DefenceTalkDefenceTalkTurkey’s big push into the Mediterranean featuring controversial gas drilling, tough rhetoric and warships is rooted in a grand vision of a “Blue Homeland” that takes over waters claimed by EU neighbours. Fearful of being denied a fair share of the region’s bountiful natural gas wealth, Turkey sent a research vessel and a small navy […]https://www.defencetalk.com/turkeys-bid-to-become-maritime-powerhouse-unsettles-mediterranean-76197/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkThe NATO Western military alliance on Tuesday approved a new defence plan for Poland and the Baltic states after the allies reached a compromise with Turkey which had been vetoing it, officials said. The deal marked a breakthrough after months of talks over Turkey’s demand to receive more support in its fight against a Kurdish […]https://www.defencetalk.com/turkey-lifts-veto-on-nato-defence-plan-for-poland-baltics-75788/

DefenceTalkAnkara: Turkish news channels have been dominated this week by a steady stream of black-and-white drone footage showing the destruction of Syrian regime targets in rebel-held Idlib. Domestically produced drones have given Turkey a vital edge in its latest operation against Syrian forces. They have become a symbol of national pride as the country seeks […]https://www.defencetalk.com/turkeys-drones-provide-crucial-edge-in-syria-74621/

DefenceTalkBeirut: A Turkish fighter jet Tuesday downed a Syrian regime warplane in the northwestern Idlib province and the pilot was killed, a monitoring group said. It was the third such downing in three days amid escalating fighting between Turkish forces and Syria’s Russian- and Iranian-backed regime. A missile fired by Syrian regime forces on the […]https://www.defencetalk.com/syrian-pilot-killed-as-turkey-downs-warplane-monitor-74580/

DefenceTalkTurkish drone strikes in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province killed 19 government soldiers on Sunday, a war monitor reported, as tensions soared between Damascus and Ankara. The 19 died in strikes on a military convoy in the Jabal al-Zawiya area and a base near Maaret al-Numan city, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The report […]https://www.defencetalk.com/turkish-drones-kill-19-syrian-government-soldiers-as-tensions-soar-74502/

DefenceTalkTwo Russian warships armed with cruise missiles were today transiting the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul on their way to Mediterranean waters, as tensions spiralled between Turkey and Russia following the deaths of at least 33 Turkish soldiers in Syria, the military said. The two Russian frigates — the Admiral Makarov and the Admiral Grigorovich — […]https://www.defencetalk.com/russian-warships-transit-bosphorus-as-turkey-tensions-soar-74356/

DefenceTalkTurkey warned on Friday it was opening the gates for refugees to flee to Europe after an air strike blamed on Damascus killed 33 Turkish soldiers in Syria. The international community voiced fears of a rapidly-rising risk of escalation after the attack by Russian-backed Syrian forces in the province of Idlib, where President Bashar al-Assad […]https://www.defencetalk.com/fears-of-escalation-after-33-turkish-troops-killed-in-syria-74352/

DefenceTalkTurkey said Thursday it wanted no “face-off” with Moscow over Syria’s offensive near the two countries’ border but said it might receive US defence missiles to protect Turkish forces. Tensions have mounted in the last three months between rebel-backer Turkey and Syria ally Moscow over President Bashar al-Assad’s offensive in northwest Idlib, the last-rebel held […]https://www.defencetalk.com/turkey-says-might-receive-us-missiles-over-syria-threat-74143/

Cyprus has signed contracts for weapons orders to bolster its defences at a time of heightened tensions with Turkey over maritime gas deposits, its defense ministry confirmed Friday. “Contracts were signed related to upgrading specific weapons systems at an estimated cost of 240 million” euros, the ministry said in a statement. “Given the sensitivity of […]

NATO and key member Turkey have failed to find common ground over Russia’s controversial delivery of a S-400 air defence system to Ankara, the military alliance’s chief Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday. The delivery of the system by Russia to Turkey, in a deal strongly backed by President Vladimir Putin and Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, […]