Türkiye will never bow to U.S. sanctions over its agreement to purchase Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile defence systems, Vice President Fuat Oktay said on Sunday regarding a deal that has strained ties between the NATO allies. Washington says the systems are not compatible with NATO equipment and may compromise its Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jets. It has warned of possible U.S. sanctions if Ankara pushes on with the Russian deal. Türkiye, a prospective buyer and a partner in the production of the F-35s, has said the S-400s and jets would not impact each...
Türkiye in International Media
Türkiye is ready to provide its full support to international investors, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday, adding that while attacks on the economy via its currency continued, the government was in control of the situation. Türkiye has experienced years of rapid growth fuelled by a construction boom and cheap loans. But the economy has slowed sharply with the impact of a currency crisis that last year wiped 30 percent off the value of the lira against the dollar. Erdogan has blamed external forces for the state of the economy. "While efforts to collapse our economy through...
I have just returned from the Türkiye-Syria border to witness the international community’s response to the Syrian refugee crisis, spearheaded by the International Organisation for Migration (IoM). The civil war in Syria has claimed approximately 400,000 lives, with many millions of people displaced during and after the fighting. Over half of the 20 million population require humanitarian aid, including 5 million who are acutely in need. An astonishing 5.7 million Syrians have fled their country to neighbouring nations, mostly to Türkiye which is demonstrating extraordinary hospitality to about 3.5 million Syrian refugees, even building permanent homes for them. (By ...
President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that an F-35 fighter jet project without Turkish participation was bound to collapse and would be an injustice to exclude Ankara over its plans to buy Russian air defence systems. Türkiye's plans to buy the Russian S-400 missile defences has strained its ties with Washington, which has said they would compromise the security of Lockheed Martin F-35 jets and warned of potential U.S. sanctions. Türkiye is both a partner in production of the F-35s and a prospective buyer. It has proposed a working group with the United States to...
The Sichuan Airlines of China on Tuesday morning completed its inaugural direct flight to Istanbul of Türkiye from Chengdu in southwestern China. The Istanbul Airport performed a watergate ceremony for the flight, the first time for the airport to do so on a foreign flight, after it landed with 279 passengers aboard. Cui Wei, Chinese consul general in Istanbul, welcomed the flight along with airport officials. In a press release, the Sichuan Airlines, which is operating more than 220 domestic routes and 56 international and regional routes, pledges efforts to promote trade and tourism between China and Türkiye....
Türkiye's foreign minister is in Iraq to discuss trade, border security and water resources. The two-day visit beginning Sunday will include stops in the autonomous Kurdish region and Basra, Iraq's main oil hub. Türkiye is expected to rebalance its oil supplies after the U.S. announced it would end the waivers that have allowed Türkiye to import from Iran despite sanctions. Iraq is one of Türkiye's leading suppliers of crude oil. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu met with his Iraqi counterpart, Mohamed Alhakim, in Baghdad on Sunday. He said Türkiye would send a special representative...
Today is Anzac Day, the national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand, with events taking place across the globe to honour those who served in war. Recognised annually on April 25, the day marks the anniversary of the first significant military action fought by Australian and New Zealand soldiers during the First World War. On this date in 1915, the troops, who quickly became known as the Anzacs, landed in Türkiye, joining the allied expedition that planned to capture the Gallipoli peninsula. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval...
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has condemned the Easter Sunday attacks in Sri Lanka, calling them "an assault on all of humanity." In comments posted on Twitter, Erdogan offered his condolences to families of the victims and to the people of Sri Lanka. The near simultaneous attacks against three churches and three luxury hotels killed at least 138 people, according to a security official. It was the worst violence in the South Asian country since its civil war ended a decade ago. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said: "Regardless of the motive, the attack in Sri Lanka is the same as the traitorous...
A London charity network with links to Türkiye, Qatar and the Muslim Brotherhood has bestowed a humanitarian award on President Erdogan’s wife in what critics alleged was an image-polishing exercise. The “Changemaker” award was presented to Emine Erdogan at the World Humanitarian Forum for her work championing refugees. Accepting the prize at the Excel Arena, in east London, on Wednesday, Mrs Erdogan, 64, said that she felt great pride that her country was recognised for its egalitarian approach in “dressing the wounds of the world”. Her husband’s international policy advocates humanitarianism. Türkiye has sent tonnes of aid...