The published report described a dramatic international drug bust—with the French Navy intercepting the vessel Haliç-Equality, which was linked not only to Turkish shipping interests but also allegedly connected to Bilal Erdoğan—that seized over nine tons of cocaine. According to the report, the vessel’s journey from Istanbul via Guinea-Bissau to Martinique, along with the subsequent interdiction and arrest of suspects, paints a picture of a sophisticated transnational criminal network. Equally noteworthy was a report that Turkish and Armenian authorities had cooperated in apprehending a key organized crime figure, although that particular news item was later removed from the official Ministry of Foreign Affairs channels. One wonders why would you post this item, if you were going to delete it why would you post it?

There are several possible reasons for such a deletion:

  1. Diplomatic and Operational Sensitivities:
    When high-level cooperation between states—especially between countries with a complex and often tense relationship—is involved, details about covert or sensitive operations may be reconsidered for public release. Official channels (including those of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) sometimes retract or modify announcements if they believe that revealing operational details (or even the fact of such cooperation) might compromise ongoing investigations or disrupt delicate diplomatic balances.
  2. National Security Concerns:
    Information that implicates or involves high-profile figures (in this case, individuals linked to Turkish leadership) can have serious political and security implications. The decision to delete the news might have been driven by concerns that its continued public circulation could endanger intelligence operations, compromise sources and methods, or invite unwanted political fallout.
  3. Internal Policy or Censorship:
    It is not uncommon for governmental bodies to remove content that later proves politically inconvenient or that conflicts with emerging narratives. If the report’s contents were seen as potentially damaging or if they conflicted with the government’s official stance, the decision-makers might have opted to retract it—even if only temporarily—from official channels.
  4. Reassessment of Accuracy or Verification:
    Sometimes, if there are new developments or if further verification raises questions about certain aspects of a report, authorities may choose to remove the article until the matter can be more fully clarified. Although the details in this case seem to have been corroborated by multiple sources, the political implications alone might prompt a reevaluation of the decision to publish.

While it is difficult to know the exact internal reasoning without access to official communications, these factors commonly underlie why sensitive information—particularly involving transnational criminal networks and high-level political figures—is sometimes withdrawn from public view. In summary, the deletion of the report on Armenian–Turkish cooperation may reflect an attempt to safeguard sensitive operational details or to manage the diplomatic repercussions of publicly disclosing such cooperation. This is not unusual in cases where the stakes are extraordinarily high and the information could affect both ongoing investigations and international relations.