In a televised interview with the private broadcaster CNN Türk over the weekend, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan delivered important and substantive messages on main foreign and security policy issues, including the state of bilateral relationship with the United States and ongoing processes in Syria.
Last week Turkey witnessed two important judicial decisions. The first one was about an appeals court’s rule that upheld the convictions of journalists and executives from Cumhuriyet newspaper.
Political parties submitted their lists of mayoral candidates to the Supreme Election Board (YSK) late yesterday. As the lists will be finalized by March 3, the parties will still have time to make changes in the lists. This is particularly important given that the March 31 municipal polls will mark a first in the history of Turkish elections, as the political parties are running in alliances.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s comprehensive statements on Turkey’s determinacy in purchasing and deploying Russia’s sophisticated S-400 anti-ballistic missile systems have hit the headlines in recent days.
A joint communiqué released following the fourth summit of the guarantor countries of the Astana Process, Russia, Turkey and Iran, highlighted a number of priorities in regards to Syria.
A statement issued by the spokesman of the Turkish Foreign Ministry, Hami Aksoy, on late Feb. 9, that accused China of imposing “torture and political brainwashing in internment camps and prisons” on Uighur Turks was a surprise to many, even to members of the Uighur diaspora.
It’s no surprise that the components of the People’s Alliance, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), are toughening up their language against the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) on the eve of municipal elections.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will pay a two-day visit to Ankara and Istanbul on Feb. 5 and 6 upon the invitation of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Although an initial program suggested Istanbul as the venue of the Erdoğan-Tsipras meeting, the two leaders will meet in the Turkish capital after a last-minute change in the plans.
One of the sourest incidents of 2018 was the brutal murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi by a Saudi death squad deployed to Istanbul upon the orders of the members of the senior Saudi administration on Oct. 2.
