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Flash floods in the Turkish capital, Ankara, have caused havoc.

Cars were swept away and businesses hit, in the Mamak district of the city.

So far injuries to six people have been reported.</s>Flash floods caused by heavy rain have wreaked havoc in Ankara.

The heavy downpours occurred in the Mamak district of the capital in on Saturday, injuring six people, according to state-run Anadolu news agency.

There were dramatic scenes of drivers trying to escape from their vehicles and several cars being swept down the street by flood waters.

Municipality workers rushed to the scene to pull out stranded motorists. Dozens of vehicles were damaged and many shops were flooded.

Ankara’s mayor Mustafa Tuna said “it was a natural disaster like never before”.

A Turkish official explained that the rain was expected to last three hours on Saturday afternoon. It came down in just nine minutes, causing the flash flooding.

Turkey’s labour and social security minister said six people were injured in the floods, which damaged more than 160 cars and 25 businesses. The minister said the government was working to assess and alleviate the damage.

Footage showed cars and trucks being swept away in the floods. One man escaped being submerged by climbing on top of a car caught in the flood.

Showers remain in the forecast for much of this week ahead and some of them will be heavy and thundery. It may even be next Saturday before the wet weather finally clears away.</s>A torrential downpour in Turkey on Sunday has wreaked complete havoc in the country’s capital. Heavy downpours caused flash floods in the Mamak district in Ankara, turbulent enough that they swept away cars and trucks from the road.

The heavy downpour was expected to last for three hours on Saturday afternoon, reported ABC. Instead it came down in just nine minutes, causing the floods.

The dramatic footage (above and below) shows vehicles being swept downstream by the fast-moving floods, and several drivers frantically trying to escape. One man in the video above could be seen clinging to the bonnet of his car for protection.

According to Turkey’s Social Security Minister Julide Sarieroglu, six people were injured in the floods which damaged more than 160 vehicles and 25 businesses. She also said the government was working to assess and alleviate the damage. Mustafa Tuna, the Mayor of Ankara, meanwhile said it was “a natural disaster like never before”.

A video below shows the terrible aftermath of the floods and all the damage left behind in its wake.</s>Turkey will retaliate against the US if Washington blocks the supply of F-35 fighters to Ankara, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.

Cavusoglu said that a proposal by US lawmakers to temporarily stop weapons sales, including F-35 jets, to Turkey was wrong, illogical and not fitting of the alliance between the NATO allies.

"Next week I will go on a visit to the United States. It's about the fact that the cancellation of the sale of the F-35 is not acceptable, and if it (the cancellation) happens, then they (the US) will receive an appropriate response from Turkey," Cavusoglu said.

READ MORE: US Senators Want to Block Sale of F-35 Fighters to Turkey — Reports

Recently, US Senator Lankford said that "Turkey's strategic decisions regrettably fall more and more out of line with, and at times in contrast to, US interests."

According to him, Ankara's geopolitical cooperation with Moscow and its decision to place an order for the advanced Russian S-400 missile defense system could complicate the F-35 purchase plan.

In December 2017, Russia and Turkey signed a loan agreement for the supply of S-400 systems to Ankara. According to a statement by the Turkish defense industry secretariat, Ankara acquires two batteries of this system, which will be operated and serviced by Turkish military personnel.</s>In a deepening rift between two major NATO allies, Turkey says it will retaliate if Washington stops the sale of US weapons over Ankara's decision to buy Russian military hardware. Such a move would be "wrong" and "illogical."

"If the United States imposes sanctions on us or takes such a step, Turkey will absolutely retaliate," Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told CNN Turk. "What needs to be done is the US needs to let go of this."

"Turkey is not a country under your orders, it is an independent country… speaking to such a country from above, dictating what it can and cannot buy, is not a correct approach and does not fit our alliance," he said, referring to the fact that both countries are part of NATO.

The notion of halting weapons sales has been put forward by lawmakers in the US House of Representatives through the proposed US National Defense Authorization Act. The latter would ask the defense department to provide Congress with a report on the relationship between the US and Turkey and would block the sale of major defense equipment until the report is complete.

This move could throw a spanner in the works for Turkey as it plans to buy more than 100 Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Jets. It is also in talks with Washington over the purchase of Patriot missiles.

Cavusoglu said he plans to travel to Washington next week to meet with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who previously said he was concerned over Ankara's decision to buy the Russian S-400 missile batteries.

The foreign minister's comments come after US State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said on Thursday that Washington has "serious concerns about Turkey's potential acquisition" of S-400 anti-aircraft systems.

Nauert added that NATO countries are only supposed to buy weapons and other materiel that are "interoperable with other NATO partners."

In April, Assistant Secretary of State Wess Mitchell warned that the decision to buy Russian military hardware exposed Turkey to the possibility of sanctions. He added that it may bar Ankara from receiving any F-35 jets under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), which is mainly aimed at hindering Russian arms exports.

Mitchell strayed from the usual "interoperable with NATO equipment" justification, instead stating that it was "in the American national interest to see Turkey remain strategically and politically aligned with the West." He specifically noted his disapproval that Ankara had "increased its engagement with Russia and Iran."

Responding to Mitchell's comments, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov described the US threats as "a typical example of attempted blackmail" with the intention of giving US companies an "unfair advantage in market competition."

The deal between Turkey and Russia was signed in December. Deliveries of the S-400 systems to Turkey are scheduled to start in 2020. However, following talks with Cavusoglu in March, Lavrov stated that Moscow is ready to speed up the process.

Cavusoglu's Sunday remarks come amid increased tensions between the US and Turkey, particularly over Ankara's Operation Olive Branch, which was launched against Kurdish fighters in Afrin on January 20. A war of words broke out after the top US commander in the US-led coalition against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) said that Turkey would face a sharp response if it struck Manbij, Syria as part of its operation.

"It is obvious that those who say they will 'give a sharp response' if they were hit have not been hit by the Ottoman slap," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in response. His words referenced a Turkish martial arts move that involves an open-palm hit, resulting in a one-hit knockout or even skull fractures and death.

The relationship between Washington and Ankara also hit a speed bump in October, when Turkey arrested a US consulate worker for alleged ties to exiled Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara blames for a failed coup attempt in 2016. Ankara has criticized the US for failing to extradite Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania, while Western governments have slammed Turkey for its post-coup crackdown.

Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!</s>German Minister of State for Europe Michael Roth said yesterday in a statement that cooperation and dialogue between Turkey and Germany should continue despite disagreements on certain issues.

"Despite all of the difficulties, Turkey and Germany should remain in close cooperation on important issues. It is more crucial now to carry out dialogue with our partners in Turkey," Roth said before the visit.Roth arrived in Turkey yesterday for a two-day visit to meet with Turkish officials and nongovernmental organization (NGO) representatives. According to the statement released by the German Foreign Ministry, Roth was scheduled to meet with EU Minister and Chief Negotiator Ömer Çelik, politicians from opposition parties and NGO representatives. No further information was given regarding discussion topics.

Ties between Ankara and Berlin have been strained since the defeated coup in Turkey on July 15, 2016 as Turkish politicians have criticized their German counterparts for failing to show strong enough solidarity with Ankara against the attempted military takeover in 2016. Recently, German authorities also voiced positions against Turkish politicians seeking to carry out election campaigns in Germany for the upcoming June 24 elections. Turkey has accused German authorities of having double standards when it comes to the democratic rights of Turkish citizens living in Germany.

In addition, Ankara has also criticized Berlin for ignoring outlawed groups such as the PKK and the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), which continue to operate freely in Germany. Berlin, on the other hand, has criticized Turkey on issues of press freedom, human rights and the continuation of the state of emergency.</s>Over 1,000 high-speed rail experts from around the world will meet in Turkey's capital this week.

The World Congress on High Speed Rail will be held in Ankara from May 8-11 under the patronage of the Prime Ministry. The International Union of Railways (UIC) and the Turkish State Railways (TCDD) are organizing the 10th iteration of the event.

Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım and Transport, and Maritime Affairs and Communications Minister Ahmet Arslan are expected to attend the event.

The main theme of the congress is "sharing knowledge for sustainable and competitive operations," according to its website.

The congress will be organized around three main blocks: Sessions, trade exhibitions and technical visits.

The biyearly congress is the most prominent and large-scale global event on high-speed rail. Previously, it has been hosted by Belgium, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, China, the U.S. and Japan.

In recent years, Turkey has carried out a series of high-speed railway projects, starting with the opening of the Ankara-Eskişehir line in 2009. In 2011, the over 200-kilometer Ankara-Konya line entered service, followed by Eskişehir-Istanbul line in 2014.

The country is still working on the 625-kilometer Ankara-İzmir high-speed railway line and around 400-kilometer Ankara-Sivas line.</s>Baku. 21 December. REPORT.AZ/ The United States embassy in Ankara and its consulates in Istanbul and Adana will be reopened for emergency consular services on Wednesday, Report informs citing the official website of the American Mission in Turkey.

"Mission Turkey informs U.S. citizens that Embassy Ankara, Consulate General Istanbul, and Consulate Adana will re-open Wednesday, December 21 on a limited-operation basis," the statement said, adding that all essential personel will be back on duty.

The statement added that regular consular services in Ankara and İstanbul will not be provided for the time being.

Early Tuesday, a man fired a few rounds of a rifle into the air in front of the American embassy, just hours after the Russian ambassador to Turkey was assassinated in Ankara. The man was taken into custody and an investigation is currently underway.

The U.S. embassy in Ankara had announced a one-day suspension of operations at its mission in the country after the incident.</s>A torrential flood has swept through a district in the Turkish capital of Ankara, sending vehicles downstream and shocking residents.

A Turkish official said the rain was expected to last three hours Saturday afternoon but instead came down in nine minutes, causing flooding in Ankara’s Mamak district.

Julide Sarieroglu, Turkey’s minister of labor and social security, said four people were injured in the floods, which damaged more than 160 cars and 25 businesses. She said the government was working to assess and alleviate the damage.

Footage showed cars and trucks being swept away in the floods. One man escaped being submerged by climbing on top of a car caught in the flood.</s>Washington is going to halt sending weapons to its NATO ally Ankara according to the new annual military plan.

The plan’s budget is 717 billion dollars and it doesn’t include “sending weapons to Turkey” item of expenditure. At the same time, Foreign Minister of Turkey Mevlut Cavusoglu said Ankara would take retaliatory measures if Washington adopts the draft law.

Relations between the U.S. and Turkey get more and more complicated as Washington’s interests in Syria don’t fit with Ankara’s plans. The two countries try to avoid open confrontation and minimize the risk of their military collision, as it’s hard for them to cooperate and coordinate now.
Flash floods cause transportation issues and damage buildings in Ankara, the capital of Turkey.