Last Updated On: Feb 18 2021 10:08 Gmt+3
Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar has suggested that Turkey and the U.S. could resolve their differences over his country’s procurement of Russian S-400 air defence missile systems by replicating what he called the “Crete model.” He was directly referring to Greece’s possession of older Russian S-300 missiles that have been based on Crete for years now.
“We’ve seen this before, whatever the model used for the S-300 on Crete, we’re open to negotiating,” Akar was quoted as saying.
Cyprus originally ordered those S-300s in the late 1990s to deter Turkish overflights of its airspace. Ankara threatened to destroy them if they were deployed on the divided island, sparking a major crisis. That crisis was averted when Greece agreed to take delivery of the missiles instead, putting them in storage on Crete. Athens did not activate the systems until a military exercise in 2013.
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The U.S. military has met its goal of reducing the number of troops in Afghanistan to about 2,500 by Friday, a drawdown that may have violated a last-minute congressional prohibition.
The reduction could complicate matters for the incoming Biden administration, which must determine how to handle a Trump administration commitment to the Taliban to remove all U.S. military, intelligence and contractor personnel from Afghanistan by May as a move to spur peace negotiations. Those talks are in an early stage.
US down to 2,500 troops in Afghanistan, as ordered by Trump - Medicine Hat NewsMedicine Hat News medicinehatnews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from medicinehatnews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Wednesday vetoed the annual defence policy bill, following through on threats to veto a measure that has broad bipartisan support in Congress and potentially . . .
US Senate votes to override Trump s veto on 2021 National Defence Authorization Act Bill dailyexcelsior.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from dailyexcelsior.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.