The deputy foreign ministers of Syria, Turkey, Russia, and Iran will meet in Moscow in April as part of an effort to normalize ties between Damascus and Ankara, Reuters reported on Tuesday. An unnamed senior Turkish official told Reuters that the meeting will be held...
Turkish Parliament Committee Approves Bill Ratifying Finland’s NATO Membership
The Turkish parliament's foreign affairs committee has approved a bill that would ratify Finland's NATO membership after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country would approve bringing Helsinki into the alliance without Sweden. Turkey's full parliament, the...
Finland Says It Will Stick With Sweden in NATO Bid
Finland's foreign minister on Monday reiterated that his country will stick with its original plan of not joining NATO without Sweden despite Turkey's vows that it won't support Stockholm's membership. "Our strong wish is still to join NATO together with Sweden,"...
Erdogan Says Turkey Could Approve Finland’s NATO Bid Without Sweden
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday suggested for the first time that Turkey could approve Finland's NATO membership without also approving Sweden's. "If necessary, we can give a different response concerning Finland. Sweden will be shocked when we give a...
Report: Turkey Postpones NATO Talks With Sweden, Finland After Quran Burning
Turkey has postponed planned talks with Sweden and Finland on their potential NATO bids following a Quran-burning protest in Sweden that took place in front of the Turkish embassy, the Turkish broadcaster TRT World reported Tuesday. The report cited anonymous Turkish...
Erdogan Says Turkey Won’t Support Sweden’s NATO Bid Over Protest
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday said that Sweden should not expect support from Ankara on its NATO bid in response to anti-Islam protests that took place in Sweden over the weekend. Demonstrators burned Qurans in front of the Turkish embassy on...
Turkish FM Tells Blinken US Should Approve $20 Billion F-16 Deal
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday that the US should approve a $20 billion F-16 sale to Turkey despite objections from some members of Congress. "As we said together before, this is not only for Turkey but...
Turkey Says Unlikely to Approve Sweden, Finland NATO Bids Before June
A spokesman for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Ankara is unlikely to approve Sweden and Finland joining NATO before June. Spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said Sweden needs time before it can codify new counterterrorism measures into law, changes Ankara wants to...
Sen. Menendez Says He Won’t Approve F-16 Sale to Turkey
Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), the head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has come out against a potential F-16 sale to Turkey that was reported by The Wall Street Journal on Friday. The report said that the Biden administration is preparing to notify Congress of...
Syria’s Assad Tells Russia Any Deal With Turkey Must Result in Turkish Withdrawal
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told a Russian envoy on Thursday that any rapprochement with Turkey must result in Turkish forces withdrawing from Syrian territory. Alexander Lavrentiev, Russia's special envoy for Syria, was in Damascus discussing Moscow's efforts to...