(Military Times) Pentagon officials are denying reports that the U.S. military is planning to “liquidate” Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar and Incirlik Air Base in Turkey, two of U.S Central Command’s main air combat bases in the Middle East.
The leaders of Turkey, Russia and Iran are set to hold a three-way summit in Ankara on Wednesday to continue negotiations over settling the seven-year conflict in Syria. During the trip, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin are expected to attend the groundbreaking for a $20 billion Russian-made nuclear plant on the Mediterranean coast at Akkuyu and hold a high-level Cooperation Council meeting in Ankara. Read More
timesofisrael.com
Erdogan doubles down on foreign operations against Kurdish fighters
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said this week that Turkey is capable of carrying out operations against groups it deems terrorists without any approval from foreign countries, including Iraq. “These days Turkey is finding terrorist organizations outside its borders and is entering their dens,” Erdogan said in Istanbul on Monday. “We have told Baghdad that either they should deal with it or we will do it. We are not thinking about waiting for any approval from anyone.”
The comments come as Turkish forces in northern Iraq have begun to build permanent military bases to Kurdish incursions inside Turkey, Al-Hurra reported Monday. Turkish forces advanced about 6 miles inside Iraqi territory last month in order to attack elements of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Sinjar, but the operation was canceled after Baghdad promised to stop PKK activities in Iraq. Read More dailysabah.com
(IHS Jane’s 360) Following a meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin on 3 April, the two leaders announced that they had agreed to an expedited delivery of the missiles from Russia. Turkey’s Undersecretary for Defense Industries, Ismail Demir, later confirmed on his Twitter account that the delivery schedule had moved to July 2019, compared with previous delivery estimates of 2020.
Despite their divergent strategic goals, the leaders of Iran, Russia and Turkey have agreed to work together in Syria while further excluding the United States from the decision-making process.