fast Facts | CNN

[ad_1]

CNN
—

Here’s a look at ongoing civil war in Syria.

Bashar al-Assad has ruled Syria as president since July 2000. His father, Hafez al-Assad, ruled Syria from 1970-2000.

The ongoing violence against civilians has been condemned by the Arab League, the European Union, the United States and other countries.

Roughly 5 million Syrians have fled to neighboring countries, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, and more than 6.8 million people are displaced internally.

According to UNICEF’s Representative in Syria, Bo Viktor Nylund, “Since 2011, nearly 12,000 children were verified as killed or injured in Syria, that’s one child every eight hours over the past ten years.” Nylund said that the actual figures are likely much higher.

When the civil war began in 2011, there were four main factions of fighting groups throughout the country: Kurdish forces, ISIS, other opposition (such as Jaish al Fateh, an alliance between the Nusra Front and Ahrar-al-Sham) and the Assad regime.

March 2011 – Violence flares in Daraa after a group of teens and children are arrested for writing political graffiti. Dozens of people are killed when security forces crack down on demonstrations.

March 24, 2011 – In response to continuing protests, the Syrian government announces several plans to appease citizens. State employees will receive an immediate salary increase. The government also plans to study lifting Syria’s long standing emergency law and the licensing of new political parties.

March 30, 2011 – Assad addresses the nation in a 45-minute televised speech. He acknowledges that the government has not met the people’s needs, but he does not offer any concrete changes. The state of emergency remains in effect.

April 21, 2011 – Assad lifts the country’s 48-year-old state of emergency. He also abolishes the Higher State Security Court and issues a decree “regulating the right to peaceful protest, as one of the basic human rights guaranteed by the Syrian Constitution.”

May 18, 2011 – The United States imposes sanctions against Assad and six other senior Syrian officials. The Treasury Department details the sanctions by saying, “As a result of this action, any property in the United States or in the possession or control of US persons in which the individuals listed in the Annex have an interest is blocked, and US persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.”

August 18, 2011 – The US imposes new economic sanctions on Syria, freezing Syrian government assets in the US, barring Americans from making new investments in the country and prohibiting any US transactions relating to Syrian petroleum products, among other things.

September 2, 2011 – The European Union bans the import of Syrian oil.

September 23, 2011 – The EU imposes additional sanctions against Syria, due to “the continuing brutal campaign” by the government against its own people.

October 2, 2011 – A new alignment of Syrian opposition groups establishes the Syrian National Council, a framework through which to end Assad’s government and establish a democratic system.

October 4, 2011 – Russia and China veto a UN Security Council resolution that would call for an immediate halt to the crackdown in Syria against opponents of Assad. Nine of the 15-member council countries, including the United States, voted in favor of adopting the resolution.

November 12, 2011 – The Arab League suspends Syria’s membership, effective November 16, 2011.

November 27, 2011 – Foreign ministers from 19 Arab League countries vote to impose economic sanctions against the Syrian regime for its part in a bloody crackdown on civilian demonstrators.

November 30, 2011 – Turkey announces a series of measures, including financial sanctions, against Syria.

December 19, 2011 – Syria signs an Arab League proposal aimed at ending violence between government forces and protesters.

January 28, 2012 – The Arab League suspends its mission in Syria as violence there continues.

February 2, 2012 – A UN Security Council meeting ends with no agreement on a draft resolution intended to pressure Syria to end its crackdown on anti-government demonstrators.

February 4, 2012 – A UN Security Council resolution condemning Syria is not adopted after Russia and China vote against it.

February 6, 2012 – The United States closes its embassy in Damascus and recalls its diplomats.

February 7, 2012 – The Gulf Cooperation Council announces its member states are pulling their ambassadors from Damascus and expelling the Syrian ambassadors in their countries.

February 16, 2012 – The United Nations General Assembly passes a nonbinding resolution endorsing the Arab League plan for Assad to step down. The vote was 137 in favor and 12 against, with 17 abstentions.

February 26, 2012 – Syrians vote on a constitutional referendum in polling centers across the country. Almost 90% of voters approve the changes to the constitution, which include the possibility of a multi-party system.

March 13, 2012 – Kofi Annan, the UN special envoy to Syria, meets in Turkey with government officials and Syrian opposition members. In a visit to Syria over the weekend, he calls for a ceasefire, the release of detainees and allowing unfettered access to relief agencies to deliver much-needed aid.

March 15, 2012 – The Gulf Cooperation Council announces that the six member countries will close their Syrian embassies and calls on the international community “to stop what is going on in Syria.”

March 27, 2012 – The Syrian government accepts Annan’s plan to end violence. The proposal seeks to stop the violence, give access to humanitarian agencies, release detainees and start a political dialogue to address the concerns of the Syrian people.

April 1, 2012 – At a conference in Istanbul, the international group Friends of the Syrian People formally recognizes the Syrian National Council as a legitimate representative of the Syrian people.

July 30, 2012 – The Syrian Charge d’Affaires in London, Khaled al-Ayoubi, resigns, stating he is “no longer willing to represent a regime that has committed such violent and oppressive acts against its own people.”

August 2, 2012 – UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announces that Annan will not renew his mandate when it expires at the end of August.

August 6, 2012 – Syrian Prime Minister Riyad Hijab’s resignation from office and defection from Assad’s regime is read on Al Jazeera by his spokesman Muhammad el-Etri. Hijab and his family are said to have left Syria overnight, arriving in Jordan. Hijab is the highest-profile official to defect.

August 9, 2012 – Syrian television reports that Assad has appointed Health Minister Wael al-Halki as the new prime minister.

October 3, 2012 – Five people are killed by Syrian shelling in the Turkish border town of Akcakale. In response, Turkey fires on Syrian targets and its parliament authorizes a resolution giving the government permission to deploy its soldiers to foreign countries.

November 11, 2012 – Israel fires warning shots toward Syria after a mortar shell hits an Israeli military post. It is the first time Israel has fired on Syria across the Golan Heights since the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

November 11, 2012 – Syrian opposition factions formally agree to unite as the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces.

November 13, 2012 – Sheikh Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib is elected leader of the Syrian opposition collective, the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces.

January 6, 2013 – Assad announces he will not step down and that his vision of Syria’s future includes a new constitution and an end to support for the opposition. The opposition refuses to work with Assad’s government.

March 19, 2013 – The National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces elects Ghassan Hitto as its prime minister. Though born in Damascus, Hitto has spent much of his life in the United States, and holds dual US and Syrian citizenship.

April 25, 2013 – US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel announces the United States has evidence that the chemical weapon sarin has been used in Syria on a small scale.

May 27, 2013 – EU nations end the arms embargo against the Syrian rebels.

June 13, 2013 – US President Barack Obama says that Syria has crossed a “red line” with its use of chemical weapons against rebels. His administration indicates that it will be stepping up its support of the rebels, who have been calling for the US and others to provide arms needed to battle Assad’s forces.

July 6, 2013 – Ahmad Assi Jarba is elected the new leader of the Syrian National Coalition.

August 18, 2013 – A team of UN weapons inspectors arrives in Syria to begin an investigation into whether chemical weapons have been used during the civil war.

August 22, 2013 – The UN and the US call for an immediate investigation of Syrian activists’ claims that the Assad government used chemical weapons in an attack on civilians on August 21. Anti-regime activist groups in Syria say more than 1,300 people were killed in the attack outside Damascus, many of them women and children.

August 24, 2013 – Medical charity Doctors Without Borders announces that three hospitals near Damascus treated more than 3,000 patients suffering “neurotoxic symptoms” on August 21. Reportedly, 355 of the patients died.

August 26, 2013 – UN inspectors reach the site of a reported chemical attack in Moadamiyet al-Sham, near Damascus. En route to the site, the team’s convoy is hit by sniper fire. No one is injured.

August 29, 2013 – The UK’s Parliament votes against any military action in Syria.

August 30, 2013 – US Secretary of State John Kerry says that US intelligence information has found that 1,429 people were killed in last week’s chemical weapons attack in Syria, including at least 426 children.

September 9, 2013 – Syria agrees to a Russian proposal to give up control of its chemical weapons.

September 10, 2013 – In a speech, Obama says he will not “put American boots on the ground in Syria,” but does not rule out other military options.

September 14, 2013 – The United States and Russia agree to a plan to eliminate chemical weapons in Syria.

September 16, 2013 – The United Nations releases a report from chemical weapons inspectors who investigated the August 21 incident. Inspectors say there is “clear and convincing evidence” that sarin was used.

September 20, 2013 – Syria releases an initial report on its chemical weapons program.

September 27, 2013 – The UN Security Council passes a resolution requiring Syria to eliminate its arsenal of chemical weapons. Assad says he will abide by the resolution.

September 30, 2013 – At the UN General Assembly in New York, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem says that Syria is not engaged in a civil war, but a war on terror.

October 6, 2013 – Syria begins dismantling its chemical weapons program, including the destruction of missile warheads and aerial bombs.

October 31, 2013 – The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons announces that Syria has destroyed all its declared chemical weapons production facilities.

November 25, 2013 – The United Nations announces that starting January 22 in Geneva, Switzerland, the Syrian government and an unknown number of opposition groups will meet at a “Geneva II” conference meant to broker an end to the Syrian civil war.

December 2, 2013 – UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay says that a UN fact-finding team has found “massive evidence” that the highest levels of the Syrian government are responsible for war crimes.

January 20, 2014 – The Syria National Coalition announces it won’t participate in the Geneva II talks unless the United Nations rescinds its surprise invitation to Iran or Iran agrees to certain conditions. The United Nations later rescinds Iran’s invitation.

February 13, 2014 – The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons tells CNN that Syria has shipped out 11% of its chemical weapons stockpile, falling far short of the February 5 deadline to have all such arms removed from the country.

February 15, 2014 – A second round of peace talks ends in Geneva, Switzerland, with little progress in ending Syria’s civil war.

February 23, 2014 – The UN Security Council unanimously passes a resolution boosting access to humanitarian aid in Syria.

June 3, 2014 – Assad is reelected, reportedly receiving 88.7% of the vote in the country’s first election since civil war broke out in 2011.

September 22-23, 2014 – The United States and allies launch airstrikes against ISIS targets in Syria, focusing on the city of Raqqa.

September 14-15, 2015 – A Pentagon spokesperson says the Russian military appears to be attempting to set up a forward operating base in western Syria, in the area around the port city of Latakia. Russian President Vladimir Putin says that Russia is supporting the Syrian government in its fight against ISIS.

October 30, 2015 – White House spokesman Josh Earnest says that the US will be deploying “less than 50” Special Operations forces, who will be sent to Kurdish-controlled territory in northern Syria. The American troops will help local Kurdish and Arab forces fighting ISIS with logistics and are planning to bolster their efforts.

February 26, 2016 – A temporary cessation of hostilities goes into effect. The truce calls for the Syrian regime and rebels to give relief organizations access to disputed territories so they can assist civilians.

March 15, 2016 – Russia starts withdrawing its forces from Syria. A spokeswoman for Assad tells CNN that the Russian campaign is winding down after achieving its goal of helping Syrian troops take back territory claimed by terrorists.

September 15, 2016 – At least 23 people, including nine children, are killed during airstrikes in Syria, with the United States and Russia accusing each other of violating the ceasefire in effect since September 12.

September 17, 2016 – US-led coalition airstrikes near Deir Ezzor Airport intended to target ISIS instead kill 62 Syrian soldiers.

September 20, 2016 – An aid convoy and warehouse of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent are bombed; no one claims responsibility. The strike prompts the UN to halt aid operations in Syria.

September 23-25, 2016 – About 200 airstrikes hit Aleppo during the weekend, with one activist telling CNN it is a level of bombing they have not seen before.

December 13, 2016 – As government forces take control of most of Aleppo from rebel groups, Turkey and Russia broker a ceasefire for eastern Aleppo so that civilians can be evacuated. The UN Security Council holds an emergency session amid reports of mounting civilian deaths and extrajudicial killings. The ceasefire collapses less than a day after it is implemented.

December 22, 2016 – Syria’s state-run media announces government forces have taken full control of Aleppo, ending more than four years of rebel rule there.

April 4, 2017 – Dozens of civilians are reportedly killed in a suspected chemical attack in the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun. The Russian Defense Ministry claims that gas was released when Syrian forces bombed a chemical munitions depot operated by terrorists. Activists, however, say that Syrians carried out a targeted chemical attack.

April 6, 2017 – The United States launches a military strike on a Syrian government airbase in response to the chemical weapon attack on civilians. On US President Donald Trump’s orders, US warships launch 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the airbase which was home to the warplanes that carried out the chemical attacks.

July 7, 2017 – Trump and Putin reach an agreement on curbing violence in southwest Syria during their meeting at the G20 in Hamburg, Germany. The ceasefire will take effect in the de-escalation zone beginning at noon Damascus time on July 9.

October 17, 2017 – ISIS loses control of its self-declared capital, Raqqa. US-backed forces fighting in Raqqa say “major military operations” have ended, though there are still pockets of resistance in the city.

October 26, 2017 – A joint report from the United Nations and international chemical weapons inspectors finds that the Assad regime was responsible for the April 2017 sarin attack that killed more than 80 people. Syria has repeatedly denied it had anything to do with the attack and also denies it has any chemical weapons.

February 24, 2018 – The UN Security Council unanimously approves a 30-day ceasefire resolution in Syria, though it is unclear when the ceasefire is meant to start, or how it will be enforced.

February 27, 2018 – Within minutes of when a five-hour “humanitarian pause” ordered by Putin – from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. – is meant to start, activists on the ground report shelling and artillery fire from pro-regime positions, killing at least one person in the rebel-held enclave of Eastern Ghouta.

April 7, 2018 – Helicopters drop barrel bombs filled with toxic gas on the last rebel-held town in Eastern Ghouta, activist groups say. The World Health Organization later says that as many as 500 people may have been affected by the attack.

April 14, 2018 – The United States, France and the United Kingdom launch airstrikes on Syria in response to the chemical weapons attack in Eastern Ghouta a week earlier.

September 17, 2018 – Russia and Turkey announce they have agreed to create a demilitarized zone in Syria’s Idlib province, potentially thwarting a large-scale military operation and impending humanitarian disaster in the country’s last rebel stronghold. The zone, which will be patrolled by Turkish and Russian military units, will become operational from October 15.

December 19, 2018 – Trump tweets, “We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency.” A US defense official and an administration official tell CNN that planning for the “full” and “rapid” withdrawal of US military from Syria is already underway.

March 23, 2019 – Kurdish forces announce they have captured the eastern Syrian pocket of Baghouz, the last populated area under ISIS rule.

October 9, 2019 – Turkey launches a military offensive into northeastern Syria, just days after the Trump administration announced that US troops would leave the border area. Erdogan’s “Operation Peace Spring” is an effort to drive away Kurdish forces from the border, and use the area to resettle around two million Syrian refugees.

March 5, 2020 – Turkey and Russia announce a ceasefire in Idlib, Syria’s last opposition enclave, agreeing to establish a security corridor with joint patrols.

April 8, 2020 – The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons’ Investigation and Identification Team (IIT) releases a report concluding that Syrian government forces were responsible for a series of chemical attacks on a Syrian town in late March 2017.

May 26, 2021 – Assad is reelected.

In photos: Syria’s civil war

[ad_2]

Source link

April 4, 2024
Turkey’s inflation climbs to 68.5% despite continued rate hikes

[ad_1]

A money changer holds Turkish lira and U.S. dollar banknotes at a currency exchange office in Ankara, Turkey December 16, 2021.

Cagla Gurdogan | Reuters

Turkey’s annual inflation rose to 68.5% for the month of March, an increase on February’s 67.1% inflation read, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute’s report released Wednesday.

The monthly rise in consumer prices came out at 3.16%, led by education, communication, and hotels, restaurants and cafes, which saw month-on-month rises of 13%, 5.6%, and 3.9%, respectively.

On an annual basis, education again saw the highest cost inflation at 104% year-on-year, followed by hotels, restaurants and cafes at 95% and health at 80%.

Turkey has launched a concerted effort to tackle soaring inflation with interest rate hikes, most recently raising the country’s key rate from 45% to 50% in late March.

Much of the inflation in recent months stems from a significant increase to the minimum wage that Turkey’s government mandated for 2024. The minimum wage for the year rose to 17,002 Turkish lira (around $530) per month in January, a 100% hike from the same period a year prior.

Economists expect further rate hikes from the central bank will be necessary.

While the March inflation count represents “the smallest monthly increase in three months and suggests that the impact of the large minimum wage hike in January may now have largely passed, it is still far from consistent with the single-digit inflation that policymakers are trying to achieve,” Nicholas Farr, an Emerging Europe economist at London-based Capital Economics, wrote in an analyst note Wednesday.

“The latest inflation figures do little to change our view that further monetary tightening lies in store and that a more concerted effort to tighten fiscal policy will be needed too,” he said.

[ad_2]

Source link

April 3, 2024
Turkey’s opposition stuns in sweeping local elections victory over Erdogan’s party

[ad_1]

Istanbul Municipality Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu speaks at the 19 May Commemoration of Atatürk, Youth and Sports Day celebrations held at the Maltepe Event Area on May 19, 2023 on Istanbul, Turkey.

Hakan Akgun | Getty Images

Turkey’s opposition won a stunning victory across several major cities in the country’s local elections Sunday, dealing a severe blow to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party and handing it its largest defeat in more than two decades.

“Those who do not understand the nation’s message will eventually lose,” Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu told thousands of supporters after vote counts revealed that his center-left Republican People’s Party (CHP) had won the megacity of Istanbul by more than 1 million votes, Reuters reported.

“Tonight, 16 million Istanbul citizens sent a message to both our rivals and the president,” he said.

Erdogan’s conservative Justice and Development Party, abbreviated locally as AKP, dominates the country at the national level.

In a speech Sunday night, Erdogan admitted his party had “lost altitude” and would work to rectify its errors.

“We will correct our mistakes and redress our shortcomings,” he said from the balcony of the presidential palace. Erdogan, 70, has governed Turkey since 2003.

The sweeping opposition win municipal elections across major Turkish cities like Istanbul, Izmir, and the capital Ankara could set the country in a new direction. Erdogan himself rose to prominence as Istanbul mayor in the 1990s before later going on to win the presidency; now, analysts are speculating that Imamoglu’s win in Istanbul could make him a front-runner for the Turkish presidency in 2028.

Erdogan himself once said that whoever wins Istanbul wins Turkey. Imamoglu, a 52-year-old former businessman, has been Istanbul’s mayor since 2019. He attempted to run for president in Turkey’s 2023 general election, but was banned by Erdogan’s government from running, in a move CHP supporters say was purely political. In those elections, Erdogan’s party won big, leaving AKP on top at the national level.

[ad_2]

Source link

April 1, 2024
Inside the weird and quirky world of building a startup behind a wall of tariffs | TechCrunch

[ad_1]

Think quick — how much does a top-of-the-line iPhone 15 Pro Max cost? If you said around $1,600, you’d be right, but only if you’re based in the U.S. In Turkey, the same phone will set you back almost $3,000. That gap introduces a fantastic opportunity for arbitrage — and a lively second-hand and refurbished market. Getmobil just raised $4 million to legitimize phone refurbishing inside the country.

“The Turkish government wants to decrease the trade deficit,” explains Mehmet Uygun, CEO and founder at Getmobil. “The government wants to create a circular economy. They don’t want the customers to buy brand new phones, because whenever a customer buys a brand new phone, the dollar goes out of the country.”

Global economics and trade policy is deeply fascinating, and can cause some really weird quirks in local mobile phone markets. In 2010, for example, Argentina introduced a set of rules that meant that if you wanted to sell products in the country, you’d have to manufacture there. That had a ton of strange effects; English-language books became almost impossible to buy or insanely expensive (I remember paying $65 for a hard-copy of Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs in a Buenos Aires book store — which sold for about $29 in the U.S. at the time). It also meant that Apple yeeted out of the market altogether, choosing not to sell its iPhones in Argentina. And suddenly, long after everybody else had more or less forgotten BlackBerry even existed, the phone brand had a resurgence in the country when it decided to build an assembly plant there.

The same thing is happening in Turkey at the moment; Turkey, desperate to keep its GDP within the country’s borders, has put a hefty import levy on phones. It’s not easy to get around those limitations either — if you sneak a phone into the country, its IMEI will be blocked from the three major networks after 120 days.

The Getmobil team outside of its headquarters and repair lab. Image Credits: Getmobil

Obviously, people still need phones, but, unwilling or unable to pay the incredibly high import taxes, they seek other solutions. Getmobil had its humble beginnings as a modest phone repair shop, and has since evolved into one of the leading e-commerce platforms in Turkey, specializing in the sale of refurbished electronics.

The lead investor, the slightly confusingly named Dutch Founders Fund (DFF), invested in Getmobil’s. “While DFF is based in the Netherlands, our focus at DFF lies in investing in B2B marketplaces during their seed phase,” says Hidde Hoogcarspel, co-founder and managing partner at DFF. “Our portfolio companies are not only located across Europe but also in regions such as Dubai and Egypt. These marketplaces typically operate across borders and sometimes even globally.”

Where there’s friction, there’s opportunity

As the Getmobil founders navigated the complexities of the electronics repair market, they identified a significant gap between the high cost of brand-new devices and the consumer’s desire for more economically viable alternatives. This realization prompted a pivot away from merely repairing devices to refurbishing and selling them, thus laying the groundwork for what would become Getmobil’s core business model.

In putting up high tariffs, the Turkish government created a grey market: People were selling and buying phones with cash, none of which was reported to the government. The good thing was that the money stayed within the country’s borders, but obviously, nobody was collecting taxes along the way, so that caused a new problem: Yes, the money was circular, but none of it was leaking into the country’s tax coffers.

“Turkey is an absolute outlier refurbished market. The price of a new iPhone in Ankara is far higher than in any other place in the world. The government has created a unique and far-reaching regulatory framework and incentive scheme, and imports are limited,” explains Hoogcarspel. “The formal refurbishing sector in Turkey is still in its early stages; the informal trade is thriving and is estimated to surpass the entire market size of $7 billion for new device sales. Tens of thousands of merchants operate within this informal segment.”

Eager to get the situation under control, the government brought in some big changes, including some new regulations, tax incentives and opportunities. In 2021, Turkey introduced a set of regulations that significantly bolstered the refurbished electronics market, creating a more structured and reliable framework for companies operating within this sector. These regulatory changes were framed as encouraging sustainable consumption practices, enhancing the quality and reliability of refurbished devices and reducing the environmental impact of electronic waste.

“[The Turkish government] introduced a refurbishment center regulation. They said ‘if you build the refurbishment center with some specific standards, we will not take 20% in taxes, we will take 1%,” explains Uygun. In addition, the government made it possible for the vetted refurbishment centers to offer installment payments — rather than having to pay for the devices in full. That’s extraordinary, the founders explain, because consumer credit is highly regulated in Turkey. They say that Apple cannot offer installment plans.

Getmobil’s growth trajectory has been remarkable, driven by a combination of strategic foresight, operational excellence and a deep understanding of the Turkish electronics — and regulatory — market. The company’s rise is characterized by its ability to offer consumers high-quality, refurbished electronics at competitive prices, thereby filling a critical market gap. This value proposition helped endear Getmobil to consumers, and has positioned the company as a vital player in Turkey’s electronics sector. And, presumably, the government is excited to be one step closer to being able to regulate the out-of-control second-hand market.

Winners: Local economy and the environment

While there’s little doubt that the main driving force behind the government’s regulations is revenue, forcing a more robust repair and second-hand market has a number of positive side effects, such as a dramatic increase in usable life of devices, and a significant reduction of e-waste.

Before the regulations, the refurbished electronics market in Turkey was chaotic and fragmented, and the quality and warranty coverage of second-hand devices was highly variable. The new frameworks put in place established stringent standards for refurbishing processes, including quality checks, warranty requirements and after-sales services. This legislative environment has played a pivotal role in leveling the playing field. By playing ball with the government’s regulations, Getmobil bought itself an edge — by promising to stick to the rules, adhering to high standards of quality and customer service, the company got itself a tremendous competitive advantage.

By aligning the interest of the customers (cost and quality), the government (ability to keep money inside Turkey, and collecting some taxes along the way) and Getmobil, everybody wins. Reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling extends the circular economy to a broader user base and means that the environment gets a little boost, too.

Navigating the intricacies of Turkey’s electronics market presents a unique set of challenges and opportunities for Getmobil. The team tells TechCrunch that the pervasive black market continues to be a big challenge: This shadow economy not only undercuts prices of legitimate refurbished electronics but also often compromises on quality and after-sales services, posing a significant threat to consumer trust. Moreover, staying abreast of and compliant with the evolving regulatory environment in Turkey adds another layer of complexity to Getmobil’s operations.

Dependent on regulation

Of course, the first step toward suppressing the black market was creating an alternative for it, and that’s where the regulations and Getmobil’s round of funding comes in.

For the investors, it remains to be seen whether this is a good investment. DFF clearly believes that there’s a huge opportunity here, but in the process, it is investing in a business that’s essentially made possible by a government regulation that suppresses cross-border trade. Turkey isn’t a member of the EU (conversations stalled out over alleged human rights violations perpetrated by the Turkish government), but if it were to become a member, the entire business model for Getmobil falls apart: EU countries cannot impose trade tariffs for cross-border imports and exports, and without that, it’s easy to imagine the Turkish market getting flooded with used and new electronics priced the same as in the rest of the EU.

Whether or not Getmobil’s future is secure depends entirely on geopolitical events and the direction of tomorrow’s trade tariff winds.

[ad_2]

Haje Jan Kamps

Source link

March 7, 2024

Tag: Turkey

How to Make Turkey Gravy Ahead of Time

Ingredients for Homemade Turkey Gravy

For the Homemade Turkey Stock

For the Gravy

Turkey Gravy Recipe: Step by Step Guide

What to Eat with Turkey Gravy

Can I Use Cornstarch Instead of Flour?

Storing and Make Ahead

My Ideal Thanksgiving Menu

Description

For the Homemade Turkey Stock

Turkey Stock

Make the Gravy

Recommended Products

__

The BEST Turkey Recipe

Watch How to Make the Juiciest Turkey in a Bowl

Turkey Basics

Turkey in a Bowl Ingredients

Supplies Needed for This Easy Turkey Recipe

How to Cook a Turkey in a Bowl

How Much Turkey Do I Need Per Person?

How Long to Cook a Turkey

Tips on How to Cook a Turkey

What to Eat with Turkey in a Bowl

Variations for Turkey

How to Reheat Turkey

Can You Freeze Turkey?

More Turkey Recipes:

Description

Turkey Basics

Turkey in a Bowl

Recommended Products

Ingredients for Smoked Turkey Breast

For the Smoker

Turkey Brine

Turkey Rub

Steaming Liquids

Gravy

Turkey Basics

How to Make Apple Smoked Turkey Breast

How to Brine a Turkey

Rub for a Turkey

Drip Pan with Juices

How Long to Smoke a Turkey Breast

Watch How This Smoked Turkey is Made…

Can Smoked Turkey be Pink?

What Goes with Smoked Turkey

What Temperature for Smoked Turkey

Can You Freeze Smoked Turkey?

How to Reheat Smoked Turkey

Thanksgiving RECIPES:

Description

For the Brine

For the Smoker

For the Gravy

Turkey Basics

Turkey Timeline

Recommended Products

Ingredients for Roasting Turkey

How to Prepare a Thanksgiving Turkey

How to Cook a Thanksgiving Turkey

How Long to Cook a Turkey

Cooking Times

How to Carve a Turkey

Holly’s Turkey Tips

Thanksgiving Turkey

read more in missing Brits

Pole vaulters are often first to the airport

Convincing a gate agent that 17-foot poles can fit on a plane

Using video to explain their sport to security officials

You aren’t allowed to carry on a 16-pound metal ball

On point

Decathletes are the world’s greatest luggage packers

The easiest equipment to pack is clearly the discus

___

___

___

___