Special to WorldTribune.com TEL AVIV — Turkey, despite a military and political boycott, has been considering acquiring natural gas from Israel. Industry sources said the government of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan has approved negotiations with an Israeli consortium for offshore gas. The sources said Ankara was considering plans to build a gas pipeline from […]
Special to WorldTribune.com ANKARA — Turkey, preparing for a military invasion, has shot down a Syrian military aircraft. Turkey said the Syrian warplane violated the air space of the NATO member when it was downed on March 23. Officials said the Syrian aircraft was conducting a bombing mission near the Turkish border, where the Army […]
Special to WorldTribune.com ANKARA — Turkey was said to have been arming groups in Nigeria. An airline executive said the government of Prime Minister Recep Erdogan was arming factions in the war in Nigeria. The executive, Mehmet Karatas, said Ankara transferred the weapons to Nigeria via the state-owned Turkish Airlines. “I do not know whether […]
Special to WorldTribune.com ANKARA — Turkey has acknowledged massive wiretapping of its citizens. Officials said hundreds of thousands of Turks were under surveillance by the intelligence community. They said at least 250,000 people per year were targeted by wiretaps, including phone calls, e-mails and faxes. “These numbers have gotten out of hand,” Turkish Defense Minister […]
Special to WorldTribune.com ANKARA — Turkey has been blocked by rising civil unrest from reaching decisions on major defense procurement and development programs. Turkish sources said the government of Prime Minister Recep Erdogan has been unable to maintain deadlines for military and security force programs. The sources cited the failure of the Defense Industry Executive […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Fariborz Saremi In these strange and unstable times in the Middle East one surprising and superficially positive event is ironically also a new major cause for concern. Iran and the United States of America, longstanding enemies, would appear to be close to lasting rapprochement. Rather than producing greater feelings of security […]
Special to WorldTribune.com ANKARA — Prime Minister Recep Erdogan has intensified his crackdown on the opposition in Turkey over investigations of his own family members. Over the last week, Erdogan has targeted numerous government departments deemed hostile to the interests of his family. The prime minister, whose government was under investigation for corruption, ordered the […]
Special to WorldTribune.com ANKARA — Turkey and the United States have been preparing a defense summit. Officials said U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel would arrive in Turkey and meet the leadership in late January. They said Hagel, deemed a supporter of Ankara, would seek to resolve a range of bilateral and multilateral issues, particularly Turkey’s […]
Special to WorldTribune.com ANKARA — Turkey has ruled out the prospect of enriching uranium as part of its nuclear program. Officials said the government of Prime Minister Recep Erdogan would not develop uranium enrichment capability. The officials said Erdogan, accompanied by a large government and business delegation, did not reach agreement with Japan to produce […]
Special to WorldTribune.com ANKARA — Turkey has enhanced its security barrier along the border with Syria. Officials said the Interior Ministry was overseeing the construction of a four-meter barrier along Turkey’s 900-kilometer border with Syria. The officials said the wall would block infiltration from Syria, which reached 600,000 over the nearly three-year Sunni revolt against […]