Latest Recep Tayyip Erdogan News

Metal barricades line the the shuttered main entrance to the United Nations headquarters, Friday, Sept. 18, 2020, in New York. With the COVID-19 pandemic still circling the globe, world leaders are skipping their annual gathering in New York and will make pre-recorded speeches this week on the state of a deeply divided world turned topsy-turvy. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Pandemic retools diplomacy as world leaders gather virtually

Sep. 19, 2020 3:46 PM EDT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — With COVID-19 still careening across the planet, the annual gathering of its leaders in New York will be replaced this year by a global patchwork of prerecorded speeches, another piece of upheaval in a deeply divided world turned topsy-turvy by a pandemic with no endpoint in sight. As...

France's Minister for European Affairs Clement Beaune, foreground, and Cyprus' Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides take part in a news conference at the Foreign Ministry building in the capital Nicosia, Friday, Sept. 18, 2020. Beaune says the European Union should consider imposing sanctions against Turkey if the country continues a hydrocarbons search inside waters where Greece and Cyprus claims exclusive rights. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

France: EU sanctions on Turkey an option over gas standoff

Sep. 18, 2020 6:28 PM EDT

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — France on Friday backed Cyprus' calls for the European Union to consider imposing tougher sanctions on Turkey if the Turkish government won't suspend its search for energy reserves in eastern Mediterranean waters where Cyprus and Greece claim exclusive economic rights. French...

FILE - In this Jan. 17, 2020, file, photo shows Libyan Gen. Khalifa Hifter during a meeting in Athens. Libya’s U.N.-supported government Friday, Aug. 21, 2020, announced a cease-fire across the oil-rich country and called for demilitarizing the strategic city of Sirte, which is controlled by rival forces. Fayez Sarraj, head of the Government of National Accord in the capital Tripoli, also announced parliamentary and presidential elections would be held in March. Both administrations said they want an end to an oil blockade imposed by the camp of military commander Khalifa Hifter since earlier this year.  (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis, File)

Libya's east-based commander promises end of oil blockade

Sep. 18, 2020 11:22 AM EDT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Libya's commander who rules the eastern half of the country and who was behind a year-long military attempt to capture the capital, Tripoli, said Friday that oil production would restart soon, ending a months-long blockade of the nation's vital oil fields. The...

Greece: Contact with Turkey restarted over East Med crisis

Sep. 17, 2020 10:51 AM EDT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece says it has resumed high-level political contacts with neighboring Turkey to try and de-escalate a dispute over offshore energy rights in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Stelios Petsas, the Greek government spokesman, said Thursday that direct contacts had restarted after Turkey...

European Union Council President Charles Michel, left, is greeted by Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades at the entrance of the Presidential Palace following their meeting in the capital Nicosia, Cyprus, on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2020. Michel is visiting Cyprus after travelling to Greece amid a diplomatic drive to de-escalate a weeks-long standoff at sea over Turkey's hydrocarbons search in waters were Greece and Cyprus claim exclusive economic rights. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

Cyprus: EU sanctions an option to halt Turkey's gas search

Sep. 16, 2020 4:42 PM EDT

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — The European Union shouldn’t discard imposing tougher sanctions to get Turkey to give up an “unlawful” hydrocarbons search in the eastern Mediterranean that has ratcheted up tensions, the president of Cyprus said Wednesday. President Nicos Anastasiades said the...

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, right, Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades arrive for a press conference at the Presidential Palace in Nicosia, Cyprus, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2020. Pompeo's lightning visit to Cyprus aimed to de-escalate a confrontation between Greece and Turkey over energy reserves in east Mediterranean waters and to affirm Washington's continued engagement in the tumultuous region four days after Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov pitched Moscow's offer to help ease tensions during his trip to the island nation. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias, Pool)

Pompeo urges diplomacy in standoff over Mediterranean gas

Sep. 12, 2020 5:09 PM EDT

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday called for a diplomatic solution to the confrontation between Greece and Turkey over energy reserves in east Mediterranean waters, saying ongoing military tensions between two NATO allies only serve the alliance's foes....

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a meeting, in Ankara, Turkey, Monday, Sept. 7, 2020. On Monday, a senior NATO official discussed the standoff as well as a NATO initiative to aimed at avoiding the risk of accidents and conflict between the two allies, Turkey and Greece, with Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and senior military officials in Ankara.(Turkish Presidency via AP. Pool)

Turkey's Erdogan slams Macron amid Mediterranean tensions

Sep. 12, 2020 11:03 AM EDT

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkey’s president has taken aim at France’s leader, following French criticism about Turkish maritime activities in the eastern Mediterranean that have ignited tensions with Greece and the European Union. In a speech Saturday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed...

Moody's downgrades Turkey's rating to B2, negative outlook

Sep. 12, 2020 10:04 AM EDT

PARIS (AP) — Credit ratings agency Moody’s has cut Turkey’s debt ratings and said it maintained a negative outlook on the country. Moody’s Investors Services said in a statement late Friday that it downgraded the Turkish government's issuer and senior senior unsecured debt ratings to...

From left to right, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Italy's Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, Cyprus President Nikos Anastasiadis, France's President Emmanuel Macron, Portugal's Prime Minister Antonio Costa, Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Malta's Prime Minister Robert Abela , attend a media conference after an emergency summit in Porticcio, Corsica island, Thursday Sept.10, 2020. Leaders of EU countries on the Mediterranean Sea are holding an emergency summit in Corsica on Thursday amid fears of open conflict with Turkey stemming from mounting tensions over oil and gas drilling. (Ludovic Marin/Pool Photo via AP)

Southern EU leaders urge Turkey to end "unilateral" actions

Sep. 10, 2020 3:56 PM EDT

PARIS (AP) — Leaders of seven southern European countries on Thursday urged Turkey to end “unilateral and illegal activities” in the eastern Mediterranean and resume dialogue to ease tensions in the region. Heads of states and government of France, Greece, Cyprus, Malta, Italy, Spain and...

In this photo provided by the Greek Defense Ministry on Friday, Sept. 4, 2020, air force jets participate in a joined training drill with armed forces from Greece and the United Arab Emirates near the Greek island of Crete, southern Greece. Turkey's president on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2020, has warned Greece to enter talks over disputed eastern Mediterranean territorial claims or face the consequences. Ankara is currently facing off against Greece and Cyprus over oil and gas exploration rights in the eastern Mediterranean. All sides have deployed naval and air forces to assert their competing claims in the region. (Greek Defense Ministry via AP)

Greece to boost military amid tensions with neighbor Turkey

Sep. 7, 2020 3:03 PM EDT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece will bolster its military with new arms, more personnel and by developing the country’s defense industry, the government said Monday, as a tense standoff with neighboring Turkey has led to concerns of open conflict between the two NATO allies. Ankara is facing off...

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