Along with the first meeting between senior Turkish and Egyptian diplomats in Cairo since 2013, the past week’s two other most important diplomatic events were the visits of Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu to Libya and Germany. The participation of Defense Minister Hulusi Akar in the Libya visit made the talks in Tripoli all the more important and comprehensive.
Amid ongoing COVID-19 lockdown, Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Chairman Devlet Bahçeli has announced that his party has completed the drafting of a 100-article constitution in line with his promise he made during the party’s general convention in mid-March.
Under normal conditions, Turkey and Afghanistan would celebrate the 100th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties throughout this year. One of the first decisions taken by the Turkish Parliament after its foundation in 1921 was to open a representative office in Kabul. Afghanistan became the second nation for recognizing the Turkish Parliament in Ankara, thereby supporting the establishment of the Republic of Turkey in 1923.
In its 14-month-old fight against the coronavirus pandemic, Turkey has had to impose a full lockdown for the first time. Compared to other countries, Turkey’s anti-COVID struggle is different in this respect, resulting in criticism.
Two communal leaders of Cyprus, Ersin Tatar and Nicos Anastasiades, along with the foreign minister of three guarantor countries - Turkey, Greece and the United Kingdom - will come together at a U.N.-sponsored meeting in Geneva on April 28 and 29.
Before anything else, it was unfortunate for U.S. President Joe Biden to place a call to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to tell that he would use the word “genocide” in the annual presidential commemoration statement on the day Turkey was celebrating its one of the most important national days. It was also unfortunate that he disseminated such disturbing news for Turkey in his first contact with President Erdoğan after more than three months in power.
Expanding military conflicts from one region to another, civil wars in failed nations, deepening social and economic injustice in the world and creating hopeless generations have already turned the 21st century into the age of refugees.
As one of the most important touristic destinations in the world, it goes without saying that tourism revenues are very important for the economy of Turkey. Under normal conditions, Turkey has the capacity of hosting around 70 million tourists annually with around $50 billion income. That’s why Turkey has become one of the most suffering countries from the continued COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, Turkey hosted around 16 million tourists with $12 billion in revenues, marking around a 65 percent decrease compared to 2019.
Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias’ visit to Ankara where he caused a verbal clash with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, remains on the agenda of the diplomatic circles. Being aware of the damage he brought on the newborn reconciliation process with Turkey, the Greek minister sought to repair it through an interview he gave to Greek media over the weekend.
