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Human skeletons, which experts say could be more than 8,000 years old, were found in four prehistoric graves recently unearthed at the Marmaray tunnel excavation site in the Yenikapı district of Istanbul. These graves reveal Istanbul used to be home to some of the earliest types of settlements during the Stone Age when people migrated from Anatolia to the European continent,� said Mehmet Özdoğan, professor of prehistory at Istanbul University. �They also show that the Marmara Sea used to be a small and shallow water in ancient times. Özdoğan said the graves, two of which were smaller than the others,...

It seems a typical scene of urban decay: abandoned buildings, crumbling walls, trash and broken wine bottles. Yet it's more than 1,500 years old. Engineers uncovered these ruins of an ancient Byzantine port during drilling for a huge underground rail tunnel. Like Romans, Athenians and residents of other great historic cities, the people of Istanbul can hardly put a shovel in the ground without digging up something important. But the ancient port uncovered last November in the Yenikapi neighborhood is of a different scale: It has grown into the largest archaeological dig in Istanbul's history, and the port's extent is...

Workers digging a railway tunnel under the Bosporus Strait have uncovered the remains of a major Byzantine harbor that archaeologists say is a trove of relics dating back to Roman Emperor Constantine the Great. The deepest underwater rail tunnel in the world will link Istanbul's Asian and European halves and ease bridge traffic across the Bosporus Strait. It may also be delayed by excited archaeologists. The tunnel, when it's finished, will end in a shining new railway station, the largest in Turkey -- a train and subway link surrounded by a 21st-century shopping center. Modern Turkish planners, though, weren't the...

Treasure dig threatens Bosphorus rail link By Sarah Rainsford BBC News, Istanbul The port has been uncovered at the site designated for a railway hub It's been called the project of the century: a mission to connect two continents with a $2.6bn rail-tunnel running deep beneath the Bosphorus Straits. The idea of linking the two sides of Istanbul underwater was first dreamt of by Sultan Abdul Mecit 150 years ago. See how the tunnel will cross the Bosphorus Now that Ottoman dream is finally being realised. But the modern version of that vision has hit a historical stumbling block. Istanbul...

37 shipwrecks from the Byzantine Empire have been discovered as part of archaeological excavations that began in Turkey in 2004. The shipwrecks were discovered in Yenikapi, Istanbul, a port of the ancient city which was called Constantinople during the Byzantine period. The ships are in exceptionally good condition say the archaeologists, especially since they date back to between the fifth and eleventh centuries. Cemal Pulak, a study author from the Institute of Nautical Archaeology at Texas A&M University, stated, "Never before has such a large number and types of well preserved vessels been found at a single location." Eight of...

New details have been revealed about the massive ancient underground city discovered in Turkey's Central Anatolian province of Nevsehir. The tunnels of the underground city are located under a conical-shaped hill and are wide enough for a car to pass through. Ozcan Cakir, associate professor at the Geophysics Engineering department of the 18 March University and involved in the excavations of the underground city, said they believe the tunnels were used to carry agricultural products. "We believe that people, who were engaged in agriculture, were using the tunnels to carry agricultural products to the city. We also estimate that one...

A team of archaeologists have unearthed new evidence of massive, monumental defensive works at the Citadel Mound site of ancient Gordion in Turkey. Excavations have also revealed ancient industrial activity dating back to the 11th century BCE... Brian Rose of the University of Pennsylvania and colleagues have uncovered massive defensive walls, part of a road, and industrial work spaces dated back to some of the earliest periods of the site... "Gordion’s historical significance derives from its very long and complex sequence of occupation, with seven successive settlements spanning a period of nearly 4500 years," says Rose. "What we discovered was...

sculpture of a mysterious, never-before-seen Roman deity has been unearthed in an ancient temple in Turkey. The 1st century B.C. relief, of an enigmatic bearded god rising up out of a flower or plant, was discovered at the site of a Roman temple near the Syrian border. The ancient relief was discovered in a supporting wall of a medieval Christian monastery. "It's clearly a god, but at the moment it's difficult to say who exactly it is," said Michael Blömer, an archaeologist at the University of Muenster in Germany, who is excavating the site. "There are some elements reminiscent of...

The Pegida movement calls the media “Lügepresse” (lying press), because it does not depict the consequences and dangers of Islamic mass-immigration properly. The below incidence, where an undercover journalists is interviewed by other journalists, and uses the interview to depict the Pegida movement as half-racist, confirms Pegida’s concern about the media’s honesty. The undercover journalist used to work at the interviewing journalists’ station, NDR, before he switched to RTL – meaning that he might know (and may even have colluded with) the interviewers who interview the fake “demonstrator”. 29 percent of Germans find the demonstrations “justified because of the degree...

One of the nation’s best loved countrymen, Winston Churchill is best remembered for his role in overcoming the Nazi threat, and later for denouncing the Soviet regime’s Iron Curtain. But few are aware of his fascination with the orient and his strong admiration for Islam, which even led him to adopting Arab attire in private. Now a newly uncovered letter sent to Churchill by his future sister-in-law has revealed that, such was his obsession, she was moved to urge him not to convert to Islam. In 1907, Churchill wrote to Lady Litton: “You will think me a pasha [rank of...

In a major positive development, Egypt's President Al Sisi has made an impassioned plea for a "religious revolution" in Islam. Speaking at Al Azhar University in Cairo, Sisi spoke directly to the religious establishment of Egypt: Is it possible that 1.6 billion people [Muslims] should want to kill the rest of the world's inhabitants – that is 7 billion – so that they themselves may live? Impossible! I am saying these words here at Al Azhar, before this assembly of scholars and ulema – Allah Almighty be witness to your truth on Judgment Day concerning that which I'm talking about...

Speaking before Al-Azhar and the Awqaf Ministry on New Year's Day, 2015, in connection to Prophet Muhammad's upcoming birthday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, a vocal supporter for a renewed vision of Islam, made what must be his most forceful and impassioned plea to date on the subject. Among other things, Sisi said that the "corpus of [Islamic] texts and ideas that we have sacralized over the years" are "antagonizing the entire world"; that it is not "possible that 1.6 billion people [reference to the world's Muslims] should want to kill the rest of the world's inhabitants—that is 7 billion—so...

Anyone close up regarding the PEGIDA movement in Germany? German citizens taking a stand against the insane immigration policies/ Islamization of their country sounds right to me. From here, it sounds like the powers-that-be are demonizing it - reminds me of what they said about the Tea Party. Curious to have some feedback from those closer in. Thanks.

Trending now on Twitter, but no English Language articles yet. Apparently, there was some kind of a hostage rescue mission within the last couple of hours in Raqqa, Iraq, that several sources are saying "Failed", after 13 airstrikes in the Raqqa area today. The airstrikes were concentrated at an Iraqi, now ISIS Army base at the edge of the city, per ConflictNews. Conflict News ‏1 hour ago ConflictNews This ground presumed rescue operation by coalition in Raqqa today came after 13 air raids earlier in the day. Conflict News 1 hour ago BREAKING: Coalition aircraft landed in Raqqa where clashes...

KOBANE BORDER—A prominent leader of the Islamic State (ISIS) was killed in an airstrike in Kobani on Thursday, news reports said. Social media pages of ISIS also confirmed the death of Othman Al Nazih, a Saudi national in the Kurdish city of Kobani on the Syria-Turkey border. Al Nazih, was a professor at King Khalid University in Saudi Arabia before he was sacked on charges of membership in the al-Qaeda organization. At the outset of the war in Syria Al Nazih traveled to that country and joined ISIS. Soon he became a prominent leader and was posted to front in...

...Merkel, the German chancellor, has used her New Year’s Eve address to launch a scathing attack on the country’s growing anti-Muslim protests, calling its leaders racists who are driven by hatred. In a televised message due to be broadcast tonight, Mrs Merkel urged Germans to turn their backs on demonstrations that have seen up to 17,000 people gather each Monday in the eastern city of Dresden to protest against the “Islamisation of the West”. Speaking to those considering joining the protests, she said: “Do not follow those who have called the rallies. Because all too often they have prejudice, coldness,...

EXCLUSIVE: All it took was a plane ticket, and an informal background check over Facebook. Then he was ushered to the front lines in Syria, fighting against the Islamic State. In a rare, exclusive interview with Fox News, a U.S. military veteran with multiple tours in Iraq detailed his journey to Syria to fight against ISIS, on the condition his identity was protected. The veteran, who asked to be identified as “John,” described a surprisingly simple process that took him from America to the dangerous Syrian civil war – and not as part of the U.S. military. "I just went...

By Joel Leyden Israel News AgencyJerusalem — January 1, 2015 … Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a discussion this afternoon on the Palestinian Authority’s application to various international treaties, and made the following remarks at the end of the meeting: “We expect the International Criminal Court to reject outright the Palestinian Authority’s hypocritical act because the Palestinian Authority is not a state,” said Netanyahu. “It is an entity in alliance with a terrorist organization, Hamas, which perpetuates war crimes. The State of Israel is a nation of laws with a moral army that upholds international law. We will defend...

A visit to Turkey by Hamas’ top leader and his participation in a convention of the ruling Islamist party is the latest sign that Turkey, a member of NATO, is becoming the key sponsor and ally of a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization. Khaled Meshaal met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday, before making a guest appearance at a weekend regional congress of the Justice and Development Party (AKP). Welcomed onto the platform by Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, Meshaal received an enthusiastic reception. He endorsed Erdogan and Davutoglu by name, and expressed the hope that together Hamas and Turkey...

Refugees flee Syria and Iraq to Midyat, Turkey, which clings to its diminished role as the heartland of the ancient Orthodox faith.MIDYAT, Turkey—On most afternoons, Mor Barsaumo, a honey-colored, fifth-century stone church nestled in a warren of slanted streets, draws a crowd. In the narrow courtyard, old men smoke cigarettes and drink coffee, while children kick a soccer ball across the stone floor. In a darkened classroom, empty except for a few desks, a teacher gives private lessons in Syriac, derived from Aramaic, the language of Christ. And now, the refugees also come. Advised by relatives or other refugees, newcomers...