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Kurdish rebels threaten renewed violence in Turkey

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A Kurdish rebel commander has warned that fighting in Turkey’s southeast could resume by June if efforts to end a 30-year insurgency make no progress. Murat Karayilan’s comments came days after Turkish and Kurdish officials declared a "new phase" in the peace process after widespread protests by Kurds in October threatened to derail the talks. Karayilan told Iraq-based Roj News that imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan could be freed from prison by April if the talks make headway. However, he threatened to resume hostilities before Turkey’s June elections if there is no progress. His comments were carried by Turkish and Kurdish media on Wednesday. Turkey began talking to Ocalan in 2012 with the aim of ending the conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people since 1984.

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Russia, Turkey Complete Initial Gas Pipeline Talks

By Emre Peker ISTANBUL–Turkey and Russia have held the first round of talks to build a new pipeline between the two Black Sea neighbors as Moscow seeks an alternative to the natural-gas link to the European Union it scrapped earlier this month amid political tensions over Ukraine. The negotiations started Wednesday following the memorandum Turkey signed with Russia during President Vladimir Putin’s state visit to Ankara last week, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said on Thursday. Mr. Yildiz said final deliberations may last until 2020. It is too soon to say whether a new project will get the green light to replace the South Stream pipeline which Russia’s state-run energy firm Gazprom had undertaken to build, the minister said. The proposed new pipeline–billed "Turk Stream"–would be a major piece of energy infrastructure in its own right and help Turkey become an energy hub with a gas exporting capabilities that […]

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In Diplomatic Defeat, Putin Diverts Pipeline to Turkey

MOSCOW — President Vladimir V. Putin said Monday that he would scrap Russia ’s South Stream gas pipeline, a grandiose project that was once intended to establish the country’s dominance in southeastern Europe but instead fell victim to Russia ’s increasingly toxic relationship with the West. It was a rare diplomatic defeat for Mr. Putin, who said Russia would redirect the pipeline to Turkey . He painted the failure to build the pipeline as a loss for Europe and blamed Brussels for its intransigence. The decision also seemed to be a rare victory for the European Union and the Obama administration, which have appeared largely impotent this year as Mr. Putin annexed Crimea and stirred rebellion in eastern Ukraine. Russia had long presented the $22 billion South Stream project as a sound business move. But Washington and Brussels had dismissed it as a thinly veiled attempt by the Kremlin […]

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BP to close TANAP deal by year’s end

BP confirms it will close on deal to take stake in Turkish natural gas pipeline by the end of the year. UPI/Alexis C. Glenn LONDON, Oct. 28 (UPI) — BP confirmed Tuesday an agreement to take a 12 percent stake in a Turkish pipeline carrying Azeri gas to Europe will close by the end of the year. BP-Azerbaijan in January 2013 signed a framework agreement to take on a 12 percent stake in the Trans-Anatolian natural gas project. The State Oil Co. of Azerbaijan Republic has a majority stake in the pipeline. "We expect to take a 12 percent stake in TANAP by the end of the year," a BP spokesman confirmed to UPI. BP has awarded more than $1 billion in development contracts since selecting the Trans-Adriatic pipeline as its option to carry natural gas from the Shah Deniz field off the coast of Azerbaijan last year. The […]

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US to use Turkish bases in fight against Isis

US soldiers stand near a Patriot missile system at a Turkish military base in Gaziantep on February 5, 2013. The United States, Germany and the Netherlands committed to send two missile batteries each and up to 400 soldiers to operate them after Ankara asked for help to bolster its air defences against possible missile attack from Syria. AFP PHOTO / BULENT KILIC ©AFP Turkey will allow the US-led coalition to use military bases on its territory to launch operations into Iraq and Syria and to train Syrian rebel forces, US officials said on Sunday. The decision represents a significant increase in Turkey’s involvement in the US-led coalition against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, also known as Isis, following several days of intense diplomatic lobbying by Washington of its Nato ally. The Obama administration has been particularly keen to conduct air strikes from the Incirlik base in […]

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U.S. Troops to Use Bases in Turkey

WASHINGTON — Turkey will allow American and coalition troops to use its bases, including a key installation within 100 miles of the Syrian border, for operations against Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq, Defense Department officials said Sunday. Obama administration officials have urged the Turkish government to play a more significant role in fighting the extremists who have seized large parts of Iraq and Syria and driven refugees into Turkey. An American military team will arrive in Turkey this week to work out details of the training program and discuss what kind of missions can be flown from the Turkish bases, administration officials said. The basing and training agreement follows two days of talks in Ankara, the Turkish capital, between the authorities there and John R. Allen, the retired American general who is coordinating the coalition’s response to the Islamic State. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, who has been […]

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Turkey Votes to Allow Operations Against ISIS

Turkey appeared to take a big political step toward joining the American-led campaign against the militants of the Islamic State when its Parliament voted Thursday to authorize expanded military operations in Iraq and Syria and to allow foreign forces to launch operations from its territory. But it was far from clear whether the political step would soon translate into military action. In many ways Turkey’s stance is a crucial question mark hanging over the campaign against the Islamic State. Alone among the potential coalition members, it has a large, capable army already on station along the borders of Syria and Iraq, with bases and logistical support close at hand and long experience at working with other NATO members, including the United States. But it has been deeply cautious about intervening against the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, and the militants have so far been careful not to draw […]

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Turkey to get more Russian natural gas

Turkey to get more natural gas from Russian through Blue Stream pipeline. UPI/Hamid Forotan MOSCOW, Oct. 2 (UPI) — The Turkish government said it reached a deal with Russian energy company Gazprom to receive nearly 20 percent more gas per year from the Blue Stream pipeline. Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz met with Gazprom officials in Moscow to discuss bilateral relations. Turkey consumes about 1.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas annually and more than half of that comes from Russia. During meetings with Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak and Gazprom Chief Executive Alexei Miller, the Turkish government said the amount of gas sent from Russia though the Blue Stream pipeline would increase by about 18 percent to 670 billion cubic feet per year. Turkey aims to exploit its geographical position to serve as an energy bridge between Middle Eastern and Asian suppliers to the Middle East. The Trans […]

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Turkey Seeks Syria Troop Mandate as Islamic State on Border

Turkey’s government is seeking parliamentary approval for possible military action in Syria and Iraq that would allow its own forces to target Islamic State and permit foreign troops to use Turkish soil. Legislation, also citing security risks from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government and Kurdish PKK rebel fighter based in northern Iraq, was submitted to parliament late yesterday to allow foreign troops to use Turkey as a staging post and to renew an existing mandate for military action for one year, according to state-run Anadolu Agency. The bill will be debated tomorrow, Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said yesterday after a six-hour cabinet meeting attended by army chiefs. The vote is expected to pass and marks a shift in Turkey’s approach to the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State after weeks of failing to publicly back the campaign. Militants in northern Syria have advanced to within a few miles of […]

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Turkey Wants Secure Syria Zone as Militants Strike Kurds

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for the establishment of a “secure zone” inside Syria to repatriate Kurdish refugees who fled to Turkey to escape an Islamic State onslaught. Erdogan, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Istanbul last night, said Turkey “can’t stay out” of the U.S.-led coalition against the al-Qaeda breakaway. He said any offensive strategy must also strengthen rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whom Turkey seeks to oust. His remarks capture the clashing interests that have kept Turkey out of the alliance so far and strained relations with Turkish Kurds that he has labored hard to repair. While Erdogan says he wants to see the al-Qaeda breakaway vanquished, that could come at the cost of benefiting Assad and strengthening the hand of Kurdish separatists on both sides of the border. Kurds in Turkey suspect Erdogan wants to create a militarized buffer zone along part of […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple