Contents tagged with turkey

  • Turkish Deputy PM: Ankara condemns the annexation of Crimea despite normalization of relations with Russia

    Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmuş said that, no matter how relations between Turkey and Russia may normalize, Ankara condemns the annexation of the Crimea.He said this at a press conference with journalists in London, Anadolu reports.

    According to him, the Crimea and Crimean Tatar issues are important for Turkey, which is closely monitoring the situation on the peninsula.

    “We declare at all levels that from the very beginning we have condemned Russia’s position regarding the …

  • Erdogan promised Ukraine to keep Turkish ships away from the Crimea

    The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Andriy Parubiy, raised the issue regarding informal entry of Turkish ships in the ports of Sevastopol during the meeting with the President of Turkey, Recep Erdoğan, according to Verkhovna Rada’s press service.

    Parubiy clarified that the two parties raised the issue regarding informal entry of Turkish ships in the ports of Sevastopol. In this context, President Erdoğan noted that even if this has happened informally, he would give all the …

  • Turkey wants to buy Russian S-400 missile systems

    Turkey is holding talks with Russia on the possible purchase of S-400 anti-aircraft missile complexes. This was announced on Friday, November 18, by the minister of national defense of Turkey, Fikri Işik. He added that Turkey is also discussing the supply of S-400s with other countries.

    According Işik, for now Russia is positively responding to the opportunity to sign the agreement. Reuters agency notes that in 2015 Turkey canceled a contract for the purchase of long-range air defense systems …

  • Russia may supply Turkey with anti-aircraft systems

    The Director of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, Alexander Fomin, stated that discussion on supplying anti-aircraft systems to Turkey remains on the agenda of the Russian-Turkish military technical cooperation. According to him, when it comes to large air defense systems, they can be utilized as anti-missile systems, Interfax reported.“These large air defense systems, are simultaneously anti-missile systems. Today, even mid-range Buk systems can shoot down missiles, as …

  • Turkish and Russian army chiefs meet in Moscow to discuss cooperation in Syria

    The Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia, Valery Gerasimov, and his Turkish counterpart Hulusi Akar met in Moscow to discuss cooperation in Syria, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense, RIA Novosti reported.

    "During the meeting, [the generals] discussed cooperation in the settlement of the Syrian conflict, including the normalization of the situation around the city of Aleppo,” the Russian Ministry of Defense announced in a statement.

    Gersimov highlighted the need …

  • Ukraine and Turkey agree to step up negotiations on a free trade zone

    The President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, and Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, agreed to step up negotiations on a free trade area and discussed procedures for further negotiations at the highest level, during a recent telephone conversation, as reported by the press service of the Ukrainian State.

    According to the report, Poroshenko informed the Turkish leader about an increase in the period for a visa-free stay from 60 to 90 days for Turkish citizens visiting Ukraine.

    The Turkish …

  • Turkish Foreign Minister: Turkey and Russia exchange military intelligence on Syria

    According to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, the Turkish and Russian militaries maintain an open line of communication and exchange intelligence information regarding Syria, TASS reported.

    During an interview with Turkey’s 24 Canali TV, Çavuşoğlu stressed that such "cooperation is beneficial."

    "We say that in the context of the Euphrates Shield Operation, we cooperate with all parties fighting against the Islamic State. Now that relations with Russia have normalized, we have an …

  • Moscow will provide Ankara with intelligence about operation in Syria

    On October 24, Moscow will provide Ankara with intelligence information about the Turkish operation “Euphrates Shield” in Syria, Izvestia newspaper reported. An informed source said to the newspaper, the agreement on the transfer of intelligence information was reached during a recent visit of Russian leadership to Turkey.

    “The chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Viktor Gerasimov, was a member of the Russian delegation and held talks with his Turkish …

  • Lavrov: Turkish aircraft will be shot down if they violate Syrian airspace

    Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov responded to the statement by the Syrian Defense Ministry that they intend to bring down Turkish Air Force aircraft if they invade the country’s airspace, reaffirming Damascus' position.

    Lavrov said that Syria is a sovereign state, a member of the United Nations and has full sovereignty over its territory and over its airspace.

    “Any attempt to repeatedly violate Syrian airspace by Turkish military aircraft will be rebuffed, and they will be shot down by …

  • Russia and Turkey to pursue joint effort to drive al-Nusra Front from Aleppo

    Russia and Turkey have agreed to pursue joint actions to drive the al-Nusra Front, also known as al-Qaeda in Syria, from the Syrian city of Aleppo, as stated by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, RIA Novosti reported.

    “Yesterday, I spoke with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin. We discussed Aleppo. He said that bombing has ceased there for 22 hours. He expressed the wish that ‘al-Nusra’ would be ejected from the city. We have given the necessary instructions to colleagues and started to …