Free Republic

The former mayor of Izmir, a stronghold of opposition to President Erdogan, along with 109 municipal officials from the Republican People's Party (CHP), were arrested on Tuesday on charges of corruption and misconduct. The party has rejected the accusations. There is a feeling of déjà vu in Turkey. After the publication of a political cartoon, which Turkish authorities said depicted the Prophet Muhammad, led to the arrest of four journalists on Monday, June 30, in Istanbul, authorities carried out a large-scale sweep in Izmir at dawn on Tuesday. Izmir, the country's third-largest city, is a bastion of the Republican People's...

Two Minnesota cops were placed on paid leave Friday after a photo of a Christmas display with “racist” ornaments outside a precinct surfaced on social media. The tree, displayed outside the Fourth Precinct of the Minneapolis Police Department, was littered with police tape, an empty can of Steel Reserve malt liquor, a cup from Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, bags of Takis chips and packs of Newport cigarettes, CBS reported. Black Lives Matter Twin Cities posted the photo online last week and it quickly spurred outrage from members of the black community as well as local officials. “These pieces of trash were...