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Category: Russian Federation

  • Will beach explosions make Turkey less popular?

    Will beach explosions make Turkey less popular?

    15 people, including 7 Russians, were injured during an explosion at a beach in the Turkish city of Kemer on Sunday.

    Photo: RIA Novosti
    Photo: RIA Novosti

    Mostly, these are slight injuries, which were caused by pebble-stones scatted by the explosion.

    Out of these 7 Russians, 3 are already back from hospital, and 4 are still in hospital.

    A similar incident took place in another Antalya resort, Konyaaltı,on August 26, when a grenade exploded at a beach. Nobody was killed or wounded. Some people faded, but immediately received medical help.

    It still cannot be said for sure was caused the explosion at the Kemer beach. At first, it was supposed that a gas balloon exploded in a nearby restaurant. Then, another version appeared, that it was also a grenade which had been dug by someone in the sand.

    Kemer has always been a calm resort, and it used to be very popular with Russians. But now, experts are afraid that Russians may start to refrain from going there – though the Russian Foreign Ministry hasn’t made any official warnings against visiting the resort.

    Press secretary of the Russian association of tourist agencies Irina Tyurina says:

    “I don’t think that there will be a massive return of money to tourists by tourist agencies. Of course, agencies have no right just not to return money to clients without any compensation. They would either suggest them to postpone the trip or to choose another resort.”

    It looks like for some time past, Russian tourists in Turkey are becoming victims of bad luck. Recently, several Russian tourists were poisoned to death by adulterated whiskey which they drank during a yacht trip. Police have already arrested the yacht’s owner and the whiskey’s suppliers. Some other Russian tourists in Antalya have been poisoned – fortunately, not to death – by something they had eaten. However, this didn’t make Turkey’s resorts less popular with Russians – probably because these resorts are rather cheap and comparatively close to Russia.

    via Will beach explosions make Turkey less popular?: Voice of Russia.

  • Turkey to send 50 students for nuclear training in Russia

    Turkey to send 50 students for nuclear training in Russia

    The students will later be recruited at the Mersin plant and sign a contract with the government to serve there for 13 years.

    Expecting to build Turkey’s first nuclear plant in Mersin, the government is set to send a group of 50 students to receive nuclear engineering training at the Moscow State Engineering Physics Institute (MEPhI), Energy Minister Taner Yıldız said on Tuesday. The minister met with the students in Ankara on Tuesday.

    The government earlier said it would send 300 students from university engineering departments to receive training at MEPhI. The first team will start training in Russia shortly on a five-and-a-half year scholarship program.

    Turkey has reached a deal with the Russian state-owned atomic power company ROSATOM for the construction of a plant in Akkuyu and recent statements note that the government will ask Russia to increase safety precautions at the plant. The plant’s construction is expected to begin in less than two years’ time and will take six to seven years to complete. The minister said all of the students are expected to complete their training in the meantime.

    The students will later be recruited at the Mersin plant and sign a contract with the government to serve there for 13 years.

    Yıldız earlier said that the employees will be provided with public housing and “high” salaries. Despite criticism from green activists, Turkey remains intent on constructing a nuclear power plant in Mersin’s Akkuyu district and another one in the Black Sea province of Sinop.

    Meanwhile, the minister said the government did not consider an increase in natural gas prices.

    Cihan news agency

  • Turkey’s Rice Imports May Be 150,000 Tons in 2011-12, Union Says

    Turkey’s Rice Imports May Be 150,000 Tons in 2011-12, Union Says

    RiceTurkey may import 150,000 metric tons of rice this marketing season with its own production seen at 800,000 tons, the country’s Rice Millers Association said.

    In the season from September through June, Turkey imported 334,480 tons of paddy rice, Turgay Yetis, the association’s president, said today at an international grains conference in Rostov-on-Don, southwesternRussia. The U.S. was the largest supplier, with 178,420 tons, followed by Russia, which shipped 111,579 tons, he said.

    Turkey accounted for 70 percent of Russia’s rice exports in 2010 and 90 percent in the first seven months of 2011, according to the Moscow-based Institute for Agricultural Market Studies.

    Bloomberg

     

  • Guest from Turkey threatens to explode Moscow subway

    Guest from Turkey threatens to explode Moscow subway

    70607MOSCOW. – Police checks information on allegedly planned act of terrorism in Moscow.

    Police received a call on Wednesday notifying that a citizen of Iraq will arrive in Moscow airport Sheremetyevo from Istanbul on Thursday to carry out several terroristic acts, Interfax reports quoting the sources from law enforcement agencies.

    The warning came to the airport by e-mail in English. After translating the information, security employees turned to police. Currently the information is being checked. Police does not exclude that the information may turn to be false.

    Turkey police of the department of international relations told Interfax that no information is available on this connection.

    via Guest from Turkey threatens to explode Moscow subway | Armenia News – NEWS.am.

  • NATO fears spy missiles

    NATO fears spy missiles

    Alexei Chernichenko

    Jul 29, 2011 15:45 Moscow Time

    S-300. Photo: RIA Novosti
    S-300. Photo: RIA Novosti

     

    The United States is urging Turkey not to buy Russian S-300 long-range surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems, threatening to cease cooperation. Washington claims this deal jeopardizes NATO secrets.

    Turkey declared a tender to buy S-300 missiles for its national air defense system back in 2005. Director of the Center for strategy and technology analysis Ruslan Pukhov explains their importance for Ankara:

    “Until recently, Turkey had almost no air defense facilities of its own. Rearmament issues, including air defense means, are becoming increasingly important in view of this country’s role in the region and its president’s ambitions to make it a regional leader,” Ruslan Pukhov said.

    By the way, S-300’s only rival in terms of the tender is the American Patriot PAC-3 surface-to-air missile system. Russian expert Viktor Litovkin has this to say on S-300 characteristics and features:

    “S-300 complexes are considered to be the best long range SAMs in the world, destroying not the target missile’s body but its warhead, unlike US Patriots. As for defending targets, one S-300 is comparable to four Patriot PAC-3 missiles. The latter are launched at a particular angle to each of the four sides of the world, whereas the S-300 is fired vertically upward without being preliminary turned towards the target,” Viktor Litovkin explains.

    American experts say that interaction between Russian and NATO systems will lead to information leakages. Military analysts polled by the Voice of Russia argue this is far from the truth, given that all systems work autonomously. Military observer Viktor Baranets is sure it’s all about lobbying arms dealers.

    “Turkey, being a NATO member state, is living under constant pressure from the United States which decides what it should buy and what it should not. America acted the same way during military exhibitions in Malaysia, as well as in England, France and Germany. The key role has always been played by rivalry between Russia and the US. Now that Russia is not only exporting but also importing weapons, NATO is getting indignant over Washington’s dictating to Italy, France and other countries which arms and hardware models they may sell,” Viktor Baranets says.

    Experts point out that Turkey may also dislike US attempts to influence its choice, especially when it comes to national security.

    via NATO fears spy missiles: Voice of Russia.

  • China, Russia invited to Libya talks in Istanbul

    China, Russia invited to Libya talks in Istanbul

    ANKARA — Turkey has invited China and Russia to join for the first time discussions on Libya as part of a contact group of major powers, to convene this week in Istanbul, a Turkish official said.

    “Russia and China have been invited as permanent members of the UN Security Council. We think they will participate but no information has reached us so far on what level,” foreign ministry spokesman Selcuk Unal told reporters.

    The so-called International Contact Group on Libya, scheduled to meet on Friday in Istanbul, includes the countries participating in the Nato-led campaign targeting Muammar Gadhafi’s regime and regional players.

    Russia abstained from a vote on a Security Council resolution in March that opened the way for international involvement in Libya and has since criticised the scale and intent of the Nato-led strikes.

    China, for his part, had maintained a policy of non-interference in the conflict, but has appeared more involved recently and its officials have met several times with Libyan opposition representatives.

    Along with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the foreign ministers of Australia, Bahrain, Britain, Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, France, Italy, Malta, Morocco, the Netherlands, Poland and the UAE have confirmed their participation in the Istanbul meeting, Unal said. — AFP