Special to WorldTribune.com ANKARA — Turkey has sought a waiver from U.S. sanctions on Iran’s energy sector. Officials said the government of Prime Minister Recep Erdogan has urged Washington to issue a waiver that would allow Turkey to continue to purchase crude oil from Iran. Turkey was not on a list of 11 countries unaffected […]
Special to WorldTribune.com JERUSALEM — Israelis have again been warned against travel to Turkey. The government’s Counter-Terrorism Bureau asserted that Islamist cells were planning to attack Israelis and Jews in Turkey. The bureau, part of the National Security Council, said the attack was imminent and could target synagogues or places where Israelis congregate. “Terror groups […]
Special to WorldTribune.com ANKARA — The regime of President Bashar Assad, amid its onslaught of Sunni rebels, appears to be losing control over northern Syria. Opposition sources said Assad’s military and security forces were disappearing from most of northern Syria. They said rebel elements, including those linked to the Free Syrian Army, have taken over […]
Special to WorldTribune.com ANKARA — Turkey and the United States have begun a major air combat exercise near Iran. On March 5, the air forces of Turkey and the United States began Anatolian Falcon 2012, designed to enhance combat skills and interoperability within NATO. Officials said Falcon did not include any other militaries and was […]
Special to WorldTribune.com WASHINGTON — The U.S. military, in wake of its withdrawal from Iraq, has sought to establish a base in neighboring Jordan. Officials said Central Command has sought to compensate for the U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq in late 2011. They said Centcom wanted to deploy small elite forces at bases in countries […]
Special to WorldTribune.com LONDON — The Muslim Brotherhood-aligned opposition has decided to open a military wing in an effort to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad. The Syrian National Council said it would open a military office to ensure the flow of weapons and equipment to the revolt against the Assad regime. SNC said its new bureau, […]
Special to WorldTribune.com ANKARA — Turkey has reaffirmed plans to purchase at least 100 Joint Strike Fighters from the United States. Officials said the government of Prime Minister Recep Erdogan has assured Washington and prime contractor Lockheed Martin that Ankara would not abandon or reduce procurement of the F-35. They said the government plans to […]
Special to WorldTribune.com ANKARA — Turkey, despite massive lobbying, has lost a tender to sell advanced Western submarines to Indonesia. Officials said a German-Turkish bid for Indonesia’s electric-diesel submarine project was rejected. Instead, Indonesia selected South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering to build and supply three submarines for Jakarta for $1.1 billion. “This was […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Excerpted from an article by Yossef Bodansky, Senior Editor, Global Information System The intense fighting of late January and early February in Syria, coupled with the vastly improved manipulation of the jihadists there by Iranian intelligence … have already enabled Syria’s Bashar Assad administration to take control over the war in Syria. […]
Special to WorldTribune.com WASHINGTON — The United States has imposed sanctions on senior Kurdish insurgency operatives. The Treasury Department has designated three Kurds based in Europe as drug traffickers for the Kurdish Workers Party. The Kurds, identified as Zeyneddin Geleri, Cerkez Akbulut and Omer Boztepe, were the first PKK operatives designated by Washington as drug […]