Recep Tayyip Erdogan

After Turkey approved the process of ratifying Finland's accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, the US welcomed the decision of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested Wednesday that his country could soon ratify Finland's application to join NATO, allowing for the possibility of the country joining the military alliance separately from Sweden. Alarmed by Russia's invasion of Ukraine a year ago, Finland and Sweden abandoned decades of nonalignment and applied to join the alliance. All 30 NATO members have approved their applications, and 28 have ratified their accession. Only Turkey and Hungary have failed to do so. Turkey's government accuses Sweden of being too soft on groups that it deems to be terror organizations and existential threats, including Kurdish groups. Ankara has said, however, that it has fewer problems with Finland's membership. Asked by reporters whether Turkey could ratify Finland's membership following a visit by Finnish President Sauli Niinisto later in the week, Erdogan responded: God willing, if it is for the best. Whatever the process is, the process will function. We will

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is seeking to extend his two-decades in power, on Friday formally set the country's parliamentary and presidential elections for May 14 a month earlier than scheduled despite last month's devastating earthquake. The elections could be the country's most significant vote in decades. It will determine whether the country will take a more democratic path or continue on the increasingly authoritarian course set by the strongman politician. Erdogan has ruled over Turkiye since 2003 first as prime minister and as president since 2014 but this year's elections could be his most challenging. The country is struggling with a troubled economy, soaring inflation and the aftermath of the powerful earthquake that killed more than 46,000 people and left hundreds of thousands of people across 11 Turkish provinces sheltering in tents or temporary accommodation. Many have criticised his government's response to the earthquake and accuse it of failing t

A six-party alliance on Monday nominated main opposition party leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu as its common candidate to challenge President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in elections in May, ending months of uncertainty and bickering that had frustrated their supporters. The alliance tapped the leader of the pro-secular, center-left Republican People's Party, or CHP, hours after a key member of the grouping who had rejected Kilicdaroglu's candidacy agreed to a compromise solution and returned to the coalition. Turkiye is headed toward pivotal presidential and general elections on May 14 that could shift the country toward a more democratic course or extend Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian rule into a third decade. The elections are Erdogan's toughest during his 20-year rule and come amid economic turmoil and criticism of the government's response to a devastating earthquake last month. Our biggest goal is to carry Turkey toward prosperous, peaceful and joyful days, Kilicdaroglu said after

"When planning new settlements, we will be moving our cities from lowland plains and toward mountains with the more durable surfaces," he said

"The time is coming. This nation will do what is necessary on May 14. No credit will be given to those who empty talk," Erdogan told his party members in Parliament

President Erdogan tried to calm the anger of earthquake victims saying that "Such things always happened. It's part of destiny's plan"

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said authorities should have reacted faster to this week's huge earthquake

The criticism comes as Erdogan prepares for national elections in May, where he is seeking to extend his record two-decade rule - one marked by a surge in building hailed by the president

President Biden also expressed condolences on behalf of the American people to those who were injured or lost loved ones in the earthquakes

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reaffirmed Wednesday that Turkey won't allow Sweden to join the NATO military alliance as long as the Scandinavian country permits protests desecrating Islam's holy book to take place. Turkey, which had already been holding off approving Sweden and Finland's membership in the Western military alliance, has been infuriated by a series of separate demonstrations in Stockholm. In one case a solitary anti-Islam activist burned the Quran outside the Turkish Embassy, while in an unconnected protest an effigy of Erdogan was hanged. Even before that, Ankara had been pressing Sweden and Finland to crack down on exiled members of Kurdish and other groups it sees as terrorists, and to allow arms sales to Turkey. Turkey has indefinitely postponed a key meeting in Brussels that would have discussed the two Nordic countries' NATO entry. Sweden, don't even bother! As long as you allow my holy book, the Quran, to be burned and torn, and you do so together with

Turkey has discovered a new natural gas reserve of 58 billion cubic meters (bcm) in the Black Sea, as the country's total reserve in the sea has reached 710 bcm, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has pledged to sharply slow the inflation in the coming months and relieve Turkish citizens of the burden of a high cost of living.

The two leaders had close ties before Turkey-backed Syrian rebels when the civil war erupted

China and US relations whose relations were not on good terms ever since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August, but now Xi is trying to change China's relationship with America.

Israel and Turkey agreed to a fresh start in ties Thursday, according to former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office. Relations between the former allies became icy under Netanyahu's term in office. He is now expected to return to power soon as head of Israel's most right-wing government ever. Relations were already on the mend under outgoing Prime Minister Yair Lapid who met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in New York in September, the first meeting between the countries' leaders in 14 years. But Erdogan's relations with Israel under Netanyahu were particularly frosty, especially over recurring wars against Gaza's militant Hamas rulers and the 2010 Gaza flotilla raid by the Israeli military, also during Netanyahu's rule. Erdogan had shown a willingness for warmer ties since Netanyahu was ousted after 12 consecutive years in power last year. Thursday's statement signalled that the ties could continue to improve under Netanyahu. Netanyahu's office said t

In the Istanbul attack, at least 81 people were injured when an explosion rocked the busy pedestrian street. Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay called it a "terrorist attack."

"The West, especially the US, is attacking Russia almost without limits. Against all this, of course, Russia is putting up resistance," the semi-official Anadolu Agency quoted Erdogan as saying

Earlier on Wednesday, Erdogan confirmed that Moscow had agreed to resume its implementation of the grain export deal

Russia agreed Wednesday to rejoin a wartime agreement that allows Ukrainian grain and other commodities to be shipped to world markets. The UN's refugee chief, meanwhile, put the number of Ukrainians driven from their homes since the Russian invasion eight months ago at around 14 million. It is the fastest, largest displacement witnessed in decades, said Filippo Grandi, who heads the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. In announcing that Russia would rejoin the grain pact, President Vladimir Putin said Moscow had received assurances that Ukraine would not use the humanitarian corridors to attack Russian forces. He warned that Russia reserves the right to withdraw again if Kyiv breaks its word. Putin praised Turkey's mediation efforts to get the deal back on track, as well as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's neutrality in the conflict as a whole and his efforts at ensuring the interest of the poorest countries. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he also