Huseyin Hayatsever

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Turkey on Thursday for talks focused on a critical aspect of establishing stability in Syria: clashes in the north of the country between U.S.-backed Kurdish forces and Turkey-backed rebels.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday he hoped Syrian rebels will continue their advance against President Bashar al-Assad's forces in Syria, but voiced concern about what he said were terrorist organisations in their midst.

Turkey is in talks with the United States and Russia in an attempt to secure a U.S. sanctions waiver so it can continue paying Gazprombank for Russian natural gas imports, Turkish authorities said.

Turkey has reduced its planned $23 billion acquisition of an F-16 fighter jet package from the United States, scrapping the purchase of 79 modernisation kits for its existing fleet, Defence Minister Yasar Guler said late on Tuesday.

President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey could take joint steps with Elon Musk on technology if opportunities for cooperation in that field arise, broadcaster TRT Haber reported on Wednesday.

Turkey is considering adopting a unified fibre optic telecoms entity to expand its network, signalling it could create a separate manager for the expensive infrastructure investments, a senior official told Reuters.

Turkey arrests journalist over social media post on prosecutors

President Tayyip Erdogan sought to reset Turkey's strained ties with the United States by inviting President-elect Donald Trump to visit, and said Trump spoke very positively about Turkey during a phone call.

A mayor from Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) was arrested late on Wednesday after prosecutors accused him of belonging to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), banned as a terrorist group in Turkey.

Turkey has hit outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) targets in northern Iraq and northern Syria after a deadly attack on an aviation site in Ankara, the Defence Ministry said on Wednesday.