Lieutenant General Mark Phillip Hertling The commanding general of the US Army Europe (USAREUR) says the Pentagon has recently sent a number of American soldiers to Turkey in a bid to assist Ankara in handling the spillover of the Syrian crisis. “We have had a relatively few number of US Army Europe personnel in Turkey recently,” Turkey’s Hurriyet newspaper quoted Lieutenant General Mark... 

There was a time when the Turkish-led Ottoman Empire ruled over a large chunk of Europe. Now some believe the Turks want to bring back those old glory days. The Turkish government has embarked on a mosque-building campaign throughout Germany. One new Turkish mega-mosque, the Cologne Central Mosque, has Germans on edge. When construction on the facility is completed, it will be Germany’s largest... 

Ankara has placed a ban on Syrian Airlines flying into Turkish airspace, after a diplomatic row that began when Turkey seized cargo from a Syrian civilian plane it forced to land in Ankara. Earlier, Damascus closed its airspace to Turkish airlines. ­Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said his country had made the decision because the Syrian regime, which is battling an insurgency, was “abusing”... 

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has warned Turkey and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) against military intervention in Syria. The premier made the remarks during his ongoing visit to Russia on Wednesday. Al-Maliki accused Ankara of trying to draw the Western military alliance into the conflict in neighboring Syria, noting that NATO should not... 

A Syrian Air Airbus A320 Turkish fighter jets have forced a Syria-bound civilian airplane heading to Damascus from Moscow to land in the Turkish capital Ankara. The Airbus A320 was intercepted by Turkish F-16 jets late on Wednesday as it entered the country’s airspace. The plane, reportedly carrying 35 passengers onboard, was then escorted to Ankara’s Esenboga Airport. Questioned by Turkey’s... 

The Turkish-Syrian Skirmish Is Being Taken Out Of Context. The mainstream American press has trumpeted for days the claim that Turkey is “retaliating” for artillery fire coming from Syrian government forces on the Syrian-Turkish border near the town of Akçakale. Because Turkey is a member of Nato (for 50 years), a declaration of war by Turkey could well drag Nato into a conflict. The Turkish... 

Several Syrian soldiers killed in Turkey attack Turkey has fired back at Syria after Syrian mortar bombs killed five people and wounded eight, in a Turkish town near the border, according to senior Turkish officials. NATO convened for an urgent meeting tonight, unilaterally condemning the act. “Our armed forces in the border region immediately retaliated against this heinous attack… by shelling... 

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (L) and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu are considering implementing no-fly zones for Syria after holding Saturday talks in Istanbul. ­According to Reuters, Clinton said that Ankara and Washington need to plan ways to assist the rebels fighting to topple President Bashar... 

French soldiers board an A310 airliner on August 9, 2012 at the Istres military airbase in southern France to be sent to the Syrian-Jordanian border. France has sent troops to the Syrian border with Jordan amid reports of escalating foreign support for the insurgents fighting the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. France said its soldiers have been deployed to ‘help refugees’... 

Members of an armed gang in Syria A report says Turkey has supplied the foreign-sponsored armed groups in Syria with surface-to-air missiles. According to a July 31 report by the NBC News, nearly two dozen missiles have been delivered to the rebels in Syria by Turkey. The report, however, did not provide details on the exact type of the missiles, also known as MANPADs (man-portable air-defense systems). Over... 

Turkey has reportedly deployed tanks and armored vehicles to the Syrian border. Turkish officials have confirmed deploying anti-aircraft batteries in the area close to the border with Syria. This is the reply to Syria downing a Turkish reconnaissance aircraft in country’s territorial waters and the shooting at another plane. ­Turkish state TV reports 30 military trucks, including air-defense systems... 

RF-4E, Turkish Air Force The Turkish foreign minister says the military jet shot down by the Syrian military on Friday was not spying on Syria. It was testing a domestic radar system and was fired upon without warning upon leaving Syrian airspace, he said. ­The jet was unarmed, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said in an interview with TRT TV channel on Sunday. The minister confirmed that... 

F-4E 2020 Terminator Damascus has apologized for shooting down a military plane, which went off Turkish radars earlier in the day, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan said. The plane was taken down by Syrian forces, an official Turkish source confirmed to Hurriyet daily. The plane crashed into Syrian territorial waters earlier today, according to reports. A missile shattered it to pieces after which... 

A Turkish F-4 fighter jet A Turkish fighter jet has crashed in Syrian territorial waters with some reports suggesting that it was shot down by Syria. According to Turkish sources, the military lost radar and radio contact with the F-4 plane on the Mediterranean after it took off from Erhac Airport in the eastern province of Malatya, which borders Syria. Turkish officials say there had been no border... 

American secret service operatives are distributing illegal assault rifles, anti-tank rocket launchers and other ammunition to Syrian opposition, the New York Times reports. But due to some rebels’ links to Al Qaeda, the CIA’s task is precarious. ­The paper reports that for weeks now, officers based in southeast Turkey have supervised the flow of illegal arms to numerous opposition factions ready...