Ankara
Liverpool complete loan deal for Schalke defender
Liverpool have completed the deadline-day signing of Ozan Kabak from Schalke, subject to international clearance. The 20-year-old defender will move to Anfield on loan until the end of the season, with the Reds having the option to make the move permanent in the summer for a fee of £18 million ($25m). Kabak, a Turkey international who moved to Schalke from Stuttgart in 2019, will be the first of two signings on a busy day on Merseyside. He will be joined by Preston centre-back Ben Davies, who finalised his switch earlier on Monday. Goal understands that Liverpool will pay an initial loan fee of around £1m ($1.4m) for Kabak, while the deal for Davies could be worth in excess of £1.6m, should all performance-related add-ons be triggered. The Reds had been insistent that it would be a quiet w...
U.S. sanctions Turkey over purchase of Russian defense system
The United States imposed long-anticipated sanctions on Turkey on Monday over Ankara’s acquisition of the Russian S-400 air defense systems, further complicating already strained ties between the two NATO allies. Turkey condemned the sanctions as a “grave mistake” and urged Washington to revise its “unjust decision.” Senior U.S. officials said in a call with reporters that Ankara’s purchase of the S-400s and its refusal to reverse its decision left the United States with no other choice. The sanctions, first reported by Reuters last week, target Turkey’s top defence procurement and development body Presidency of Defence Industries, its chairman Ismail Demir and three other employees. While limited to one company, they are still likely to weigh on the Turkish economy, analysts said, at a ti...
Turkish exploration vessel back in port ahead of EU summit
Turkey’s seismic exploration vessel Oruc Reis returned to port on Monday from disputed Mediterranean waters, less than two weeks before a European Union summit where the bloc will evaluate possible sanctions against Ankara. NATO members Turkey and Greece have conflicting claims to continental shelves and rights to potential energy resources in the eastern Mediterranean. Tensions flared in August when Ankara sent Oruc Reis to map out energy drilling prospects in waters also claimed by Greece. Turkey withdrew Oruc Reis from contested waters ahead of a previous EU summit in October to “allow for diplomacy”, but later sent it back after what it called unsatisfactory outcomes from the summit. Earlier this month, Turkey said Oruc Reis would operate in the region until Nov. 29. The energy ministr...
Edo election: Votes sold for N1,000 to N15,000 – CDD
The Centre for Democracy and Development on Saturday condemned the high incidence of vote-trading recorded in the Edo State governorship election. The organisation said reports from its observers on the field showed that politicians, in an attempt to circumvent the electoral process, used young girls as their contact with the voters for the trading. It lamented that votes were traded for cash gifts from N1,000 to N15,000. The Director of CDD, Idayat Hassan, who said these during a press briefing on the preliminary report on the election said it was quite worrisome that “young girls were used for indirect vote-buying during the election.” She said, “We saw largely vote-buying in the Edo election, the most worrisome trend in this election is the level of sophistication at which politicians e...
Turkey and Russia put off talks expected to tackle Libya and Syria
Russia and Turkey have postponed ministerial-level talks which were expected to focus on Libya and Syria, where the two countries support opposing sides in long-standing conflicts. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov decided to put off the talks during a phone call on Sunday, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said. “The two countries deputy ministers will continue contacts and talks in the period ahead. Minister-level talks will be held at a later date,” the ministry said in a statement. Lavrov and Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu had been set to visit Istanbul for the discussions. The Russian foreign ministry said discussion will be held on the date of the ministers’ meeting. The United Nations said this week that warring sides had begun ne...
Turkey will target Khalifa Haftar’s forces if attacks on its interests in Libya – ministry
Turkey’s foreign ministry warned on Sunday that it would deem the forces of Libyan General Khalifa Haftar legitimate targets if their attacks on its interests and diplomatic missions in Libya continued. Turkey backs Libya’s internationally-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) and views Haftar’s forces as “putschists”. In a statement, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said that “if our missions and our interests in Libya are targeted, we will deem Haftar’s forces legitimate targets.” It also said the attacks on Tripoli’s Mitiga airport early on Saturday, part of an intensified barrage of artillery fire on the capital, were war crimes. On Thursday, Turkey and Italy said the area around their embassies in Tripoli was shelled. Get more stories like this on Twitter
