Tag Archives: Turkey

Russia-Turkey tensions continue to rise as neither side apologizes

A tense quarrel between Russia and Turkey continued on Friday, as Russia reportedly opted to suspend visa-free travel with the country that recently shot down one of its warplanes over Syria.

Meanwhile, the president of Turkey cautioned Russia not to mistreat Turkish citizens who had traveled to the country and accused the country of playing with fire during a televised speech.

The countries have been closely watched following the Tuesday incident in which a Turkish jet fired at a Russian plane that it said crossed into its airspace despite repeated warnings not to do so. Russian officials, including the surviving pilot of the warplane, dispute Turkey’s version of the events and say no warning was given and the plane never once violated Turkey’s airspace.

The BBC reported Friday that Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan is seeking a face-to-face meeting with Vladimir Putin in France, where the leaders are scheduled to attend a summit on climate change beginning Monday. But Putin wants Turkey to apologize before such a meeting.

According to CNN, that won’t happen.

“I think if there is a party that needs to apologize, it is not us,” Erdogan told CNN in an exclusive interview Thursday. “Those who violated our airspace are the ones who need to apologize.”

Instead, Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, announced Friday that the country would put visa-free travel to Turkey on hold beginning January 1, the BBC reported. That could have major impacts on the country’s tourism industry, which welcomed 3 million Russian visitors in 2014.

The countries are also trading partners, though some of those relationships now appear rocky.

Reuters reported that several Russian manufacturers have been advised to stop purchasing supplies from Turkey, a move it said could adversely affect multi-million dollar contracts.

The Reuters report also indicated Erdogan was angry about published reports that said Turkish businessmen had been detained while in Russia. There was reportedly an issue with their visas.

“We sincerely recommend Russia not to play with fire,” he said, according to a video on Reuters’ website.

French PM: Europe can’t accept more refugees

It is impossible for European Union nations to accept any more refugees, the French prime minister has been quoted as saying, and the fate of the bloc depends on its border controls.

Manuel Valls reportedly made the comments in the German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung.

Reuters reported that roughly 1 million refugees were expected to arrive in Europe this year. Germany, which began accepting refugees in September, was originally praised for opening its doors for those fleeing the war-torn Middle East. But the nation’s chancellor, Angela Merkel, has faced more and more scrutiny as the number of migrants going to Europe has continued to rise.

Valls, in his comments to the German newspaper, warned that Europe’s external borders needed more stringent regulations.

“If we don’t do that, the people will say: Enough of Europe,” Valls was quoted as saying.

The BBC reported that select European nations have enacted stricter border controls in the wake of the Nov. 13 Paris terrorist attacks that left 130 dead. The attacks have added fuel to the debate over the migrants, particularly because a forged Syrian passport was found near one attacker.

Critics fear terrorist groups could take advantage of the ongoing migrant crisis, which Reuters called the continent’s worst since World War II, and use it to funnel terrorists into Europe.

Economic officials from both France and Germany have proposed setting aside $10.7 billion to improve security, border controls and refugee care, Reuters reported.

The European Union has also voted to devote $3.1 billion for an aid facility in Turkey, which it hopes will help lower the number of migrants headed to Europe, Reuters reported. However, it’s still not finalized and it’s unclear if the member nations will give enough money to fully fund it.

A summit between Turkey and the European Union is scheduled for Sunday. Officials told Reuters there are still major hurdles to clear before any migration pact will be finalized.

Russian pilot: Turkey provided no warning before shots were fired

The pilot of the Russian warplane that was shot down on Tuesday is claiming that Turkey did not provide any sort of warning before opening fire on the aircraft, according to reports.

Captain Konstantin Murakhtin is also claiming that the plane never crossed into Turkey’s airspace, though this claim has been disputed by NATO and United States military officials.

Murakhtin spoke to reporters a Russian air base in northern Syria on Wednesday, a day after he and the aircraft’s other pilot ejected from the aircraft that was shot down near the Syrian border. He was rescued after a half-day operation that involved using special forces, the BBC reported.

The other Russian pilot was killed.

Murakhtin told RT, a Russian television network, that the pilots did not receive a verbal or visual warning before a Turkish plane opened fire and hit their aircraft with a missile. He also claimed he knew the area very well and it was “impossible that we violated their airspace.”

Turkish officials had said they warned the pilots 10 times in five minutes, the New York Times reported, and that the plane crossed a tiny piece of Turkish territory in about 17 seconds.

NATO, of which Turkey is a member, has backed Turkey’s version of the events. A senior United States military official, speaking to the New York Times, said the data indicated the Russian plane flew over Turkey. CNN reported Turkey released tapes of what it said were the warnings.

The back-and-forth nature of the claims were escalating tensions between the two nations.

Multiple countries have called for the situation to be de-escalated, according to reports, and officials from Turkey and Russia are both quoted as saying they want to avoid military conflict.

Yet the Russian defense minister announced the country will deploy missile defense systems to the air base in Syria. The missiles would be able to reach the Turkish border, CNN reported.

Turkey shoots down Russian warplane

The Pentagon urged Russia and Turkey to de-accelerate the mounting tensions between the two countries following the downing of a Russian Fighter plane on the Syrian, Turkish border Tuesday, according to Reuters.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in a press statement made in Brussels, backs Turkey’s version stating that an allied assessment shows the Russian warplane did fly into Turkish airspace.

The circumstances that led to this are in dispute. Both Turkey and Russia claim to have proof of their account.  Turkish military has presented a map and the radar locations of the Russian fighter when the missiles were fired.

According to the BBC, the Turkish military said two F-16s on patrol had fired on an unidentified aircraft at 09:24 (07:24 GMT) after warning it 10 times over five minutes about violating Turkish airspace over the town of Yayladagi, in Hatay province.

In a report to Reuters, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the plane had been attacked when it was 1 kilometer inside Syria and warned of “serious consequences” for what he termed a stab in the back administered by “the accomplices of terrorists”.

“We will never tolerate such crimes like the one committed today,” Putin said, as Russian and Turkish shares fell on fears of an escalation between the two countries.

Footage from Turkey’s Anadolu Agency showed two pilots parachuting out of the jet before crashing.  A commander of the rebel Turkmen forces in Syria claimed to have shot both pilots dead as they came down. CNN reports that the body of one pilot has been found.

The BBC  reported that Russian aircraft have flown hundreds of sorties over northern Syria since September. Moscow says they have targeted only “terrorists”, but activists say its strikes have mainly hit Western-backed rebel groups.

Turkey, a vehement opponent of Syria’s president, has strongly cautioned against violations of its airspace by Russian and Syrian aircraft.

The Turkish foreign ministry warned the Russian ambassador last week that there would be “serious consequences” if the Russian air force did not immediately stop bombing “civilian Turkmen villages” in the Bayir Bucak area, near Tuesday’s crash site.

Turkey and U.S. Advance Plans to Shut Northern Syrian Border from ISIS

In a statement by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday, Turkey and the United States are working on an operation to finish securing the northern Syrian border. The area that will be the focus is controlled by radical Islamists that have used it as a smuggling route.

“The entire border of northern Syria – 75 percent of it has now been shut off. And we are entering an operation with the Turks to shut off the other remaining 98 kilometers,” Kerry said in an interview with CNN.

According to Reuters, the area where the operations would take place is now controlled by the radical Islamists. The United States and Turkey hope that by sweeping Islamic State, also frequently called Daesh, from that border zone they can deprive it of route which has seen its ranks swell with foreign fighters and its coffers boosted by illicit trade.

Kerry mentioned the operation with Turkey as he described to CNN the mounting pressure on IS in both Syria and Iraq, but wouldn’t elaborate on what it amounted to and whether the U.S. would send ground troops to take part in the operation. U.S. President Barack Obama authorized the deployment of special forces against IS in an apparent deviation from an initial pledge not to have boots on the ground in the campaign.

Turkish Foreign Minister Feridun Sinirlioglu stated to the state-run Anadolu Agency, “We will not allow Daesh to continue its presence on our border.”

The fight against ISIS has increased in fervor with intense air strikes by both Russian and French warplanes since attacks claimed by the group killed 129 people in Paris last week and a bomb downed a Russian airliner over Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula last month, killing 224.

Turkey’s Election Results Return One Party Government

President Erdogan, campaigned with the slogan “it’s me or chaos”, and not even a part of the ballet but this President has much to gain with the results of the most recent election on November 1st.   The ruling Justice and Development party, or AKP, won more than 49 percent of the vote in the election Sunday, almost double that of the next party. The win restored the party’s single-party majority that it had lost in a June election.

The Islamist-leaning AKP party won 317 of the 550 seats in parliament but was short the seats needed to  call a referendum on changing the constitution and increasing the powers of the president.  Critics of the election feel it is only time before President Erdogan finds away in parliament for his presidential powers to increase.   

The leader of the HDP, Selahattin Demirtas, said: “This wasn’t a fair election. We could not campaign because we had to protect our people from a massacre.”

The HDP had suspended campaigning after the bombing in Ankara.

According to the BBC, European powers especially those in the EU are hoping that with the elections over they can gain cooperation from Turkey in the enormous refugee crisis faced by every European and middle east country.  These European leaders, in private, are highly critical of President Erdogan and his record on protecting human rights and the rule of law but feel that Turkey is pivotal in handling the crisis.  Erdogan is hoping to use this platform in order to gain access to the EU as a member.  

President Erdogan is demanding that the world recognize the results of this election saying, “The whole world must show respect. So far I haven’t seen such a maturity from the world.”

Turkey Officials State Downed Drone is Russian

According to the Turkish military, a drone shot down by Turkish warplanes in Turkish air space near Syria on Friday was Russian-made.  Moscow insists however, that the unmanned aircraft did not belong to Russia and that their drones are all accounted for.   

The drone was downed after it continued on its flight path despite three warnings, the Turkish military said. Earlier this month, Russian jets violated Turkish airspace on two occasions.  Russia’s military said it will continue to deploy drones over Syria “I would . . . like to emphasize that Russian drones are continuing to monitor the situation in Syria’s skies,” spokesman Igor Konashenkov said, AFP reported.

In a live televised interview,  Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that the drone may have belonged to the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the Kurdish PYD militia, or other forces.

According to Reuters, he said that his country will not hesitate to shoot down planes violating its airspace.   

“We downed a drone yesterday. If it was a plane we’d do the same. Our rules of engagement are known. Whoever violates our borders, we will give them the necessary answer,” Davutoglu told a rally of his ruling AK Party.

Turkey Warning U.S. & Russia, Do Not Back Kurds in Syria

Turkey summoned the U.S. and Russian ambassadors separately on Tuesday to convey their concerns regarding Syrian Kurdish forces fighting the ISIS terrorist group in Syria and “unacceptable military and political support by the U.S. or by Russia.”

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, said in televised comments: “We have a clear position. That position has been conveyed to the United States and the Russian Federation. Turkey cannot accept any cooperation with terrorist organisations which have waged war against it.”

Turkey has been active on its war on terror against ISIS and with the Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK) who has waged a bloody insurgency since 1984 into Turkey, but has so far focused almost exclusively on bombing of the Kurdish militants in northern Iraq. The Democratic Union party (PYD) is considered to be a Syrian offshoot of the PKK by Turkey and military officials there are concerned that weapon drops to Syrian rebels by the U.S. and ammunitions being supplied to Assad’s forces by Russia are being confiscated and used by the PYD.   

Involved in harsh fighting with ISIS for many months, the PYD’s Kurdish fighters control large parts of northern Syria on the Turkish border.  

“We know that some of those who fled from [Turkish] operations against the PKK in northern Iraq joined the ranks of the PYD in Syria. We have a clear stance against terrorist organisations which waged a war against Turkey. We have the same attitude against their affiliates.” said Prime Minister Davutoğlu. “Just as the United States and other friendly allies fight against al-Qaida linked groups, Turkey is determined to fight against the PKK and its affiliates.”

Deadly Bombing in Turkey over the Weekend; ISIS Main Suspects

A suicide bombing that took place in Ankara, Turkey killed 97 people and injured 250 others on Saturday. As the country mourned the deaths, Turkey’s government said that the prime suspect for the bombing was ISIS.

It is currently believed that two suicide bombers carried out the attack near Ankara’s main train station where a peace rally was being held. The rally was calling for an end to the conflict between the Turkish government and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahment Davutoglu stated that the attack was intended to influence their election in November. The vote will not be postponed, according to officials.

“As the country enters the final stage of the second election campaign this year, our concerns that political instability and security threats would increase are proving tragically accurate,” said Cristian Maggio, head of Emerging Markets Research at TD Securities in London in an e-mailed report on Monday. Maggio has been studying the security flaws in Turkey.

At this time, no group has claimed responsibility for the attacks and suspects include Kurdish rebels, militant nationalists, Marxist radicals, the Turkish government, and ISIS.

“If you consider the way the attack happened and the general trend of it, we have identified Islamic State as the primary focus,” Davutoglu told Turkey’s NTV television. “It was definitely a suicide bombing…DNA tests are being conducted. It was determined how the suicide bombers got there. We’re close to a name, which points to one group.”

The aftermath of the incident has also led to clashes between police and civilians. As police continue to investigate the area, civilians wish to visit the scene to mourn and honor the dead. Police are continuing to block civilians from the scene and even had to fire tear gas in the air in once incident.

NATO Will Defend Turkey As Russian Military Escalation Continues in Syria

On Thursday, NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg stated that NATO is ready to deploy forces in order to defend alliance member Turkey.

The statement comes days after Turkey reported that Russia had violated its airspace twice and approximately a week since Russia began airstrikes in Syria. NATO defense ministers are planning to meet in Brussels today regarding Russia’s military escalation in Syria.

“Nato is ready and able to defend all allies, including Turkey against any threats,” Jens Stoltenberg, the secretary general, told reporters before the Brussels meeting.

“In Syria, we have seen a troubling escalation of Russian military activities. We will assess the latest developments and their implications for the security of the alliance. This is particularly relevant in view of the recent violations of Nato’s airspace by Russian aircraft.

“Nato has already responded by increasing our capacity, our ability, our preparedness to deploy forces including to the south, including in Turkey.”

Stoltenberg also announced that NATO has already taken steps in order to defend Turkey if needed. The NATO Response Force has been doubled to 40,000, and NATO is reviewing its naval presence in the eastern Mediterranean, where Russian forces already have a small naval flotilla off the Syrian coast.

Moscow continues to deny Western accusations that their military presence in Syria is to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Russia insists their presence in Syria is to only fight the Islamic State. However, Russian airstrikes have mostly targeted areas that are controlled by Syrian rebels, not ISIS.