European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen said she felt hurt and alone when her colleague Charles Michel took the only seat for talks with Turkey’s Erdogan – leaving her perched on a sofa. The EU chiefs met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara for talks on tense EU-Turkey relations earlier this month. … Read more
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said there is ‘no such thing as LGBT’ after activists clashed with police during a month-long protest at an Istanbul university. ‘The LGBT, there is no such thing,’ Erdoğan said during a televised address to his ruling Justice and Development Party (AK) on Wednesday. ‘This country is… moral, and … Read more
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has urged French President Emmanuel Macron to have ‘mental checks’ after his comments on Islam. Today the backlash against President Emmanuel Macron’s comments on Islam intensified, with many Muslims demanding boycotts of France. Speaking after teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded on October 16 for showing caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed to … Read more
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said the actions of Turkey and Azerbaijan amounted to a ‘terroristic attack’ over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region that formed part of the continuation of Armenian genocide. ‘What we are facing is an Azeri-Turkish international terroristic attack,’ Pashinyan said. ‘To me there is no doubt that this is a policy … Read more
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned Greece to enter talks over disputed eastern Mediterranean territorial claims or face the consequences. At a hospital’s opening ceremony in Istanbul, he said: ‘They’re either going to understand the language of politics and diplomacy, or in the field with painful experiences.’ Ankara is currently facing off against Greece … Read more
Turkish President Recep Erdogan on Friday ordered another ancient Orthodox church that became a mosque and then a popular Istanbul museum to be converted back into a place of Muslim worship. The decision to transform the Kariye Museum into a mosque came just a month after a similarly controversial conversion for the UNESCO World Heritage-recognised … Read more
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to retaliate after suggesting a Turkish ship had been attacked in waters contested by Greece. The claim came hours after France sent two warships supported by fighter jets to the region experiencing mounting tensions, in an effort to back Greece. Speaking at an event to celebrate the 19th anniversary of … Read more
President Tayyip Erdogan said today he would not stop migrants trying to cross Turkey’s border into Greece before advising Athens ‘these people won’t stay in Greece’ and to ‘let them pass into other European countries’. Tens of thousands of migrants have been trying to get into Greece, a European Union member state, since Turkey said on … Read more
President Erdogan called on Greece to ‘open the gates’ for migrants trying to reach Europe at Turkey’s border ahead of his talks with the EU on Monday. Thousands of migrants have arrived at Turkey’s border with Greece since Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced last month that the country would no longer prevent migrants and refugees from crossing … Read more
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to keep borders open for Syrian refugees headed for Europe as the first 18,000 cross the Greek border and migrants clash for the second day with guards. ‘What did we do yesterday (Friday)? We opened the doors,’ Erdogan said in Istanbul in his first comments since 33 Turkish … Read more