Latest Recep Tayyip Erdogan News
No points from Erdogan. Turkey's leader claims Eurovision Song Contest is a threat to family values
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s president took a swipe at the Eurovision Song Contest on Monday, accusing the annual event of allegedly encouraging “gender neutralization” and threatening the traditional family. In a speech following a Cabinet meeting, Recep Tayyip Erdogan...
Turkey's Erdogan pardons elderly generals imprisoned over 1997 'postmodern coup'
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday pardoned seven former top military officers who were sentenced to life terms in prison over the ouster of an Islamic-led government in 1997. The former generals, who are in their late 70s and 80s, were pardoned...
Greek and Turkish leaders seek to stress thawing relations but tensions remain under the surface
ISTANBUL (AP) — The leaders of Greece and Turkey met Monday for talks aimed at underlining their efforts to put aside decades-old disputes, but they also revealed deep divisions over the Israel-Hamas war. Speaking at a news conference in Ankara following the two-hour face-to-face...
Wary of wars in Gaza and Ukraine, old foes Turkey and Greece test a friendship initiative
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Old foes Turkey and Greece will test a five-month-old friendship initiative Monday when Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visits Ankara. The two NATO members, which share decades of mutual animosity, a tense border and disputed waters, agreed to...
The Latest | Israel launches strikes in Rafah, hours after Hamas agrees to a Gaza cease-fire
Israel's military says it is launching “targeted strikes” against Hamas in the southern Gaza city of Rafah after the country's War Cabinet approved a military operation there, officials said late Monday. Hours earlier, the Hamas militant group announced it had accepted a...
Turkey formally opens another former Byzantine-era church as a mosque
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan formally opened a former Byzantine church in Istanbul as a mosque on Monday, four years after his government had designated it a Muslim house of prayer, despite criticism from neighboring Greece. Turkey formally converted...
Turkey says it has carried out new airstrikes against Kurdish militants in northern Iraq
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey has carried out a new round of airstrikes targeting Kurdish militants in neighboring Iraq, the Turkish defense ministry said Monday. Warplanes struck suspected positions of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, in the regions of Hakurk, Metina and...
Pro-Palestinian banners. Blazing Olympic rings. Workers' May Day rallies confront turbulent times
ISTANBUL (AP) — Workers and activists around the world marked May Day with largely peaceful protests Wednesday over rising prices, low wages and calls for greater labor rights. Pro- Palestinian sentiments were also on display. Police in Istanbul used tear gas and fired rubber...
Turkey says it backs outgoing Dutch prime minister Rutte's candidacy for NATO chief
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey has told its NATO allies that Ankara will back the Netherlands’ outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s candidacy for the military alliance’s secretary general position, a senior Turkish official said Monday. The official said Turkey notified NATO...
Outgoing Dutch prime minister visits Turkey's Erdogan in his bid for the NATO chief position
ISTANBUL (AP) — The Netherlands’ outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte was in Turkey on Friday, seeking support from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for the Dutch official's bid for the position of NATO secretary general. Incumbent NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg, a former...