Sri Lanka’s government on Thursday defeated a no-confidence motion in Parliament that accused it of failing to prevent Easter Sunday bomb attacks that killed more than 250 people.

The motion against Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s government was defeated by a vote of 119 lawmakers against to 92 in favor. The motion, submitted by the opposition Peoples’ Liberation Party, said the government should not remain in office because it failed to respond to intelligence reports ahead of the attacks by Islamic extremists on three churches and three luxury hotels.

Wickremesinghe’s defeat of the motion is expected to strengthen his hand in his rivalry with the country’s president, Maithripala Sirisena, ahead of elections slated for this year _ including a presidential election which both Sirisena and Wickremesinghe are expected to contest.

The motion was debated on Wednesday and Thursday.

During the debate, opposition lawmakers blamed Wickremesinghe and the government for failing to prevent the April 21 attack, despite the fact that “proper information” was available regarding the attackers. Government supporters argued it was unfair to blame the government and prime minister when the security establishment, including police, was under the control of Sirisena, who is also the country’s defense minister.

The attack by seven suicide bombers from a local Muslim group, National Thowheed Jammath, was the worst violence by Islamic State group-linked militants in South Asia.

Sri Lankan leaders and the security establishment came under fire for not acting on near-specific intelligence information on possible attacks on churches. The government has acknowledged that some intelligence units were aware of possible attacks weeks before the bombings.

Sirisena’s enmity with Wickremesinghe and his Cabinet and a lack of communication between the two leaders is also considered a key factor in the breakdown of intelligence sharing ahead of the attacks.

Sirisena, who was health minister under former strongman President Mahinda Rajapaksa, quit that government and teamed up with Wickremesinghe to defeat Rajapaksa in the 2015 presidential election.

However, the two leaders fell out and their rivalry became public last October when Sirisena sacked Wickremesinghe and appointed Rajapaksa as prime minister. The crisis brought the country to a standstill for seven weeks and was only resolved after a court ordered Sirisena to reinstate Wickremesinghe.

Sirisena has said he was kept in the dark on intelligence about the attacks and vowed to “take stern action” against officials who failed to share it.

Following the attack, national police chief Pujith Jayasundara was suspended and former Defense Secretary Hemasiri Fernando resigned. Both were arrested last week for alleged criminal negligence and later released on bail.

A parliamentary committee is looking into intelligence failures despite objections by Sirisena after some officials hinted at shortcomings by the president.

 

Former Red Sox slugger David Ortiz is recovering from a third surgery after experiencing complications resulting from his gunshot wound.
 
Ortiz’s wife, Tiffany, says in a statement Thursday that he is “recovering well and in good spirits.” He had the surgery earlier this week at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Ortiz was shot in the back at a bar in the Dominican Republic last month. Dominican police have said he was mistaken for another man who was sitting near him at the club.
 

Police say a suspected drug trafficker offered to pay $30,000 for the shooting.

Police say they’ve arrested 14 people in the case, including the suspected gunman, and are searching for others.
 

Boris Johnson, the man likely to become U.K. prime minister within weeks, on Thursday denied playing any role in the departure of Britain’s ambassador to Washington, who quit after coming under attack from President Donald Trump.

British politicians from both government and opposition parties have accused Johnson of spinelessness for failing to defend envoy Kim Darroch, and said the removal of a British ambassador because of pressure from a foreign leader was a severe blow to British diplomacy and power.

“This is a direct challenge to a sovereign nation,” said Tom Tugendhat, a Conservative lawmaker who heads Parliament’s foreign affairs committee. He added that Britain “shouldn’t be bullied.”

Johnson told The Sun newspaper it was “bizarre” people were blaming him for the departure of Darroch, who resigned following a furor over leaked diplomatic cables which labeled Trump’s White House dysfunctional, clumsy and inept.

Trump responded by branding Darroch a “pompous fool” and cut off the administration’s contact with him.

Darroch announced his resignation Wednesday, saying it had become “impossible for me to carry out my role as I would like.”

Politicians including Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, Johnson’s rival for the prime minister’s job, criticized Trump’s tirades and defended Darroch.

But Johnson merely stressed his good relations with the White House and the importance of the trans-Atlantic relationship. Darroch resigned hours after Johnson made those comments.

“I can’t believe they’re trying to blame me for this,” Johnson told The Sun. “I’m a great supporter of Kim’s. I worked very well with him for years.”

Conservative lawmaker Nicholas Soames, however, said Johnson had “hung Kim Darroch out to dry … and I was ashamed to see it.”

Opposition Labour Party legislator Liz McInnes called Johnson’s behavior “the most craven and despicable act of cowardice I have seen from any candidate for public office, let alone someone running to be prime minister.”

Labour called for Prime Minister Theresa May to appoint Darroch’s successor before she leaves office later this month, to prevent Johnson from putting his own appointee in the post.

Johnson is the strong favorite to win a Conservative leadership contest and succeed May as party leader and prime minister. He is widely expected to defeat Hunt in a ballot of about 160,000 party members. The winner will be announced July 23.

May could try to replace Darroch in the two weeks she has left, but she is unlikely to have enough time.

British ambassadors are almost always professional diplomats rather than political appointees. Filling overseas posts involves a formal civil service process with advertisements, applications and interviews.

It’s unusual, but not unknown, for non-diplomats to become ambassadors, and some have suggested Johnson as prime minister might appoint someone seen as strongly pro-Brexit and friendly to Trump. The president has previously said Brexit champion Nigel Farage would be a good choice, though Farage this week ruled himself out.

May’s spokesman, James Slack, would not comment on the timetable, saying only that “in terms of this particular replacement, that will take place in due course.”

Foreign Office Minister Alan Duncan said Darroch’s replacement would be appointed in the “proper way.”

“The next ambassador will be appointed in the usual way by the prime minister on the foreign secretary’s recommendation with the approval of Her Majesty The Queen,” he told lawmakers.

British officials are hunting for the culprits behind the leak of Darroch’s confidential memos, intended to be seen by a small group of senior politicians and officials. The cables published by the Mail on Sunday newspaper covered the period between 2017 and recent weeks.

Officials have said they think it’s 50-50 whether the mole is found.

Duncan said Thursday that the investigation had so far found no evidence that the security breach was a hack, rather than a leak.

“Our focus is on finding someone within the system who has released illicitly these communications,” he told lawmakers.

Retno Daru’s doctor told her to limit her outdoor activity and put her on medication to help relieve her swollen nasal passages inflamed by pollution in Indonesia’s capital city, Jakarta.

This is not an easy task for the English teacher who spends a lot of time outside often taking motorbike taxis to get around the congested city and exercising outdoors.

“It’s really inconvenient, because I swim and now I can’t,” she said.

The air pollution in Indonesia’s capital has become so bad that Jakarta regularly tops real-time charts of the world’s most polluted cities.

The heaviest average rainfall to lash a swathe of southern and eastern China in more than half a century brought torrential rain and floods, destroying houses, damaging crops and forcing the evacuation of nearly 80,000 people, state media said.

Even more rain is expected, state television said Thursday, after average rainfall in the affected areas this week was recorded as 51% higher than in the corresponding periods of previous years, and the largest since 1961.

State television showed images of half-submerged buildings and flooded streets in some of the worst-hit areas. Trains along the Beijing-Guangzhou railway were delayed after rising waters blocked a bridge in the southern province of Hunan, it added.

The latest episode has caused losses of 2.69 billion yuan ($392 million), with 126,100 hectares (311,600 acres) of farmland damaged and 1,600 homes collapsed, the Ministry of Emergency Management has estimated.

As many as 77,000 people had been evacuated, it added. The affected areas include the southern provinces of Hunan and Jiangxi, eastern Zhejiang, the southeastern province of Fujian, and the northern parts of the southwestern Guangxi region.

The first three areas are expected to be doused again in a fresh burst of torrential rain Friday and Saturday, weather officials said, along with the central province of Hubei, eastern Anhui and the province of Guizhou in the southwest.

The Yangtze River in Jiangxi is expected to exceed its warning level for the first time this year around Sunday, swelled by heavy rain that could last until Tuesday, state TV said.

Extreme weather is becoming increasingly frequent in China, with temperatures in some parts hitting records this year.

Weather officials warned on July 3 that rainfall in the south could surpass the average by 30% to 70% over a 10-day stretch.

Ride-hailing app Uber is considering expanding its services to Senegal’s capital.

But in a city full of taxis and drivers who don’t have smartphones, the San Francisco-based company will have to overcome a lot of challenges to be useful to Dakar residents and turn a profit.

The city, like most African capitals, has an abundance of taxis. In most parts of the city, any time day or night, it’s easy to find a ride. But the city is rapidly expanding, and Uber says it has seen an opportunity to move in.

“Any progressive, forward-thinking city that has a need for safe, reliable, efficient transportation is where we want to be,” Francesca Uriri, Uber’s head of communications in West Africa, told VOA. “We are part of a broader mobility movement in establishing smart cities of the future and will continue to explore what our options in West Africa.”

No fixed addresses

Among the challenges Uber will face in Dakar is a lack of fixed addresses. Taxi drivers know the city inside and out and tend to navigate based on landmarks. How the app could work in a city that rarely uses map applications is a big question for some residents.

“Like when you are coming to my house, I will not be able to tell you exactly where my house is located on the map. So, you will have to you know, I will have to tell you a building or somewhere, a school somewhere I can pick you from,” Sa Ngoné, a Dakar resident who has used Uber’s services while traveling in the United States, explained.

“It might work here, but it will require lots of investment because we don’t have the same organization as in the U.S.,” he said.

Unlike Ngoné, most Dakar residents haven’t heard specifically of Uber. But similar services, including Allo Taxi, a service you call and arrange rides with, already exist here.

Welcome addition

However, some say the services that already exist here aren’t fully developed, and Uber coming in would be a welcome addition.

“I think if this company came in it would create competition and add something new to the landscape of transportation in Dakar. I think it could work really well,” M. Dieye, a Dakar resident, told VOA.

For most taxi rides in Dakar, riders and drivers must negotiate prices before getting in. Both parties think they would be happier if the price was fixed based on mileage and time.

“If they hire us as drivers, for example, that could help us out a lot,” Modou N’Diaye, a taxi driver in Dakar, told VOA.

No haggling

Gora Séne, who has been driving a taxi since 1998, explained that often price negotiations lead to him getting paid less than he should, and sometimes arguments with riders end with him not being paid at all.

“[Uber] could work well here. If they hire drivers with experience here they could be successful — like if they hire us, that’s a possibility. But it depends on what they will offer,” he said.

But whether taxi drivers, most of whom don’t have smartphones, will be able to join Uber or compete with them, is yet to be seen.

Uber has expanded to 23 cities in Africa, including Abuja, Lagos and Accra in West Africa.

An art dealer who authorities called one of the most prolific smugglers in the world and seven others were charged with trafficking more than $140 million in stolen antiquities, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Authorities described the case as one of the largest of its kind, saying the conspiracy began more than three decades ago and involved more than 2,600 recovered artifacts, including statues and ancient masterworks.

A criminal complaint filed in Manhattan state court said the smuggling was orchestrated by Subhash Kapoor, a New York art gallery owner who was arrested in Germany in 2011 and later extradited to India, where he faces similar charges.

An email seeking comment was sent to Kapoor’s defense attorney.

Priceless works

The prosecution involves artifacts stolen from Afghanistan, Cambodia, India, Pakistan and other countries that were sold for profit to dealers and collectors around the world. Some of the items appeared in world-renowned museums without officials realizing they were ill-gotten gains.

“These are, in many instances, priceless works that represent the culture and history of the countries from which they were stolen,” Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. told The Associated Press in an interview. “They are of enormous value.”

In all, authorities said, the network trafficked more than $143 million worth of antiquities. The international investigation was called “Operation Hidden Idol.”

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has described Kapoor as “one of the most prolific art smugglers in the world.” He faces 86 counts in the criminal complaint, including grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property.

The lead prosecutor, Matthew Bogdanos, told the AP that none of the defendants is believed to be in the United States. He said the authorities asked Interpol to issue international warrants for their arrest.

Criminal complaint

Kapoor, 70, owned the Art of the Past gallery on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, which authorities raided in early 2012.

The criminal complaint says Kapoor went to extraordinary lengths to acquire the artifacts, many of them statues of Hindu deities, and then falsified their provenance with forged documents.

It says Kapoor traveled the world seeking out antiquities that had been looted from temples, homes and archaeological sites. Some of the artifacts were recovered from Kapoor’s storage units in New York.

Prosecutors said Kapoor had the items cleansed and repaired to remove any damage from illegal excavation, and then illegally exported them to the United States from their countries of origin.

“Kapoor would also loan stolen antiquities to major museums and institutions,” the complaint says, “creating yet another false veneer of legitimacy by its mere presence in otherwise reputable museums and institutions.”

The other defendants in the case include suppliers and restorers accused of conspiring with Kapoor.

Five boats believed to belong to Iranian Revolutionary Guards approached a British oil tanker in the Gulf on Wednesday and asked it to stop in Iranian waters close by, but withdrew after a British warship warned them, U.S. officials said.

Britain’s Ministry of Defense had no immediate comment.

The incident occurred almost a week after British Royal Marines boarded an Iranian tanker, Grace 1, off Gibraltar and seized it on suspicion that it was breaking sanctions by taking oil to Syria.

Earlier Wednesday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Britain would face “consequences” over the seizure of the Iranian tanker.

Economic sanctions

Tensions among Iran and the United States and its allies have risen sharply since Washington stepped up economic sanctions against Iran and moved to bring the country’s oil exports to zero as part of a “maximum pressure” policy to make Iran halt actions that it said undermined regional security.

Iran has responded to the sanctions by starting to breach limits put on its nuclear activities under a 2015 deal with world powers.

Several oil tankers were attacked in waters near Iran’s southern coast in May and June, for which the United States blamed Iran. Tehran denied any involvement.

Last month, Iran shot down a U.S. drone near the Strait of Hormuz, prompting President Donald Trump to order retaliatory air strikes, only to call them off.

British ships identified

The U.S. officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Wednesday’s incident happened as British Heritage was at the northern entrance of the Strait of Hormuz.

“The Royal Navy HMS Montrose, which was also there, pointed its guns at the boats and warned them over radio, at which point they dispersed,” one of the officials said.

“It was harassment and an attempt to interfere with the passage,” the other official said.

The United States hopes to enlist allies over the next two weeks or so in a military coalition to safeguard strategic waters off Iran and Yemen, Marine General Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Tuesday.
 

A senior military officer has accused the Air Force general tapped to be the next vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of sexual misconduct, potentially jeopardizing his nomination. Members of Congress have raised questions about the allegations and the military investigation that found insufficient evidence to charge him.

The officer told The Associated Press that Gen. John Hyten subjected her to a series of unwanted sexual advances by kissing, hugging and rubbing up against her in 2017 while she was one of his aides. She said that he tried to derail her military career after she rebuffed him.

The Air Force investigated the woman’s allegations, which she reported days after Hyten’s nomination was announced in April, and found there was insufficient evidence to charge the general or recommend any administrative punishment. The alleged victim remains in the military but has moved to a different job.

“My life was ruined by this,” she told the AP.

The woman asked to not be identified by name. The AP routinely does not name victims of sexual assault.

Pentagon turmoil

The accusations against Hyten come at a time when the Pentagon has had an unusual amount of turmoil in its senior ranks, with only an acting defense secretary for the past six months. One of President Donald Trump’s nominees for that position recently withdrew after details of his contentious divorce surfaced. On Sunday, an admiral selected to be the top Navy officer withdrew because of what officials said was an inappropriate professional relationship.

It’s unclear when, or if, Hyten’s confirmation hearing will move forward. It has not been scheduled, despite the fact that the current vice chairman, Gen. Paul Selva, is scheduled to retire at the end of the month.

Air Force Col. DeDe Halfhill, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said Wednesday that Hyten’s nomination remains on course.

“With more than 38 years of service to our nation, Gen. Hyten has proven himself to be a principled and dedicated patriot,” she said.

A senior Air Force official said investigators went through emails, conducted interviews and pursued every lead, but did not uncover evidence to support the allegations. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters, added that they also found no evidence that the woman was lying.

Last month, Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Tammy Duckworth sent a letter to acting Defense Secretary Mark Esper asking why Hyten was not removed from his post amid the investigation. The letter, obtained by the AP, raised questions about whether he received special treatment.

The woman making the allegations said she, too, wonders if Hyten received special treatment because of his rank, and she fears her honesty and motives will be questioned because of the circumstances and timing of her allegations.

Unwanted contact

The woman began working for Hyten in November 2016. Though he is an Air Force general, she is in another military branch, which she asked the AP not to disclose.

The officer said the unwanted sexual contact, kissing and hugging began in early 2017 and recurred several times throughout that year when she was working closely with Hyten. She said she repeatedly pushed him away and told him to stop.

In December 2017, when they were in Southern California for the annual Reagan National Defense Forum, Hyten came into her room wearing workout clothes and hugged her tightly and rubbed up against her, according to the woman. She said she told him to leave.

Hyten then asked the woman if she was going to report him. She said she told him no.

The woman said she didn’t report the incidents at the time in order to avoid embarrassment and out of fear of retaliation. She was also thinking about retiring, and believed Hyten was as well, so she concluded that he would not pose a risk to any other service members.

‘Toxic’ leadership behavior

She later learned that she was under investigation by Strategic Command for what officials said was “toxic” leadership behavior.

That allegation surprised her, she says, because Hyten was familiar with her leadership style and “encouraged” it. He had given her glowing performance reviews, some of which were reviewed by the AP.

“I was not the most popular officer in the command. In fact, one could say I was not popular at all,” she said. “But I was very successful in turning around an organization.”

In her interview with the AP, she showed copies of performance reviews from Hyten in which she was ranked as the top officer out of 71 on his staff. Hyten wrote that she had “unlimited potential to lead and serve with distinction as a multistar” general.

“Exceptionally competent and committed leader with the highest level of character,” Hyten wrote, adding that “her ethics are above reproach.”

The investigators issued her a letter of reprimand for her leadership and she was removed from her job at Strategic Command. She submitted her retirement.

Retirement rejected

But military officials in her branch of service determined her retirement was coerced and they rejected it. They then moved her to another senior job in the Washington area.

As she moved into her position, the officer received another negative evaluation by Hyten, which she appealed. During the appeals process, Hyten was nominated for the vice chairman position.

The woman said she decided she couldn’t live with the idea that Hyten might assault someone else if he was confirmed for the job. She reported the sexual misconduct to the Defense Department inspector general.

No charges

Because the charges involved criminal sexual assault, the case was referred to the Air Force Office of Special Investigations and a formal investigation into Hyten was launched. Several weeks later, Gen. James Holmes, the officer in charge of the investigation, decided not to press charges.

Asked whether she has ever filed similar complaints, the officer said she was one of several who reported a commander for sexual harassment in 2007 in Iraq.

The woman told the AP she believes Hyten has committed “the perfect crime where no one will ever believe me.”

“I’ve already completed a successful career,” she said. “I had nothing to gain from doing this.”

The Justice Department is trying to prevent two former members of special counsel Robert Mueller’s team from testifying behind closed doors in Congress next week, when Mueller will testify before lawmakers, according to people familiar with the matter. 

The department is opposing testimony by Aaron Zebley and James Quarles before the Democratic-led Judiciary and Intelligence committees in the House of Representatives, two sources said. 

The men were expected to testify on July 17, the same day that Mueller is due as a witness before the two panels. 

Democrats said they still expected Zebley and Quarles to appear, arguing that the Justice Department has no authority over the behavior of former employees. But a third source told Reuters that the former Mueller team members were still negotiating with the committees. 

“We expect them to appear,” California Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a Democratic member of the Judiciary Committee, told reporters. “We’ve got two hours with the Judiciary and Mr. Mueller, and two hours for the Intel committee with Mr. Mueller, and then some time afterwards with his staff.” 

Justice Department officials had no immediate comment, and Zebley and Quarles could not be reached for comment. 

The episode is the latest example of the Trump administration’s efforts to stymie congressional investigations by directing current and former officials not to cooperate with investigators who are seeking evidence of corruption, obstruction of justice and abuse of power in the Trump presidency. 

Focus on findings

House Judiciary Democrats, who are poised to expand their probe of Trump, his family and associates with a slew of new subpoenas, say Mueller’s testimony will focus public attention on some of the more disturbing findings of his two-year investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. 

In a 448-page report, Mueller said the Trump campaign had numerous contacts with Moscow, though the investigation did not find sufficient evidence to establish conspiracy. 

He did not conclude that Trump obstructed justice by trying to impede the Russia probe, but also did not exonerate the president of doing so. 

The House Judiciary Committee is also investigating alleged hush payments during the 2016 campaign to two women who claimed to have had sexual liaisons with Trump, including porn star Stormy Daniels. 

“The Dems Witch Hunt continues!” Trump said in a tweet on Wednesday. He has regularly denounced the Mueller investigation while also claiming that the probe found “no collusion” with Russia and “no obstruction.” 

Judiciary Committee Democrats privately met on Wednesday to discuss details of conducting the Mueller hearing and his aides’ testimony, Democrats on the panel said. 

California Rep. Adam Schiff, who leads the Intelligence Committee, said he expected the special counsel’s office to live up to the agreements for Mueller and his aides to testify. 

Mueller, in his first public comments since starting his investigation, said on May 29 that Justice Department policies meant the probe was never going to end with criminal charges against Trump, and indicated it was up to Congress to decide whether he should be impeached. 

“If we had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so,” Mueller said. 

Afghanistan’s spy agency this week arrested four Islamic State operatives, including a university professor in Kabul. The arrests come as some of the students at Kabul University, the most prestigious school in the country, express concerns that extremism is rising at some of the country’s educational institutions, including Kabul University. VOA’s Haseeb Maudoodi reports from Kabul. 

The U.S. and Turkey remain on a collision course with the imminent delivery of Russian S-400 missiles. With reports one battery will be based in Ankara, analysts suggest Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has a personal stake in the escalating crisis. 
 
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus warned Tuesday of “real and negative consequences” if the Russian missiles are procured. Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy said Wednesday that the United States should avoid “missteps to harm bilateral relations.” 
 
Washington claims the missiles will compromise NATO’s military defense systems, in particular the stealth technology of its latest F-35 fighter jet, and it is threatening sanctions against Ankara if it goes ahead with the purchase.  

Despite mounting diplomatic pressure and Washington’s offer of its Patriot missile system as an alternative, Erdogan has stood firm. In the past year, a presidential source repeatedly insisted Erdogan had made up his mind on buying the S-400 missile system from the Russians. 
 
Reports this week in pro-government media that one of the two missile batteries will be based in Ankara are seen by analyst Atilla Yesilada of Global Source Partners, a business management consultancy based in New York, as an explanation for Erdogan’s stance. 

Protection for Ankara?
 
“If one of the batteries is truly located in Ankara, where it would have no defensive purpose in protecting vital assets against foreign threats, then I would think President Erdogan would have a personal stake in this,” Yesilada said, “as the only asset worth protecting in Ankara is the parliament and the palace. 
 
“But I don’t want to think that our president or any president has become so paranoid that he fears his own air force. To me that doesn’t seem rational.” 

The S-400 battery reportedly would be located at the Akinci Air Base near Ankara. The air base was the headquarters of plotters convicted in the 2016 failed coup attempt, in which 251 people died. Erdogan’s palace and parliament were repeatedly bombed during the putsch. 
 
Three years on from the coup attempt, mass arrests of military personnel are continuing. On Monday, prosecutors issued 176 warrants for armed forces members in an operation encompassing the army, air force and navy. Since the coup attempt, Turkey has purged 716 fighter pilots.  

Ankara blames Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen for masterminding the takeover attempt. The U.S.-based Gulen vehemently denies the charge. 
 
“How often do you expect your air force to bomb you?” said international relations expert Soli Ozel of Istanbul’s Kadir Has University, adding, “The choice of the S-400 also suggests where you expect your enemies to come from.” 

“If the country has not resolved these [perceived military threat] issues, we are in deeper trouble,” said Ozel. “This is not an S-400 matter any longer. It’s about Turkey’s political system, the legitimacy of the system, the unity of that system and all sorts of things.” 
 
Ankara blames Washington for its decision to buy the S-400, claiming the reluctance of then-President Barack Obama and Congress to sell Patriot missiles forced it to turn to Moscow. However, questions remain about the military rationale of procuring Russian missiles. 

‘No logic at all’
 
“From a military point of view, there is no logic at all,” said retired Turkish Gen. Haldun Solmazturk, who now heads the 21st Century Turkey Institute, an Ankara-based research organization.  
 
“Air defense requires the highest degree of integration,” he said. “This is a NATO-wide integration, including fighter-bombers, the command-control air defense system, et cetera.” Air defense in NATO is a solid and integrated system, he said, and “introducing the Russian-made S-400 system would be unthinkable.” 
 
Turkey’s long borders have meant the country’s air defenses relied for decades on fighter jets, rather than less mobile missiles. Two years ago, several Turkish towns on Syria’s border were hit by short-range missile attacks blamed on Syrian-Kurdish rebels. However, observers say any missile threat has now passed. 
 
“Turkey does not need an anti-missile system,” said Yesilada. “Who possibly would attack us with missiles?  The only countries that have such potential are Russia and Iran, and they are allies. No one else has an arsenal with long-range missiles.” 
 
However, Ankara insists, the S-400 will also enhance its rapidly expanding indigenous defense industry, through technology transfer. “With God’s will, we will start joint production. There are no problems,” Erdogan told reporters Wednesday. 
 
Technology transfer was and is a stumbling block in Ankara’s efforts to procure U.S. Patriots. But observers point out it remains unclear how much of the technology from its most advanced missile system Moscow is prepared to share, given Turkey’s NATO membership. 
 

Washington is also warning that if the S-400 missile sale is completed, Turkish defense companies will be thrown out of the consortium building the F-35 jets, losing billions of dollars in contracts. 
 
The rising cost for Ankara of procuring S-400s can only result in greater scrutiny into why Erdogan remains so determined to complete the purchase.