Hulusi

Turkey has taken every legal action following the interception of a Turkish-flagged commercial ship named Roseline-A in the eastern Mediterranean Sea by the EU's military mission Irini, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Nov. 30.

A probe has been launched into Republican People's Party (CHP) lawmaker Ali Mahir Başarır over his remarks regarding the Turkish army, the chief public prosecutor's office in Ankara announced on Nov. 30.

"The army was sold," Başarır said on private broadcaster Habertürk on Nov. 28, criticizing the government over the privatization of a national tank factory.

Comments by Republican People's Party (CHP) lawmaker Ali Mahir Başarır's on the Turkish army, calling it to have been sold and criticizing the government over the privatization of a national tank factory, have stirred a debate with the government official condemning lawmaker's remarks.

Turkey's Defense Minister Hulusi Akar has said his country is ready for a comprehensive dialogue with Greece "on all outstanding disputes" in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean, "without preconditions."

The announcement in Ankara on Tuesday that part of the fenced-off ghost town of Varosha in Turkish-occupied Cyprus will be opened for development by Turkish Cypriots was seen in Greece as seriously undermining the recent efforts between the two countries for dialogue.

Any move against Turkey's vessels in the Eastern Mediterranean will get a response, the country's defense minister, Hulusi Akar, said in a video message to Turkish crew members.

"Everyone must know how determined we are on this issue," Akar was quoted as saying by Turkish media.

The latest crisis in relations between Athens and Ankara is different from previous ones. It is broader in scope, it has a hegemonic dimension, and it is permeated by an imperial rather than - as in the past - nationalist attitude.

Turkey is determined to defend its rights and interests across the "Blue Homeland," including Cyprus, the country's Defense Minister Hulusi Akar was quoted as saying Tuesday in reference to an expansionist vision of Turkish rights and claims in the Eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea.

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Wednesday he was certain that Greeks would not want an armed conflict with Turkey over maritime dumpsites in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean.

"I want to underline in a mathematical certainty that Greeks would not want to stage a war with Turkey," Akar told the private broadcaster A Haber in an interview on June 10.

The Turkish Air Force on June 1 marked its 109th anniversary.

Marking the occasion, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar released a message lauding the air force's modern technology and top-flight personnel with over a century of experience.