Tag Archives: Tayyip Erdogan

Turkish Panel Approves Sweden’s Bid To Join NATO

Axois reports: The Turkish Parliament’s foreign affairs committee approved Sweden’s bid to join NATO on Tuesday. The vote that brings Sweden closer to achieving NATO membership comes after a series of delays in its attempt to become part of the alliance, including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s initial refusal to accept Sweden’s bid. A country’s admission into NATO must be …

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Erdogan: Israel Should Face Gaza War Crimes Trial

Reuters reports: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday told United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres that Israel must be held accountable in international courts for what he called war crimes it committed in Gaza, the Turkish presidency said. Israel has mounted an offensive by air and ground against Hamas militants in Gaza in which more than 15,000 people have been …

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Erdogan Claims “Hamas Is Not A Terrorist Organization”

Reuters reports: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, in his strongest comments yet on the Gaza conflict, said on Wednesday the Palestinian militant group Hamas was not a terrorist organisation but a liberation group fighting to protect Palestinian lands and people. Speaking to lawmakers from his ruling AK Party, Erdogan also called for an immediate ceasefire between Israeli and Palestinian forces and …

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Erdogan Submits Sweden’s NATO Bid For Ratification

Reuters reports: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Monday submitted a bill approving Sweden’s NATO membership bid to parliament for ratification, his office said, a move welcomed by Stockholm as it clears the way for it to join the Western defence alliance. Erdogan pleased his NATO allies at a summit in July by promising to send the legislation to parliament when …

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Erdogan Complains He Saw “LGBT Colors” At UN

Reuters reports: Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan complained on Thursday that he was uncomfortable with the use of what he described as “LGBT colors” at the United Nations, which is decorated this week with bright colors promoting the Sustainable Development Goals. “One of the issues that bothers me the most … is that when entering the United Nations General Assembly, you …

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Erdogan Asks Musk To Build Tesla Factory In Turkey

Reuters reports: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan asked Tesla CEO Elon Musk to build a Tesla factory in Turkey, the country’s communications directorate said on Monday. It cited Musk as saying that many Turkish suppliers are already working with Tesla and that Turkey was among the most important candidates for its next factory. Erdogan and Musk were speaking during a meeting …

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Turkey’s Erdogan Claims Victory In Presidential Runoff

Reuters reports: President Tayyip Erdogan claimed victory in Turkey’s presidential election on Sunday, a win that would steer his increasingly authoritarian rule into a third decade. Addressing supporters, Erdogan said voters had given him the responsibility to rule for the next five years. The election had been seen as one of the most consequential yet for Turkey, with the opposition …

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Biden Expresses Neutrality In Turkey’s Presidential Race

Politico Europe reports: When he ran for president, Joe Biden called Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan an “autocrat” and said the U.S should support Erdogan’s opponents. Now, with Erdoğan leading in a tight runoff race for the Turkish presidency, Biden and his aides are a chastened bunch. When they’re willing to comment at all, they insist they’re not picking sides. …

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Turkish Presidential Election Likely Headed For Runoff

Bloomberg reports: Turkey is set to head to a runoff in a vote that’s become the strongest electoral test yet of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s two decades in power. While preliminary results Monday showed Erdogan with a lead of more than 2 million votes, it wasn’t enough to secure the more than 50% of the ballot and avoid a second …

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Polls Close In Turkey’s Tight Presidential Election Race

The New York Times reports: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey was facing the greatest political challenge of his career after millions voted on Sunday in pivotal elections that could reshape the country’s domestic and foreign policies. The presidential and parliamentary elections took place three months after devastating earthquakes killed more than 50,000 people in southern Turkey, and were in …

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Turkey’s Erdogan May Not Concede If He Loses Election

The Daily Beast reports: Turkish opposition officials say their supporters will take to the streets in “massive protests” if President Recep Tayyip Erdogan follows through on his threat not to concede power if he loses this Sunday’s presidential election. Erdogan has implied that his main challenger, Kemal Kilicdaroglu of the secularist Republican People’s Party (CHP), is being supported by a …

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Erdogan Rallies Anti-Gay Hate To Bolster Reelection Bid

Agence France-Presse reports: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday launched a new attack against Turkey’s LGBTQ community as he played up his conservative credentials ahead of a crucial May 14 vote. Polls show the 69-year-old running neck-and-neck with leftist secular leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu in one of Turkey’s most important election races of its post-Ottoman history. “We are against the LGBT,” …

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Erdogan Once Boasted Of Letting Builders Evade Rules

NPR reports: As Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan struggles to defend his response to last Monday’s devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake, videos from a few years back have emerged showing him hailing some of the housing projects that crumbled, killing thousands of people. The videos have fueled public outrage over slow efforts to help residents in the aftermath of the massive …

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Death Toll In Turkey-Syria Earthquake Passes 11,000

Reuters reports: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan visited southern Turkey on Wednesday to see first-hand the destruction wrought by a massive earthquake as anger grew among local people over what they said was a slow government response to the rescue and relief effort. The combined confirmed death toll from Monday’s quake, which struck a swathe of southern Turkey and neighbouring Syria, …

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Turkey Miffed Over EU’s “Sensitivity” To Ukraine Joining

The Associated Press reports: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called for an immediate cease-fire between the Russian and Ukrainian forces. “Our call to both Russia and Ukraine is: let the firing stop as soon as possible, let Russia and Ukraine make a beautiful contribution to peace,” Erdogan said Tuesday during a joint news conference with Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu, …

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Turkey Walks Back Threat To Expel Western Diplomats

The New York Times reports: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey stepped back on Monday from a threat to expel 10 Western ambassadors, averting a diplomatic storm that analysts and diplomats were warning would bring economic disaster upon Turkey and a lasting rupture in the NATO alliance. In what seemed to be a calculated move, the 10 embassies involved issued …

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EU Court Condemns Law Against Insulting Erdogan

Euronews reports: A Turkish law banning insults against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been condemned by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The court said the law against attacks on the “image” of the head of state was “not in keeping with the spirit of the European Convention”. The ruling followed a case against a young Turkish man who …

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Turkey Set To Expel US And Other Western Diplomats

The Hill reports: Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan announced on Saturday that he had called on his foreign minister to banish 10 ambassadors from Western countries, including the United States, after they called for the “urgent release” of a Turkish philanthropist. “I gave the necessary order to our foreign minister and said what must be done: These 10 ambassadors must be …

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Appeals Court: Turkish Govt Not Immune From Lawsuit Brought By DC Protesters Beaten By Erdogan’s Goons

Law & Crime reports: The Turkish government is not immune from a lawsuit brought by protesters suing strongman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s security detail for allegedly assaulting them on the streets of Washington, a federal appeals court has ruled. Issued on Tuesday, the D.C. Circuit’s ruling reanimates one of the most highly publicized scandals in U.S.-Turkish relations during the Donald Trump …

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Trump To Woodward: I Get Along Better With Dictators

Axios reports: In a new clip from an interview with Bob Woodward, President Trump said that his relationships with world leaders are better “the tougher and meaner they are,” naming Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as an example. Trump has often faced criticism for his warm relations and praise for authoritarian leaders like Erdoğan, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi …

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