Işık

It is unacceptable that Germany, an ally of Turkey, has passed a veto on arms exports to Turkey, the defense minister said March 23. 

In an interview with Der Spiegel magazine, Bruno Kahl, the chief of Germany's foreign intelligence service, the BND, said on March 18 that the Turkish government had "failed to convince" them that the U.S.-based Islamist cleric Fethullah Gülen was behind the coup attempt of July 15, 2016.

Defense Minister Fikri Işık has said over 22,000 cadets from the army and military schools have been expelled for links with the Fetullahist Movement following the July 15, 2016, failed coup attempt . 

Russia and Turkey's respective presidents, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, will meet on March 10 for the sixth meeting of their bilateral high-level cooperation council in Moscow, as relations continue on the delicate path of normalization following a spat over Turkey's downing of a Russian jet in 2015 that led to the cancelation of the meeting later that year. 

Turkey expects outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and Syrian Democratic Union Party (PYD) elements in northern Syria to withdraw to the east bank of the Euphrates, Turkey's defense minister Fikri Işık said on March 3.        

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan held a meeting with Defense Minister Fikri Işık at the Beylerbeyi Palace in Istanbul on Feb. 27. 

Reports said the president would also meet with Chief of General Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar later in the day.

Russia's S-400 long-range air defense missile system is most likely to be selected for Turkey's long-range anti-missile shield, Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Işık has said.

"Russia's S-400 missile system seems to be the most possible in discussions. Some progress was obtained in the talks, but we are not at the stage of a signature yet," Işık said Feb. 22 in a televised interview. 

Russia's S-400 long-range air defense missile systems stood as the most possible to purchase among many others for Turkey's long-range anti-missile shield, Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Işık has said.

Turkey's views on Syria are being listened to thanks to the ongoing Euphrates Shield Operation, Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Işık has said, adding that the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party's (PYD) plan to unite its cantons have been prevented. 

Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Işık said that Turkey's say on Syria was being listened to thanks to the ongoing Euphrates Shield operation and that the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party's (PYD) plan to unite cantons had been excluded.