Türkiye has told its NATO allies that Ankara will back the Netherlands’ outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s candidacy for the military alliance’s secretary general position, a senior Turkish official said Monday. The official said Türkiye notified NATO allies’ diplomats in Brussels on Monday. The decision comes three days after Rutte traveled to Türkiye to seek support from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for his bid. NATO members Türkiye and Hungary had earlier expressed reservations about Rutte’s candidacy, and Erdogan made no commitments during a joint news conference with Rutte on...
Türkiye in International Media
Turkish Airlines (THYAO.IS), opens new tab is negotiating with both Airbus (AIR.PA), opens new tab and Boeing (BA.N), opens new tab about buying 235 aircraft as part of its expansion plans, Chairman Ahmet Bolat said on Monday. The airline's 10-year fleet plan, unveiled last year, shows it aims to expand by almost 600 planes. In December it announced a deal with Airbus for 355 firm and optional orders for A321 narrow body and A350 wide body aircraft. "We are negotiating with both Airbus and Boeing for the remaining 235 planes," Bolat said at an event...
Türkiye's public broadcaster TRT launched a new Spanish-language channel on Friday, which will feature information and entertainment programmes targeting the Latin American community and Spain, adding to its current English-, French- and Arabic-language channels. On Friday, TRT Español was launched in Istanbul with a public ceremony that was attended by executives of the channel, diplomatic representatives accredited in Türkiye, and media professionals who speak Spanish. The launch event was chaired by Presidency's Head of Communications Fahrettin Altun, who stated that TRT Español will serve to "enhance relations" between Türkiye and communities in the Latin American...
President of the Republic of Türkiye Recep Tayyip Erdoğan held a joint press conference with visiting President Frank-Walter Steinmeier of Germany. At the press conference, Erdoğan said that both sides had agreed on deepening bilateral relations and wanted to increase the bilateral trade volume to $60 billion. Erdoğan expressed his wish for Germany to lift its sanctions against Türkiye's defence industry and provide further assistance to Türkiye in its fight against terrorism. Steinmeier stated that Türkiye and Germany had close and friendly relations and that his country would continue to aid the victims of...
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday he does not believe the Palestinian militant group Hamas will leave Qatar, where it is based, adding he had seen no such signs that Doha wished the group to leave, either. Erdogan, who was returning from a visit to Iraq, was asked by reporters on board the flight about media reports suggesting Hamas may leave its base in Qatar or be asked to leave by Doha. Erdogan said he had received no signs of the Qatari leadership wanting the group to leave. Erdogan, who has called Hamas a "liberation movement," met Hamas leader...
Erdogan was in Iraq on a long-awaited visit, the first by a Turkish leader since 2011, following years of strained relations as Ankara ramped up cross-border operations against PKK militants based in mountainous, mainly Kurdish northern Iraq. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said relations with Iraq were entering a new phase after the neighbours agreed to cooperate against Kurdish militants, boost economic ties via a new trade corridor and consider Iraq's needs for access to scarce water. "I shared my belief that the PKK's presence in Iraq will end. We discussed the joint steps we can take against the terrorist organisation PKK...
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday urged Western countries to respond to the Israeli government's killings of Palestinians. "We've seen Western countries responding unanimously to Iran's retaliation. These same actors now need to unite in telling Israel 'enough'," Erdogan said at a joint press conference with visiting Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan. Erdogan said they discussed the steps that can be taken against the "brutality in the occupied Palestinian territories." Israel's attempts to "distort the agenda, hide the brutality in Gaza, and remove it from the agenda" should not be given an opportunity, he said. An immediate and lasting...
Turkiye will take steps to strengthen its medium-term economic programme and the three main priorities are to increase public savings, prioritise investments and accelerate structural reforms, President Tayyip Erdogan said. Speaking on Tuesday evening after a cabinet meeting, Erdogan said his economic team had made preparations for such steps to strengthen the programme (MTP) and, "hopefully we will share them with the public very soon." "We have three main priorities in strengthening the MTP. These are to increase public sector savings, prioritise investments, and accelerate structural reforms." Speaking to reporters after the cabinet meeting, Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz said both...
Türkiye does not want further escalation of tension in the region after Iran's drone and missile attack against Israel, Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan told his Iranian counterpart in a phone call on Sunday. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian told Fidan that its "retaliatory operation" against Israel had ended, adding that Iran would not launch a new operation unless it was attacked, Turkish diplomatic sources said.