President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin are set to have their first face-to-face meeting of 2019 on Wednesday. During Erdogan's one-day working visit to the Russian capital Moscow, the two leaders will exchange views on regional and international issues, particularly Syria, as well as bilateral relations between Turkey and Russia. Prior to his visit, an article penned by Erdogan titled "Turkey-Russia cooperation, critical for resolving the crisis in Syria" was published on Russian daily Kommersant last week. "We will not seek advice on how to deal with a terrorist group from anyone whose activities have been...
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President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has extended condolences to his Afghan counterpart over a suicide car bombing attack on Monday, according to presidential sources. “I condemn this hateful terrorist attack,” Erdogan told President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani in a condolences message over the attack in central Afghanistan, the source said, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media. “I repeat once again that Turkey is with the the friendly and brotherly Afghanistan in its fight against terrorism,” he added. Erdogan also wished a quick recovery to the injured. Earlier on Monday, at...
To the members of the international press corps in Turkey: I regret to inform you that Johanna Cornelia Boersma, a freelance reporter for the Dutch newspaper Het Financieele Dagblad, was deported this morning. The Communications Directorate had issued a press card for Ms. Boersma, which was valid until January 31, 2019, earlier this month. Rest assured that Ms. Boersma’s deportation was in no way related to her journalistic activities during her stay in Turkey. Seeing that this situation might be confusing, I wanted to take a moment of your time today to clarify the circumstances of Ms. Boersma’s...
Amid the U.S. withdrawal from Syria, Turkey will press the fight against terrorist group Daesh to clear it from Syrian soil, Turkey’s president said Wednesday. "Turkey will continue the fight against Daesh and eliminate this terrorist group in Syria," Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a joint press conference with visiting Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic in the capital Ankara. On Wednesday's suicide attack in Manbij, Syria, which initial reports say killed three U.S. soldiers, Erdogan said that he doesn't believe U.S. President Donald Trump will back down in the face of this attack, as this...
Addressing AK Party’s parliamentary group, President Erdoğan said: “Those, who want Turkey to stand idly by while numerous powers that have turned Syria into a bloodbath roam free in the region, are also the ones who plan to spread the crisis into our lands. We have never allowed anyone to do so, and we never will. We will defend to the end the rights of both ourselves and our brothers and sisters.” President and AK Party Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan delivered a speech at parliamentary group meeting of the Justice and Development (AK) Party. ...
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wrote an article entitled "Turkey-Russia cooperation is of critical importance for the resolution of the Syrian crisis" for the leading Russian newspaper Kommersant. The civil war that has continued in Syria since 2011 and cost hundreds of thousands of people's lives is moving towards a new stage with the decision of the United States to withdraw its troops in the region. At the meetings which I held with US President Mr. Donald Trump in December, I explained that Turkey is committed to take the necessary steps for re-establishing peace and stability in the Middle East during...
Statement on President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump: President Erdoğan spoke by phone with U.S. President Trump this evening. Recent developments in Syria as well as the bilateral relations were addressed during the phone call. Stating that Turkey welcomes President Trump’s decision to withdraw from Syria, President Erdoğan reminded that Turkey, in this regard, stands ready to lend every kind of support to the U.S., its NATO ally. Emphasizing that the Manbij Roadmap should be completed in order to prevent any authority vacuum in the...
Turkish Presidency’s Director of Communications Fahrettin Altun noted that the government of the Republic of Turkey was not the enemy, but the protector of the Kurds. Indicating that there was no difference for Turkey no matter what the source of terror was, Altun said: "Terror is terror and must be eliminated at its source and this is what Turkey is exactly doing in Syria." Turkish Presidency’s Director of Communications Altun reacted on Twitter to US President Donald Trump’s posts on Syria. In his message, Altun underlined: "The government of the Republic of Turkey is...