Contents tagged with turkey

  • Russia sends out military patrols without Turkey again in Syria

    For the second time this week, Turkish soldiers have not joined their Russian colleagues in the joint patrolling of Syria, said Major General Yury Borenkov, director of the Russian Reconciliation Center for Syria, as cited by Russia’s Defense Ministry website.

    According to Borenkov, because Turkey did not show up, Russian troops patrolled Syria’s Al-Hasakah region independently. The Russian military police has also continued to patrol the Aleppo province. Borenkov noted that the patrols took …

  • Turkey losing interest in Russian gas

    While Gazprom was completing the $7 billion Turkish Stream gas pipeline, Turkey was cutting back on its purchases of Russian gas.

    By the end of 2019, 14.4-14.8 billion cubic meters (bcm) of Russian gas had been transported to the Turkish market, Interfax calculates, based on statistics from the Turkish Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EPDK).

    In comparison with 2018, this equates to a decline of approximately 40%. As a result, for the first time in 13 years Turkey is no longer one of the …

  • Russian media: Four FSB officers were killed near Latakia where Turkey and Syria were meant to meet for negotiations

    Four officers of the Special Forces Directorate of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) – Bulat Akhmatyanov, Ruslan Gimadiev, Dmitry Minov and Vsevolod Trofimov – were killed on February 1 not in combat near Aleppo, as reported previously, but on the outskirts of Latakia. It was there that senior leaders of Turkey and Syria were planning to meet, and Russia was assisting with security. Sources told Novaya Gazeta that the attack may have been provocative in nature.

    According to the sources, …

  • Russia and Turkey stop joint patrolling in Syria

    The joint patrolling of northern Syria by Russia and Turkey was called off on Monday, the the TV channel NTV reported, without mentioning their sources.

    The patrolling was meant to be carried out in the vicinity of the city of Ayn al-Arab (Kobane) in northern Syria, on the border with Turkey. The reports did not state why the patrol had been canceled.

    The patrolling was canceled after Turkish soldiers were shelled in Idlib by Syrian forces. According to the Turkish Defense Ministry, six …

  • Turkey to give Kyiv $50 million for Ukrainian Army

    Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to visit Kyiv on February 3. During the visit, he will sign an agreement for Turkey to provide $50 million in financial assistance for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Ukrainian Ambassador to Turkey Andrii Sybiha told Ukrinform in an interview.

    “During this visit, an agreement will be signed according to which Turkey will provide 200 million Turkish lira (around $50 million) in financial assistance for the purposes of the Ukrainian army, especially …

  • Turkey strikes back at Syrian army after Turkish forces attacked in Idlib

    Turkish troops killed about 30 Syrian government soldiers in response to the deaths of six of Turkish military, Turkish President Recep Erdogan said on February 3.

    "The operation is ongoing and ... according to preliminary results, 30 to 35 Syrians were killed," Erdogan told reporters at Istanbul airport before his flight to Ukraine.

    The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that 13 Syrian soldiers have been killed.

    Erdogan also warned Russia, an ally of Syria, against intervening …

  • Turkish tanks enter Syrian Idlib province

    A Turkish military convoy has crossed the Syrian border, reported Al Arabiya TV channel on Sunday, February 2.

    It is noted that the convoy consists of several dozen armored vehicles, including tanks. In total, at least 40 armored vehicles and tanks of the Turkish army crossed the border through the Kafr Lusin border crossing in the north of the Syrian Idlib province. At the moment, the final destination of the convoy is unknown.

    The day before, the Turkish military began to build a new …

  • Russia has supplied Turkey with more than 120 guided anti-air missiles for S-400

    Alongside the Russian S-400 anti-air missile system, Turkey has received from Russia more than 120 guided surface-to-air missiles, TASS reports, citing a military-diplomatic source.

    According to the source, Ankara has received a regimental S-400 kit, auxiliary equipment, spare parts and more than 120 anti-air missiles of an unspecified type. Moscow did not, however, give Ankara any of the technologies for producing its own S-400 systems. Not even a partial transfer of technology was envisaged …

  • Russia and Turkey take over resolution of Libyan conflict

    On Monday in Moscow, the leaders of the opposing sides in Libya concluded negotiations, at the end of which the Russian Foreign Minister said that certain progress had been made. A fragile ceasefire, mediated by Russia and Turkey, has come into effect in Libya.

    Russia and Turkey have taken on the role of key arbitrators in Libya, trying to encourage Fayez al-Sarraj, head of the internationally recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) and his adversary General Khalifa Haftar to start …

  • Libyan government: Russian mercenaries withdrew from the front line in Libya

    Most of the Russian mercenaries from the private military company Wagner left the front line in Libya after Presidents Vladimir Putin and Recep Erdogan called for a ceasefire in Libya, reports the news agency Anadolu, citing Nasser Ammar, a representative Libya’s Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, who is supported by the UN.

    According to him, the mercenaries, who allegedly fight on the side of Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, went by helicopter to the Al-Kufra military base in the south of the …