Ankara (TM) – Turkish arms imports fell by 48 percent between 2015 and 2019 compared to the previous five-year period, an annual report released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) showed, according to Daily Sabah. The report said the decrease in imports can be explained by delays in deliveries ofContinue Reading
Washington (TM) – US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper has said he needs to speak with his Turkish counterpart to understand how serious President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was when he threatened to shut down Incirlik Airbase, which stores American nuclear warheads, Al Jazeera reported. Erdoğan’s warning on Sunday that he could closeContinue Reading
Washington DC (SCF) – Washington’s official announcement of the withdrawal of US troops from the northeast of Syria has provoked alarm and condemnation at home as well as from Washington’s allies. However, it is easier to understand the actions and aims of the Trump administration when one analyzes events in theContinue Reading
Ankara (TM) – Turkey’s top military brass and Defense Minister Hulusi Akar held a security meeting on Thursday and discussed a potential military operation in northeastern Syria, immediately after three days of talks with a US delegation over setting up a safe zone along the Turkish-Syrian border. The Anadolu news agencyContinue Reading
Ankara (TM) – The first shipment of a Russian S-400 air defense system has arrived in Turkey, according to a statement from the Turkish Defense Ministry on Friday, in a development that is likely to prompt action from the US. The ministry said in its statement that “the first group of equipment”Continue Reading
Tehran (TNA) – Turkey on Wednesday criticized a letter from Washington on Ankara’s eventual removal from the F-35 fighter jet program, saying the language used did not suit the spirit of alliance between the two NATO allies. Writing to Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar last week, US acting Secretary ofContinue Reading
Tripoli (MPN) – It is likely that Saudi Arabia sees Libya’s Khalifa Haftar as a means of beating down the Muslim Brotherhood, which has a notoriously hostile relationship with the Wahhabi kingdom. Libyan strongman and former CIA asset Khalifa Haftar’s blitzkrieg on the capital, Tripoli, has stalled for now as forces loyal toContinue Reading
Brussels (SCF) – When the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was created 70 years ago in 1949 it was formed as a blatant military instrument for waging the Cold War, a war that the US, Britain and other European allies had newly embarked on. NATO’s public relations cant about “peace andContinue Reading
Ankara (GPA) – The US has proposed the sale of Patriots missiles to Turkey but in exchange has told Ankara to cancel a contract with Moscow for the S-400. According to recent reports, a US delegation visiting Turkey this week officially offered a $3.5 billion dollar sale to Ankara of the PatriotContinue Reading
Kiev (SCF) – Ukraine’s Constitutional Court green-lighted a bill on amending the country’s main law by enshrining into it the final goal of obtaining NATO and EU membership. The decision was announced the next day after the UK and Ukraine’s defense ministries made a joint statement, stressing the need to expandContinue Reading