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President Erdogan poses in front of combat helicopters manufactured in Turkey on Thursday. Credit: Turkish Presidency

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced in Ankara on Thursday that Turkeys 5th generation fighter jet will make its first flight in 2025.

Turkeys first indigenous combat aircraft, the National Combat Aircraft (MMU) will emerge from hangars in 2023, he said at a mass opening ceremony for 16 factories that will operate in the Space and Aerospace Industry Zone, an engineering hub for manufacturing the groundbreaking jet fighter.

It will take its place in the skies in 2029 as the strike force of the Turkish Air Force, after successfully completing its test procedures, said Erdogan.

Some 2,300 engineers involved in the project will carry out their work at this hub, Erdogan stated.

The Turkish President referred to global suppliers, and the overt or covert embargoes, Turkey has faced, in his Friday remarks.

We are now raising the bar much higher and preparing our country for future warfare. By increasing our research and development investments, we are one by one implementing the systems that require high technology.

Turkey is among the elite club of the ten countries in the world that can design and build their own warships and is also among the top three drone producers, Erdogan added.

Touting the growth of Turkeys defense industry over the last two decades under the rule of his Justice and Development Party (AK Party), Erdogan said the number of its defense projects has topped 750.

He said their budget also jumped to $75 billion and annual profits rose to $10 billion.

Turkey is set to complete the domestic design and development of National Combat Aircraft by 2029, which will replace the aging F-16 fleet of Turkish Air Force.

In October 2021, it asked to buy 40 F-16 fighter jets from the US to upgrade its air force. The move coincided with therecent deal struck by Greece to acquire Rafale jets and frigates from France.

The deal, worth billions,is still working its way through the Foreign Military Sales process,which is subject to approval by the US State Department as well as the US Congress which can block deals.

However, the Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Bob Menendez, expressed his opposition to the sale of US F-16 fighter jets to Turkey in an interview withAir Force Magazine.

I personally am not supportive of giving them F-16s, Menendez told Air Force Magazine during a visit to Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.

I just really have a problem, he said. This is not the Turkey that we aspire for, is not the type of NATO ally that is behaving in a way that we should be able to go ahead and give it some of the most sophisticated fighting equipment.

Read more here:
Erdogan Says Turkey Will Unveil Its Own Fighter Jet in 2025 - Greek Reporter

The non-paper allegedly sent by its officials and technicians has been under discussion in recent days. State Department To Eastmet Pipeline shareholders, they disclosed their bookings regarding the construction of the project.

The unofficial document is said to have been handed over to Greece, Cyprus, Israel, Egypt and EU officials.

In doing so, Washington effectively proposes to abandon the plan for the pipeline.

The reasons the US has to put forward are related to economic and environmental factors, but the main thing is that it is blindly turning Turkey in favor of abandoning the project because of the tensions it is causing in the eastern Mediterranean.

However, Data published by in.gr since June 2019, The US gift to Erdogan is not new, but is subject to the 2015-2017 period and was presented to the Turkish president by then-Vice President Obama Joe Biden.

This is a map of the US Department of Energy (Bureau of Energy Resources) released by the website Mc Clatchy DC, which provides deposits in the eastern Mediterranean around Cyprus and their development infrastructure.

During the 2015-2017 Cyprus talks, the map revealed in the statements of Amos Hoxstein, the former Foreign Ministry Special Coordinator for Cyprus and Israel and Lebanon, was personally presented to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The map shows possible gas extraction routes in the area. One of them is particularly impressive, starting from the Aphrodite deposit and extending via Cyprus to the southern coast of Turkey.

Map of US Question 1 for the Eastern Mediterranean

This pipeline is labeled proposed but does not specify who exactly proposed it.

At the same time, there is a pipeline starting from Leviathan deposits in Israel, crossing the Cyprus EEZ and ending in Alexandretta.

In addition, Turkish claims around Cyprus are printed on the basis of the requested continental shelf, as invited by Turkey.

Cyprus EEZ is not fully delivered, but only part of the border between Israel, Egypt and Lebanon.

Hawkstein revealed that the map was presented in person to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during the 2015-2017 Cyprus peace process and laid the foundation for reconciliation between Turkey and Israel following the Gaza crisis.

The Lebanese have it, the Israelis have it, the Cypriots have it it was a big interest, he said.

This map was produced during the second round of licensing by Cyprus EEZ, and even before Exxon Mobil became involved, the inventions of Glafko and Kalypso were made by EMI.

According to the architect of the Amos Hoaxstein project, there is a rare continuum between the Obama and Trump administrations. This map was originally created by state-owned cartographers and energy ambassadors who served under former Vice President Joe Biden.

As a general idea, in an article on the Mc Clatchy DC website. President Donald Trumps national security advisers (US President who released the map) are said to believe that the map also indirectly reflects the Middle East peace plan.

In October 2020, the website militaire.gr, The specific map and the publication of the Americans have been handled by the Greek website in.gr since 7/6/2019, however, without the consideration of any of the official agencies of the government, provided the relevant article. Cyprus and Greece protest or give some explanations.

He stressed that the Eastern Med, which was recently acknowledged by Israel, Greece and Cyprus, was nowhere to be found in this field.

The Turkish Continental Shelf and the EEZ have demarcated and demarcated the border between Greece and Egypt as far west as Cyprus and southern Egypt (claimed by the Turkish Continental Shelf), and up to the 28th meridian (half of the Rhodes) in the west.

Continental shelf claimed and approved by map, overlapping (approximately half) of the defined layers of Cyprus EEZ in its southwestern part (layers 4,5,6 and 7).

The Greek archipelago of Castellorizo is nowhere to be found, while this area is recorded on the Turkish continental shelf.

The influence of Turkeys mainland in the eastern Mediterranean is recognized because it reflected more than 80% of the recent Turkey-Libya memorandum.

As militaire.gr points out, as most non-experts feel, this is not a violation of the sovereign rights of Cyprus and Greece, but essentially a recognition of the state affairs of the two countries. As if they were not there.

Greece and Cyprus are used as a venue, mainly to serve the interests of the energy and geopolitical strategy of the United States and the West, with the gift of the EU towards Russia, and Turkeys control of the Western Alliance. And its control over the Middle East and the Eastern Mediterranean.

The charter in question is not the old American design that justifies a change in its geopolitical support.

On the contrary, as mentioned, it was planned for 2015-17 and was classified only in June 2019, seven months before the final agreement with the East Med, and the pipeline has already been agreed, three months before the arrival of Pompeo Tsipras in Jerusalem! (March 2019).

Turkeys policy and its claims are already known and used in the field, adds militaire.gr.

In January 2022, his post slpress.gr, Citing the same map, the Americans re-establish the scene of collective exploitation not only in the EEZs of the two countries (Greece and Turkey) (which is logical), but throughout the eastern Mediterranean.

He points out that there are some prophetic contradictions in this map, because although it was designed for two to four years (period 2015-2017 or earlier according to Mc Clatchy DC) before the Turkish-Libyan Memorandum (November 27, 2019), it is the Turkish Continental Shelf. Shows in detail the so-called southeastern frontiers.

These were submitted to the UN on March 18, 2020 (Map 2), part of which was released ten months ago (May 26, 2019) in a presentation by Turkish Ambassador agatay Erciyes (Director General of Bilateral Political and Maritime-Air Transport-Border). Issues, MFA) with TPAO study / mining layers (Figure 3). The boundary identification is confirmed in Figure 4 obtained by comparing Maps 3, 2 and 1.

The second contradiction includes the western boundary of its Turkish maritime zones south (west) of the all-illegal Turkish Navtex and Magisti complex (Map 5) east of the Rhodes for Org Reyes investigations. Of the State Department.

This is confirmed in Figure 6, which is obtained by comparing Figure 1 with Figure 5.

The third contradiction is the Greco-Egyptian territorial demarcation of the EEZ (yellow line A, B, D, C, E on Figure 6), signed on 06 August 2020 and ending at point A just before the western boundary. The map of the State Department would say Turkish maritime zone.

The website slpress.gr also asked the following questions for robust solutions:

Why does Map 3, published by Turkish Ambassador agatay Erciyes, accept the limitations of the Foreign Office map (Map-1) in the earlier period?

Why do Turkish Navtex trials with Oruc Reis, while illegal, come exclusively within the boundaries of the Foreign Office map and fully respect the EEZs Greco-Egyptian demarcation?

Why does the eastern boundary of the EEZs Greco-Egyptian boundary line coincide with the western boundary of the State Department map and Oruc Reis Navtex Studies (Map-6)?

Aside from the disagreement of the committees submitted to the UN under the Turkish-Libyan Memorandum, why did Greece and Turkey not deviate from the rules of the Foreign Office map (points D, E, F, G on Figure 4) entering the 28th meridian in violation of the State Department map? What?

Was the completely non-existent Turkish-Libyan memorandum introduced as a diplomatic exchange for the so-called withdrawal of the final Greco-Turkish agreement?

Same website slpress.gr, In another article in November 2020, re-focused on the questionable map, which shows some details related to rumors about annexing the occupied territories.

In particular, in Map 2 and the Ocean regions of occupied Cyprus (red shadow), no arrangement was made for the Agialitis zone (sic). That is, potential EEZ starts directly from the ground, in violation of any reading of the law of the sea (see descriptive map of ocean regions).

It is noteworthy that the map provides a coastal zone in other areas (other than this), sometimes in variable range, to prevent opponents of the notion that the Biden map is a shelf (starting from the base) and not the EEZ.

It is pointed out that all subsequent related maps published by Turkey accept the same rule for the maritime zones of the occupied territories as can be seen in Map-3.

In addition, Map-7 shows a possible EEZ of the invaders, an imaginary walkway / bridge (yellow circle) beginning east of Taucu Bay and extending south along the Yedikonuk coast.

With this in mind, the first question that arises is why there is no regional sea in occupied Cyprus, and it seems to have integrated its potential EEZ with the mainland of Turkey via the corridor connecting the Ecumenical (Yellow Circle) coast with the Gulf of Tsuku. Map-7);

Is this bizarre prediction of the State Department that created the map (and we assume it told the Foreign Office in one way or another) a precautionary measure to annex the occupied territories?

It is well known that Turkey has always focused on covering up its actions with legitimacy, and that is what is presented here.

Read this article:
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President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey would take steps to improve ties with estranged rivals Egypt and Israel similar to those in recent weeks with the United Arab Emirates, which led to investments, NTV and other broadcasters said.

Ankara and Abu Dhabi signed accords for billions of dollars of investments last week and Erdogan said they would herald a "new era" in ties.

As part of a charm offensive launched last year, Turkey has also moved to repair ties with Egypt and Saudi Arabia but those talks have yielded little public improvement.

"They (UAE) put up a $10 billion investment plan. By putting this $10 billion into place, we will have built a very different future," Erdogan was cited as telling reporters on a flight back from Turkmenistan, adding he would visit the UAE in February.

"Whatever kind of step was taken with the UAE, we will also take similar ones with the others (Israel and Egypt)," he said, in response to a question about ties with Tel Aviv and Cairo.

Speaking with his Israeli counterpart Issac Herzog earlier this month, Erdogan urged continued dialogue in their mutual interest.

The Turkish leader also spoke with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.

Erdogan said Turkish-Israeli relations were important for security and stability in the Middle East.

He told Herzog: "Disagreements could be reduced to a minimum if both sides acted in mutual understanding in terms of bilateral and regional issues," said the presidency.

Ahead of this exchange, Mordi and Natali Oknin, who were detained for allegedly taking a photograph of Erdogan's home in Istanbul, were released.

An Istanbul court had charged them with "political and military espionage", Turkish media reports revealed.

The Oknins denied the charges, while Foreign Minister Yair Lapid insisted the couple were not employees of any intelligence agency.

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Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, shakes hands with Hamas terrorist movement chief Ismail Haniyeh, prior to their meeting in Istanbul, February 1, 2020

(Photo: Reuters)

Relations between Turkey and Israel have been strained, especially since ambassadors were withdrawn in 2018 after the deaths of Palestinian protesters in Gaza.

Read more here:
Erdogan says plans steps to better ties with Israel after ...

ANKARA, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan accelerated a market meltdown on Wednesday when he pledged to continue his battle against interest rates "to the end", sending the lira to new depths and prompting opposition leaders to call for early elections.

Erdogan said he would lift the interest rate burden from people and urged businesses to take advantage of aggressive monetary easing since September to invest, hire and export goods.

The president's interference in monetary policy has rattled the currency for years and battered the credibility of the central bank that has slashed its policy rate by 300 basis points since September, to 16%.

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The comments came a day before the bank is expected to cut again despite inflation soaring to near 20%.

The lira tumbled as much as 3% on Wednesday and is by far the worst performer in emerging markets this year, due largely to what analysts call premature and risky easing by a central bank seen to have buckled to Erdogan's demands. read more

"We will lift this scourge of interest rates from people's backs. We certainly cannot allow our people to be crushed by interest rates," he told lawmakers from his ruling conservative AK Party in parliament.

"I cannot and will not stand on this path with those who defend interest rates," Erdogan said, repeating his unorthodox view that high rates cause inflation.

The president describes himself as an enemy of interest rates, regularly speaks out ahead of policy decisions, and has overhauled the central bank's leadership, firing three policymakers last month.

In response to Erdogan's comments, the lira touched new all-time lows of 10.6810 to the dollar and beyond 12 to the euro.

The currency is down 30% against the dollar this year and some 64% over four years, eating into the earnings of Turks along with mostly double-digit inflation.

"The central bank gave up on its (price-stability) function and ... only looks at the lira's depreciation, the rise of the exchange rate as spectators," said Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP).

"You cannot govern the country," he said of Erdogan. "Let us go to elections at once. Let a new government be formed."

Turks have cited economic mismanagement in opinion polls that show Erdogan's support at multi-year lows. Elections are due no later than mid-2023.

Adding to market unease over already thin official foreign currency reserves, Reuters reported citing sources that Turkey's state energy company BOTAS is expected to turn to the central bank to meet its hard currency needs this winter. read more

A rally in the dollar also weighed on the lira.

MORE RATE CUTS?

The central bank's aggressive easing bucked expectations in recent months and left it virtually alone in a world of policy tightening. But it delivered stimulus long sought by Erdogan.

The bank says price pressures are temporary, and it is expected to cut rates by another 100 basis points to 15% on Thursday, according to a Reuters poll.

As he left parliament, Erdogan said the central bank would decide on rates independently when its monetary policy committee meets at 1100 GMT on Thursday.

Piotr Matys, senior FX analyst at In Touch Capital Markets, said cutting rates then would be too risky with the lira under pressure, and he predicted no policy change.

"In order to stabilise the lira, the bank would have to reverse those 300-basis-point cuts since September but I think that the bar for it to make a U-turn is still set fairly high," he said.

"Tomorrow's meeting could prove the most important for (Central Bank Governor Sahap) Kavcioglu. Allowing the lira to fall at such a rapid pace will cause serious damage to the Turkish economy," Matys added.

The lira's depreciation stokes prices via imports and raises default risks for companies with foreign currency debt.

Erdogan, who appointed Kavcioglu in March, questioned why business people did not take out loans and invest as rates were lowered.

"Then they get together (and) talk about high interest rates," he said, referring to the main business group TUSIAD and others.

"What type of people are you? If you are a businessman you are on the side of investment, so here you go: loans with low interest," Erdogan said, adding he expected them to raise investment, employment, exports and production.

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Editing by Jonathan Spicer, Alex Richardson and Giles Elgood

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Erdogan's pledge to fight interest rates sends lira ...

A logo of Turkey's Central Bank is pictured at the entrance of its headquarters in Ankara, Turkey October 15, 2021. REUTERS/Cagla Gurdogan/File Photo

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LONDON/ISTANBUL, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Turkey's central bank is expected to deliver more interest rate cuts on Thursday - a move that President Tayyip Erdogan will likely cheer but which analysts warn could lift inflation higher and accelerate the demise of the lira.

The currency has suffered a steep selloff in the run up to the bank's policy decision expected at 2 p.m. (1100 GMT) on Thursday, slumping more than 6% in November and crashing through the 10 to the dollar watershed to a new record low.

Here are four questions facing the central bank, which has slashed policy rates by 300 basis points since September:

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1/WHAT WILL THE CENTRAL BANK DO?

Turkey is expected to reduce its policy rate by 100 basis points to 15%, according to a Reuters poll. read more

While inflation is at 2-1/2 year highs, analysts predict October's lower-than-expected reading increased the likelihood of a cut, although some caution the speed of the lira's recent tumble may stay the bank's hand.

Erdogan holds the unorthodox view that lower rates will tame inflation and ousted the last three central bank chiefs over a 20-month span due to policy disagreements.

Governor Sahap Kavcioglu, appointed in March, ended months of hawkish talk in September when he laid the groundwork for easing. The central bank acknowledged last month there was limited room for further monetary policy easing by year-end.

However, recent cuts have shredded any remaining investor confidence in the bank's independence.

Erdogan, a self-described enemy of interest rates, has his eyes firmly on elections to be held no later than mid-2023. With his popularity slipping in opinion polls, the pragmatic president could rethink his push for monetary stimulus - or refuse to back down despite the lira pain.

2/HOW LONG CAN TURKEY PLAY THIS GAME?

Cutting rates despite double-digit inflation and a tumbling currency is dangerous, say analysts.

"Unless we see a significant policy reversal in Turkey any time soon, the country looks set to head into its third currency crisis since 2018," said Erik Meyersson, a Stockholm-based senior economist at Handelsbankenan who specialises in Turkey.

Turkey has far less ammunition to defend the currency than in previous years with foreign exchange reserves falling. Central bank reserves in Q2 covered fewer than three months worth of imports, down from 4.5 in 2019.

But Turkey may not be able to cut much further, especially with central banks globally, including the U.S. Federal Reserve, preparing to tighten policy to curb inflation.

"Going forward, we don't think that the current policy mix is sustainable and rates will eventually need to go higher," Goldman Sachs analysts said, forecasting rates to fall to 15% by year-end followed by 300 basis points of hikes in the second half of 2022.

Another risk is the large volume of short-term dollar-denominated debt Turkey must repay.

3/WHERE IS INFLATION HEADED?

Annual inflation rose to 19.89% in October - four times the central bank's target, although it argues price pressures are temporary. Policymakers recently shifted emphasis to core inflation, which stood at 16.83%.

Global pressures from soaring post-pandemic demand, supply chain disruptions and an energy price rally have exacerbated pressures from the weak lira.

Producer prices soared 46.31% year-on-year in October, suggesting inflation should remain elevated for several more months. Deutsche Bank predicts headline inflation will stay above 20% in the first half of next year and end 2022 at 16%.

4/ WHAT IS ERDOGAN'S ENDGAME?

Rampant inflation and the tumbling lira have hit Turkish consumers hard, eating into earnings. This has unnerved Erdogan, whose conservative AK Party has ruled for 19 years on a reputation for delivering a strong economy and household wealth.

Erdogan's gamble is that rate cuts will boost the economy by supporting lending, exports and jobs. Economists say exports are unlikely to benefit from a weaker currency because of companies' high foreign debts.

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Reporting by Tommy Wilkes in London and Jonathan Spicer in Istanbul, editing by Karin Strohecker and Richard Pullin

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Will Erdogan get more cuts? Four questions for Turkey's ...