Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has stated that the United States should take concrete steps to prove the end of support for Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), rather than rhetoric. [...]
The US must withdraw its troops from Syria’s northern Manbij region and put an end to its support for Kurdish militia in the area, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu demanded Saturday. Cavusoglu told reporters on Saturday that the US needs to immediately withdraw from the region near the city [...]
Foreign forces need the Afrin offensive launched by the Turks to enflame a new round of war in the region, Syrian official Heifi Mustafa told Sputnik. For his part, Turkish academic Samir Salehah argues that Ankara's Operation Olive Branch falls within the framework of Article 51 of the UN Charter as a self-defense operation. [...]
Kurdish officials in Afrin have urged Damascus to send troops to protect Syria’s sovereignty from the “Turkish occupier.” Ankara insists it will return the enclave to its “original owner” after its “liberation” from “terrorists.” The self-administrated, Kurdish-held enclave in the northern Syria issued a plea for help to the Syrian government on Thursday, reiterating its commitme [...]
While Secretary of Defense James Mattis recommends Ankara not to take reports of the creation of a "border force" in northern Syria to heart, Washington sees its Kurdish allies as a tool which will allow it to remain relevant in Syria, ex-CIA officer and Canada-based Syrian political observer told Sputnik. [...]
If Washington wants to avoid direct confrontation with Turkey in northern Syria, it “should stop supporting terrorists,” the country's deputy prime minister told Turkish TV channel, A Haber. “Those who support the terrorist organization will become a target in this battle,” Bekir Bozdag said. [...]
There is nothing to be gained from carrying out the bidding of the US in Syria, and right now Turkey and the Kurds alike are learning this the hard way, independent political analyst Dan Glazebrook told RT. Turkey officially launched a military operation against Kurdish-held enclaves in Syria called operation ‘Olive Branch’ on Saturday, comprising airstrikes and a ground offensive. [...]
The Turkish president has called US-backed Syrian Border Force using Kurdish fighters a “terrorist army,” vowing to “drown” it before it’s complete. He also added that military preparations against Kurdish-held Afrin are ready. [...]
A passenger jet with over 160 on board slid off the runway in the Turkish city of Trabzon Saturday night and was left precariously perched atop a cliff edge, saved only by the freezing mud. "All 162 passengers, 2 pilots and 4 cabin crew have been disembarked safely from the aircraft. There has been no loss of life or injury to anyone on-board," [...]
The US-led coalition says it is helping to create a thousands-strong “Border Security Force” in Syria using Kurdish SDF militias. Washington's support, branded “unacceptable” by Ankara, is further straining bilateral ties. [...]
According to the Austrian government’s program, Vienna vows to end Turkey’s EU membership negotiations. Ankara has expressed strong protest over the program of the new Austrian government that has vowed to halt Turkey’s EU accession negotiations, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Sunday. [...]
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan lashed out against Israel Sunday, calling it a ‘terrorist state’ that ‘kills children.’ Erdogan promised to fight to the bitter end against Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish state. [...]
US President Donald Trump’s decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem has sparked protests in Gaza and Istanbul. Turkish groups say this is only the beginning.
Trump managed to unite the entire Muslim world after he announced the US's decision to acknowledge Israel's claim that Jerusalem is its capital city and move the US embassy there. T [...]
Surprising as it may be to the US, their staunch NATO ally Turkey is listing the American-made warplanes and missiles it says are vulnerable to the Russian-made S-400 SAMs it has just bought. An infographic published on Wednesday by the state-run Turkish news agency Anadolu details the components of an S-400 battalion and the system’s capabilities. Half of the picture shows aircraft the system [...]
The Turkish Stream gas pipeline project will be implemented on time, regardless of the new US law that expands sanctions against Moscow, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Friday.
Novak explained that the contracts concerning the construction of the gas pipeline were concluded, and the construction was underway. [...]
The relationship between Turkey and the EU are further deteriorating, Dr. Rainer Rothfuss, geopolitical analyst and consultant, told RT. Rainer Rupp, publicist and former German intelligence officer, also joins the conversation.
Turkish President Recep Erdogan urged nearly 3 million German Turks not to cast their vote for Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats, Martin Schulz’s Socia [...]
By expressing concerns over the Moscow-Ankara talks on the delivery of the S-400 missile defense system to Turkey, Washington is engaged in unfair competition in the arms market, according to military analyst Viktor Murakhovsky.
Recently, the United States said that Turkey buying the S-400 system would become a major concern. [...]
Turkey mulling the purchase of Russia's S-400 surface-to-air missile system can be described as "a unique situation," which means that Ankara "is falling out of NATO's air defense system," a Russian military expert told Sputnik. [...]
Russia is ready to sell its S-400 air defense systems to Turkey, President Vladimir Putin said at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF). He added the issue was discussed earlier with his Turkish counterpart. [...]
Acquiring a second citizenship is illegal in Austria. After the referendum in Turkey, the Austrian interior minister additionally called for fining Austrian Turks for obtaining it.
Austrian Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka said Wednesday he would seek hefty fines for ethnic Turks holding Austrian citizenship who illegally obtain a second passport. [...]
People in Europe won’t be able to “walk safely” and freely on the streets if they don’t change their current attitudes, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has warned, amid a deepening diplomatic row over the cancellation of Turkish rallies in the EU. [...]
Where is the increasingly vituperative spat between Turkey and The Netherlands (and other EU countries) going to lead? Why is this political fall-out between fellow NATO members happening at this precise moment?
First, a quick recap of the events.
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