Huseyin Hayatsever

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that Israel's attacks on Syria and Lebanon had reached a ​point where they also threaten Turkey, adding Israel's "aggression" posed a ‌threat to the whole world and must be stopped.

Turkey does not want an extension of the existing Kirkuk-Ceyhan oil pipeline agreement under current conditions, a senior Turkish official said, after ​Baghdad asked Ankara to extend it for at least a year to allow ​time for more talks.

Turkey is interested in joining ​the European Union's ‌SEPA payments system, and related financial institutions are ​working on the ​issue, Foreign Minister Hakan ⁠Fidan said on ​Wednesday.

Turkey's Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said on Wednesday that he met ​senior Iraqi oil and foreign ministry ‌officials to discuss energy cooperation, including on the Iraq-Turkey Crude Oil Pipeline that runs from ​Kirkuk to Ceyhan.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said the right to hold demonstrations and media freedom were essential in democracies, ​when asked about Turkey’s recent crackdown on dissidents and ‌restrictions ahead of this week’s summit.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced that Washington would lift U.S. sanctions on Turkey that were imposed in 2020 over Ankara's purchase of Russian ​defense missiles, while expressing a willingness to sell the fellow NATO ally F-35 fighter jets.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that ​NATO allies must lift defence-industry restrictions among them, pressing the ‌case for Ankara to break into some Europe-only initiatives.

Turkish opposition leader Ozgur Ozel said on Tuesday he would resign his post and form a new ‌party, a political splintering that compounds the challenges facing President Tayyip Erdogan's opponents as they face an unprecedented legal crackdown.

President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that Turkey aimed to sign a comprehensive energy ​cooperation deal with neighbouring Iraq as soon as possible ‌after he held talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi in Ankara.

Turkey's ruling alliance submitted a draft law to parliament on Wednesday meant to achieve ‌peace with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in part by protecting many former militants from prosecution and suspending prison sentences for some others.