Contents tagged with turkey

  • Turkey and US conduct first joint patrol in Syrian de-escalation zone

    On Sunday, Turkish and American troops carried out their first ground patrol in the  “security zone” in north-eastern Syria, which is controlled by Kurds.

    Ankara insists on patrolling the buffer zone in order to keep Kurdish fighters away from the Turkish border. Turkey considers the Kurdish militia in Syria terrorists linked to the Kurdish fighters in Turkey who have fought against the Ankara government for three decades. However, the Syrian Kurds are key allies to the US in the fight against …

  • Turkey to buy additional Russian S-400 if US Patriot systems unavailable

    Turkey will purchase an additional Russian S-400 anti-air missile systems if it cannot buy a Patriot system from the US, said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, as cited by the Anadolu news agency.

    “We still have a need for such systems, and it will persist until we can produce our own. If we are able to buy the equivalent from the US, we will buy a Patriot system, but if that doesn’t work out, we will buy another S-400 from Russia,” he told the International Strategic Forum in Bled, …

  • Russia and Syria accused of attacking Turkish forces

    Russian and Syrian aircraft have conducted more than 15 airstrikes against the Syrian provinces of Hama and Idlib, even hitting a Turkish observation point, Al-Masdar News reports, citing its own sources.

    The attacks caused significant damage to the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group and the Syrian Free Army, which are backed by Turkey. The Turkish observation point under construction at the town of Sheir Magher was also damaged in one of the airstrikes, although no one was reportedly injured or …

  • Turkey prepares to receive new S-400 components from Russia

    Russia has dispatched the components of a second S-400 anti-aircraft missile battery to Turkey. The cargo was expected to arrive by Tuesday, August 27, the Turkish news agency Anadolu reported on Monday, citing Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar. The first batch of components arrived in Turkey on July 12.

    Turkey’s decision to buy the Russian aerial defense system has resulted in serious disagreements between Ankara and Washington. The US is afraid that if Turkey uses the Russian anti- …

  • Putin: Russia understands Turkey’s concern regarding Syria

    At the end of a visit by the Turkish president to Russia on Tuesday August 27, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave a joint press conference. The leaders drew special attention to one of the key topics discussed in Zhukovsky.

    “We believe that at this stage we need to focus on stabilizing the situation in Syria ‘on the ground’ and advance the political resolution process in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 2254,” Putin told the press.

    The Russian head of state said that …

  • Erdogan arrives in Moscow for talks with Putin on Syria

    Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has arrived in Moscow in an attempt to overcome growing differences between the two countries over Syria.

    Turkey wants Russia o end support for Assad's forces in Idlib province.

    Last week, Erdogan warned that Syrian government offensives in Idlib on armed groups of Assad's opponents posed a threat to Turkey's national security.

    Last September, an agreement was signed in Sochi between Moscow and Ankara, which prevented the Assad regime's offensive in …

  • Erdogan complains to Putin about Assad

    Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that the fighting in Idlib threatens Turkey's national security, reports Anadolu News Agency.

    The Turkish president noted that the escalation of the conflict in Idlib also undermines the possibility of a peaceful settlement. In his opinion, the actions of Assad’s army lead to a humanitarian disaster. Erdogan and Putin also discussed the Russian-Turkish relations and the situation in Libya.

    Earlier, it became known …

  • Secret Syrian deal between Russia and Turkey uncovered

    Russia and Turkey have signed secret agreements regarding Syria. Confirmation of this was given in Turkish parliament, reports the Russian news outlet Rambler.ru. Ünal Çeviköz, vice president of the primary opposition force in the country – the Republican People’s Party – has obtained documents confirming that closed-door agreements have been signed between the countries. Moscow has supposedly agreed to allow forces loyal to Turkey to attack the Kurdish armed groups.

    Çeviköz managed to get …

  • Documents showing Turkey’s plans to join Russian SWIFT alternative found in dump near Moscow

    In July, Russia and Turkey held urgent negotiations on the possibility of connecting Turkish companies and banks to the Bank of Russia’s System for Transfer of Financial Messages (SPFS), an alternative to the internationally used SWIFT system.

    On Monday, the Telegram channel Baza published photos of documents found at a dump near Moscow, one of which mentions nogatiations conducted by the Russian Finance Ministry to organize payments in national currencies, including support for the Russian “ …

  • Russia and Turkey nearly start a war in Syrian airspace

    Russian Su-35S fighters may have intercepted Turkish F-16s and forced the Turkish pilots to leave Syrian airspace. Al-Masdar News reports that the F-16s were 30-40 kilometers into Syrian airspace in the Idlib region, after which they returned to Turkish airspace.

    The fact that Turkish fighters entered Syrian airspace and yet returned so quickly could indicate that the F-16 pilots received a warning from the Russian Aerospace Forces, or detected the incoming Russian aircraft on their radars, Al- …