Turkey

Arab, Iranian Foreign Ministers to Meet this Week in Norway

The foreign ministers of Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Oman will meet in Norway this week at an annual peace forum, the Norwegian government announced on Tuesday. The ministers, including Iran's foreign minister and chief nuclear negotiator Abbas Araghchi, will take part on Wednesday and Thursday in the Oslo Forum, an annual gathering ...

Russia and Ukraine Accuse Each Other of Delaying POW Swap

A large-scale prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine -- the only concrete outcome of peace talks -- was thrown into doubt Saturday after Moscow and Kyiv accused each other of delaying and thwarting the swap. The hold-up to an exchange that both sides said would take place this weekend came as Moscow's army launched a barrage of ...

Turkey Arrests Five Mayors From Main Opposition Party

Turkish police arrested five opposition mayors early Wednesday alongside 17 others as part of a probe into corruption allegations at CHP-held municipalities, a party spokesman told AFP. The latest arrests targeted a former lawmaker and three CHP mayors in Istanbul, and two more in the southern province of Adana, the spokesman said. The latest ...

Six Months after Deposing Assad, Syria Faces Security, Economic Challenges

Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa has in six months established himself internationally and had crippling sanctions removed, but still needs to rebuild national institutions, revive the economy and unite the fractured country. AFP looks at the main challenges facing Sharaa, whose Islamist-led coalition toppled longtime Syrian ruler ...

Azerbaijan's Quiet Diplomacy Between Turkey and Israel

With growing influence after its recapture of Nagorno-Karabakh from Armenian separatists in 2023, Azerbaijan is using its close ties with Israel and Turkey to defuse tensions between the regional foes in Syria. Azerbaijan's top foreign policy adviser Hikmet Hajiyev confirmed Baku has hosted more than three rounds of talks between Turkey and ...

5.8-Magnitude Quake Rattles Turkey's Southwestern Resorts

A 5.8 magnitude earthquake struck the Marmaris area of southwestern Turkey early on Tuesday, killing one teenager and injuring dozens of people, the interior minister said. A 14-year-old girl died following a panic attack and some 70 people were hurt in the Mugla province as they rushed to find safety, including "some who jumped from a height", ...

Trump 'Open' to Meeting Putin, Zelensky in Turkey

US President Donald Trump is open to an invitation by his Turkish counterpart to hold three-way peace talks in Turkey with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders, the White House said Monday. "The president has said he's open to it if it comes to that, but he wants both of these leaders and both sides to come to the table together," Press Secretary ...

Istanbul Mayor's Staff Targeted by Dozens of Arrest Warrants

Turkish authorities have issued 47 arrest warrants for municipal officials and staff across Istanbul, whose mayor—the main political rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan—has been jailed since March, the state news agency Anadolu reported on Saturday. The warrants were based on "four separate corruption investigations centered ...

Turkey Proposes to Host Trump-Putin-Zelensky Meeting

Turkey on Friday proposed to host a meeting between the American, Russian and Ukrainian presidents in an effort to advance toward an end of the three years of war in Ukraine. NATO member Turkey, which has strove to maintain relations with both Kyiv and Moscow, has become a key mediator amid US President Donald Trump's push for a deal to end the ...

Turkey Delivers Military and Medical Aid to Lebanese Army

The Turkish government provided a significant donation of aerial equipment, military supplies and medical materials to the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF). The handover ceremony took place at the Port of Beirut, attended by Turkish Ambassador to Lebanon Murat Lutem, Turkish Military Attaché Lt. Col. Erdinc Durmaz and Brigadier General Imad Khreish, ...

Syria Inks $7 Bn Energy Deal With Qatari, Turkish, US Firms

Syria signed a $7 billion energy deal on Thursday with a consortium of Qatari, Turkish, and US companies as it seeks to revive the war-torn country's crippled power sector. The agreement was sealed at the presidential palace in Damascus in the presence of interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and US ambassador Thomas Barrack. It aims to generate ...

Kremlin Rebuffs Zelensky's call for Three-way Meeting with Trump, Putin

The Kremlin on Wednesday rebuffed a call by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for a three-way summit with Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin as Kyiv seeks to force Moscow to halt its more than three-year-long invasion. Moscow said any meeting involving Russian President Putin and Zelensky would only happen after "concrete agreements" ...