Tag: Turkey

 The Story:  The Democratic Party's presumptive nominee for President, former Vice President Joe Biden, continues to mull the question who he wants on the ticket...

The Story: In recent weeks Mitt Romney, a rookie Senator (elected from Utah in 2018) but long a prominent Republican and in 2012 that party's...

Aa Aa More time, please? UK Prime Minister Theresa May visited heads of state in Germany and France on Tuesday, seeking support for another Brexit delay ahead of Wednesday’s EU summit. The United Kingdom is currently scheduled to exit the EU on April 12 but Mrs May is pushing for an extension to June 30. Trade threat The US is threatening to impose tariffs on $11 billion worth of goods from the European Union in response to European aircraft subsidies. Products targeted in a list released by the US Trade Representative on Monday are largely traditional European products — including cheese, seafood and wine. The US claims that by providing "launch aid" to Airbus, the EU is causing American rival Boeing to lose global market share. Moscow welcome Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reiterated on Monday that he will go ahead with the controversial purchase of Russia’s S-400 missile system. During Erdogan’s third visit to Russia this year, the Turkish leader vowed to strengthen military cooperation between the two countries despite warnings from US Vice President Mike Pence last week. Pence urged Turkey to back out of the deal, arguing that their NATO membership would be at risk if the transaction is completed.

What was different this time was the rapidly tanking economy and a highly disciplined opposition. The Turkish lira lost 28 percent of its value in 2018 and continues to weaken. Ms. Kocoglu said she and her colleagues understood within an hour of the closing of polls Sunday night that they were watching Turkey’s most momentous change since Mr. Erdogan took power. As of Monday night, results from the High Election Council had still not been fully released and Mr. Erdogan’s party had not conceded defeat in Istanbul. But the tally showed the opposition candidate, Ekrem Imamoglu, ahead with 99 percent of the votes counted. He made 10 public statements of his lead through the night. CHP supporters have often questioned why their leaders have seemed to hand election after election to Mr. Erdogan. Then people inside Mr. Erdogan’s party headquarters posted screenshots taken from AKP computer monitors showing the opposition candidate in Istanbul leading the race. By accepting the election result, Mr. Erdogan has saved the reputation of the Turkish electoral system, which has given him legitimacy over the last 17 years, Mr. Unluhisarcikli said. Ms. Kocoglu said that the election was a critical victory for the opposition since no further elections are scheduled for four years.

John Bolton, national security adviser for President Trump, is in the region, reassuring allies about the U.S. withdrawal; Rich Edson reports from the State Department. #ShepSmith #FoxNews FOX News Channel (FNC) is a 24-hour all-encompassing news service dedicated to delivering…

Former Ambassador to Iraq Christopher Hill joins MTP Daily to discuss President Trump’s decision to withdraw from Syria and Trump saying Turkey and Saudi Arabia will help defeat ISIS. » Subscribe to MSNBC: http://on.msnbc.com/SubscribeTomsnbc About: MSNBC is the premier destination…

A conversation between President Trump and Turkish President Erdogan hastened the White House's decision to withdraw all U.S. troops from Syria, a senior defense official tells Fox News; Jennifer Griffin has more from the Pentagon. FOX News Channel (FNC) is…

Senator Claire McCaskill, in her last live interview as a U.S. senator, talks with Rachel Maddow about Donald Trump's abrupt and apparently not very well planned announcement of the departure of U.S. troops from Syria. » Subscribe to MSNBC: http://on.msnbc.com/SubscribeTomsnbc…

Rachel Maddow shows how disgraced Trump NSA Mike Flynn changed his position on Turkey, as well as U.S. policy on Turkish issues, when they started paying him, and wonders if Flynn's colleague and Trump transition official Bijan Kian will seriously…

Two former associates of ex-national security adviser Michael Flynn have been charged with "covertly and unlawfully" trying to influence American politicians in a plot to extradite a Turkish cleric living in the U.S. Bijan Kian, 66, and Kamil Ekim Alptekin, 41, were charged Monday with conspiracy to act as agents of a foreign government. Flynn does not appear in the indictment by name but is referred to as "Person A" and described as having a key role in the plot that prosecutors say was orchestrated by the Turkish government. The charges were brought less than two weeks after Flynn was described in court papers as having provided substantial assistance in several investigations. Flynn, in pleading guilty to lying to federal investigators last year, also admitted to making false statements about his foreign lobbying work. "He claimed to be a man of God who wanted to be a dictator." According to the indictment, the defendants used Flynn's firm, the now-dissolved Flynn Intel Group where Kian was a partner, to damage Gulen's reputation and kept secret that the work was directed by the Turkish government. "We are ready to engage on what needs to be done," Kian wrote, the indictment says. On a weekly basis, Kian and Flynn held calls with Alptekin to update him on the progress of the project, the court papers say. He has been cooperating with investigators. Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team has argued that he should receive a light sentence in exchange for his cooperation.