Sweden says Turkey pledges to ratify its NATO bid ‘within weeks’

BRUSSELS — Turkey has promised Sweden it will ratify its bid to join NATO "within weeks," Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström said Wednesday.

Referring to his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan, with whom he spoke on Tuesday, Billström said: "He told me that he expected the ratification to take place within weeks. And of course, we don’t take anything for granted from the side of Sweden, but we look forward to this being completed."

U.S. F-16 shoots down Turkish drone flying over American troops in Syria

A U.S. F-16 fighter jet shot down a Turkish drone that was flying over a base in northeast Syria where American forces are located, a Pentagon spokesperson said Thursday.

At 7:30 a.m. local time, U.S. forces observed unmanned aerial systems conducting airstrikes near Hasakah, in northeast Syria, including some just a kilometer away from the American troops, Pentagon spokesperson Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder told reporters during a briefing. The airstrikes were inside a declared U.S. restricted operating zone, and the troops relocated to bunkers, he said.

Erdoğan threatens to ‘part ways’ from EU after critical European Parliament report

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Saturday slammed a report from the European Parliament on the country’s EU accession talks and threatened to “part ways” from the bloc.

Questioned by journalists about the report, Erdoğan said that “the EU is trying to break away from Turkey,” according to Turkish state media Anadolu Agency.

Turkey extols booming defence industry at international arms fair

Istanbul, Turkey – The pride in Ugur Zengin’s voice is palpable as he stands in front of a full-scale model of Turkey’s fifth-generation stealth fighter jet.

“It’s a very prestigious project and a technical breakout for Turkey that will introduce a lot of new technologies for the whole defence industry,” said Zengin, vice president of the National Combat Aircraft project.

“There will be a very high percentage of local parts in the aircraft.”

Greece goes arms shopping as Turkey tension rises

ATHENS — Greece is getting out the credit card and going on a big military spending spree as it faces growing tensions with Turkey.

Despite the deep recession caused by the coronavirus crisis and a rising budget deficit, Athens has decided it’s time to act. Fighter jets, frigates, torpedoes and helicopters are all on Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ shopping list.

France, which has given Athens political and military backing in its confrontation with Ankara, will be a big beneficiary of the procurement push. A deal between the two countries was on the agenda when Mitsotakis met French President Emmanuel Macron in Corsica ahead of a summit of Mediterranean leaders on Thursday.

Turkish MPs to vote on bill that could block Facebook and Twitter

Turkey’s parliament is preparing to vote on a bill that would effectively block sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube unless they comply with strict new regulations, as Ankara significantly steps up its efforts to control social media content.

The draft legislation would force social media companies with more than 1 million daily users in Turkey to establish a formal presence in the country or assign an in-country representative who would be legally accountable to the Turkish authorities.

Turkey Syria offensive: Russia deploys troops to border

Russian forces have begun to deploy towards the Turkey-Syria border, as part of deal to remove Kurdish troops.

Units have already entered the two key border towns of Kobane and Manbij.

Under the deal agreed by Russia and Turkey, Kurdish fighters were given 150 hours from noon on Wednesday to pull back 30km (18 miles) along the border.

Administration urged to punish Turkey over Russian missile shield

Turkey on Friday received its first shipment of a Russian air defense system as calls grew to follow through on warnings to levy sanctions against the NATO ally and possibly eject Ankara from the new F-35 fighter jet program.

The Turkish Defense Ministry announced that the S-400 system was delivered to an air base near Ankara, according to multiple reports.

The Trump administration did not immediately take action, despite repeated warnings it will punish its longtime ally if it turned to Moscow for the high-tech anti-missile system, which is seen as a threat to the NATO alliance.

Erdogan: Turkey to produce S-500s with Russia after S-400 deal

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said Turkey and Russia would jointly produce S-500 defence systems after Ankara’s controversial purchase of the S-400 missile defence system from Moscow.

Turkey’s push to buy the S-400s has further strained the already tense relations with the United States, which has repeatedly warned Ankara of the risks, including sanctions, if it goes ahead with the purchase.

Russia and key allies vow to stand by Maduro in Venezuela crisis

Key allies of Venezuela’s embattled president, Nicolás Maduro, led by Russia and China, have warned the US not to intervene in support of the opposition leader Juan Guaidó’s attempt to lead the country.

Russia’s Vladimir Putin spoke by telephone with Maduro and offered him strong support in a political crisis he said had been “provoked from abroad”, a Kremlin statement said. “Destructive interference from abroad blatantly violates basic norms of international law,” Putin was quoted as saying.

The Kremlin press release did not mention the US by name but matched earlier rhetoric by other senior Russian officials targeted at Washington.

Russia’s prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev, described the US support for Guaidó as a “quasi-coup” and accused the US of hypocrisy, asking rhetorically how Americans would react if the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, declared herself president.

Turkey’s ‘anti-Erdoğan’ deserves Nobel Peace Prize

When Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan launched a fierce political crackdown in the wake of a failed coup in 2016, Osman Kavala did not expect to become a target.

“I doubt if they’d be interested in me,” Kavala, a former businessman and Turkey’s best-known promoter of social and political reconciliation, told a British visitor in September 2017.

As gold trade booms, Venezuela eyes stronger Turkey ties

Ankara, Turkey – When Venezuela’s industry chief Tareck El Aissami swapped the Caribbean sun for the wintry skies of central Anatolia on Wednesday, he was greeted by bouquet-bearing dignitaries eager to play a role in Turkey’s growing gold trade with the Latin American state.

His arrival in the city of Corum was the latest development in a burgeoning gold market that has raised eyebrows among the international community, which largely views Venezuela as a pariah state.

Greece goes arms shopping as Turkey tension rises

ATHENS — Greece is getting out the credit card and going on a big military spending spree as it faces growing tensions with Turkey.

Despite the deep recession caused by the coronavirus crisis and a rising budget deficit, Athens has decided it’s time to act. Fighter jets, frigates, torpedoes and helicopters are all on Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ shopping list.

Erdogan and UN warn of human catastrophe in Idlib

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has urged the international community to prevent a Syrian government offensive in Syria’s Idlib, as the United Nations says it fears the century’s “worst humanitarian catastrophe” there.

“Not only innocent Syrians, but the entire world stands to pay the price [otherwise],” he said.

Erdogan, who met with his Russian and Iranian counterparts at a summit in Tehran last week, also said Russia and Iran had a responsibility to stop a potential humanitarian disaster in Idlib.

Erdogan: Turkey needs Russia’s S-400 missile defence system

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has reiterated his country’s need for the highly advanced Russian S-400 missile system, a planned purchase the US opposes.

Speaking at a graduation ceremony for military officers, the Turkish leader said Ankara would try to procure the missile system as soon as possible.

The S-400, touted by experts to be one of the most advanced systems in the world, can engage multiple aerial targets within a 400 kilometre range.

Turkish President Erdogan Vows Action Against ‘Economic Terrorists’ Over Lira Currency Plunge

ANKARA (Reuters) - President Tayyip Erdogan on Monday accused “economic terrorists” of plotting to harm Turkey by spreading false reports and said they would face the full force of the law, as authorities launched investigations of those suspected of involvement.

The lira currency, which has lost more than 40 percent against the U.S. dollar this year, pulled back from a record low of 7.24 earlier on Monday after the central bank pledged to provide liquidity, but it remained under selling pressure and its meltdown continued to rattle global markets.

Erdoğan calls Putin as Turkish currency tumbles

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke by phone with Vladimir Putin to discuss “trade and economic cooperation,” the Kremlin said Friday, as the Turkish lira tumbled and Donald Trump said he would ramp up tarriffs against Ankara.

The statement will fuel speculation that Erdoğan is moving closer to Russia as relations worsen between Turkey and the United States, even though both countries are NATO members.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke by phone with Vladimir Putin to discuss “trade and economic cooperation,” the Kremlin said Friday, as the Turkish lira tumbled and Donald Trump said he would ramp up tarriffs against Ankara.

The statement will fuel speculation that Erdoğan is moving closer to Russia as relations worsen between Turkey and the United States, even though both countries are NATO members.

'Jordan, Palestine and Saudi Arabia warn Israel against Turkey'

Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Palestine have warned Israel on separate occasions about Turkey's creeping influence in occupied East Jerusalem, according to a report by Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

The report notes that senior officials from the three Arab countries told Israel that Turkey was "extending its influence in Arab neighbourhoods of Jerusalem" which they said was "part of an attempt by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to "claim ownership over the Jerusalem issue".

Is Turkish secularism under threat?

Istanbul, Turkey - When Mustafa Kemal Ataturk founded the Turkish Republic nearly a century ago, the former military leader banished religion from the public sphere and looked westwards to Europe for inspiration.

After replacing Islamic law (sharia) with European civil codes, he installed the principles of secularism into the Constitution, banned the Muslim call to prayer in Arabic and pushed for the social integration of the sexes, reforms which would radically alter the fabric of the Muslim-majority country which only years earlier was the seat of the Ottoman Empire.