President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ruled out U.S. demands that Türkiye delay the purchase of an advanced Russian missile-defense system and said Moscow may bring forward the delivery date from July. “It is definitely out of the question for us to step back on the issue of S-400s, it is a done deal,” Erdogan said in a televised speech in Istanbul late Saturday. “Our deal was to have the S-400s delivered to us by July; they will probably bring that forward.” Erdogan’s stance could further strain ties between the NATO allies. The U.S. last week...
Türkiye in International Media
Tensions over energy resources in the eastern Mediterranean have risen sharply after Türkiye said it would “exercise its sovereign rights” to drill off Cyprus in flagrant defiance of warnings from western allies. As the dispute over potential gas reserves intensified, Ankara insisted its state-of-the-art drilling ship, the Fatih, and its support vessels would begin operations in waters viewed by the EU as being within the island’s exclusive economic zone. “Türkiye does not recognise the unilateral and illegitimate exclusive economic zone claims of the Greek Cypriots,” its foreign minister, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, announced...
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Türkiye, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, will make an official visit to Cuba starting this May 17, announced the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The distinguished visitor's agenda contemplates official conversations with Cuban authorities and other activities. Cuba and Türkiye have maintained diplomatic relations since 1952, and in recent years have sought a relaunching of their trade links and exchanges at the government level. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited Havana in 2015, and in that exchange several areas of mutual cooperation were discussed, on issues such as trade...
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Türkiye and Iraq have discussed a possible deal to increase military and security cooperation between the neighboring countries. Erdogan spoke to reporters after meetings with visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi on Wednesday. Erdogan also said a pipeline running from Iraqi oil fields to Türkiye, which was damaged during the Islamic State group's presence in Iraq, should rapidly be repaired and become operational. Türkiye is likely to look to Iraq for its oil supplies after the U.S. announced an end to waivers that have allowed Türkiye to import from...
Turkish officials say police have detained two suspected left-wing militants who tried to enter the country's parliament with sharp objects and a hoax explosive device. Fahrettin Altun, the presidential communications director, said in a tweet early Wednesday that the suspects were members of the banned Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front, also known as DHKP-C. He called their attempt a "terrorist act against the will and the peace of the nation." The state-run Anadolu Agency said the suspects — a woman and a man — arrived at the parliament building on Tuesday and tried to take a security official hostage before they were subdued. ...
Defence Minister Hulusi Akar and his Russian counterpart discussed by phone developments in Syria's Idlib province and measures to reduce tension in the area, the Turkish Defence Ministry said on Tuesday. A renewed wave of violence in northwestern Syria has killed more than 120 civilians. The offensive by the Syrian army and its allies, backed by Russia, has uprooted more than 150,000 people, the biggest escalation in the war since last summer. On Monday, rebels said they mounted a counterattack against government forces in northwestern Syria, where Idlib is located, ramping up battles in Syria's last major insurgent stronghold. On Monday, Turkish...
Defense Minister Hulusi Akar is accusing the Syrian government of trying to expand its field of control in Idlib province in violation of a Russian-Turkish cease-fire brokered last September. Akar called on Friday for the government attacks to be halted. He made the comments during a visit to Türkiye's border with Syria where he inspected troops, together with the country's top military commanders. Rebel groups are battling Syrian government forces to regain territory they lost in the northwest area of Idlib earlier this week. The latest wave of fighting is the most serious challenge to the cease-fire. Akar said, ...
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says his country is "stubbornly" pursuing European Union membership despite efforts in some circles to keep Türkiye out of "the European family." Erdogan attended a meeting in Ankara on Thursday to review the needed steps to advance Türkiye's EU membership bid. He said that without Türkiye, the EU won't effectively combat "existential threats" to its founding principles, such as Islamophobia and hostility toward migrants. The EU relies on Türkiye to stem the flow of asylum-seekers to Europe. In his speech, Erdogan accused the EU of leaving Türkiye alone to shoulder the...
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's spokesman says the voiding of the mayoral election in Istanbul amounts to "a victory for Turkish democracy" by ensuring the results reflect the voters' choice. Presidential communications director Fahrettin Altun told The Associated Press that the new local election the country's top election board ordered for June 23 extends Türkiye's record of holding free and fair elections for nearly seven decades. The Supreme Election Board ruled in favor of Erdogan's party Monday and invalidated results from the March 31 election that made an opposition candidate mayor of the country's largest city. Altun said: "We are also confident...