Fikri Işık

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Tuesday left open the possibility of longer-term assistance to Kurdish YPG militia in Syria, saying the U.S. may need to supply them weapons and equipment even after the capture of Raqqa from Islamic State.

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on June 27 left open the possibility of longer-term assistance to Syrian Kurdish YPG militia in Syria, saying the U.S. may need to supply them weapons and equipment even after the capture of Raqqa from Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Turkey has rejected a key demand by several Arab states involved in a major dispute with Qatar, saying Ankara has no plans to shut down its military base in the small Gulf country.

Individuals found to be members of terrorist organizations or in relation to terror organizations may be sent to perform military service immediately, according to a new decree law issued by the Turkish government under the ongoing state of emergency.  

The Turkish government wants to set up a "joint mechanism" with the U.S. to collect arms sent to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) by the U.S. after the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) is defeated, Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Işık has said. 

A brigade commander was dismissed from his post on June 23 after a food poisoning incident in a military barrack in the western province of Manisa.

Brigade Commander Colonel Şefik Güvenç was dismissed from his post upon the orders of Defense Minister Fikri Işık, sources from the ministry told state-run Anadolu Agency.

Four Arab states boycotting Qatar over alleged support for terrorism have sent Doha a list of 13 demands including closing Al Jazeera television and reducing ties to their regional adversary Iran, an official of one of the four countries said.

Washington is in a "tactical" relationship with the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militia, which Ankara considers as linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Işık in a letter, according to ministry sources.

The latest controversy surrounding Turkey’s military involves its most valued asset: conscripts. In the past month, nearly 2,000 cases of food poisoning have hit the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK). For much of last week, successive reports came out of five TSK units in Manisa province that 600 conscripts were hospitalized for severe nausea and vomiting.

Turkish security forces have seized weapons with erased serial numbers during security operations carried out against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). 

The authorities have been checking the weapons ever since the United States' decision to arm the Syrian Kurdish Peoples' Protection Units (YPG) in their fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).