ISTANBUL: A Turkish military cargo plane crashed on the border between Georgia and Azerbaijan as it was flying back home, Turkey&#39;s defense ministry said Tuesday.&nbsp;&quot;Our C-130 military cargo plane, which took off from Azerbaijan to return home, has crashed at the Georgia-Azerbaijan border,&quot; the ministry said on X, indicating a search and rescue operation was taking place but without saying whether there were any casualties or how many people were on board.&nbsp;In a statement, Georgia&#39;s interior ministry confirmed the crash of &quot;a Turkish military aircraft&quot; that was flying to Turkey, saying it went down &quot;about five kilometers from Georgia&#39;s state border&quot; with Azerbaijan.&nbsp;There were 20 people on board the Turkish military cargo plane that crashed in Georgia on Tuesday while flying back home from Azerbaijan, the defense ministry said.&nbsp;&quot;Our aircraft that crashed had 20 personnel on board, including the flight crew. Search and rescue operations are ongoing,&quot; the ministry said in a statement.&nbsp;It said an investigation had been opened.

Middle East

A Turkish C-130 military cargo plane crashed near the Georgia-Azerbaijan border while returning from Azerbaijan, Turkey’s defense ministry said Tuesday. All 20 personnel were on board as search and rescue operations and investigation continue.

Turkish military cargo plane crashes on Georgia-Azerbaijan border

ISTANBUL: Two of Turkey&#39;s top basketball clubs protested on Wednesday over a EuroLeague decision to once again let Israeli teams host European competition home games in Israel.&nbsp;In a joint statement, Istanbul&#39;s Fenerbahce Beko and Anadolu Efes expressed concern at the decision, questioning how it was reached and saying that they had begun talks with EuroLeague&#39;s management over the issue.&nbsp;Since the Israel&#39;s war on Gaza&#39;s Hamas rulers began in October 2023, Israeli clubs in the Euro League and EuroCup have played their home games abroad.&nbsp;But following the October 10 ceasefire agreement, EuroLeague clubs met on Tuesday and &quot;approved the proposal to return matches to Israel starting December 1, 2025&quot;, the body said.&nbsp;&quot;Fenerbahce Beko and Anadolu Efes have expressed their disapproval of the matter and clearly voiced their concerns about the potential outcome should the decision be implemented,&quot; the clubs wrote on X.&nbsp;Although the EuroLeague press release and statements by its CEO, Paulius Motiejunas, &quot;indicated that all members were unanimous during the decision-making process, no vote was taken at the meeting&quot;, they wrote.&nbsp;Both clubs were in ongoing talks with Turkey&#39;s sporting institutions, &quot;and the EuroLeague management regarding this matter&quot; and would make the outcome known, they said.&nbsp;Both Turkish clubs in the EuroLeague, which only began on September 30, have yet to play away to either Israeli side.&nbsp;In October 2023, EuroLeague shareholders decided that Israeli clubs would play their international matches on safer grounds due to the war between Israel and Hamas.&nbsp;Since then, Hapoel Tel Aviv have made their home in Sofia, while Maccabi Tel Aviv&#39;s home base has been Belgrade.

Turkey’s top basketball clubs, Fenerbahce Beko and Anadolu Efes, protested EuroLeague’s decision to resume Israeli-hosted games from December 1, 2025, citing safety concerns and questioning the decision-making process after talks with EuroLeague management.


Turkish clubs protest as Israel to resume hosting Euro basketball games

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Thursday urged Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan to stop buying Russian oil over the war in Ukraine, as Erdogan sought a long-awaited deal to buy US stealth fighter jets. As Erdogan visited the White House for the first time since 2019 during Trump&#39;s first term, Trump called on him to use his influence with Russian President Vladimir Putin to end Moscow&#39;s invasion.&nbsp;Trump said that he would discuss Ankara&#39;s wish to buy high-tech F-35 aircraft and was ready to end sanctions on Turkey over its purchase of Russian air defense missiles.&nbsp;NATO ally Turkey was booted out of the flagship US fighter jet program during Trump&#39;s first term after it defiantly bought Russia&#39;s S-400 surface-to-air missile system.&nbsp;&quot;I&#39;d like to have him stop buying any oil from Russia while Russia continues this rampage,&quot; Trump told reporters alongside Erdogan in the Oval Office.&nbsp;Trump said Erdogan was &quot;very respected&quot; by both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and &quot;could have a big influence if he wanted to. Right now, he&#39;s being very neutral.&quot;&nbsp;&quot;The best thing he could do is not buy oil and gas from Russia,&quot; Trump added.&nbsp;Asked when the US sanctions on Turkey&#39;s defense sector imposed over the Russian missiles could end, Trump replied: &quot;If we have a good meeting, almost immediately.&quot;&nbsp;The first Trump administration took the action out of concern that Turkey&#39;s purchase of the Russian anti-aircraft system would end up giving NATO&#39;s main adversary a window into the alliance&#39;s capabilities.&nbsp;&#39;Highly opinionated&#39;&nbsp;Trump, who was wearing a badge of a gold fighter jet on the lapel of his suit jacket, confirmed that they would discuss Turkey&#39;s push to end the long-running rift over buying more US aircraft.&nbsp;&quot;He wants the F-35 and he&#39;s wanted that, and we&#39;re talking about that very seriously,&quot; Trump said, adding that Turkey also wanted to buy more of the older F-16 jets and &quot;you&#39;ll know about that by the end of the day.&quot;&nbsp;Trump, known for his admiration for forceful foreign leaders, has long shown a fondness for Erdogan and is embracing him despite a crackdown in Turkey on the opposition.&nbsp;His warm welcome also came despite the fact that Erdogan is at odds with key US ally Israel on Gaza and Syria.&nbsp;&quot;This is a guy who&#39;s highly opinionated. Usually, I don&#39;t like opinionated people, but I always like this one, but he&#39;s a tough one,&quot; Trump told reporters.&nbsp;&quot;&#39;He knows about rigged elections better than anybody,&quot; Trump added about his counterpart, after saying that they had stayed friends even while the Republican was out of office due to what he called a &quot;rigged election.&quot;

Americas

US President Donald Trump urged Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan to stop buying Russian oil amid the Ukraine war, while signaling readiness to lift sanctions and discuss F-35 jets during Erdogan’s White House visit, emphasizing Turkey’s strategic influence.

Articles tagged with "TURKEY"

Turkish military cargo plane crashes on Georgia-Azerbaijan border

Turkish clubs protest as Israel to resume hosting Euro basketball games

Trump urges Turkey's Erdogan to stop buying Russian oil