Turkey

16 July 2019; DW: Brussels is to impose punitive measures on Ankara over its offshore gas drilling activities near Cyprus. "Targeted measures" on transport and bank lending are part of the EU package.

The European Union agreed political and financial sanctions against Turkey on Monday as a punishment for Ankara's persistence in gas drilling operations off Cyprus, despite repeated warnings from the bloc.

ISTANBUL, July 15 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that the Russian S-400 air defense system would be fully installed by April 2020.

Speaking at a commemoration event in Istanbul, Erdogan said eight planes carrying parts of the missiles have so far arrived in the country and the others are ready to be deployed.

He noted the installation process has already begun as planned and it is expected to be "fully completed by April 2020."

15 July 2019; DW: Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has urged the Greek Cypriot government to accept a cooperation plan on drilling. The discovery of gas in the eastern Mediterranean has complicated attempts to reunify the divided island.

Turkey is determined to continue drilling for gas in waters off Cyprus despite opposition from the Greek Cypriot government and the European Union, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Sunday.

15 July 2019; DW: Three years ago, a failed coup in Turkey led to a media crackdown. Since then, journalists have banded together to document the cases of reporters imprisoned or changed with crimes against the state.

ISTANBUL, July 14 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday by purchasing the Russian-made S-400 air defense system Turkey is trying to guarantee peace and its national security, local media reported.

"By getting the S-400 missiles Turkey is not getting ready for war," the state-run Anadolu agency quoted Erdogan as saying in a meeting with media representatives in Istanbul.

Erdogan said Turkey's other efforts in its defense industry are also the result of its desire to bolster peace and security, Anadolu noted.

ANKARA, July 14. /TASS/: The seventh Russian aircraft with another batch of components for S-400 missile systems has arrived in Turkey, the Turkish Ministry of National Defense reported on Sunday.

"The deliveries of S-400 air defense systems continue. In view of that, the seventh plane has landed at Murted Air Base [in the Ankara province]," the ministry said in a statement.

Earlier on Sunday, the fifth and sixth planes carrying S-400 components landed there.

12 July 2019; MEMO: First shipment of Russian S-400 missile defence system hardware to Ankara started today, Turkey’s National Defence Ministry said.

“First batch of equipment of S-400 missile defence system, which is procured to meet Turkey’s air and missile defence need, has started to arrive at Murted Air Base in Ankara as of July 12, 2019,” the ministry said on Twitter.

ANKARA, July 11. /TASS/: The contract to buy S-400 anti-aircraft missile system from Russia was vital for ensuring Turkey’s national security, a spokesperson for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AK Parti) said on Thursday.

"S-400 systems are a necessity [for ensuring] Turkey’s national security," AK Parti spokesman Omer Celik said.

ANKARA, July 10. /TASS/: Turkey plans to use the Russian-made S-400 missile systems if the country comes under attack, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters on his way back from Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"Some ask why are we buying [the S-400 systems] and making such an investment. If the need arises, we will have the right to use them. If someone attacks us, we will employ these air defense systems. This is why we are making such an investment," Erdogan said, as cited by the Hurriyet newspaper.

9 July 2019; MEMO: At least 55 human traffickers were arrested Monday in operations based in Turkey’s Aegean Izmir province, according to security officials, reports Anadolu Agency.

The 55 were among 80 suspected human traffickers targeted in today’s operations, Huseyin Askin, Izmir’s police chief, told a press conference.