Iranian President cancels visit to TurkeyDecember 17, 2012 - 11:43 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was scheduled to visit Turkey on the invitation of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Monday, Dec 17, has canceled his visit at a time when Iran's top military commander has warned Turkey that the deployment of Patriot anti-missile batteries along Turkey's border with Syria will set the stage for world war. According to Today's Zaman, a Turkish diplomatic official who spoke on the condition of anonymity confirmed the cancellation of the Iranian president's visit to Turkey, citing an unexpected item that has arisen on Ahmadinejad's agenda. Iranian Maj. Gen. Hassan Firouzabadi, whose remarks came after the Pentagon announced it would send two Patriot missile batteries and 400 troops to Turkey as part of a larger NATO force to protect Turkish territory from potential Syrian missile attacks, called on the Western military alliance to reverse its decision to deploy the defense system, saying such a move risks conflict with Syria. Firouzabadi said the Patriot deployment aims to protect Israel from Iranian missile attacks and to inhibit a potential Russian military defense of Syria. Firouzabadi maintained that Western countries where designing a world war when they approved the deployment of Patriots along the Syrian-Turkish border. “Each one of these Patriots is a black mark on the world map, and is meant to cause a world war,” Firouzabadi said, according to the Iranian Students News Agency. “They are making plans for a world war and this is very dangerous for the future of humanity and for the future of Europe itself,” he said, adding that Turkey, the US and European states should dismantle the Patriots and take them away from the region before shots are fired. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Russia warns Armenia against “falling into West’s trap” Zakharova maintained, however, that anything that will benefit the people of Armenia can only be welcomed. CSTO: Armenia has not participated in secretariat’s work recently Recently Armenia has not participated in the work of the secretariat of the CSTO, Imangali Tasmagambetov said. Meeting with U.S., EU not against third parties, says Armenia The meeting scheduled for April 5 is dedicated to strengthening of the Armenia-EU-US cooperation, Yerevan added. Ucom launches network modernization efforts in few regions of Armenia In particular, on March 28, the legacy Mobile Switching Subsystem will be replaced with a new one. |