Turkey

7 Apr 2019; AFP: Turkey on Sunday condemned what it called Benjamin Netanyahu's "irresponsible" remarks after the Israeli leader said he planned to annex settlements in the occupied West Bank if he wins upcoming elections.

"West Bank is Palestinian territory occupied by Israel in violation of int’l law," Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Twitter.

7 Apr 2019; DW: With the rule of Turkey's biggest city at stake, the ruling Justice and Development (AKP) party on Sunday called on the country's top electoral board to recount all votes cast in Istanbul's mayoral election.

The current tally of the March 31 vote puts opposition candidate Ekrem Imamoglu ahead of the AKP's Binali Yildirim  by a slim margin. Imamoglu garnered 48.79 percent of the vote compared to Yildrim's 48.51 percent.

ISTANBUL, April 7 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Vice President Mike Pence's suggestion that Turkey would need to leave NATO if it buys Russian S-400 air defense system is no more than a bluff, but Washington would economically pressure Ankara to drop the deal, analysts told Xinhua.

"Pence's remark is just a big bluff," said Hasan Koni, an analyst on international relations with Istanbul Culture University. He drew attention to NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg's divergent view on the issue.

ISTANBUL, April 6. /TASS/. Having purchased Russia’s S-400 missile defense systems, Turkey will ensure security not only of own borders but also of the European Union and NATO member states, Omer Celik, spokesman for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and Development Party, said on Saturday.

ANKARA, April 6 (Xinhua) -- Turkey has so far not declared the final results of the local elections held on March 31 as the ruling party contested the slim victory by the opposition in the country's largest city Istanbul and the capital Ankara.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signalled that his ruling party will pursue the matter in the court.

5 Apr 2019; DW: Istanbul will experience plenty of superlatives this weekend: After opening the new Istanbul Airport half a year ago, Turkish Airlines is moving in to what is expected to become the world's largest airport.

ANKARA, April 5 (Xinhua) -- Turkish Defense Minister said that three of the four F-35 fighter jets had been delivered by the United States and the last one is expected to be transferred on Friday.

Ankara is continuing negotiations with Washington amid a dispute over Turkey's purchase of Russian S-400 missile defense system, Hulusi Akar told state-run Anadolu Agency on Friday.

MOSCOW, April 5 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will pay a working visit to Moscow next Monday to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin said on Friday.

At the eighth meeting of the Russian-Turkish High-Level Cooperation Council, the two presidents will discuss the implementation of joint energy projects and reconcile approaches on regional and international issues, it said in a statement.

ROSTOV-ON-DON, April 4. /TASS/. The captain of a vessel arrested in Turkey with a Russian crew on board, Bakhman Bagirov, has signed documents, under which the ship is to be sold upon the return of all its crew home, while money must be used first and foremost to pay off debts to the Russian seamen.

ANKARA, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Initial delivery of Russian made S-400 air defense system parts will start in June, as planned before, Turkish officials said on Thursday.

"The first parts of the S-400 air defense system will arrive in June and the shipment will be completed in July," a Turkish official from the Ministry of Defense said on condition of anonymity.