Fikri Işık

The Turkish military hit Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) targets in Syria with howitzers and rockets on July 3, with the defense minister vowing that Ankara would not hesitate to stage operations against the group, which it views as terrorist. 

The Turkish Foreign Ministry strongly condemned Greece for an incident involving a Greek coast guard boat opening fire on a Turkish commercial ship on July 3.        

More dismissals from the military are on the way for individuals suspected of ties to the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ), but certain numbers cannot yet be given, Defense Minister Fikri Işık said on July 4.

Turkey will cooperate with France and Italy on developing a national missile defense system project, Defense Minister Fikri Işık said on July 4, adding that the focus was on "development of the systems" rather than purchasing.

The country will meet its immediate demands by buying S-400 systems from Russia, he underlined. 

Qatari Minister of Defense Khaled al-Attiyah has described a blockade imposed by several Arab states on his country as a "declaration of war."

"This is a bloodless declaration of war," al-Attiyah said in an interview with the London-based Al-Araby Al-Jadeed newspaper published on June 30, Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

Qatar's defense minister is visiting Ankara on June 30 for discussions on Turkey's military and defense support to the Gulf country amid the ongoing rift between Doha and four Arab states. 

Qatari Defense Minister Khaled bin Mohammed al-Attiyah was due to meet with his Turkish counterpart Fikri Işık in the late afternoon, after the Hürriyet Daily News went press. 

Defense Minister Fikri Işık met his German counterpart Ursula Von Der Leyen on June 29 amid dispute between the two nations over the withdrawal of Germany's military deployment in the İncirlik air base in southern Turkey. 

The two ministers came together on the sidelines of a NATO meeting in Brussels. 

Qatari Defense Minister Khalid bin Mohammed el-Atiye will come to Ankara on June 29 in order to meet his Turkish counterpart Fikri Işık, amid ongoing crisis between his country and the Saudi Arabia-led Arab Gulf states, state-run Anadolu Agency reported on June 28. 

As the defense ministers of NATO allies met in Brussels to discuss key global issues, Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Işık was set to meet with U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis late on June 28, after the latter left open the possibility of longer-term assistance to the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militia.

“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.