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.”
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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.
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The German newspaper Bild has raised questions as to how Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s children amassed their vast wealth, including one fortune worth tens of millions, when their father only earns some €50 thousand a year as head of state. [...]
Europe has to make concessions to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan because Brussels has no other option in the light of the ongoing migrant crisis, a French journalist said in an interview with Atlantico.
After German comedian Jan Boehmermann in his show mocked Turkish President Recep [...]
The European Commission has given its support to a visa-free travel deal with Turkey after Ankara threatened to back out of a landmark migration deal. It is proposed to lift visa requirements by the end of June.
The decision was confirmed by European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager on Twitter. [...]
Dozens of pro-Kurdish activists alongside members of Germany’s Pirate Party have held a rally outside the Chancellery in Berlin rejecting Angela Merkel’s cooperation with the Turkish President, which they claim made her an accomplice in human rights violations.
Gathered outside the seat of the Chancellor, demonstrators wielding Kurdish flags and banners were addressed by Bruno Kramm, the he [...]