Tag Archives: Nato

The U.N. Security Council on Tuesday asked Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to appoint a special envoy to broker peace in Libya, although Russia and China abstained from voting on the resolution that also extended the U.N. mission in the country. Ghassan Salame, who headed the U.N. political mission and was also …

Turkey will send a second drill ship to operate in the Black Sea, Energy Minister Fatih Donmez said on Sunday, weeks after Ankara announced its largest ever natural gas discovery in the area. “Our drill ship Kanuni, whose preparation work is continuing, will start drilling in the Black Sea,” he …

A provocative live-fire drill by the Turkish navy off the coast of Cyprus was branded illegal on Saturday, as reports emerged that the US is drawing up plans to withdraw from the strategic Incirlik air force base. “We don’t know what’s going to happen to Incirlik,” Ron Johnson, the US …

The United States remains “deeply concerned” about Turkey’s actions in the eastern Mediterranean, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Saturday, urging a diplomatic end to a simmering crisis over offshore natural resources. Tensions in the eastern Mediterranean have risen over claims and counter claims pitting Turkey against Greece and …

President Tayyip Erdogan told European Council President Charles Michel on Sunday the EU’s stance towards the East Mediterranean would be a test of its sincerity, calling on it to take an impartial stance in Turkey’s row with Greece. NATO allies Turkey and Greece have been locked in a dispute over …

The United States will lift a 33-year arms embargo on Cyprus and deepen its security cooperation with Nicosia, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday, prompting an angry response from Turkey. The island was divided in 1974 following a Turkish invasion triggered by a Greek-inspired coup. Turkey recognises …

Turkey said it will hold a military exercise off northwest Cyprus for the next two weeks, amid growing tension with Greece over disputed claims to exploration rights in the east Mediterranean. The long-running dispute between Turkey and Greece, both NATO members, flared up after the two countries agreed rival accords …

President Tayyip Erdogan spoke with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg about developments in the eastern Mediterranean and told him Turkey will continue to protect its rights and interests everywhere, Erdogan’s office said on Friday. Earlier, the EU’s top diplomat said the European Union is preparing sanctions against Turkey that could be …

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and U.S. President Donald Trump talked on the phone on Wednesday to discuss bilateral and regional issues, including the Mediterranean, Erdogan’s office said. Tensions between Turkey and Greece have escalated since Ankara sent its Oruc Reis survey vessel to disputed eastern Mediterranean waters this month, a …

The United States said on Tuesday it strongly objected to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s recent hosting of two leaders of Hamas in Istanbul, prompting a swift riposte from Ankara. The State Department said the officials were Specially Designated Global Terrorists and the United States was seeking information about one for his involvement in …

President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday Turkey’s navy will not back down as Greece “sows chaos” in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, where the countries have deployed frigates in an escalating rhetorical confrontation over overlapping resource claims. “The ones who throw Greece in front of the Turkish navy will not stand …

President Tayyip Erdogan warned Greece on Friday that Turkey will retaliate against any attack on its survey vessel Oruc Reis in the eastern Mediterranean in an escalating row between the NATO allies over gas and oil exploration in the region. Turkey and Greece are vehemently at odds over overlapping claims …

The foreign ministers of Greece and the United States will meet in Vienna on Friday to discuss tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Greek foreign ministry said, amid a dispute between Athens and Ankara over hydrocarbon resources. The meeting between Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias and U.S. Secretary of State …

Republican and Democratic senators introduced legislation on Thursday that would block international sales of American-made drones to countries that are not close U.S. allies, mentioning Saudi Arabia in particular. Reuters broke the news in June that President Donald Trump’s administration planned to reinterpret the Missile Technology Control Regime, a Cold …

Greece accused Turkey on Tuesday of attempting to encroach on its continental shelf in a serious escalation of tensions between the two NATO allies at odds over a range of issues. Turkey and Greece are at loggerheads over overlapping claims for hydrocarbon resources, brought into sharper focus by attempts of …

France’s foreign ministry on Friday rebuffed U.S. assertions that a European Union naval mission to enforce a U.N. weapons embargo for Libya was biased and not serious, saying Washington should itself be doing more to stop the flow of weapons. David Schenker, assistant secretary for Near East Affairs at the …

France has informed NATO that it is suspending its involvement in a naval operation in the Mediterranean after the results of a probe into an incident between French and Turkish warships, an official at the Armed Forces ministry said on Wednesday. The official said in a letter to NATO’s Secretary-General …

Pope Francis appealed on Sunday for both sides in the Libyan civil war to seek peace, urging the international community to facilitate talks and protect refugees and migrants he said were victims of cruelty. In an impassioned plea during his noon address in St. Peter’s Square, Francis said he was …

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced a new peace initiative for Libya in Cairo on Saturday, flanked by the eastern Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar, whose 14-month offensive to capture the capital, Tripoli, collapsed this week. The head of the Tripoli parliament, aligned with the Government of National Accord (GNA) based …

Turkey has been swift to implement its own brand of diplomacy during the coronavirus pandemic, including deliveries of medical supplies and plans for long-term cooperation on medical equipment. This cooperative diplomacy goes hand in hand with an assertive foreign policy, illustrated by military interventions and challenges to the legal order …

The U.S. military believes a Russian introduction of warplanes into Libya may not tip the balance in its stalemated civil war but could further help Moscow eventually secure a geostrategic stronghold in North Africa, a U.S. general said on Friday. Russian military personnel have delivered 14 MiG 29 and Su-24 …

The U.S. withdrawal from the Open Skies treaty will affect the interests of all of its participants, who are also members of NATO, RIA state news agency quoted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko as saying on Thursday. Russia has not violated the treaty and nothing prevents the continuation of …

Turkey’s plans to switch on its new Russian missile defence systems have been delayed by the coronavirus outbreak but it does not intend to reverse a decision which has raised the threat of U.S. sanctions, a senior Turkish official said. Tensions between NATO allies Turkey and the United States over …

Turkey on Tuesday repeated an offer to the United States to establish a technical working group including NATO to help solve a dispute over Ankara’s purchase of Russian missile defenses that angered Washington. Ties between the NATO allies were badly strained last year when Turkey bought Russian S-400 defense systems, …

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan flew to Moscow on Thursday for talks with Russia’s Vladimir Putin over a potential ceasefire in Syria’s Idlib, where their militaries are facing off in a war that has displaced nearly a million people in three months. A senior Turkish official told Reuters that a ceasefire …

Turkey shot down two Syrian warplanes over Idlib on Sunday and struck a military airport well beyond its frontlines in a sharp escalation of its military operations following the death of dozens of Turkish soldiers last week. Ankara has ramped up its attacks, including drone strikes, against the Russian-backed Syrian …

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Ankara wants the United States to send Patriot missiles to Turkey for back-up in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib. Cavusoglu made the comment to reporters on Saturday in the Qatari capital Doha after a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Attacks by Syrian …

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday Moscow has been urging Gulf countries to consider a common security mechanism for the region. “We have been suggesting to the Gulf countries to think about collective security mechanisms … starting with confidence building measures and inviting each other to military exercises,” …

A U.S. Senate committee backed legislation on Wednesday to impose sanctions on Turkey after its offensive in Syria and purchase of a Russian S-400 missile system, the latest move in the chamber to push Republican President Donald Trump to take a harder line against Ankara. The Republican-led Senate Foreign Relations …

“Who Lost Turkey?” Graham E. Fuller (grahamefuller.com) 5 August 2019 Here we go again, another phase of witch-hunting over “Who lost —-(fill in the blanks) country.” It was once who lost China in 1949, then Cuba in 1959, then Iran in 1979, and others. The latest iteration is now “Who …

U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Tuesday any Turkish operation into northern Syria would be “unacceptable” and the United States would prevent unilateral incursions, as tensions between Washington and Ankara simmer. On Sunday, President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey, which already has a foothold in northwest Syria, will carry out …

A U.S. service member was killed in Afghanistan on Saturday, the NATO-led Resolute Support mission said in a statement, bringing the U.S. combat death toll this year to eight. The identity of the service member and details about the incident will be shared at a later stage, said Debra Richardson …

Armed forces and observers from eight Arab countries are converging on Egypt for exercises starting on Saturday, the Egyptian military said on Wednesday, in a move that could evolve into a regional pact to counter Iran’s influence. President Donald Trump’s administration has been quietly pushing for Gulf Arab countries, together …

Parliamentary elections in Afghanistan are just days away, and the Taliban and ISIS fighters, countered by Afghan and U.S. troops, are doing all they can to disrupt voters. Nangarhar in Eastern Afghanistan was the deadliest province for Americans in 2017. Of the 11 American troops killed in Afghanistan last year, …

Since 1979, Iran has made every effort possible to ‘export’ its revolution to the rest of the region. It did not succeed, but that has not stopped the regime in Tehran from trying to spread chaos and instability in the Middle East, and interfere in the internal affairs of Arab …

  It could be said of President Trump’s visit to the NATO summit that, “He came, he saw, he antagonized.”  The two days was a mélange of headlines on personal conflicts, American bullying on spending, emergency meetings, and the long-term future of the organization. Despite that, the final communiqué adhered …

President Trump unleashed a blistering attack Wednesday on Germany and other NATO allies, wasting no time to take the offensive before a week of high-stakes diplomacy on both sides of the former Cold War divide. The series of meetings — beginning with NATO and capped by a summit with Russian …

President Trump is telling NATO allies they must pick up more of the costs for defense of the alliance, ratcheting up tensions as he prepares to join Western leaders at a summit in Brussels next week. In letters sent last month to the leaders of allies from Canada to Germany, Trump echoed …

A Russian lawmaker says the latest discovery of a considerable amount of NATO-made munitions left behind by Takfiri militants in western Syria proves they are being aided by the United States and its allies and reveals the true colors of the Washington-led military mission in the crisis-torn country. “The detection …

Poland signed a $4.75 billion deal with the United States Wednesday to buy air defense Patriot missile systems as it seeks to bolster its defenses against a resurgent Russia. President Andrzej Duda described the deal for the state-of-the-art anti-aircraft and anti-missile systems as “historic” for his country and its armed …

The smell of jet fuel flooded the cabin and a tremendous roar made it difficult to talk as a near-windowless military plane rumbled down a runway in southwestern Turkey. Sitting along rows of computer screens under the dim overhead lights, a multinational crew of 19 monitored hundreds of miles into …

Seven weeks into Turkey’s Operation Olive Branch, a mission to clear Kurdish fighters from Syrian regions along its southern border, the Turkish military says its troops and Syrian rebel allies have nearly surrounded Afrin. They announced Tuesday that the central section of the border city and other “critically important areas” …

Russian President Vladimir Putin boasted Thursday that his country has developed a nuclear-powered missile with an unlimited range that is also completely immune to enemy intercept. Speaking during an annual state-of-the-nation speech in Moscow, Putin said the cruise missile is capable of penetrating any missile defense and can reach virtually any target around the …

The United States and Turkey pulled back from the brink of a potentially disastrous crisis on Friday, agreeing to normalize badly strained relations over Syria and other issues that had threatened the NATO allies’ longstanding ties. However, details of the rapprochement were vague as the two sides agreed in principle …