Syria ties suicide bombing of police bus to Al Qaida

Syria ties suicide bombing of police bus to Al Qaida

Special to WorldTribune.com NICOSIA — The regime of President Bashar Assad has again been struck by a mass-casualty suicide strike. The Assad regime has acknowledged that a police bus was bombed by a suicide attacker in Damascus on Jan. 6. Officials reported 26 dead and 63 injured in the attack in downtown Damascus. “The type […]

Eight strategic factors bearing on 2012, the year of ‘Great Power Impotence’

Eight strategic factors bearing on 2012, the year of ‘Great Power Impotence’

Special to WorldTribune.com By Gregory Copley and Yossef Bodansky, Global Information System Rarely in the past six decades has global context counted for as much in strategic forecasting trend analysis as it does at the dawn of 2012. Reliance on stove-piped analysis of strategic sectors such as economic and financial issues, security issues, politics, geopolitics, […]

Egypt, Turkey use F-16s in joint naval exercise

Egypt, Turkey use F-16s in joint naval exercise

Special to WorldTribune.com CAIRO — Egypt and Turkey have concluded a naval combat exercise. Officials said the exercise, called “Sea of Friendship 2011,” included combat and search-and-rescue operations meant to enhance interoperability. “The Egyptian Navy is highly trained and possesses modern weapons,” Egyptian Navy commander Adm. Mohab Mamish said. “It’s quite capable of protecting Egypt’s […]

Turkey to continue buying ‘cheaper’ Iranian oil

Special to WorldTribune.com ANKARA — Turkey has renewed crude oil purchases from Iran. Industry sources said Turkey’s state-owned Tupras has contracted to purchase the same amount of crude oil in 2012 as during the previous year. They said Tupras would purchase nearly eight million tons of Iranian oil. “Iranian oil has become cheaper amid sanctions […]

TOP 2011 STORIES: Turkey cites budget concerns in scaling back F-35 order from 120 to 6

TOP 2011 STORIES: Turkey cites budget concerns in scaling back F-35 order from 120 to 6

Special to WorldTribune.com Friday, August 5, 2011 ANKARA — Turkey appears to have significantly reduced the scope of plans to procure the Joint Strike Fighter from the United States. The government of Prime Minister Recep Erdogan has scaled down plans that until 2009 called for the procurement of 120 F-35 fighter-jets. Under the latest proposal, […]

TOP 2011 STORIES: Iran issues tough warning to Turkey on Syria

TOP 2011 STORIES: Iran issues tough warning to Turkey on Syria

Special to WorldTribune.com Monday, August 1, 2011 NICOSIA — Iran, stressing its strategic interests, has warned Turkey to end intervention in Syria. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has issued a harsh warning to Turkey to end activities in Syria. In an article in IRGC’s weekly Sobh’eh Sadegh, the elite military force asserted that Turkish forces […]

China’s PLA-backed Huawei to expand presence, investment in Turkey

China’s PLA-backed Huawei to expand presence, investment in Turkey

Special to WorldTribune.com ANKARA — Turkey intends to expand the presence of a controversial telecommunications company suspected of quietly serving the military of China and Iran. Turkey has approved a proposal for China’s Huawei to expand its presence and investment. Huawei said it would bolster its research and development center in Istanbul with a $15 […]

Syrian rebel forces abduct Iranians, opposition reports ‘massacre’ of 111

Special to WorldTribune.com NICOSIA — Rebels have begun targeting Iranians in Syria amid a sharp escalation in bloodshed in the war against President Bashar Assad. Syrian rebels abducted five Iranians in the central region on Dec. 20. Meanwhile, the Syrian opposition reported the death of 111 people — 250 over 48 hours — in attacks […]

Syria fires new Russian missiles in exercise as ‘warning to Turkey and NATO’

Syria fires new Russian missiles in exercise as ‘warning to Turkey and NATO’

Special to WorldTribune.com NICOSIA — The regime of President Bashar Assad has displayed its new Russian-origin weapons during a military exercise. Western diplomats said Assad’s military fired new missiles and other weapons acquired from Moscow in late 2011 during an exercise that took place on Dec. 20. They said the new weapons included the P-800 […]