Russia, Iran and Turkey have announced they will establish a trilateral mechanism to support the ceasefire in Syria. In a joint statement issued at the end of talks in Astana, they said the Syrian opposition should take part in Geneva peace talks on the issue. [...]

Moscow and Ankara are carrying out their first joint military operation against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) in the Syrian province of Aleppo, the Russian Defense Ministry has announced. [...]

Far-right Austrian Freedom Party (FPO) presidential candidate Norbert Hofer has called for a ban on naturalization of Turkish residents in Austria until dual citizenship issues are resolved and said that his country could still leave the EU if Turkey joins the bloc. [...]

Turkey's foreign minister has recalled its Austrian ambassador for "consultations" in the wake of a rally held in Vienna in support of the PKK. "In response to recent events, we have withdrawn our ambassador from Vienna for consultations and to review our relations with Austria," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters. [...]

Russian officials have reached out to Ankara to request access to the American-built base as a convenient launch pad for airstrikes in the Syrian theater, but it remains to be seen whether such cooperation will roil NATO’s feathers. Russia has called on Turkey to provide access to NATO’s Incirlik Air Base, the critical launch pad for US and coalition airstrikes in Syria [...]

Ankara wouldn’t mind it if Russia used the Incirlik airbase for its anti-terror missions against Islamic State terrorists in Syria, Turkey’s Prime Minister Binali Yildirim hinted on Saturday, but acknowledged that no such requests have been made. “Turkey opened Incirlik airbase to fight Daesh [Islamic State, formerly ISIS/ISIL] terrorists. It is being used by the US and Qatar. [...]

Georgi Gotev, the author of an article about the US transferring its nuclear weapons in Turkey to Romania, insists that the information obtained from his own sources can be trusted, and promised to follow up on this subject. [...]

Commenting on recent reports of the US transferring its nuclear weapons stationed in Turkey to Romania, Russian political scientist Andrei Manoilo told Radio Sputnik that while Washington may be very eager to do it, in reality there is no chance of this happening, and here is why. [...]

Contradictory reports spread across the Web regarding the relocation of US nuclear weapons from Incirlik Airbase. Sputnik provides an overview of recent developments around the base. On Monday, the Stimson Center, a Washington DC-based nonprofit think tank, released a report, urging policymakers in the US to remove B61 nuclear bombs from Europe and strengthen conventional forces instead. [...]

In its analysis of the outcome of the talks between Presidents Putin and Erdogan earlier this week in St. Petersburg, Italian news magazine L’Espresso says the meeting has sent two strong messages, telling Europe “it is no longer the center of the universe”, and demonstrating to the US that Turkey has “other strategic options on the table.” [...]

Upcoming talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan are of particular importance to the Middle East since bilateral cooperation could lead to a resolution of the Syrian crisis and prevent the US from meddling in the region, Turkish Air Force Lt. Gen. (ret.) Erdogan Karakus told Sputnik. [...]

The leaders of Germany’s liberal Free Democrats and Austria’s far-right Freedom parties have both drawn parallels between the Turkish president’s post-coup crackdown and the abuse of power which allowed Adolf Hitler to exert Nazi rule. A failed military coup attempt to oust and potentially kill elected Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan resulted in a hard-line response, with the Turkish par [...]

After Austria suggested putting an end to EU membership talks with Turkey, Ankara hit back, labeling Vienna the “capital of radical racism.” The Austrian foreign minister suggested Turkey should moderate its wording and “do its homework.”   [...]

Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern has urged the EU to halt membership talks with Turkey following Ankara’s crackdown in the wake of the failed July coup. Turkey’s EU affairs minister said the statements were “disturbing” and “similar to the far right.” [...]

German former CDU politician and Vice-President of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Willy Wimmer told Sputnik Deutschland that he fears NATO involvement in the downing of Russia's Su-24 bomber over Syria last November. [...]

Russian President Vladimir Putin has received a letter in which his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan apologized for the death of the pilot who was killed when a Russian jet was downed over the Syrian-Turkish border last November, the Kremlin said. [...]

While civilians who still live on the Turkish-Syrian border suffer from Islamic State attacks and blame Turkish army inaction, so-called moderate rebels of the Free Syrian Army, fighting side-by-side with Islamist extremists, openly admit Ankara’s support. [...]

Turkey has had numerous problems with other nations recently. But after the German Parliament voted in favor of labeling the 1915 killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as genocide, Ankara is losing its "only friend in Europe," an article in Foreign Policy read. [...]

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said Ankara will take retaliatory measures after the German parliament voted to recognize as ‘genocide’ the Armenian massacre of 1915. Turkey has already recalled its ambassador to Germany in protest. [...]

Turkey has questioned its relationship with the US, with the deputy prime minister saying it is "unsuitable" for soldiers of a country which is friends with Ankara to wear the badges of a "terrorist organization." [...]

Angela Merkel isn’t having a good year. In trying to deal with the refugee crisis plaguing Europe in a manner that pleases and appeases everyone, the German chancellor has sacrificed Europe to the whims of an increasingly despotic Turkish leader. [...]

Ankara will send migrants back to the EU if the European Parliament won’t grant visa-free travel to Turkish citizens, warned Burhan Kuzu, a high-ranking deputy for Turkey’s ruling AKP party and former adviser to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.   [...]