Turkey

Turkey cannot bear the burden of a new wave of migrants from Afghanistan, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Sunday after talks with his German counterpart, as concerns over a new wave of migrants wave of migrants remain after the takeover of power by the Taliban. Events in Afghanistan fueled …

Russia and Turkey are close to signing a new contract to supply Ankara with additional S-400 air defense units in the near future, the Interfax news agency cited the head of Russia’s Rosoboronexport arms exporter as saying on Monday. Turkey’s initial purchase of S-400s from Russia strained ties with the …

President Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday urged European countries to take responsibility for migrants coming from Afghanistan, adding Turkey had no intention of becoming “Europe’s migrant storage unit” amid turmoil in the country after the Taliban’s takeover. Since the Taliban entered Kabul over the weekend, scenes of chaos have unfolded as …

The death toll in a Turkish air raid on a clinic in Iraq’s Sinjar province has risen to eight, local officials said Wednesday, a day after the attack. Turkey regularly targets northwest Iraq in operations against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which Ankara considers a terrorist organization. The Kurdish separatists …

President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that Turkey still aims to maintain security at Kabul airport, after Taliban fighters took control of Afghanistan’s capital. NATO member Turkey, which has hundreds of troops in Afghanistan, had been discussing with the United States a proposal to keep those forces in the country …

Flash floods that swept through towns in Turkish Black Sea provinces have killed 70 people and emergency workers continue to search for 47 missing people, authorities say. The floods last week brought chaos as torrents of water tossed dozens of cars and heaps of debris along streets, destroyed buildings and …

Turkey has dropped plans to take over Kabul airport after NATO’s withdrawal from Afghanistan but is ready to provide support if the Taliban request it, two Turkish sources said on Monday amid turmoil following the militant group’s victory in Afghanistan. Turkey, which has 600 troops in Afghanistan, had offered to …

Emergency workers battled to relieve flood-hit areas of Turkey’s Black Sea region, as the death toll rose to 31 in the second natural disaster to strike the country this month. Key points: Flooding destroyed bridges, closed roads, cut off electricity to hundreds of villages and tossed heaps of debris About 45 …

A bipartisan group of US Congress lawmakers have called for the suspension of American drone technology transfer to Turkey over concerns about Ankara’s unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) weaponization program. In a letter to American Secretary of State Antony Blinken, 27 lawmakers appealed for a temporary hold on Turkish exchanges, including …

South Korea and Turkey have signed a currency swap agreement that will allow both countries to provide liquidity for the counterparty in a move aimed at strengthening financial stability, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said on Thursday. The $2 billion agreement will enable the Bank of Korea to provide the …

Heavy rains that triggered floods and mudslides left a woman missing Wednesday in northern Turkey’s coastal Bartin province, officials said. The floods in the Black Sea province came early Wednesday as firefighters in southwest Turkey worked to extinguish wildfires a wildfire in Mugla province, which runs along the Aegean Sea. …

Until devastated by wildfires, hills near the Turkish sea resort of Marmaris were decked in thick green pine forest. Now these same hills form a ghostly, grey-brown landscape topped with blackened tree stumps as though sketched in charcoal. Drone footage from the small tourist seaside town of Icmeler near Marmaris …

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told his Tunisian counterpart Kais Saied in a phone call on Monday that the continuation of the Tunisian Parliament’s work was important for the region, his office said, after Saied froze Parliament and dismissed his premier. In a statement, Turkey’s presidency said Erdogan “emphasised that the …

The death toll from wildfires on Turkey’s southern coast rose to eight on Sunday as firefighters battled for a fifth day to contain blazes still raging in coastal resort towns. Two more people died on Sunday due to wildfires in the southern town of Manavgat, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said, …

Greece, Cyprus and regional ally Jordan on Wednesday called for a “comprehensive and viable settlement of the Cyprus problem” after Turkey said it would reopen a former resort in the disputed north of the island. Leaders of the three countries, speaking at a summit in Athens, were responding to Turkish …

Austria has rejected a formal request by Turkey to join a powerful EU security and defense cooperation program. Ankara’s May bid to be included in the bloc’s Permanent Structured Cooperation Framework (PESCO) was given the cold shoulder by Vienna over its concerns about Turkish backsliding on democratic values and ties …

Turkish authorities are seeking up to 15 years in prison for the licence holder of ByLock, an encrypted messaging app Ankara says was used by the group it blames for an attempted military coup in 2016, state-owned Anadolu news agency said on Wednesday. Ankara has cracked down on the network …

Two Turkish soldiers were killed and two were wounded in an attack on their armoured vehicle in northern Syria, and Turkish forces immediately launched retaliatory fire, Turkey’s defence ministry said on Saturday. “Our punitive fire against terrorist positions is continuing,” the statement on Twitter on said. It said the attack …

The UN Security Council on Friday condemned Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s call for two states in Cyprus and a move to reopen a resort emptied of Greek Cypriots, calling for a “just” settlement with a united country under a “bizonal” federation, diplomats said. “The Security Council condemns the announcement in Cyprus …

 German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday praised Turkey for hosting large numbers of Syrian refugees as part of an agreement with the European Union and said she wanted close relations with Ankara but did not anticipate Turkish membership of the EU. “Turkey is doing an outstanding job of taking care …

President Joe Biden is committed to maintaining sanctions on Turkey under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) for buying Russian S-400 missile defenses and would impose further sanctions if Ankara bought additional major arms systems from Moscow, a senior US diplomat said on Wednesday. In congressional testimony, US …

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday Turkey could run Kabul airport if its NATO ally the United States met certain conditions including on logistics and financing. Turkey has been negotiating with US defense officials over its offer to help secure and run Kabul airport, which is key to allowing countries …

Arab visitors attracted by quarantine-free travel and a cheap lira are helping bolster a rebound for Turkey’s tourism industry, as it struggles to plug the gap left by Britons, for whom the country remains off limits. Holidaying with his family in Istanbul, Jordanian Omar Zahra, 48, said flying there from …

U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday nominated Republican former U.S. Senator Jeff Flake as ambassador to Turkey, tapping a political appointee for a critical post as ties between the two NATO allies remains strained. “Given the strategic importance of the United States’ relationship with our long-time NATO Ally, the Republic …

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Tuesday it was important to Turkey that Uyghur Muslims live in peace as “equal citizens of China” but said Turkey respects China’s national sovereignty. Erdogan made the comments during a phone call with Xi in which the two leaders …

Discussions between the United States and Turkey on security cooperation in Afghanistan are ongoing, a U.S. State Department spokesman said on Monday, after Ankara offered to operate and guard the Kabul airport after the withdrawal of U.S. forces. Spokesperson Ned Price declined to provide details on how arrangements for the …

Turkey will carry on exploring for oil and gas in the eastern Mediterranean, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday in comments that may revive tensions with the European Union and Greece amid attempts to repair their frayed ties. Turkey is at odds with EU members Greece and Cyprus over energy …

The United States on Thursday added Turkey to a list of countries that are implicated in the use of child soldiers over the past year, placing a NATO ally for the first time in such a list, in a move that is likely to further complicate the already fraught ties …

Turkey officially withdrew on Thursday from an international treaty to prevent violence against women, enacting a decision that drew condemnation from many Turks and Western allies when President Tayyip Erdogan announced it in March. Thousands were set to protest across Turkey, where a court appeal to halt the withdrawal was …

Turkey’s Karpowership will resume electricity supply to Lebanon from its two power ships from Tuesday in a decision it said was a goodwill gesture against a backdrop of talks over payment arrears and a legal threat to its vessels. The company told the government in May that it would have …

Turkey will not send additional troops to Afghanistan as part of a plan to run and secure Kabul’s airport following the US and NATO pull-out from the country, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar was cited as saying on Wednesday. Turkey has offered to guard and run Hamid Karzai airport after NATO’s withdrawal and …

Turkey’s Constitutional Court accepted an indictment on Monday seeking a ban on the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) for alleged ties to militants, CNN Turk said, opening the way for a case to close parliament’s third-largest party. The case is the culmination of a years-long crackdown on the HDP, in which thousands of …

Moscow is closely monitoring developments around a potential Turkish military base in Azerbaijan, a move that could require Russia to take steps to ensure its own security and interests, the Kremlin said on Friday. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia was in close contact with Turkey, a NATO member, on stabilising the …

President Joe Biden and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan agreed in a meeting this week that Turkey would take a lead role in securing Kabul airport as the United States withdraws troops from Afghanistan, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Thursday. However, the two leaders were not able to …

US President Joe Biden and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan sounded upbeat after their first face-to-face talks on Monday, although they did not announce major breakthroughs in the relationship between the two allies, at odds over Russian weapons, Syria, Libya and other issues. “We had a positive and productive meeting, much …

US President Joe Biden and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan will discuss problematic bilateral ties on Monday including Ankara’s purchase of Russian S-400 missiles, but there is little hope they will resolve any of several disputes that divide NATO. The two leaders will hold their first face-to-face talks since Biden took …

President Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday that Turkey’s central bank had agreed with China to increase an existing currency swap facility to $6 billion from $2.4 billion, in a move that could boost foreign reserves. Turkey’s FX reserves plunged by 75% last year, raising concerns about a possible balance of …

Turkey has shared data on its Black Sea discovery with U.S. energy majors Chevron and Exxon Mobil ahead of possible cooperation in extracting the gas, a Turkish official with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. Ankara has so far insisted it would develop the estimated 540 billion cubic meters field, …

Turkey should withdraw its troops from Afghanistan under the 2020 deal for the pullout of U.S. forces, a Taliban spokesman said on Thursday, effectively rejecting Ankara’s proposal to guard and run Kabul’s airport after U.S.-led NATO forces depart. The development raises serious questions for the United States, other countries and …

U.S. President Joe Biden and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan will meet to discuss Syria, Afghanistan and other regional issues next week and will also look at the “significant differences” between Washington and Ankara, the U.S. national security advisor said on Monday. Speaking at a White House briefing, Jake Sullivan said …

Turkey’s environment minister has pledged to defeat a plague of “sea snot” threatening the Sea of Marmara, with a disaster management plan he said would secure its future. A thick slimy layer of the organic matter, known as marine mucilage, has spread through the sea south of Istanbul, posing a threat …

Turkey has discovered 135 billion cubic metres (bcm) of additional natural gas in the southern Black Sea, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, raising the total discovery in the region to 540 bcm. Speaking at an opening ceremony in the Black Sea province of Zonguldak on Friday, Erdogan said Turkey had …

Turkish agents have captured a nephew of US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen in an overseas operation and have brought him to Turkey where he faces prosecution, Turkey’s state-run news agency said Monday. Selahaddin Gulen, who was wanted in Turkey on charges of membership in a terror organization, was seized in …

Turkey convinced its NATO allies to opt for a milder official stance after Belarus forced down a European airliner passing through the country’s airspace so it could arrest a dissident journalist, Reuters reported on Thursday. The Ryanair passenger plane was flying from Greece and bound for Lithuania, however Belarus diverted …