14 Turkish navy ships still missing since attempted coupJuly 19, 2016 - 16:35 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Fourteen Turkish navy ships remained at sea and unaccounted for last night amid concerns that their commanders may be coup conspirators seeking to defect, The Times reports. Admiral Veysel Kosele, the commander of the Turkish navy, has been out of contact since Friday night’s botched coup, a source confirmed. It is not known whether he was an instigator of the attempt to oust President Erdogan or is being held hostage by collaborators on the run. Last night the president said that he was almost assassinated when the resort in southwest Turkey where he was staying was stormed and two of his bodyguards killed. The missing ships were reportedly on active duty in either the Aegean or the Black Sea and have not tried to make contact with naval headquarters or report back to the port, The Independent says. It is suspected they may be heading to Greek ports. On Saturday, eight Turkish military officers took a helicopter to Greece to seek asylum. Authorities have rounded up thousands alleged to have been involved in the coup, in which 208 government supporters and 24 coup plotters were killed. The government says Fethullah Gulen, a US-based Muslim cleric, was behind the coup. Related links: 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. |