US keeps nearly 70 nuclear bombs in southern Turkey: Report

 

A US B61 thermonuclear bomb (file photo)

Source: Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/10/28/269141/us-keeps-70-nuclear-bombs-in-turkey/

A report says the United States keeps about 70 B61 nuclear bombs at a military base in southern Turkey.

According to a recent report published by the Arabic Nakhel news agency, Turkish sources said the bombs are kept at Turkey’s Incirlik Air Base in Adana province.

The thermonuclear bomb, which is 3.53 meters long and weighs 320 kilograms, is considered as one of the most strategic weapons of the US.

Between 10 to 20 of the bombs were stored at Turkey’s Balikesir and Ekinci airbases before they were transferred to Incirlik, the report said.

Turkey is also home to a controversial NATO radar base manned by US forces, which is part of a larger US-led missile system.

The missile system became operational in Turkey’s eastern province of Malatya in early 2012.

Some leading Turkish politicians and lawmakers have cautioned that the system will not be beneficial to Turkey and will only serve the interests of the Israeli regime.

The stationing of the US-sponsored radar system in Turkey was hailed by American officials as the most significant military cooperation between Washington and Ankara since 2003, when Turkey refused to allow a US armored division to cross Turkish territory to join the military invasion of Iraq from the north.

Russia, Kyrgyzstan seal military base agreement

 

Kyrgyz "Scorpion" special forces soldiers at the Russian air base in Kant, about 20km outside Bishkek (AFP Photo / V. Oseledko)

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/politics/common-help-operation-afghanistan-545/

Russia will maintain a joint military base in Kyrgyzstan for 15 years starting 2017, reads an agreement signed in the presence of the two countries’ leaders during a summit in Bishkek.

The freshly-signed agreement details the status and conditions of the military base’s stay and includes a protocol on military cooperation over the period before the base is opened. The agreement also regulates the rental price.

President Vladimir Putin told the press after the talks with Kyrgyz leader Almazbek Atambayev that the joint Russian-Kyrgyz military base would be a significant factor adding to the stability in the country and the whole region.

Putin stressed that the initiative to create the base came from the Kyrgyz side. He said that those who intend to rock the region’s stability must realize that there are forces that can be used in the fight against extremism, drug trafficking and terrorism.

The president also told reporters that in his view the situation in the neighboring Afghanistan will not change for the better in the nearest future, but Russian military presence in the region, both in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, is a serious factor of stability.

Atambayev told the press that he and Putin did not discuss the US military presence on Kyrgyz territory or the US air base at Bishkek Airport during the summit.

As for Kyrgyzstan’s own position, Atambayev said he had repeatedly supported the idea of conversion of the Bishkek base into a civilian air transport hub, and starting from 2014, when the rent agreement with the US expires, it will not be prolonged.

“A civilian airport must be a civilian site,” the president said adding, that he had repeatedly informed the US authorities about these plans.

Putin confirmed that he and his Kyrgyz colleague “not only didn’t discuss the US air base, but didn’t even mention it” and stressed that the question of foreign military presence in the country was Kyrgyzstan’s own sovereign right

 

US to station troops in Poland for first time

US army troops conduct a landing operation during the multinational exercise with participation of seven NATO countries including Poland. (File photo)

Source: Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/07/26/252826/us-to-send-troops-to-poland-for-1st-time/

The United States is set to send a group of military forces to Poland for the first time to support fighter jets and transport planes.

The air force detachment "will arrive this fall to support quarterly F-16 and C-130 deployments beginning in 2013 and will be the first US forces stationed on Polish soil," the Pentagon said in a Wednesday statement.

Warsaw accepted to host rotations of F-16 and Hercules aircraft in 2010 and that the military planes to be deployed in Poland on a rotating basis as of 2013.

"The arrival of this detachment will mark a new step forward in the relationship between United States and Poland and enable closer military cooperation," Pentagon spokesman George Little said.
The Pentagon has in the past said that the interests of the US and NATO would be best served by moving F-16 fighter jets from Italy to Poland.
Poland is also expected to host a NATO missile system by 2018

US hails Turkey’s support for NATO’

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu (L) and US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta in Washington on February 13, 2012

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/226904.html

The US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta has reportedly thanked Turkey for its ongoing support for the Western military alliance of NATO.

US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, George Little announced that in a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Washington on February 13, Panetta expressed his gratitude for Turkey’s contribution to a planned NATO missile system by hosting the system’s US-made radar in the country earlier in the year.

Davutoglu was in Washington from February 8 to 13 at the US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s invitation to meet with administration officials and congressional leaders.

Little added that recent developments in Syria, Afghanistan, and security issues of common interest were also discussed during the meeting.

Turkey has hosted the radar in the Kurecik district of the eastern province of Malatya.

Russia has criticized the plan and denounced the military alliance's efforts to advance eastwards.

The Russian Foreign Ministry says Turkey's collaboration with NATO would mark another step in the direction of the deployment of ‘the European segment’ of a global US missile system.

It says the NATO missile system does not provide security for Washington's European allies and is effectively aimed at Russia.

Canada allows spy agency to use info obtained through torture

Canadian Public Safety Minister Vic Toews

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/225580.html

The Canadian government has given the country's spy agency the green light to use information extracted from suspects through torture, despite earlier claims that it would never use such data.

In a directive, issued in December 2010, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service was given permission to employ such information in cases where, it claimed, ‘public safety is at stake,’ a Canadian news agency reported Tuesday.

This comes despite the fact that in 2009, Canada's then-Public Safety Minister had pledged that the government would never use information obtained by torture.

The directive says that the information would be used in cases where “human life or public safety” are at risk as in such "exceptional circumstances," it might be urgent that the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) "share the most complete information available at the time with relevant authorities, including information based on intelligence provided by foreign agencies that may have been derived from the use of torture or mistreatment."

Although, according to the directive, the CSIS is not permitted to use torture on its own suspects, it can accept and use information from agencies that may have used torture to extract the data.

Canadian Public Safety Minister Vic Toews has claimed that ignoring such information is "an unacceptable risk to public safety."

"Therefore, in situations where a serious risk to public safety exists, and where lives may be at stake, I expect and thus direct CSIS to make the protection of life and property its overriding priority, and share the necessary information -- properly described and qualified -- with appropriate authorities," he said.

Ex-Turkish military chief indicted

Ilker Basbug (file photo)

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/224753.html

The former chief of the Turkish military has been charged with trying to stage a coup against the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The former chief of the General Staff, Gen. Ilker Basbug, is under indictment for "seeking to unseat the government of the Republic of Turkey by force", Today's Zaman reported on Thursday.

The indictment was submitted to the Istanbul 13th High Criminal Court.

Since the rise of Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) following their landside victory in the 2002 parliamentary election, tensions between the military and the government has risen and some generals have been convicted of crimes.

Basbug, the highest-ranking Turkish military figure indicted so far, denies the charges.

"The person who is accused of these charges is the 26th chief of General Staff of the Turkish Republic. I think it is important to note this for history… As the chief of General Staff, I was the commander of the Turkish Armed Forces. The [Turkish military] is one of the most respected and strongest armed forces in the world. Accusing somebody who led such an army of establishing and administering a terrorist organization is really tragicomic," he said.

On January 5, Turkish prosecutors arrested Gen. Ilker Basbug -- who was the commander of the Turkish Armed Forces until 2010 -- on charges of plotting against the state.

The Turkish military has staged major coups in 1960, 1971, and 1980.

About 300 military officers are held in detention on charges of conspiracy against the government.

The officers reject the coup allegations, saying that the evidence against them is fabricated.

Cypriots clash with police over UK bases

Police arrest a protester during clashes outside the British military base in Akrotiri, Cyprus, Monday, January 2, 2012

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/219075.html

Clashes between Cypriot protesters and police during a rally over British military bases in Cyprus have left several people injured.

The rally took place on Monday in Akrotiri outside the British Royal Air Force Akrotiri military base in southern Cyprus.

The angry protesters threw rocks and sticks at the police officers guarding the entrance of the base.

The police have so far arrested two of the protesters.

Local media reported that several protesters were injured as a result of the clashes. A cameraman was also injured after being hit by a rock.

In addition, four officers were also injured according to Connie Pierce, the spokesperson at the military base.

The Akrotiri base was built in the 1950s. However, Cyprus gained independence from the UK on August 16, 1960. Yet, London has held its control over two military bases, including Akrotiri, on the island.

Dhekelia, the second British base, is located in eastern Cyprus.

Cypriots regard the presence of the British army in their country as an unwelcome remnant of colonialism.

US army base transfer in Japan delayed

(L-R) Japan's Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hold a joint press conference at the Department of State June 21, 2011 in Washington।

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/185741.html

The United States and Japan have acknowledged dropping a 2014 deadline for the relocation of an American military base on the Japanese island of Okinawa.

“Completion of the FRF (Futenma Replacement Facility) and the Marine relocation will not meet the previously targeted date of 2014,” the US and Japan said in a joint statement following a high level meeting in Washington on Tuesday.

The meeting involved US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, and Japanese Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto and Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa, Reuters reported.

The future of the base has been a major source of friction between the United States and Japan.

Washington and Tokyo agreed in 2006 to shift the US Marines' Futenma airbase in Okinawa to a less crowded area on the island, which is host to about half of the 47,000 US troops in the East Asian country.

But Tokyo has failed to win local backing for its plan to relocate the American base on the island.

Many of Okinawa's residents are demanding the removal of the military base from the island altogether.

Japan hosts some 47,000 US troops under a post-World War Two treaty.

Turkey to host NATO ground forces

NATO's Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/185429.html

Amid ongoing deadly unrest in Syria, NATO plans to turn its airbase in Turkey into a stronghold for the US-led military alliance's ground forces.

The alliance would transfer its ground forces from a military base in the city of Heidelberg in southwestern Germany and another outpost in Spain to the Izmir Air Station in western Turkey, Journal of Turkish Weekly reported earlier in the month.

The base, NATO's oldest stronghold in Turkey, currently accommodates 400 operational and technical forces.

The move constitutes a part of sweeping reforms in the alliance, which according to its Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen would ultimately "make NATO leaner, more flexible, and better able to deal with future challenges."

Outlining the changes, Rasmussen has said, “We have agreed to reshape NATO's command structure, making it more efficient, more deployable, and more compact.”

The reforms include effort to "streamline the agencies, which run individual NATO projects, such as ground surveillance and strategic airlift,” he added.

The developments come amid Turkey's recent adoption of a toughened stance vis-à-vis its southern neighbor Syria, which has been grappling with unprecedented unrest since mid-March.

The turmoil, which the government blames on armed groups and foreign elements, has left scores of people dead, including many soldiers and other members of its security forces.

Ankara has, meanwhile, threatened Damascus with military intervention in the countrywide unrest, which has been troubling the latter since mid-March. It has also created an expansive military camp close to the common border.

Early June, armed groups, who had received their weapons from Turkey, killed 120 Syrian police and other members of the security forces in the northwestern town of Jisr al-Shughour before burying them in mass graves.

Canada to set up military bases abroad

Canadian Minister of Defense Peter MacKay

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/183110.html

The Canadian military says it plans to set up military bases in seven countries to gain the “capability for expeditionary participation in international missions.”

Canada's Minister of Defense Peter MacKay said on Friday that the main goal will be supporting the humanitarian and combat missions abroad, AFP reported.

The Canadian media said Ottawa has so far reached agreements to open new bases in Germany and Jamaica, and is negotiating with Kuwait. Other targeted countries include Senegal, South Korea, Kenya, and Singapore.

David Bercuson, a senior research fellow with the Canadian Defense and Foreign Affairs Institute, said the Canadian facilities are more likely to be "small storage facilities" comprising an airfield, a warehouse and two or three soldiers.

"They will be what you would call 'forward supply depots,' strategically placed near parts of the world where Canadian Forces might be deployed in future," he further explained.

Canada was forced in October 2010 to close a top-secret military base in Dubai that was part of a key supply route to Afghanistan after refusing to grant the UAE's two national carriers, Emirates Airlines and Etihad Airways, more landing rights.

During the Cold War, Canada also maintained two bases in Germany but closed them in the early 1990s following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Japan, US drop Okinawa base relocation

US Marines' Futenma airbase in Okinawa, Japan.(file photo)

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/178664.html

Japan and the United States have cancelled a formerly-approved plan for relocating the controversial American airbase on Okinawa Island by 2014.

According to Japanese media, Washington and Tokyo will discuss a new timeframe for the relocation of US Marines' Futenma airbase, Reuters reported on Friday.

The issue of US military bases on the southern Japanese island has long strained relations between the two countries. Last year, Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan promised to implement a 2006 agreement to shift the American airbase to a less populated part of Okinawa.

The failure to implement the 2006 deal sustained a hefty blow to Kan's predecessor Yukio Hatoyama, who was forced to resign in 2010 after facing public pressure and outrage over the issue.

The two sides had agreed in 2006 to transfer the facility from the residential district of Ginowan to the coastal and less populated area of Henoko in Nago, Okinawa.

However, that plan is also facing strong opposition from local residents who see the base as a source of crime, accidents and noise.

Former US National Security Adviser James Johns says the best possible choice is the integration of Futenma air base with another US base in Kadena town in southern Okinawa.

Johns said in a Friday meeting in Washington with Mikio Shimoji, secretary general of Japan's ruling party, that the relocation plan was not feasible on account of expected environmental destruction in the area.

US plans another Kyrgyzstan base

Members of the US military and US aircraft are seen at the
Manas military base in Bishkek airport in Kyrgyzstan.


Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=137866&sectionid=3510203


The US is planning to construct a USD 10 million military base in the southern city of Osh, Kyrgyzstan, where more than 300 people died in deadly clashes in June.

The US Defense Department says the base, called Osh Polygon, will feature a range of facilities and weapons training services, including a secure garrison compound with officers' quarters and barracks for enlisted personnel, range facilities, crew-served weapons and explosive ordnance, the Washington Post reported on Saturday.

US officials raised the issue of the base under ousted Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev for training Kyrgyz troops for alleged counter-terrorism operations.

According to US Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake, Kyrgyzstan is still highly unstable as tensions continue to rise between Kyrgyz government soldiers and the Uzbek minorities living in the southern part of the country.

In a speech at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, Blake expressed concern about the security along the southern border as some militants from Afghanistan might try "to come up through that border," the Washington Post quoted Blake as saying.

According to Blake, keeping the other US base in Manas near the capital Bishkek is a national priority for Washington, as it serves as the entry and exit points for US troops in Afghanistan.

The United States has paid USD 45 million to the Kyrgyz government this year and USD 13 million in fees for use of the Manas base, according to the Bishkek embassy website.

Osh was the site of a bloody uprising in June against the new Kyrgyz government, which reportedly claimed more than 300 lives. The unrest had reportedly forced more than 300,000 people across the border into Uzbekistan.

The inter-ethnic violence was the worst to hit the country in years.

Belarus to build air defense for Venezuela in oil trade

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=121011&sectionid=351020704

The President of Belarus promises to assist Venezuela build a national air defense system as Caracas agrees to supply crude oil to Belarusian refineries.

"We can do this in a very short period of time," Alexander Lukashenko said following talks with his Venezuelan counterpart, Hugo Chavez.

Lukashenko added that with the new technology Venezuela will be able to live "peacefully" without worries about enemy conspiracies.

He made the offer during a two-day visit to Caracas aimed at solidifying industrial, commercial and diplomatic cooperation between the two nations.

Relations between Minsk and Caracas have strengthened dramatically in recent years.

Belarus and Venezuela trade about 1 million tons of crude a year (20,000 barrels a day), but beginning next May, the oil-rich South American nation will start exporting 80,000 barrel of oil a day to oil-thirsty Belarus.

Russian defense pact with Abkhazia upsets NATO

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118915§ionid=351020602


The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has hit back at Moscow for signing a deal with Abkhazia for the construction of a military base in the Black Sea enclave.

The alliance swiftly urged the Kremlin to reverse what it called its “invalid” agreement, saying it violates restrictions on military forces set in a 2008 peace accord.

"The North Atlantic Council has condemned the decision by the Russian Federation to recognize the Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia and calls on it to revoke this decision," the alliance spokeswoman Carmen Romero said.

“[NATO] continues to call on Russia to respect its engagements under the (2008) ceasefire accord concluded under EU mediation," she added.

Abkhazia's leader Sergei Bagapsh signed the agreement with the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at the Kremlin on Wednesday.

The pact will build on previous agreements that allow Russia to maintain troops and border guards in the region.

According to the Russian RIA-Novosti news agency, the agreement allows Russian forces "to defend the sovereignty and safety of the Republic jointly with the armed forces of Abkhazia."

The deal, which will be in force for 49 years, determines the legal status of Russian personnel and base property.

Tbilisi has condemned the pact as part of what it calls Moscow's strategy of occupation.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says the agreement will help Abkhazia develop as an independent state.

Moscow recognized the Republic of Abkhazia in August 2008 after crushing a military assault by Georgia's US-allied government on the other autonomous region of South Ossetia. Several other countries later followed suit.