Category: Business Insider

• Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser praised China for making solar panels and electric vehicles affordable.
• The West has recently stepped up criticism over China's dumping of cheap green products on the global markets.
• Saudi Arabia is fostering closer ties with China and wooing Chinese investments and business partnerships.

China's green industries have an unlikely ally in Saudi Aramco — the world's largest oil company — who praised the world's second-largest economy for making solar panels and electric vehicles affordable.

"China really helped by reducing the cost of solar energy," Amin Nasser, the CEO of state-owned Saudi Aramco, said at the World Energy Congress in Rotterdam on Monday, according to the Financial Times.

"We can see the same now in electric vehicles. Their cost is one-third to one-half the cost of other electric vehicles," Nasser added, as he called for globalization and collaboration, per the FT.

Because China has made these green products so affordable, they will help the West achieve its target of cutting carbon emissions to a net zero level by 2050, said Nasser.

The West has hit out against China's overcapacity

Nasser's comments came amid the West's criticism that China has been dumping cheap solar panels and EVs on the global markets.

Earlier this month, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen slammed overcapacity and overproduction in China during a visit to the East Asia nation.

"China is now simply too large for the rest of the world to absorb this enormous capacity," said Yellen. She warned China against repeating its actions over a decade ago when it dumped products like steel on the global markets, decimating industries and communities.

Last week, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, too, echoed Yellen's concerns during a visit to China when he called for fair competition.

Beijing has hit back against the West's accusations of dumping, framing the criticism as a tactic to limit China's economic development.

China, the world's second-largest economy, is undergoing a painful transition from its previous growth drivers of real-estate and lower-end manufacturing to the hot new sectors of EVs, solar cells, and lithium batteries.

Saudi Arabia looks to foster closer ties with China

Nasser's praises of China also came at a strategic time for Riyadh's relationship with Beijing.

Unlike the West, Saudi Arabia is cozying up to China.

In January, Faisal Alibrahim, the Saudi Arabian minister of economy and planning, told the Nikkei that his country thinks it's "very wise" to strengthen its relationship with China, among other partners.

"There are lots of opportunities for China to invest in Saudi Arabia," Alibrahim told the media outlet. "At the same time, we are prioritizing, investing all around the world, including China in terms of the opportunities there."

Saudi Arabia is trying to attract Chinese investors to pump money into its Neom megacity project on the Red Sea, which aims to drive the kingdom's economic diversification away from oil to sectors including tech and tourism.

As a key contributor to Saudi Arabia's economy, Aramco has good reasons to build closer ties with China amid the West's commitment to reduce fossil fuel consumption.

On Monday, Aramco announced it's in talks to acquire a 10% stake in China's Hengli Petrochemicals — the latest in a string of deals with Chinese refiners in less than 12 months. The deals are poised to expand Aramco's footprint in China.

In March last year, China brokered a détente between Saudi Arabia and Iran, prompting concerns over waning US influence in the Middle East.

Despite Saudi Arabia and China's developing relationship, the Chinese aren't quite present on the ground in Saudi Arabia, Jon Alterman, the director of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said in a testimony before the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission on Friday.

"It is clear to Saudis that the country needs a robust relationship with China," said Alterman. "Even if China doesn't replace the United States, Saudi Arabia sees China as an important check on the United States, and an important supplement to what the United States is willing to provide to China."

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• Two helicopters in Malaysia crashed into each other in midair during a parade rehearsal on Tuesday.
• Footage posted by local media showed the rotors of one of the choppers striking the other vehicle.
• Local authorities said 10 people, all naval staff, died in the crash.

At least 10 people have died after two Malaysian navy helicopters struck each other in midair during a parade rehearsal on Tuesday morning, local authorities said.

Footage posted by Malaysian media shows both choppers flying low over a parade formation before one of the vehicle's rotor blades collides with the other. Both fall to the ground as shredded parts separate from the choppers.

The Royal Malaysian Navy confirmed the incident in a statement on Tuesday, saying that a maritime operation helicopter and a Fennec had crashed at a base in Lumut at 9.32 a.m. local time.

Seven crew members from the maritime operation helicopter died, while another three from the Fennec were killed, the statement said.

The Fire and Rescue Department of Malaysia wrote that both helicopters were taking part in flight training for a ceremonial parade and that firefighters responded to the scene at around 9.50 a.m.

The department said it deployed 21 firefighters from two stations. All victims were naval staff and declared dead by base army hospital staff, fire officials said.

The Malaysian navy said an investigative board will be set up to identify the cause of the incident.

Photos of the crash site posted by authorities show that at least one of the helicopters landed in a track and field training area, its body crumpled and mangled.

The Royal Malaysian Navy has used the Fennec, a lightweight French-made attack helicopter, for several decades. An online listing for its assets includes one of the 36-foot long choppers, which says it was launched in 2004.

One Fennec can go for about $5 million on the market, per some aircraft tracking sites.

The other crashed helicopter, a Leonardo AW139, was manufactured by Anglo-Italian manufacturer AgustaWestland. These are typically used for transport purposes, and prices for the AW139 can vary between $5 million to $10 million on the commercial market.

A US Air Force version of the helicopter, the MH-139 Grey Wolf, costs more than $39 million per unit, per the Air & Space Forces Magazine.

The AW139 typically sits up to four crew, and the Malaysian navy says it inaugurated three of the choppers in 2004.

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• San Francisco celebrated a new public loo with a mini-carnival complete with games, lemonade, and a live band.
• The public toilet initially cost $1.7 million with a multi-year deadline but had its price slashed to $200,000.
• Its installation marks the end of a yearslong controversy over the rising cost of public works.

The scandal over a public toilet in San Francisco that cost $1.7 million has ended in celebration after the new loo opened on Monday with a much-discounted price tag of $200,000.

That's according to The New York Times, CBS News, and The San Francisco Chronicle, who sent reporters down to the toilet's launch in the Noe Valley Town Square.

Residents held a small festival next to the public potty, replete with a live band, toilet-themed carnival games, lemonade, and chocolate cupcakes decorated like poop. Three local politicians attended.

People took turns to try the new stainless steel toilet, and NYT interviewed a man dressed as a human-sized roll of toilet paper. CBS captured footage of a performer dressed as the "Super Mario" character Luigi dancing with a plunger.

"This whole thing got so ridiculous, so why not be ridiculous?" Leslie Crawford, who organized the event, told The SF Chronicle.

The over-the-top celebration reflects the yearslong controversy that emerged when people discovered in October 2022 that San Francisco planned to build the toilet over two years for $1.7 million — even after plumbing had already been laid.

People actually wanted the toilet in the plaza; an assembly member meant to celebrate the launch of the loo plans that month but canceled after the cost was revealed, per The SF Chronicle.

The expensive toilet was soon lampooned on national headlines, and became a lightning rod for concerns about wastage in US government projects and rising construction costs for public works.

City officials said they were weighed down by high construction costs in San Francisco, as well as the need for environmental reviews and checks from multiple commissions.

Under intense scrutiny, the plans for the toilet began to unravel. California Gov. Gavin Newsom pulled the $1.7 million from the city, telling officials to figure out how to reduce the toilet's cost before they could touch the funds again.

Then Chad Kaufman, owner of the Nevada-based Public Restroom Company, offered to donate a modular toilet to the city, saying he would help pay for engineering and architecture work to install the loo. Per NYT, his friend Vaughn Buckley, CEO of Pennsylvania-based Volumetric Building Companies, chipped in.

With help from Kaufman and Buckley, the city only had to pay $200,000 to install the town square toilet.

With the toilet controversy drawing to a close, San Francisco Mayor London Breed is seeking to avoid a repeat event by announcing new legislation this month allowing city officials to pool small project budgets for group discounts on construction and equipment.

San Francisco has in recent years drawn attention for its quickly rising cost of living, with one modern wealth survey saying in 2022 that the average resident needs a net worth of $1.7 million to live comfortably in the city.

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• Margarita Simonyan, RT's editor-in-chief, called MTG a blond, fur-wearing "beauty."
• "She is demonstratively heterosexual," Simonyan said of Greene on Sunday.
• The Georgia Republican has been a vocal critic of US support for Ukraine.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has just won herself some new admirers.

The GOP congresswoman was painted in glowing terms during a broadcast on Russian state television on Sunday.

"Marjorie Taylor Greene, you've just shown is a beauty. She is one of a few members of the US Congress who is trying to look like a person in an old-fashioned sense of the word," Margarita Simonyan, the editor-in-chief of Russian state-controlled broadcaster RT, said of Greene.

"She is a blonde, who wears white coats with a fur collar. She is demonstratively heterosexual," Simonyan continued.

Simonyan lavished praise on Greene during an appearance on the Russia-1 talk show, "Evening With Vladimir Solovyov." Greene, Simonyan said, had been treated unfairly by the US media.

"Who is Majorie Taylor Greene? She is a 'conspiracy theorist.' She has 'extreme right views,'" Simonyan said, per verified translations by Russian Media Monitor. "As soon as a person says something that shows they are normal, America's enormous media behemoth declares them a conspiracy theorist and a person of extreme right views."

Representatives for Greene didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from BI sent outside regular business hours.

It is unsurprising that Russian media outlets favor Greene. The Georgia Republican has been a vocal critic of US aid to Ukraine.

Besides trying to delay a foreign aid bill to Ukraine, Greene also pushed for an amendment that called for lawmakers to enlist in Ukraine's military if they voted for the aid package.

"If you want to fund the endless foreign wars, you should have to go fight them," Greene wrote on X on April 18.

Greene also threatened to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson after he managed to pass the aid bill to Ukraine on Saturday. The move, Green said on Monday, was a "total betrayal of Republican voters."

"Mike Johnson still hasn't shown Congress or the American people the proof that Russia intends to invade the rest of Europe after finishing its campaign in Ukraine," Greene said in an X post on Monday.

To be sure, Greene isn't the only US politician that Russian media has lauded.

Back in 2022, Russian state television reporter Denis Davydov commended Rep. Matt Gaetz and Rep. Lauren Boebert's behavior when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed Congress in December 2022. Gaetz and Boebert, Davydov said, were the "brave ones."

"Congress members Gaetz and Boebert didn't clap. They demonstratively remained seated and didn't jump up. You can feel the fatigue in Washington over the boundless aid to Ukraine," Davydov said of the two GOP politicians.

The Russians, meanwhile, have managed to keep the war machine going and boosted their army's size despite sustaining heavy losses while invading Ukraine.

Earlier this month, US Army Gen. Christopher Cavoli said in a House Armed Services Committee hearing that the Russian army "is actually now larger — by 15 percent."

"Regardless of the outcome of the war in Ukraine, Russia will be larger, more lethal, and angrier with the West than when it invaded," said Cavoli, who is also NATO's Supreme Allied Commander in Europe.  

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• A Washington Post analysis found that Donald Trump is Truthing up a storm this election cycle.
• The Post found Trump drafted 760 all-uppercase screeds in the 487 days of his 2024 campaign.
• Trump's Truth Social posts have gotten him into trouble during his criminal trials.

Donald Trump has always been a high-energy poster, but a new analysis from The Washington Post reveals just how online the former president is.

According to an analysis of his tweets during his 2016 campaign and his 2024 campaign, the Post found that Trump is posting much more frequently now. Between June 2015 and March 2016, the president posted 18 times a day on Twitter. During his current campaign, which began in November of 2022, he posts around 29 times daily.

His current Truths contain many all-caps screeds, per the Post, which found in its analysis that Trump drafted 760 all-uppercase posts in the 487 days between November 15, 2022, and March 15. In the same timeframe, he drafted 570 posts insulting political opponents like President Joe Biden, and the prosecutors and judges working on his cases.

"President Trump uses Truth Social — which is as hot as a pistol — to speak truth to power and get his message out unfiltered," Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung told the Post.

Cheung did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.

Trump's posts tend to be about his brimming legal docket of four criminal cases, multiple civil cases like the ones brought against him by writer E. Jean Carroll and New York Attorney General Letitia James, and his persisting belief that he is the victim of a political witch hunt.

In Trump's Manhattan criminal trial, he's also pushed the limits of a gag order that instructs him not to post "threatening, inflammatory, denigrating" remarks on his social media about witnesses, court staff, and jurors. Trump's also been accused multiple times of inciting violence with his posts — he faced a similar accusation for his Twitter posts before the January 6, 2021, riots.

District Attorney Fani Willis, who brought a 41-count indictment against the former President in the Georgia election interference case, has also felt the wrath of Trump's posts. The DA faced racist abuse and calls for violence after Trump posted about his case.

The Washington Post's analysis also found Truth Social has become an effective bubble for Trump — the king of the castle on his majority-owned conservative social media site — to foster his rage. The former president shared hundreds of links from right-wing sites, with 407 links to Right Side Broadcasting Network and 318 links to Breitbart News, to name a few.

Trump might be deeply entrenched in his social media site, which he launched in 2022 after his ban from social media sites like Twitter. However, the company continues to experience financial troubles.

Since Trump Media & Technology Group — the company that owns Truth Social — went public at the end of March, the company's shares have continued to fall, going from over $70 a share to about $36 as of Friday, Business Insider previously reported.

Trump's net worth initially jumped to $7 billion — making him richer than billionaire George Soros. Following the loss in value of the company's stocks, the former president promptly lost $3.3 billion and is set to lose more.

The company also reported a net loss of $58.2 million in 2023, per an SEC filing from Trump Media.

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• TikTok's spinoff app, TikTok Lite, is under fire from European officials for its rewards program.
• The app doles out points for watching videos and logging in, which can be used on gift cards and vouchers.
• The rewards hub is for users over 18, but officials say TikTok isn't doing enough to stop minors from using it.

Digital regulators in Europe are clamping down on a new feature by TikTok that rewards users for consuming videos and interacting with creators, citing addiction concerns among children.

The European Commission said on Monday that it had opened formal proceedings against TikTok Lite, a spinoff version of the TikTok app that uses less mobile data and launched in Spain and France in March.

A key draw to the new app is its "Task and Rewards" program, which allows users 18 or older to earn points by logging in daily, watching videos, liking posts, and inviting friends to TikTok.

Users can earn such points on the Lite app by watching videos for up to 85 minutes daily.

The points can be converted into rewards like Amazon vouchers, gift cards, or TikTok coins — an internal currency that can be spent to send gifts to streamers and content creators.

But the commission said TikTok hasn't done enough to ensure minors can't access the rewards hub, and is concerned it can get kids addicted to the Lite app.

"We suspect TikTok 'Lite' could be as toxic and addictive as cigarettes 'light,'" said Thierry Breton, commissioner for the internal market in the EU.

TikTok has until Wednesday to submit its defense, which the commission said it would consider as it seeks to suspend Tiktok Lite's rewards program in the EU.

The platform was also told to provide a risk assessment of its spinoff app by Tuesday. European officials previously asked for it to be submitted by April 18, saying that TikTok should have already completed the assessment before launching the Lite app. However, TikTok didn't meet the original deadline.

"Unless TikTok provides compelling proof of safety — which it failed to do until now— we stand ready to trigger #DSA interim measures including the #suspension of the TikTokLite 'reward program,'" Breton wrote in a post on X.

In a statement to AFP, a spokesperson for TikTok said the platform was "disappointed with this decision."

"The TikTok Lite rewards hub is not available to under 18s, and there is a daily limit on video watch tasks," the spokesperson said.

TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside regular business hours by Business Insider.

The commission said it was most concerned about the mental health of young TikTok users.

Breton said the app provides "endless streams of short and fast-paced videos" that may increase the risk of anxiety, depression, and addiction among kids, echoing similar worries among lawmakers elsewhere in the world, including those on Capitol Hill mulling a TikTok ban in the US.

TikTok is already facing a separate set of proceedings from the EU aimed at its main app, also based on concerns that its algorithm and video feeds could produce adverse mental health effects.

The double crackdown was launched under the European Union's new Digital Services Act, which compels internet companies to regulate their online content on their platforms.

TikTok, owned by Chinese company Bytedance, is subject to the DSA's strictest rules because it's been designated one of 22 "Very Large Online Platforms," which are classified as those with more than 45 million users.

The platform has seen sharply rising revenues in Europe in recent years, with annual revenue increasing 164% from $990 million to $2.6 billion in 2022, per its latest report from September.

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• Tesla slashed prices for its Model 3, S, X, and Y in China by $1,930 each over the weekend.
• The wave of price cuts come amid declining sales and heightened competition from its Chinese rivals.
• "Tesla prices must change frequently in order to match production with demand," Musk said on Sunday.

Tesla, eager to hold on to its market share in China, is amping up its price war against its Chinese rivals amid declining sales.

The EV manufacturer slashed its vehicle prices in multiple markets over the weekend. In China, Tesla has reduced the price of its Model 3, S, X, and Y by 14,000 yuan, or $1,930. The Model Y now costs 249,900 yuan — yet another cut from its January price of 299,900 yuan.

A similar cut was also applied in the US last Friday, where the Model S, X, and Y were given price cuts of $2,000 each. Prices for Tesla's new Cybertruck and Model 3 remain unchanged in the US.

Tesla's moves didn't go unnoticed by Chinese automakers, who responded in kind. On Monday, Li Auto introduced price cuts of between $2,485 to $4,144 across all its models.

Chinese automaker BYD also slashed prices back in March when it launched a cheaper version of its Yuan Plus car. The vehicle was sold at $16,600 and was about 12% cheaper than its predecessor.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk defended his company's pricing strategy on Sunday, writing on X that "Tesla prices must change frequently in order to match production with demand."

"Other cars change prices constantly and often by wide margins via dealer markups and manufacturer/dealer incentives," Musk wrote.

The wave of price cuts comes at a tough time for Musk's car company, which laid off more than 10% of its staff globally last week. Musk told staff in an internal memo that the layoffs were necessary to keep Tesla "lean innovative, and hungry for the next growth phase cycle."

On April 2, Tesla said it delivered 386,810 cars in the first quarter of this year, a 20.1% drop from the last quarter. Tesla's performance in the latest quarter was also its worst quarterly performance since 2022.

Besides slowing sales, Tesla has to deal with increased competition from China.

In January, Musk acknowledged the threat posed by Tesla's Chinese counterparts when he said that Chinese automakers "are the most competitive car companies in the world." In fact, Musk went so far as to frame his Chinese rivals as an existential threat to all automakers.

"If there are no trade barriers established, they will pretty much demolish most other car companies in the world," Musk told investors during an earnings call in January.

Representatives for Tesla didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from BI sent outside regular business hours.

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• The FTC announced a lawsuit that blocks a merger between luxury brands Tapestry and Capri.
• The FTC claims Tapestry's acquisition of Capri could make more affordable luxury bag options expensive.
• Tapestry and Capri argue the luxury handbag market is too saturated for that to happen.

The FTC is trying to stop a merger between brands Tapestry and Capri that would put labels Coach, Kate Spade, Michael Kors, Jimmy Choo, and Versace under one luxury house.

Tapestry, Inc., which owns Kate Spade and Coach, announced in August its intent to acquire Capri Holdings, which owns Michael Kors, for $8.5 billion. Regulators in the European Union and Japan are on board with the acquisition — but US regulators are taking a different approach.

The FTC announced that it filed a lawsuit Monday to block the merger. The commission said in a press release it believes the action would give Tapestry "a dominant share of the 'accessible luxury' handbag market."

If Tapestry took over Michael Kors, the FTC claims, it would make the brand's luxury options more expensive.

"With the goal to become a serial acquirer, Tapestry seeks to acquire Capri to further entrench its stronghold in the fashion industry," Henry Liu, director of the FTC's Bureau of Competition, said in the press release. "This deal threatens to deprive consumers of the competition for affordable handbags, while hourly workers stand to lose the benefits of higher wages and more favorable workplace conditions."

Both Tapestry and Capri Holdings released statements opposing the FTC's accusations and vowed to fight the lawsuit in court. The companies disagreed with the FTC, saying that they operate "intensely competitive and highly fragmented industry."

"The bottom line is that Tapestry and Capri face competitive pressures from both lower- and higher-priced products," Tapestry said in its statement. "In bringing this case, the FTC has chosen to ignore the reality of today's dynamic and expanding $200 billion global luxury industry."

Tapestry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Capri Holdings directed BI to its public statement, and the FTC declined to comment further.

The FTC, under the guidance of chair Lina Khan, has gone after a series of mergers and acquisitions over the past few years, including Microsoft's purchase of Activision Blizzard and Meta's purchase of VR company Within. Both of these lawsuits failed to block these purchases.

This is the FTC's first lawsuit in the fashion accessories sector, according to Bloomberg.

More recently, the agency filed a lawsuit to block the $24.6 billion merger of grocery chains Albertsons and Kroger, which it said was the "largest proposed supermarket merger in US history." The companies responded by pledging to sell hundreds of stores to competing grocery chain C&S Wholesale Grocers.

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• Turkey may deploy its Russian S-400 Triumf air defenses on the Iraqi border.
• US officials have warned Turkey against "activating" it.
• The missile attacks between Israel and Iran may also be a rationale to deploy the S-400.

Turkey may deploy its advanced Russian S-400 Triumf air defenses on the Iraqi border for its planned summer offensive against the Kurdistan Workers' Party, PKK, in Iraqi Kurdistan. Such a move would mark the first operational deployment of the missile system since Ankara received it in 2019 to Western reproach.

Turkiye newspaper reported earlier this month that Turkey's S-400s may be deployed on the border, implying it will defend against drones allegedly acquired by the PKK. But the system is effective against bigger threats than crude drones. It's designed to shoot down cruise and ballistic missiles like those fired by Iran in its unprecedented April 13 attack against Israel, and its deployment could worsen tensions with other NATO allies incensed that Turkey even has them.

The deal for the S-400 cost Turkey an estimated $2.5 billion. Indirectly, it has cost it far more than that in losses of over $9 billion it could have made from manufacturing over 900 parts for the global F-35 supply chain.

Washington banned Ankara from buying F-35s over concerns it would give Russian technicians data that spoils the fighter's stealth. On top of all that, the US slapped sanctions on Turkey's arms procurement agency.

While enduring these penalties, Turkey never put the S-400 into service. Following the system's delivery, US officials warned Turkey against "activating" it. Turkey tested its F-16s and F-4 fighters against the S-400's radar in late 2019. Washington strongly rebuked Ankara in October 2020 for announcing it was testing the system.

Since then, there has been no indication that Turkey's S-400s have been put into operation. In November 2022, then-Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said Ankara has "no problems with the S-400" and that the system "is in place and ready for use."

Its purported upcoming deployment on the Iraqi border would be the first time Turkish S-400s have been put into use five years after Ankara received them.

Ali Bakir, a Turkey expert at Qatar University's Ibn Khaldon Center and nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative, is skeptical of the report but doesn't outright dismiss the possibility.

"This could be a trial balloon, an operational requirement due to the foreign threat in Northern Iraq, where Turkish troops are stationed, or simply untrue news," Bakir told Business Insider. "If the S-400 is deployed for operational needs, it could be to counter the potential threat of Iran's ballistic missiles."

Even though Turkey's other air defenses are capable of combating aerial threats from the PKK, Turkey requires an advanced system for intercepting ballistic missiles fired from Iran.

"Considering that Ankara has stationed troops in Northern Iraq, it would be more logical to deploy such a system to protect them during regional escalation or confrontation," Bakir said. "Iran has used missiles lately against Northern Iraq."

Bakir said that the recent missile attacks between Israel and Iran may be a further rationale to deploy the S-400 in Turkey's east."Such deployment will serve Turkey's security as well as the security of Iraq, which is improving its ties with Ankara lately in an unprecedented way," Bakir said.

Deploying S-400s as a contingency to counter Iranian missiles could create "an extremely complex situation" for Turkey, said Suleyman Ozeren, a lecturer at the American University and senior fellow at the Orion Policy Institute."Such a move might mean that Turkey would be using the Russian weapon system against Russia's most loyal ally in the Middle East," Ozeren told BI. "However, Turkey may use the potential threat of Iran-linked militia groups or PKK as a pretext to deploy S-400s."

He predicts a deployment would serve three primary objectives.

"First, the S-400s have been one of the most expensive yet least productive policy decisions," Ozeren said. "By deploying them and making a lot of noise about it, the AKP may aim to silence critics at home."

The AKP is President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's party, which decided to buy the S-400 in the late 2010s and has defended the contentious purchase ever since.

"Second, Ankara may want to prove to Moscow that its military cooperation still stands," Ozeren said. "Third, such a decision may aim to send a message to the West — primarily to the US — that Ankara's position vis-à-vis Russia and NATO remains unchanged."

He noted the Turkish S-400 is a "standalone system" incompatible with NATO systems, limiting its use and confirming its "high cost and lack of functionality."

A Turkish deployment could escalate the lingering dispute with the US.

In January, then-Acting Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland said Washington could discuss readmitting Ankara into the F-35 program if it resolves the S-400 issue.

"The problem is not about where Ankara deploys S-400s but about the S-400 remaining in Turkey's possession," Ozeren said.

Bakir argued that weapons are purchased "with the intention of use" for either "offensive or defensive purposes." "Even if Turkey were to hypothetically trade the S-400, the US could still mishandle the case of the F-35," Bakir said. "There is no guarantee that Congress will not attempt to pressure Ankara in the future."

Ozeren, in contrast, reiterated that the fundamental problem is Ankara's "purely political" decision to purchase S-400s, which he argued was motivated by the AKP's desire to distance Turkey from NATO.

"Such a goal was unattainable and unrealistic given the extent of Turkey's integration into the NATO defense system," Ozeren said. "The S-400 decision has left Ankara in a precarious situation that has remained unchanged."

"No matter the AKP's motivations back then, reality dictates that the ruling party reverse its course and go back to a stronger alliance with NATO."

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• A German warship that was part of a European Union security mission has left the Red Sea.
• The frigate Hessen spent weeks in the Middle East protecting commercial ships from Houthi attacks.
• Its sailors were on watch for 12 hours a day, Germany's military said on Monday.

Sailors aboard a German warship that was recently deployed to the Red Sea were on watch for 12 hours a day, and in the "worst" situations, they might've only had seconds to respond to the deadly Houthi threats endangering ships in these waters.

The Hessen, a Sachsen-class frigate, left the Red Sea and entered the Suez Canal on Saturday after spending nearly 60 days operating in Middle Eastern waters, Germany's military said Monday.

The warship was deployed to the region as part of the European Union's Operation Aspides security mission, which has been tasked with protecting commercial vessels sailing off the coast of Yemen from unrelenting Houthi missile and drone attacks.

Around 240 crew members aboard the Hessen were on "a permanent war march" during the mission, the German military said in a statement, according to a translation. These sailors were on guard for six hours, then had six hours off, and then went back on guard for another six hours.

"This very high state of readiness was due to the constant three-dimensional threat" that the Houthis posed to the ships in the area, the German military said. "In the worst case scenario, the ship and crew would only have had about ten seconds to bring their own defensive weapons into effect."

The short timeframe underscores how fast some of the Houthi threats are. One sailor aboard a US Navy warship that has engaged the rebels told Business Insider during a visit to the Red Sea earlier this year that their response time to an inbound threat could be anywhere from minutes to just seconds.

Throughout its time in the area of operations, which included the strategic Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the Hessen repelled four Houthi attacks and escorted more than two dozen commercial ships through the volatile waters, Germany said.

In one noteworthy kill last month, a helicopter attached to the warship destroyed a Houthi surface drone after it was identified as a threat to civilian ships.

"This mission has demanded more from the ship and crew than ever before," the Hessen's Capt. Volker Kübsch said, adding that his warship "worked like clockwork and impressively demonstrated its combat value — right down to its ability to prevail in battle."

"Especially in combat situations, we were able to gain valuable, even unique experience not only for ourselves, but also for the entire German Navy and beyond," Kübsch added, highlighting how these engagements are a learning opportunity and a chance to test and improve capabilities. US Navy commanders have expressed similar thoughts on intercepts of anti-ship ballistic missiles.

While the Hessen's presence ultimately proved to be a valuable asset for the EU security mission, there was an incident at one point during the warship's deployment involving an allied asset.

In late-February, the Hessen accidentally targeted a US MQ-9 Reaper drone that was operating around the Red Sea and fired several missiles at the aircraft. A technical error in the warship's radar system, however, spared the American combat drone.

The Hessen is one of several European warships to see combat in the Red Sea this year, alongside the US Navy, which has had an aircraft carrier and multiple other warships stationed in the region since last fall. Beyond intercepting Houthi missiles and drones in the air, American forces, sometimes with partners, have also struck the rebels on the ground in Yemen.

The Hessen is due back to the German port city of Wilhelmshaven in early May. The gap it left in Operation Aspides is expected to be filled in early August by the Sachsen-class frigate Hamburg, Germany said.

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