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...
Türkiye in International Media
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...
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 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....