President Tayyip Erdogan delivered a speech on August 24th at the Aksaz Naval Base in Marmaris, vowing to further strengthen Turkey’s navy and army. The impressive TCG Anadolu, Turkey’s first amphibious assault ship, served as a backdrop. Anadolu had just returned to Aksaz after participating in a joint military exercise with the United States in
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on August 12 and, summarizing from the American State Department’s statement, asked Türkiye to use its influence to get Hamas to return to the negotiation table with Israel on August 15. Fidan, as I summarize from Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Öncü Keçeli’s statement, told him
Last week there were news reports about a possible meeting between President Tayyip Erdoğan and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Astana, where Erdoğan was present as a dialogue partner. His meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin was of particular importance but Erdoğan met with leaders of a number of
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan hinted at a significant diplomatic shift by suggesting a potential invitation to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. This invitation, Erdoğan indicated, could coincide with a visit from Russian President Vladimir Putin to Türkiye, marking a new phase in regional diplomacy. “We might have an invitation for Bashar al-Assad along with President
It’s high time to say that the time has come and gone for opening a new chapter in Syria. Türkiye’s policy towards Syria since the outbreak of civil war in 2011 is no longer sustainable; all signs have appeared. Otherwise, it’s unlikely that a sexual harassment incident in Kayseri would quickly turn into anti-Türkiye demonstrations
Top-level Turkish security delegation’s visit to Baghdad on March 14 should be considered as a significant step towards a comprehensive Türkiye Iraq agreement ahead of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s expected visit to Iraq in April after 12 years. The rapprochement and establishment of strategic political and economic relations between Türkiye and Iraq appear to
Turkish Foreign Minsiter Hakan Fidan had a meeting with his US counterpart Antony Blinken in Washington on March 8. “There is an opportunity to continue our path by opening a new page with a positive agenda,” he said in a press conference following the meeting and other discussions and contacts. Türkiye-US relations were a “historic”
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said via his “X” account that 29 ISIS members, who were preparing terrorist attacks on churches and synagogues in İstanbul, were captured in simultaneous operations in 9 provinces with the joint work of the Turkish Intelligence Organization (MİT) and General Police Directorate (Emniyet). A few days earlier, on December 21, Yerlikaya
In an unprecedented response to the US downing of a Turkish UCAV in Syria on October 5, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on October 6 that “the operation was not affected,” referring to the operations of Turkish military and intelligence forces against the PKK, which claimed responsibility for the October 1 bombing to