"Erdogan has appointed himself head of Turkey's sovereign wealth fund"

Shades of 1MDB?

I think it’s clear which way the future in Turkey will proceed. I just wonder how long arm sales will continue - and membership of NATO.....

The Times:

Erdogan and Nicolás Maduro cement alliance with ‘golden handshake’

President Erdogan has promised to build a mosque in the Venezuelan capital in a meeting with President Maduro during the first state visit of a Turkish president to the country.

The two leaders, both of whom are battling economic crises and have found themselves increasingly isolated on the world stage, met in Caracas yesterday as Mr Erdogan took a detour on his route home from the G20 summit.

Referring to Mr Maduro as “my brother”, Mr Erdogan also said that the two countries will strengthen their trade ties — a riposte to the United States, which has imposed sanctions on the increasingly erratic Venezuelan leader.

The Turkish president said that Venezuela was facing “manipulative attacks from certain countries and acts of sabotage from economic assassins” — a charge he also levelled at Washington this year when it levied sanctions against Ankara in response to the detention of Andrew Brunson, an American evangelical pastor, who has since been freed.

Bilateral trade between the two countries has risen six-fold to more than $1 billion this year. That includes huge exports of Venezuelan gold — one of the commodities under embargo — to Turkey for refining. Figures from the Turkish treasury show that $900 million of gold was imported from Venezuela in the first nine months of this year........

This is getting beyond the F-35 now. Not only might they lose their Patriot, buying depending on how you read SACEUR’s words, any future cooperation and participation in exercises where any NATO F-35 is involved?

https://www.defensenews.com/global/e...ussian-system/

WASHINGTON — The top uniformed officer in NATO and the head of American forces in Europe said Tuesday that if Turkey goes through with its decision to buy a Russian air defense system, he would recommend the Pentagon refuse to give Ankara its planned purchase of the F-35 joint strike fighter.

Testifying in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti said it would be his “best military advice" that sales to Turkey of the F-35 be cut, should that nation buy the S-400 air defense system.

“If they accept the S-400 to establish it in Turkey, there is first the issue that it’s not interoperable with NATO systems, nor is it interoperable inside of our integrated missile defense system. The second has to do with the F-35. It presents a problem to all of our aircraft, but specifically the F-35, I believe,” Scaparrotti said. My best military advice would be that we don’t then follow through with the F-35 — flying it or working with an ally that is working with Russian systems, particularly air defense systems, with one of our most advanced technological capabilities,” he added........

As a result of the planned S-400 procurement, the Pentagon launched a large study into whether it would be possible to remove Turkey from the F-35 industrial base.

Asked about the industrial base, the general said: “For them I would underscore this is a huge decision for Turkey. I have talked to them, as all of our leadership has.” He added that there is a team on the ground today talking with the Turks about the issue. “I would hope they would reconsider this decision on the S-400, one system, but potentially forfeit many of the other systems and one of the most important systems we provide them," he said.

One such system besides the F-35 that could be impacted should Russia buy the S-400 is the Patriot missile defense system, which Turkey was recently cleared to buy.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/e...stem-bmlgcbmwk

Erdogan deepens Turkey-US rift with £2.5bn deal for Russian missile system

President Erdogan has stoked a growing row with Nato by signalling that Turkey could purchase a second Russian missile defence system, a move that would accelerate Ankara’s pivot towards Moscow and the east.

The Turkish leader said he was committed to his decision to buy the Russian S-400 system, despite repeated warnings from the US that such a move could lead to sanctions and the cancellation of Ankara’s order for 100 advanced US F-35 fighter jets. This week, Curtis Scaparrotti, the top American general in Europe, said that Nato security and US-Turkey relations would be severely compromised should Ankara purchase the Russian system.

Yet speaking in an interview with Turkish news channel Kanal 24, Mr Erdogan dismissed General Scaparrotti’s warning, and reaffirmed a pledge to purchase the $2.5 billion Russian deal and suggested that Ankara’s defence cooperation deal with Moscow could deepen even further. “The S-400 is a done deal, there can be no turning back. We will move toward a joint production. Perhaps after the S-400, we will go for the S-500,” Mr Erdogan said.......

The issue is likely to be high on the agenda when Nato’s foreign ministers gather in Washington next month, as the dispute over defence purchases threatens to widen a rift at the heart of the alliance.

Mr Erdogan is increasingly building ties with Russia and China as his relations with Turkey’s traditional Western allies cool. Most Turkish officers posted to Nato assignments were purged from their positions in the president’s clampdown after the 2016 coup attempt, with many claiming asylum in Europe and warning that their places are now being filled with anti-Western officers. Adnan Tanriverdi, a former one-star general who was dismissed from the Turkish army in the 1990s for his alleged Islamist sympathies, was appointed Mr Erdogan’s defence adviser soon after the coup......

https://www.continentaltelegraph.com...interest-rate/

Don’t Mess With Markets – Turkey’s Stock Crash, 1,200% Interest Rate

Adnan Tanriverdi is a nutter and his private security company is a joke. (Sadat.com.tr) I don’t think he has much traction amongst the hundreds of cronies Erdogan appointed immediately after the coup attempt. Defence Minister Hukusi Akar is very pro West, and as the recent CGS and CLF before that, commands enormous respect from the still-secular army. He is, I assess, the most powerful member of government and would be well placed to run an interim government if anything were to happen to RTE.

That’s probably why Erdogan has kept him close as an appointed Minister. Just saying...

U.S. congressional committee leaders warn Turkey on F-35, S-400

(Reuters) - The leaders of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services Committees warned Turkey on Tuesday that it risked tough sanctions if it pursued plans to purchase Russian S-400 missile defense systems, and they threatened further legislative action.

"By the end of the year, Turkey will have either F-35 advanced fighter aircraft on its soil or a Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile defense system. It will not have both," Republican Senators Jim Risch and Jim Inhofe and Democratic Senators Bob Menendez and Jack Reed said in a New York Times opinion column.

Risch is chairman of Foreign Relations and Menendez is ranking Democrat. Inhofe chairs Armed Services, where Reed is ranking Democrat.

https://www.defensenews.com/global/e...35-plan-flops/

Russia would be Turkey’s ‘first best choice’ for fighter jets if its F-35 plan flops

ANKARA, Turkey — If U.S. officials were to expel Turkey from the multinational group that builds the F-35 Lightning II, Turkish defense officials said they likely would pursue Russian fighter jet technology.

“We cannot afford to leave the F-35 not substituted,” a senior military officer told Defense news. He declined to comment on the replacement options, as this would require “technological, economical and political deliberations.”

But a defense procurement official said “geostrategic assessment” would make Russian options emerge as the natural first replacement. “Russian fighter technology would the first best choice if our American allies behaved in an un-allied way and questioned Turkey’s membership in the Joint Strike Fighter program,” he said.........

Earlier this month, the Pentagon announced a freeze on deliveries and activities with Turkey in relation to the F-35 program over Ankara’s decision to buy the S-400. Turkey insists the first S-400 shipments would arrive in July and the first S-400 system would become operational in September.

A Turkish presidential source said that potential Turkish-Russian cooperation on fighter technology was “preliminarily discussed” between their respective defense officials during Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Moscow on April 8.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Çavusoglu told broadcaster NTV on Apri 10: “There are F-35[s], but there are also aircraft manufactured in Russia. If we are not able to purchase [the] F-35, Turkey will buy similar aircraft from other countries. And this will continue until we start producing our own fifth-generation fighter jets.”.........





Washington has threatened to expel Ankara from the multinational program if Turkey deploys the Russian-made S-400 surface-to-air missile system on its soil.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...ves-off-cyprus

Turkey insists on right to drill for energy reserves off Cyprus

Tensions over energy resources in the eastern Mediterranean have risen sharply after Turkey said it would “exercise its sovereign rights” to drill off Cyprus in flagrant defiance of warnings from western allies.

As the dispute over potential gas reserves intensified, Ankara insisted its state-of-the-art drilling ship, the Fatih, and its support vessels would begin operations in waters viewed by the EU as being within the island’s exclusive economic zone.

“Turkey does not recognise the unilateral and illegitimate exclusive economic zone claims of the Greek Cypriots,” its foreign minister, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, announced in a letter released by the state-run Anadolu news agency. “Third parties should refrain in taking sides in overlapping maritime boundary claims and they should not act as if they are in a court in rendering judgement on bilateral maritime boundaries.”

Despite international condemnation, the ships, escorted by a naval frigate, have been deployed 39 nautical miles off the divided island’s western coast for the past week. The closest Turkish shore lies almost 80 nautical miles away. But Ankara, which refuses to recognise Cyprus – instead acknowledging the self-proclaimed Turkish republic in the north – argues the region is part of its own continental shelf and, as such, it is complying with international law. It is a stance that, increasingly, has put the Nato country at odds with allies.

On Sunday a senior Cypriot official said Nicosia will issue international and European arrest warrants “for all involved” if, as looked likely, drilling did take place.

Earlier this month, the EU’s policy chief, Federica Mogherini, expressed “grave concern” over Turkey’s intentions. In a statement that highlighted growing alarm at the sabre-rattling, she hinted that sanctions could follow if Ankara did not heed the bloc’s warnings. “We urgently call on Turkey to show restraint, respect the sovereign rights of Cyprus in its exclusive economic zone [EEZ] and refrain from any such action to which the European Union will respond appropriately and in full solidarity with Cyprus.” The European council president, Donald Tusk, said Brussels was closely monitoring the situation. “We stand united behind Cyprus,” he said of the island, the EU’s most easterly member state.

Any exploration would not only escalate tensions dramatically but increase fears of a “hot incident” with repercussions across a region where the race to tap underwater spoils is becoming ever more intense........

The escalating dispute comes less than a week after Turkey launched its largest-ever naval exercise, Operation Seawolf, with more than 130 warships in the region. Much of the naval deployment is set to occur in waters close to the island. “Our aim … is to show that the Turkish armed forces are extremely determined, committed and capable of ensuring the security, sovereignty, independence, maritime rights and benefits of Turkey,” said the country’s defence minister, Hulusi Akar.......

Cyprus, which lacks a navy, is not a member of the alliance but has launched a far-reaching diplomatic initiative to shore up solidarity among partners. Stepping up those efforts, officials confirmed the president, Nicos Anastasiades, had sent a letter at the weekend to the British prime minister, Theresa May, protesting about “unacceptable” comments that cast doubt over the island’s sovereignty of the area where Turkey intends to push ahead with the drilling. The UK’s stance is at odds with every other EU member state, they said. Anastasiades said he will raise the issue with Michel Barnier, the EU’s Brexit negotiator, when he visits Nicosia on Monday.

https://www.defensenews.com/air/2019...ogram-in-2020/

Turkish suppliers to be eliminated from F-35 program in 2020

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is preparing to transfer Turkey’s industrial participation in the F-35 to other countries unless Ankara reverses course on its plans to buy the Russian S-400 air defense system.

The move — which in early 2020 would end contracts with major Turkish defense contractors such as Turkish Aerospace Industries, Roketsan and Tusas Engine Industries, among many others — is just one of many steps the U.S. Defense Department intends to take to strip Turkey from the F-35 program, according to a June 6 letter from acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan.

The training of Turkish F-35 pilots at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona and of Turkish maintainers at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, will also end, Shanahan wrote, and U.S. military exercises in Turkey are in jeopardy.......

Turkey, a partner in the F-35 program that helped fund the development of the jet, plans to buy 100 F-35As. Its first jet was rolled out in June 2018 in a festive “delivery ceremony,” but although Turkey formally owns its jets, the United States has the power to keep the planes from moving to Turkish soil and intends to keep all four existing Turkish jets from leaving the United States. Lord told reporters that the Pentagon is still deciding what it will do with Turkey’s jets. One option would be to buy the aircraft and repurpose them for the U.S. Air Force, but no official decision has been made.

Turkish companies are responsible for 937 parts used to build the F-35, with 400 of those sole-sourced from Turkish firms, Lord said. Existing contracts would go through a “disciplined and graceful wind down” period in “early 2020,” Lord said. “If we can work to our timelines with the Turks, we would have no major disruptions and very few delays,” she said. Vice Adm. Mat Winter, the F-35’s program executive, said in April that 50-75 aircraft could be delayed over a two-year period if Turkey is removed from the program, according to Breaking Defense. But Lord said those disruptions would occur only if the Pentagon terminated its supply chain agreements this summer.

Ultimately, prime contractors Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney will make the decisions on which subcontractors replace the Turkish vendors, but the Pentagon has identified new suppliers that could step up and make the parts currently sole-sourced by Turkey. “They are predominantly U.S. sources. That’s not to say that we won’t continue to do what we always do with program management and look for other sources, because we would like to have second, third sources for most of the items,” she said.

The Defense Department has already stopped material deliveries to Turkey, halting the buildup of an engine overhaul facility that was planned to be built in and operated by Turkey. “There are two other European MRO&Us [maintenance, repair, overhaul and upgrade facilities] that can absorb the volume with no issue whatsoever,” Lord said.

Despite Turkey’s industrial role in the program, Lord said she was confident that all important technical information would stay secure. “We control what is downloaded from our computers. We have shared what's appropriate. The Turks have no critical documentation that we're concerned about,” she said........

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...-u-s-sanctions

Turkey Stockpiles Crucial Weapons Parts, Anticipating U.S. Sanctions

a particular poor and inaccurate article. Turkey has supported different factions there and has been particularly active in intercepting arms shipments, in cooperation with European agencies.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan is not sending Forces in to Libya; advisors at best. The Turkish Forces (TSK) are massively overstretched and Syria needs to be resolved before the Turks go all expeditionary. They had enough difficulties in sustaining forces just 10s of km into Syria.

And the throw-away comment in the article that his name is Sultan Recep is both inaccurate and mendacious. It would be the same as labelling anyone with the name George, William, James, Henry as “King”.

https://www.dailysabah.com/defense/2...ssia-on-sunday

S-400s reportedly to be loaded on planes in Russia on Sunday

The first of the Russian S-400 air missile defense systems that Ankara has purchased will be loaded on to cargo planes on Sunday and are expected to arrive in Turkey sometime next week, Turkish Habertürk daily reported.

The initial S-400 delivery will be sent on two cargo planes from a Russian military air base, Habertürk said without citing a source. It also reported that a Russian technical team that would oversee its installation is expected to arrive in Turkey by Monday........