Türkiye's defense minister says a Turkish-U.S. coordination center for a so-called "safe zone" in northern Syria will become fully operational next week. Hulusi Akar also said Friday that Türkiye and the United States had reached an agreement concerning the control of airspace over the planned safe zone but provided no further detail. Akar spoke during a visit to Sanliurfa province bordering Syria, where Türkiye and the United States agreed to establish a Joint Operation Center for the safe zone. Türkiye has been pushing for the establishment of a safe zone that would...
Türkiye in International Media
Türkiye's military pension fund OYAK has reached a provisional agreement to take over British Steel, it said on Friday, adding it planned to close the deal by year-end. Britain's second-largest steelmaker employs 5,000 workers and produces high-margin steel products used in construction and railways. It supports a further 20,000 jobs in its supply chain. The company was put into compulsory liquidation on May 22 after Greybull Capital, which bought the firm for one pound from Tata Steel three years ago, failed to secure funding to continue its operations. Ataer Holding, an affiliate of OYAK, will have the exclusive rights to carry out...
A U.S. delegation has arrived in Türkiye's southern province of Sanliurfa to start work on the establishment of a joint operations centre to coordinate a planned safe zone in neighbouring Syria, Turkish authorities said on Monday. The two NATO allies agreed in talks last week to establish the centre that would manage the zone in northern Syria though no agreement has been announced on key details of the zone, including the size of the area in question and the command structure of joint patrols that would be conducted there. There has been cautious progress on the centre despite...
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has hailed a decision by Turkish and U.S. officials to set up a joint operations center as a first step toward the creation of a safe zone in northeast Syria. The Turkish and American officials ended three days of talks in Ankara to discuss plans for a safe zone on Wednesday, saying they had agreed to set up an operations center in Türkiye "as soon as possible." They gave no details but said Türkiye's security concerns regarding the region would be addressed. Speaking at a joint news conference with his Ukrainian counterpart,...
Türkiye's defense minister says his country would like to establish a so-called "safe zone" in northeast Syria jointly with the United States but will act alone if necessary. Hulusi Akar made the comments on Wednesday as Turkish and U.S. military officials continued to hold talks in Ankara over the zone. He said the talks were progressing in a "positive" manner, adding that the American officials' views were "moving closer" to Türkiye's. Ankara wants to control — in coordination with the U.S. — a 19-25 mile-deep zone east of the Euphrates River in Syria, and wants no Syrian Kurdish...
President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that he believes U.S. President Donald Trump will not allow ties between the two NATO allies to become captive to a dispute over Ankara's purchase of a Russian S-400 defence system. Ankara and Washington have been at loggerheads over Türkiye's purchase of the S-400s systems, which the United States says are not compatible with NATO defences and pose a threat to its Lockheed Martin F-35 stealth fighter jets. Last month, Türkiye received the first shipment of the S-400s and said a second shipment would arrive in Ankara next...
Türkiye wants to expand its diplomatic presence in Asia as the region becomes the economic centre of the world, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Monday, adding that the initiative did not mark a shift away from Western allies. "The international community is in a rivalry for greater involvement in Asia as it's becoming the economic centre of the world. It is as valuable for us to be a part of Asia as it is for Europe, and standing on these two pillars is what makes us special," Cavusoglu told an ambassadors' conference in Ankara. President Tayyip Erdogan...
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday laid the cornerstone for the first church to be built in Türkiye since the founding of the modern republic in 1923. The church in Istanbul will serve the city's 15,000-strong Syriac Christian community, which has been attempting to build a new place of worship for the past 10 years. In a ceremony at the site in the Yesilkoy neighbourhood, Erdogan said he hoped the building would be completed within two years. "It is the Turkish Republic's duty to meet the need for the Syriac community, who are the ancient children of this geography," he...
Türkiye's foreign minister says a delegation will visit China's northwestern Xinjiang region to observe the situation of minority Uighur Turks. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Tuesday that Türkiye accepted an invitation from China to visit Xinjiang and will send 10 officials. He told Türkiye's official Anadolu news agency in Bangkok that "our expectation is for our Uighur brethren to live under one Chinese roof in peace." Türkiye has previously expressed concern over China's arbitrary detentions of Muslim and Turkic Uighurs in internment camps, which Beijing calls vocational training centers. Türkiye also wants to...