Turkey

A Turkish ambassador this week called for his country and Indonesia to be deemed permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

At least 80 Muslims who participated in the annual hajj pilgrimage in Islam’s holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia over the weekend died.

TEL AVIV – After the U.S. announced last month that it would not sell Turkey F-35s due to Ankara’s procurement of the Russian-made S-400 missile defense system, Turkish authorities are now considering buying Russian Su-35 fighter jets, a Turkish daily reported Sunday.

TEL AVIV – A former Miss Iraq who was forced to flee her native country after posting a selfie of herself and Miss Israel has lambasted Rep. Ilhan Omar for trying to push Sharia law on the U.S. and says that the congresswoman does not represent her as a Muslim.

The United States will not allow NATO member Turkey to attack U.S.-allied Kurds in Syria, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper declared this week.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MBS) is pursuing a “strategic plan” to “weaken” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the wake of the allegedly Sunni kingdom-sponsored assassination of Islamist journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Iran’s state-run media claimed this week.

Turkey has renewed plans to launch a military operation against the U.S.-allied Kurdish fighters who helped the United States defeat the Islamic State’s (ISIS/ISIL) territorial caliphate, the Turkish president announced over the weekend.

Former Vice President Joe Biden’s younger brother, James, is being accused of defrauding a Tennessee rural healthcare company. 

TEL AVIV — Turkey has been working to bring thousands of Islamic State fighters to the region to launch campaigns in Iraq and in the Kurdish regions along the Syria-Iraq border, according to informed Middle Eastern defense officials.

TEL AVIV – Israel pressured the United States behind the scenes to block the sale of its F-35 stealth fighter jets to Turkey in order to preserve its advanced air capabilities in the region, Channel 12 reported Wednesday.

TEL AVIV — Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said over the weekend that his country would oppose anyone who supports Israel. 

Turkey has deported 4,500 Syrians this month alone, suggesting authorities are intensifying efforts to deal with the “rumbling grievances” by locals “over their prolonged presence,” Reuters reported this week.

KALFAT, Turkey — A village in central Turkey where Boris Johnson traces his Turkish ancestry to is abuzz with excitement and pride over the news that a man they see as one of their own has become the new prime minister of Britain.

The nation of Turkey is reportedly still lashing out at the NBA’s Enes Kanter, this time by allegedly putting pressure on a Long Island mosque to cancel a youth basketball camp that the Celtics player had scheduled for this summer.

Between 1914 and 1923, during and after World War I, hundreds of thousands of Armenians living in Turkey were systematically rounded up and murdered. Thousands more were forced to flee their homes. Some estimates put the death toll at more than 1.5 million.

Turkish officials in Beijing reportedly refuted remarks Chinese state media attributed to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at a recent meeting, claiming he had not said people in Xinjiang “live happily,” the South China Morning Post reported Monday.

Theresa May’s expected successor Boris Johnson is under fire from the Muslim Council of Britain for past comments suggesting “something about Islam” was responsible for the Islamic world ending up “centuries behind” the West.

Trump on Wednesday said Turkey is “now prohibited” from purchasing the Lockheed-Martim F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

The U.S. will cancel the sale of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey after Ankara decided to buy a rival missile defense system from Russia, U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed Tuesday.

Turkey on Tuesday rejected as “worthless” European Union sanctions against Ankara as it readied to send a new vessel to the eastern Mediterranean to lift its efforts to drill for hydrocarbons off the island of Cyprus.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan observed the third anniversary of a failed military coup against him on Monday in a speech at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport, declaring that “Allah ruined” the enemy’s “traps” in his favor and honoring the “martyrs” who died fighting to keep him in power that day.

Turkey on Tuesday hit back at E.U. measures designed to punish Ankara for its illegal drilling operations off Cyprus, alleging anti-Turkish “prejudice and bias” in the decision while adding the fine will “in no way” affect the country’s activities in the eastern Mediterranean.

Israeli politician Yair Lapid on Saturday challenged the U.S. to boot Turkey from the F-35 stealth fighter program for taking delivery of advanced Russian air defense systems in defiance of U.S. warnings.

Turkey began to receive the S-400 air-defense missile-defense system on Friday despite U.S. warnings not to do so. The move by Turkey is likely to have “major ramifications” for the U.S.-Turkish relationship, according to Aykan Erdemir, a senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.

Forces loyal to Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad are struggling to seize the last remaining rebel stronghold in northwestern Syria held by Turkey-backed opposition fighters and al-Qaeda-linked jihadis who have joined forces against the regime, Reuters reported Wednesday.

When Turkey dispatched a second ship to drill for oil and gas in disputed waters off Cyprus last month, it drew fire not just from rival Nicosia but also the rebuke of Western allies and threats of EU sanctions.

Turkey set course for a clash with its NATO allies on Friday morning when the first shipment of a Russian S-400 missile defense system arrived, the Turkish Defense Ministry confirmed.

Armenia, the capital city of Quindío, Colombia, is boasting a new mural of a man wearing Ottoman-era garb on the side of its city council building, an image with no historical correlation to the city that is confusing, and angering, many residents, Colombian media reported Tuesday.

Turkey made clear on Wednesday it has no intention of heeding a European Union warning to cease illegal drilling activities off Cyprus.

Russia’s controversial sale of S-400 air defense missiles to NATO member Turkey has now reached the delivery stage, with the first batch en-route to their destination, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan confirmed Monday.