Special to WorldTribune.com NICOSIA — A massive natural gas reserve has been discovered near Cyprus. A U.S. firm said the latest gas reserve was in the 12th block called Aphrodite in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, deemed by the Republic of Cyprus an Exclusive Economic Zone. Noble Energy said the deposit was estimated at 991 billion [...]
Special to WorldTribune.com ANKARA — Turkey has reported the launch of energy exploration off the coast of Cyprus. Officials said the government of Prime Minister Recep Erdogan has approved the start of drilling off the coast of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Officials said drilling, meant to rival a similar effort by the rival [...]
Special to WorldTribune.com WASHINGTON — The United States has determined that the Sunni revolt in Syria was threatened by a shortage of money and weapons. Officials said the administration of President Barack Obama and Congress have been told that Sunni rebels were not receiving aid promised by Gulf Cooperation Council and other countries. They said [...]
Special to WorldTribune.com ANKARA — Turkey has seized a German ship loaded with Iranian weapons destined for Syria. Turkish sources said the Turkish Navy intercepted the Atlantic Cruiser on April 17 in the eastern Mediterranean near the coast of Syria. The sources said Atlantic Cruiser, owned by Germany’s Bockstiegel and carrying the flags of Antigua [...]
Special to WorldTribune.com ANKARA — Turkey, despite U.S. pressure, has remained cautious over the Joint Strike Fighter project. Officials said the government of Prime Minister Recep Erdogan has rebuffed U.S. appeals to submit a major order of the F-35 fighter-jet. They said the government would remain with the decision by Turkey’s Defense Industry Executive Board [...]
Special to WorldTribune.com ANKARA — China and Turkey have signed two nuclear cooperation agreements. The two countries signed the agreements during a ceremony in Beijing on April 9 headed by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan. Officials said the accords would intensify nuclear cooperation, particularly in the area of research and [...]
Special to WorldTribune.com ABU DHABI — NATO has reported a sharp drop in Gulf piracy in 2011. “NATO has been actively carrying out counter-piracy operations for more than four years, and we have been very successful,” Turkish Navy Rear Adm. Sinan Azmi Tosun said. “We have been able to bring down pirate activities by 60 [...]
Special to WorldTribune.com NICOSIA — President Bashar Assad has ordered military operations along the borders of Lebanon and Turkey. Opposition sources said Assad has approved assaults by the Syrian Army on targets along the borders of Lebanon and Turkey. They said elite forces were firing toward suspected rebels inside Lebanon and Turkey in broad daylight [...]
Special to WorldTribune.com ANKARA — An Iraqi crude oil pipeline to Turkey has been bombed. Officials said the Kirkuk-Yumurtalik oil pipeline was struck by at least three explosions in Turkey’s southeastern province of Sirnak. They said the explosions on early April 5 sparked fires around the facility in what appeared to be sabotage. “We are [...]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Ed Koch The chickens are coming home to roost in the Middle East. The experts who supported the removal of President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, e.g., The New York Times’ Tom Friedman and many others, are perhaps now wondering if they were right to do so. Hosni Mubarak was certainly an [...]
