U.S. European Command

“Welcome to Incirlik AB, Turkey,” reads the big gold letters over one of the entrances to a key staging base for the fight against the Islamic State, strategically located in southern Turkey, just 70 miles from the Syrian border.

A Russian fighter jet came within five feet of a U.S. Air Force reconnaissance aircraft over the Baltic Sea on Monday, in an encounter the American pilot determined was unsafe.
The incident occurred Monday morning as an RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft flew in international airspace above the Baltic Sea.

The Trump administration is ready to press ahead with a U.S.-backed military offensive to evict the Islamic State from its last remaining urban stronghold in the Syrian city of Raqqa over strong objections from Turkey.

President Donald Trump is expected to inform his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, of the U.S. plans when he visits the White House later this month.

The Turkish General Staff (TSK) has stated that Turkey's air strike targeting the Sinjar region of northern Iraq and the Karachock Mountain in northeastern Syria on April 25 were within the knowledge of the civilian and military authorities of the related countries, in line with the agreed rules of engagement.

The trilateral Noble Dina exercise between the American, Israeli and Hellenic navies will begin later this month, with nearly a dozen surface ships, submarines and related air assets scheduled to engage in joint reconnaissance, counterterror and antisubmarine warfare training.

In recent days there have been crucial developments in the U.S. capital. Some of these will have direct effects and some will have indirect effects on Turkish-American ties. 

Russia rejected April 30 a new claim that one of its jets had intercepted a U.S. reconnaissance plane over the Baltic in an "unsafe" manner, and accused Washington of sending "spy-planes" into its airspace.

U.S. authorities said they were "very concerned" after the mid-air standoff April 29, the latest incident fuelling tension between the former Cold War foes.

The Pentagon and the U.S. State Department have ordered the families of U.S. troops and civilian personnel stationed in the provinces of ?zmir, Adana and Mu?la to leave the region, citing concerns over their security. 

The partnership between Bulgaria and the United States in countering drug trafficking activity in the Balkans received a boost on Thursday with the opening of a USD 1.9 M headquarters building of a joint task force of the respective law enforcement agencies of the two countries, officials said.

The Pentagon has announced that about 70 pieces of U.S. military equipment will arrive in Romania from Germany on Tuesday to support Operation Atlantic Resolve.

Other equipment will arrive in Bulgaria and Lithuania later this month, a Pentagon spokesman annonunced on Monday, according to a news release posted on the U.S. Defense Department website.