Turkey to Upgrade Pakistan Navy's Agosta Attack Submarines

In a mutual defence agreement between Pakistan and Turkey, a Turkish defense contractor will upgrade the second of three Agosta 90B submarines in service with the Pakistan Navy.

As reported, Savunma Teknolojileri Mühendislik ve Ticaret A.Ş. (STM), a Turkish state-owned defense contractor,  has won a contract for the mid-life upgrade of the second of three Agosta 90B-class (aka Khalid-class) diesel-electric attack submarines equipped with air-independent propulsion systems, currently in service with the Pakistan Navy.

The upgrade also includes installation of a Sharp Eye low probability-of-intercept (LPI) radar system aboard the PNS Saad. Additionally, “under the project, STM will make modifications on the pressure hull, the most critical structure in a submarine.”

It may be added that the three Agosta 90B attack submarines were acquired by Pakistan Navy between 1999 and 2008 from France.

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India seeking an opportunity to go to war with Pakistan

The Indo-Pakistan bilateral relations have come to their lowest ebb since the Hindu extremist party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has come into the power at the center. And every other day there is some bleeding statement from one BJP leader to another attributed to war mongering.

The latest such statement comes from BJP leader Subramanian Swamy who is been quoted as saying that India is waiting for an opportunity to go to war with Pakistan.

whenever Pakistan airs its staunch stance on Kashmir, a disputed territory between Pakistan and India since the partition of British India, there is a strong reaction from India.

He also reacted to the visiting Turkish president's offer to act as mediator between India and Pakistan to resolve the Kashmir issue. He said that Turkey has numerous issues to tackle in his own country and should better focus on that.

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Military Coup fails in Turkey: Rebel soldiers surrender to the people

What a day in Turkey today: After having undergone a turmoil for almost a day, the people of Turkey who stood against a small faction of the frustrated military officers and men, the democracy returns and dissidents surrender.

Up to 100 Turkish soldiers surrender on Bosphorus Bridge after their military coup fails, ending with 60 dead and President Erdogan vowing revenge: 'They will pay a heavy price for their treason.' More than 750 rebel soldiers have been detained after the failed coup.

At least 60 people including 17 police officers have been killed in the clashes in a bid to restore the president's rule. The coup launching soldiers bombed the Turkish parliamentary building and gunned down police and citizens protesting their unconstitutional move.

Continue to read the developing story at Daily Mail
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Turkey in turmoil: Military Coup of Martial Law

Conflicting reports are emerging in media about military take over in Turkey - or is it a coup by a small group of military officers? Tanks are seen rolling down in Istanbul streets while people loyal to the president are out in streets to beat back the coup as can be seen in the photo above.

In the meanwhile the President Erdogan vows revenge for military coup after Turkish supporters of Islamist government face down troops and tanks during botched takeover: They will pay a heavy price for their treason, the Turkish president has been reported as saying.

Mr. Erdogan made his triumphant return back to Istanbul after his forces quelled the coup on Friday evening, he told the gathered masses as Ataturk Airport that those loyal to Gulen had 'penetrated the Armed Forces and the police, among other government agencies, over the past 40 years.'

Read continous developing news at Daily Mail
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Istanbul Airport rocked by three bombs - 32 reported dead

Photo of the attack soon after the explosion

The terrorists hit Istanbul, Turkey's international airport which leaves 32 dead and 88 injured as per initial reports.

The attacks occurred on the arrival terminal. Eyewitness saw a police officer wrestle attacker to the ground just moments before the blast shook the terminals, reports Daily Mail.

An eyewitness account says that one of the terrorists was seen running through the international arrivals terminal before being shot. A police officer tried to reach the gunman, but then ran for his liferas he sensed the gunman had a suicide vest. Moments later, the gunman detonated the jacket.

The airport has been cordoned off by the army. Meanwhile the Turkish premier condemning the attack also called an emergency meeting with services heads.

Read more about it at: Daily Mail
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Russia accuses US of cover-up over ISIS oil smuggling to Turkey

Yahoo News reports quoting Russia's defence ministry on Saturday that the United States is turning a blind eye to the trafficking of oil into Turkey from Syrian areas under Islamic State control, after Washington called the amounts involved insignificant.

"When US officials say they don't see how the terrorists' oil is smuggled to Turkey... it smells badly of a desire to cover up these acts," the report adds.

It may be added for the information that US special envoy and coordinator for international energy affairs, Amos Hochstein, on Friday said the amount of oil smuggled into Turkey from areas of Syria controlled by the Islamic State group is "of no significance from a volume perspective -- both volume of oil and volume of revenue".

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Shot down Russian SU-24 pilots shot dead as they parachuted

News just coming in show that the two Russian pilots of the shot down SU-24 fighter aircraft were shot down by Syrian rebels as they parachuted from their burning warplane.

Body of one of the two Russian pilots

A video appeared to show forces shooting at the pilots with machine guns after they had ejected from the Sukhoi Su-24, which had been shot down by two Turkish F-16 jets for violating the country’s airspace. Gunfire can be heard as one of the rebels cries: ‘Don’t shoot, let’s capture them as hostages.’

Watch the video showing Syrian rebels firing at the parachuting Russian pilots:

Another footage also emerged of rebels firing the anti-tank missile at one of the two Russian helicopters sent to rescue the pilots.

Read more about it at: Daily Mail
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Turkey shoots down Russian SU-24 violating Turkish airspace

Turkey is reported to have shot down a Russian SU-24 aircraft allegedly violating its air space. The shooting has been done by an F-16 of the Turkish army near the Syrian border.

Sources close to president confirm nationality of flaming Su-24 fighter seen spiralling into the ground in Syria.

The Turkish army claims that the jet violated Turkish airspace and ignored warnings. The two pilots ejected from plane, which went down on the Syrian side.

Watch the video of the shot Russian aircraft falling down in a ball of fire:

However, Russia's Ministry of Defence claims the jet was in Syrian airspace, and was shot down from the ground.

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Has Turkey shot down a Russian war plane that violated its airspace?

Unconfirmed reports claim that a Turkey has shot down a Russian warplane that violated its airspace.

The reports quotes eyewitnesses who saw an explosion in Huraytan, northern Syria, not far from the Turkish border, while three fighter planes were seen overhead. It may be added that in view of Russian violations of Turkish airspace, NATO had previously warned of the 'extreme danger' of such incursions.

Rumours of a jet being shot out of the sky come amid heightening tensions between Russian president Vladimir Putin and the West. The downed plane may be a MiG-29 of the Russian Air Force.

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Turkish court orders Facebook to block pages Insulting Prophet Mohammad

It has been reported by Huffington Post, quoting Reters, that a Turkish court has ordered Facebook to block a number of pages deemed insulting to the Prophet Mohammad, threatening to stop access to the whole social networking site if it does not comply.

The order made by the court on Sunday followed a request by a prosecutor, state broadcaster TRT reported. No one from Facebook was immediately available for comment.

The Turkish court order comes after French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo's adamancy to continue publishing derogatory cartoons of Prophet Mohammad, that has already caused murder of 12 people in Paris.

via
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Turkey Protests Grow Violent

Angry protesters are reported to have gathered at Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's offices in Istanbul and Ankara, calling on him to resign.

"Dictator, resign!... We will resist until we win," yelled the crowds, in the latest of a string of protests that have by some accounts left hundreds injured.

Turkey's Islamist-rooted government is presently facing  growing pressure after angry demonstrators clashed for a third night with police in a nationwide wave of protests.

Accused by critics of pushing an increasingly conservative and authoritarian agenda, Erdogan's government is facing the biggest protests since it took power in 2002.

via France24
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Turkey pays the price for US Sanctions on Iran by its dwindling gold-for-oil export

Turkey, which is a US ally, is paying the price of the US imposed sanctions on Iran as its gold-for-gas trade with Iran is shrinking.

As per Reuters, U.S. officials have sought to prevent Turkish gold exports, which indirectly pay Iran for its natural gas, from providing a financial lifeline to Tehran, largely frozen out of the global banking system by Western sanctions over its nuclear program.

Turkey, Iran's biggest natural gas customer, has been paying Iran for its imports with Turkish lira, because sanctions prevent it from paying in dollars or euros.

Iranians then use those lira, held in Halkbank accounts, to buy gold in Turkey, and couriers carry bullion worth millions of dollars in hand luggage to Dubai, where it can be sold for foreign currency or shipped to Iran.

The gold exports from Turkey to Iran rose to $6.5 billion in 2012, more than ten times the level of 2011, while exports to the United Arab Emirates - much of it for onward shipment to Iran or conversion to hard currency - rose to $4.6 billion from $280 million.

However, due to the US sanctions, the Turkish bullion exports have fallen to 10.5 tonnes in December from 15.2 tonnes in November.

Read more about it at: Reuters
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NATO to activate Patriot Missiles along Turkey-Syria Border

Patriot missile firing [Photo: Defence Industry Daily]

NATO says its Patriot anti-missile defenses along Syria's border with Turkey will become operational this week.

British Brig. Gen. Gary Deakin said Patriot batteries sent by the United States, Germany and the Netherlands have reached Turkey and are currently being deployed in the south of the country.

"We expect to have an initial operating capability this weekend," Deakin said.

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Alliance member Turkey asked NATO in November to urgently deploy the U.S.-made missiles to bolster its defenses to prevent a spillover of Syria's civil war. Syria is believed to have several hundred ballistic surface-to-surface missiles capable of carrying chemical warheads.

Read more about it at: USA Today
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Turkey's Patriot Deployment Request 'a provocation'

Turkey's request to NATO for Patriot missiles is 'a new act of provocation', Syrian state television has quoted a foreign ministry official as saying.

Patriot SAM System

Turkey turned to its NATO partners earlier this week to request the deployment of surface-to-air Patriot missiles to protect its troubled border with Syria.

In its first reaction to Turkey's request on Friday, the Syrian foreign ministry accused Ankara of causing 'tension and destruction'.

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The Syrian government has long accused Turkey of harbouring, financing and arming rebels fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad.

[ via Sky News ]
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Russia proposes diluted UN text on Syria attack in Turkey

Russia on Thursday blocked adoption of a draft U.N. statement condemning a deadly Syrian mortar attack on a Turkish town and proposed a weaker text calling for "restraint" on the border without referring to breaches of international law.

Western diplomats complained that Russia's proposed Security Council statement, if accepted, would weaken the message to an unacceptable degree.

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U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was "alarmed by escalating tensions along the Syrian-Turkish border" and worried that the risk of a wider regional conflict was growing, U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said.

Syria, meanwhile, wrote to the Security Council calling for restraint.

Read more: Daily Star

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Syria lashes out Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey

The Syrian regime has accused regional powerhouses Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey of trying to destroy the country and vowed it will defeat rebels who have captured large swathes of the commercial hub Aleppo.

Military forces in Aleppo fired tank and artillery shells at neighbourhoods as rebels tried to repel the government air and ground assault.

According to activists, rebels who launched an operation to take over Syria's largest city a week ago are estimated to control between a third and half of Aleppo's neighbourhoods.

Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem, on a visit to Iran, criticised Sunni powers in the Middle East, saying Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey are supporting a plot hatched by Israel to destroy Syria. The three countries have all been backing rebels trying to overthrow authoritarian President Bashar al-Assad.

Read details: SMH

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Syria shoots down Turkish war plane over Mediterranean

The Syrian military said tonight that it shot down a Turkish military aircraft 'over Syrian territorial waters'.

The F4 Phantom jet disappeared over the Mediterranean yesterday - potentially provoking a fresh crisis between the Middle Eastern neighbours.

'Our air defences confronted a target that penetrated our air space over our territorial waters pre-afternoon on Friday and shot it down. It turned out to be a Turkish military plane,' a statement by the military circulated on state media said.

The plane was brought down over the eastern part of the sea, southwest of the Turkish province of Hatay, which borders Syria.


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Turkish PM's visit to Pakistan: Erdogan accorded warm welcome

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was accorded a rousing welcome when he arrived in Islamabad on Sunday on a state visit.

During his three-day stay in the capital‚ he will hold important talks with the Paki-stani leadership to further cement Pak-Turkish ties and give boost to mutual coopera-tion in various fields.

The Turkish Prime Minister will address joint sitting of the Parliament today (Monday) afternoon. Tayyip Erdogan is one of two world leaders who will have the distinction to address Pakistani Parliament twice. Earlier‚ former Turkish President Kenan Evren had addressed the Parliament twice.

The Turkish Prime Minister will also co-chair a meeting of Pak-Turk Cooperation Council alongwith Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani. Erdogan will also co-chair the second high level cooperation council meeting. Both leaders will sign five agreements of cooperation in the economic field.

Read more: Pakistan Observer

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Turkey donates $1.3 billion to poor countries

Turkey donated $1.3 billion in 2011 to poor nations as support to the least developed countries holds an important place in its international development initiatives, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on April 21. 

“We will continue with determination to support the least developed countries and voice their problems on every occasion and platform,” Erdoğan said during the 13th United Nations (UN) Conference on Trade and Development in Doha, Qatar.

Erdoğan said Turkey had hosted the Fourth U.N. Conference on the Least Developed Countries last May, and had vowed to follow the implementations in line with the Istanbul Action Plan and Declaration for the next decade.

Read details: Daily News

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French President Sarkozy orders new genocide law draft

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has ordered his government to draft a new law punishing denial of the Armenian genocide after a top court struck down a previous bill.

The Constitutional Council earlier ruled the law backed by Mr Sarkozy infringed on freedom of expression. The bill, which covers the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks during World War I, was passed by both houses of the French parliament.

Turkey has welcomed the ruling. The legislation had strained relations between the two countries.

Read more: My Global News

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