Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan discussed Jerusalem with Pope Francis on Monday amid the continuing upheaval caused by the US’s recognition of the city as the Israeli capital last year. President Erdoğan, who became the first Turkish head of state to visit the Vatican in almost 60 years, had a fifty minute meeting with the […]
“The Arab world will not be led by Tehran or Ankara,” said United Arab Emirates (UAE) Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash on Twitter last Wednesday. “The sectarian and partisan view is not an acceptable alternative,” he tweeted making calls for Arab states to co-operate around an axis led by Saudi Arabia and […]
Yesterday’s emergency meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Istanbul ended with a declaration signed by all 57 member states recognising East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine, and inviting the rest of the world to do the same. The summit was called by Turkey’s President Erdoğan in response to US President […]
Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu used today’s Extraordinary Summit of the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) in Istanbul to speak out about his frustration at Muslim states for their “insufficient” response to the plight of both Turkish Cypriots and the Palestinian people. The Summit, called by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to discuss the OIC’s […]
In a federal courtroom in New York last Wednesday, key witness Turkish-Iranian gold trader Reza Zarrab pointed the finger squarely at Turkey’s President Erdoğan who, he claims, authorised sanction-busting activity with Iran. Zarrab’s allegations made international headlines and one of those to cover the developments is former Indian senior diplomat M.K. Bhadrakumar who has […]
Leaders from Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia launched a new Eurasian railroad link at a ceremony in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku last week. The 826-km (513 miles) Baku–Tbilisi–Kars (BTK) railway, which includes 105-km of new track, links the three countries and establishes a new land connection between Europe and China for both passengers and freight. […]
Turkey doesn’t need the European Union, said the country’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Friday, echoing his comments about the US from the day before. “If you’re honest, make your statement and we will finish the job. We don’t need you,” said Erdoğan while addressing regional delegates representing his Justice and Development Party (AKP) […]
The “Pakistan-Turkey relationship has transformed into a strategic partnership” the Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said in New York last week according to national broadcaster Radio Pakistan. The comments came amid side-line talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who also reaffirmed Ankara’s commitment to a continued mutually beneficial partnership at the United Nations […]
Turkey’s President Erdoğan has led another successful political and trade delegation abroad, this time to Kazakhstan. On Saturday, Turkish and Kazakh companies signed new agreements encompassing a broad range of sectors including construction, machine production, energy, and chemical manufacturing, collectively worth $590 million. Details of the new deal were announced in a statement issued […]
Late last month, Trump Administration Secretary of Defense James Mattis touched down in Ankara on a tour of Middle Eastern and Black Sea capitals. The Secretary’s Turkey visit, part of a trip that also included stops in Amman, Baghdad, Erbil and Kiev came as an effort to smooth out feathers already ruffled in the […]
