4 Aug 2018; AFP; President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday said Turkey would impose sanctions on two US officials as retaliation for a similar move by Washington, hitting back in an unprecedented row between the NATO allies.
Turkey's holding of pastor Andrew Brunson on terror-related charges for almost two years has sparked one of the most intense crises between Washington and Ankara since the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974.
Zahedan, Aug 4, IRNA – The Iranian police discovered and confiscated 2,574 kilograms of narcotic drugs in two separate operations in Sistan-Baluchestan Province, southeastern Iran, it was reported on Saturday.
By Yilmaz Kazandioglu
HAKKARI, Turkey; 4 Aug 2018; AA; A Turkish police officer was killed in an attack by the PKK terror group in the southeastern Hakkari province on Saturday.
He succumbed to his wounds in the Yuksekova State Hospital.
Earlier on Saturday, PKK terrorists detonated an improvised explosive device while the officers were passing through an area in their armored vehicle and injured nine policemen.
An operation in the area is ongoing.
4 Aug 2018; AFP; The leadership of Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas is to convene late Friday for a rare meeting, officials said, amid speculation of a long-term truce between the Gaza Strip's rulers and Israel.
The meeting comes as a Palestinian was shot dead by Israeli forces in clashes along the border between Gaza and Israel.
4 Aug 2018; AFP; The Israeli navy intercepted a Swedish-flagged activist boat bent on breaching its more than decade-long blockade of Gaza, the second in less than a week, the military said on Saturday.
"The ship was monitored and was intercepted in accordance with international law," the military said in a statement, before the vessel, named Freedom for Gaza and carrying 12 people, was taken to the Israeli port of Ashdod.
Turkey was on Thursday drawing up retaliatory measures after Washington slapped sanctions on two Turkish ministers in the one of the biggest crises between the two NATO allies in recent years.
Tensions have soared over Turkey's detention on terror charges of American pastor Andrew Brunson, who was first held in October 2016 and was moved to house arrest last week.
1 Aug 2018; AA; ANKARA; A new rail gun made by a leading Turkish contractor has shot through previous speed records, the firm announced on Wednesday.
Previous tests carried out on Aselsan's TUFAN electromagnetic rail gun system showed it hitting a speed of 2,000-2,500 meters per second -- more than six times the speed of sound.
But new tests with the TUFAN prototype in Karapinar in Turkey’s central Konya province did 50 percent better, racking up an ultrasonic speed topping nine times the speed of sound.
By Muhammet Emin Avundukluoglu
ANKARA; 2 Aug 2018; AA; The head of Turkish parliament's constitutional committee has described the U.S. decision to impose sanctions on two Turkish ministers as an "abdication of reason".
"The U.S. administration's decision is far from good sense, an abdication of reason, a lack of foresight," Bekir Bozdag said on his official Twitter account on Thursday.
"The U.S. cannot take what it wants from Turkey with a method that is against international law, unlawful and presuming," Bozdag, a lawmaker from Yozgat province, added.
2 Aug 2018; AFP; Israel reimposed a blockade on fuel deliveries to Gaza on Thursday citing a resurgence in kites carrying firebombs over the border and signalling a brief pause in tensions may be ending.
After two deadly military flare-ups in the Gaza Strip and a ceasefire brokered by Egypt and UN officials last month, the number of firebombs being launched over the border to burn Israeli farmland had diminished.
ISTANBUL; 31 July 2018; AA; The new building at Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen Airport’s domestic terminal -- representing a €26 million ($30.5 million) investment -- will boost the airport's annual passenger capacity to over 40 million, Istanbul’s governor said on Tuesday.
"It started with a capacity of 25 million people, reached 31 million, and now is being raised to 41 million," Vasip Sahin said at the building’s opening ceremony.
Looking ahead, he added: "With the second runway, this capacity will reach 63 million."
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