The presidents of Türkiye and Azerbaijan on Thursday praised the unity and solidarity between the two countries in the face of challenges, especially following the 2023 twin earthquakes that shook Türkiye.

Türkiye will never forget the solidarity of the Azerbaijani people, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said, speaking at the key delivery ceremony of quake-recovery houses in Kahramanmaraş province alongside Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

Stressing that Baku has come with everything it had to heal wounds after the quakes, he also expressed appreciation for Azerbaijan’s role in helping build the post-quake houses.

“Regardless of the conditions in the world and in our region, our priority is clear,” the Turkish president said, adding that they are concerned with healing the wounds inflicted by the disaster “as soon as possible.”

Aliyev, for his part, similarly praised unity and brotherhood with Türkiye: “I express the respect and love of the Azerbaijani people to those living in the earthquake-affected areas. You know and should know that you have 10 million brothers and sisters in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijanis also know we have over 80 million brothers and sisters in Türkiye. Long live Türkiye! Long live Türkiye-Azerbaijan unity and brotherhood!”

Expressing that the Azerbaijani people treated the earthquakes that hit southern Türkiye in February 2023 as their own, Aliyev said “tens of thousands” of Azerbaijanis began to fulfill their “fraternal duty” by providing humanitarian aid.

Aliyev highlighted that the same number of people were provided with new apartments quickly following the quakes, a testament to Erdoğan’s “commitment, love and strong determination toward his people.”

“At the same time, this is also evidence of a strong Türkiye, because only a strong state can carry out such a large-scale reconstruction and construction work in a short time,” Aliyev said, adding that more than 1,000 Azerbaijani personnel were immediately sent to the region at the time.

He said as many as 53 people were rescued from the rubble by Azerbaijani personnel, while another 3,200 people were provided with medical assistance by Azerbaijani doctors in two field hospitals.

“Azerbaijan has always been by Türkiye’s side, and Türkiye has always been by Azerbaijan’s side. Today, my participation along with my dear brother in the opening of the ‘Azerbaijan’ quarter is further evidence of our unity and friendship,” he said, describing the establishment of the neighborhood as a “remarkable event.”

He said the brotherhood and unity between the two countries are important factors not only for the region but also on a global scale, reminding that the Shusha Declaration officially elevated Turkish-Azerbaijani relations to the level of an alliance.

He recalled Türkiye’s support for Azerbaijan on the issue of Karabakh from the first days of the 44-day conflict with Armenia in fall 2020, expressing Turkish solidarity “gave us additional strength.”

“The people of Kahramanmaraş showed great resolve in the face of a terrible earthquake. They did not break or bend. They knew and believed that behind them stood a strong leader, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Behind them stands a strong Türkiye,” he added.

On Feb. 6, 2023, magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 quakes struck 11 Turkish provinces – Adana, Adıyaman, Diyarbakır, Elazığ, Hatay, Gaziantep, Kahramanmaraş, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye and Şanlıurfa.

More than 13.5 million people in Türkiye have been affected by the quakes and many others in northern Syria.

The post-quake houses for which the delivery ceremony was held were built by the Azerbaijani government and the Housing Development Administration of the Republic of Türkiye (TOKI), in the “New Azerbaijan Neighborhood” of Kahramanmaraş.

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Arab League foreign ministers convened an extraordinary meeting in Istanbul to discuss the Iran-Israel conflict, diplomatic sources said Friday.

As the confrontation between Iran and Israel intensifies, Türkiye is emerging as a crucial actor seeking to mediate the conflict and prevent it from spiraling into a wider regional war.

The ministers were in Türkiye’s largest city on the eve of a weekend gathering of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which was also slated to discuss the air war launched a week ago.

Israel began its assault in the early hours of June 13, claiming that Iran was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons, triggering an immediate retaliation from Tehran in the worst-ever confrontation between the two arch-rivals.

Some 40 top diplomats are slated to join the weekend gathering of the OIC, which will also have a session dedicated to discussing the Iran-Israel crisis, the Turkish foreign ministry said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who met with his counterparts from Britain, France and Germany in Geneva on Friday, will also attend and address the diplomats, the ministry said.

Earlier on Friday, Araghchi said Tehran was ready to “consider diplomacy” again only if Israel’s “aggression is stopped.”

The Arab League ministers were expected to release a statement following their meeting, Anadolu Agency (AA) said.

With its strategic ties to both Tehran and Washington, and its principled foreign policy rooted in regional stability, Ankara is positioning itself as one of the few powers capable of engaging both sides constructively.

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President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan emphasized the significance of the recent understanding reached in peace negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, stressing Türkiye’s continued support for efforts aimed at fostering development and stability across the South Caucasus through a “win-win” approach as he held a meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Istanbul on Friday.

During high-level talks in Istanbul, the sides discussed key regional developments, including the normalization process between Türkiye and Armenia, broader peace and dialogue efforts in the South Caucasus, and current issues affecting the region.

President Erdoğan reiterated Türkiye’s readiness to support any constructive initiatives to advance peace and cooperation. He also said Türkiye is committed to using every diplomatic tool to help establish lasting stability not only in the Caucasus, but across the wider region.

The meeting also addressed possible next steps in the normalization process between Türkiye and Armenia.

Referring to the escalating tensions in the Middle East, Erdoğan noted that Türkiye remains in close contact with regional leaders to reduce the risks created by Israel’s attacks on Iran and prevent further escalation.

Armenia PM hails ‘in-depth’ talks with Erdoğan

Pashinyan said he held “in-depth” talks with Erdoğan in Istanbul.

A statement from the Armenian government said: “The two leaders discussed the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations, underlining the importance of continuing constructive dialogue and achieving concrete results.”

In a post on X, Pashinyan said he had an “in-depth exchange” with Erdoğan at which they “discussed the Armenia-Türkiye normalization process, regional developments, and the importance of sustained dialogue.”

He reassured the Turkish leader that Armenia was “committed to building peace and stability in our region.”

The discussions began shortly before 7:00 p.m. (1600 GMT) at Istanbul’s Dolmabahçe Palace, the Presidency said.

Armenia and Türkiye have never established formal diplomatic ties and their shared border has been closed since the 1990s.

Analysts said Pashinyan would make the case for speeding up steps toward normalization with Türkiye in a bid to ease Armenia’s isolation.

Ahead of the talks, Pashinyan visited the Armenian Patriarchal Church and the Blue Mosque and met members of the Turkish Armenian community, he said on his official Facebook page.

Normalization

“This is a historic visit, as it will be the first time a head of the Republic of Armenia visits Türkiye at this level. All regional issues will be discussed,” Armenian parliament speaker Alen Simonyan told reporters on Thursday.

“The risks of war (with Azerbaijan) are currently minimal, and we must work to neutralize them. Pashinyan’s visit to Türkiye is a step in that direction.”

An Armenian foreign ministry official told AFP Pashinyan and Erdoğan would discuss efforts to sign a comprehensive peace treaty as well as the fallout from the Iran-Israel conflict.

A day ahead of his visit, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev was in Türkiye to meet Erdoğan, hailing the two nations’ alliance as “a significant factor, not only regionally but also globally.”

Erdoğan repeated his backing for “the establishment of peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia.”

The two nations had agreed on the text of a peace deal in March, but Azerbaijan has since outlined a host of demands, including changes to Armenia’s constitution, before it will sign the document.

Pashinyan has actively sought to normalize relations with both Baku and Ankara.

“Pashinyan is very keen to break Armenia out of its isolation and the best way to do that is a peace agreement with Azerbaijan and a normalization agreement with Turkey,” Thomas de Waal, a senior fellow at Carnegie Europe told AFP.

The main thing blocking normalization with Türkiye was Azerbaijan, a close ally of Ankara, he said.

“Turkey has a strategic dilemma here: on the one hand it wants to stay loyal to Azerbaijan; on the other, opening the Armenian border makes it a bigger player in the South Caucasus,” he said.

Earlier this year, Pashinyan said Armenia would halt its campaign for international recognition of the 1915 mass killings of Armenians as genocide.

He has visited Türkiye only once before, for Erdoğan’s 2023 inauguration. At the time, he was one of the first foreign leaders to congratulate him on his re-election.

Ankara and Yerevan appointed special envoys in late 2021 to lead a normalization process, a year after Armenia’s defeat in a war with Azerbaijan over the then-disputed Karabakh region.

In 2022, Türkiye and Armenia resumed commercial flights after a two-year pause.

A previous attempt to normalize relations, a 2009 accord to open the border, was never ratified by Armenia and abandoned in 2018.

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Türkiye’s ambassador to the United Nations on Friday condemned Israel’s military strikes on Iran, warning they posed a serious threat to global security and the international nuclear non-proliferation regime.

Speaking at an emergency session of the U.N. Security Council, Ambassador Ahmet Yıldız said, “Türkiye condemns, in the strongest terms, the recent attacks conducted by Israel against Iran. These acts represent a manifest violation of the U.N. Charter.”

Yıldız called the situation “deeply troubling,” particularly in light of Israel’s nuclear opacity. “It is alarming that a non-NPT state, which maintains deliberate ambiguity regarding its nuclear arsenal, is attacking safeguarded nuclear infrastructure in a state party to the NPT,” he said. “This recklessness strikes at the heart of the global non-proliferation regime.”

He urged the international community to unite in calling on Israel to join the NPT as a non-nuclear-weapon state and to accept full verification by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Yıldız also criticized Israel’s targeted strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, calling them “unprecedented” and in direct violation of international law and IAEA agreements. He noted that the agency’s verification efforts inside Iran have already been “impeded.”

“A wider regional collision would aggravate the risk of nuclear or radiological spillover and mass displacement,” he warned. “It would disrupt global trade, endanger energy security, and imperil transportation routes amid an already volatile climate.”

Reaffirming Türkiye’s commitment to diplomacy, Yıldız said, “We continue to believe that diplomacy is the sole sensible path forward.”

He also emphasized that the crisis in Gaza must not be sidelined. “Israel’s assault on Iran cannot obscure the ongoing crimes being committed against the Palestinian people,” he said. “Imposing peace is no longer a mere option; it is an imperative to preserve the credibility of the UN system and to safeguard international law.”

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Eighty-one provincial heads of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) on Thursday gathered to voice support for the party’s chairperson, Özgür Özel, and defend the 2023 congress results.

Gathering in front of the party headquarters in the capital Ankara, the provincial heads made a statement, read out by CHP Ankara Chair Ümit Erkol.

Erkol said that Özel was elected as the party leader by the free will of the delegates at the 38th Ordinary Congress of the CHP, then they focused on the local elections in unity and “became the local power,” referring to last year’s local elections where the CHP made significant gains.

He accused the government of politicizing the case and also voiced support for Istanbul’s ousted mayor, Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu.

Turkish prosecutors are seeking up to three-year prison sentences for a total of 12 suspects, including Imamoğlu, in an ongoing trial against the CHP over alleged vote buying in the 2023 ordinary congress.

The lawsuit seeks to cancel the party’s 38th Ordinary Congress held on Nov. 4-5, 2023, in which Chairperson Özgür Özel allegedly “bought” supporters to oust Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, his predecessor, in an intraparty election held at the congress.

It also asks to suspend all CHP officials linked to the congress. If the court rules to annul the congress that elected Özel as CHP chair, a trustee would be assigned to administer Türkiye’s oldest political party, who would then call for an extraordinary congress within 45 days.

Several eyewitnesses testified in court about the allegations that delegates were made to vote in exchange for money at the said congress.

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Both the genocide in Gaza and the Israel-Iran conflict are rapidly approaching a point of no return, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Friday, criticizing Israel’s continued attacks on Gaza and the region.

“It is imperative that hands are taken off triggers in the Israel-Iran conflict before there is more destruction and civilian casualties,” the president said, speaking at the youth forum of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Istanbul.

Türkiye did not change its stance but continued to support the oppressed despite the Zionist lobbies’ attacks against the Turkish government and myself, he added.

“Israel, which complains about damage to its hospitals today, has so far carried out over 700 attacks on health care facilities in Gaza alone,” Erdoğan said, reminding that Gaza has been enduring “one of the most shameful acts of modern-day barbarism for 21 months.”

Erdoğan said: “The Islamic world is going through a difficult period, with war, conflict, instability casting a shadow over its entire geography.”

The Turkish president said the Netanyahu government is primarily responsible for the Gaza genocide, while those who stay silent in the face of these massacres are accomplices to his crimes.

“Those turning Gaza into the world’s largest concentration camp, speaking of war crimes, is not only inconsistent but shows shamelessness and impudence,” Erdoğan continued. “People standing in food distribution lines in Gaza for a piece of bread, a bowl of soup, are being brutally targeted.” He said that powers having influence over Israel “should not fall into Netanyahu’s game,” and should use their influence to establish a cease-fire and calm in the region.

Hostilities broke out last Friday when Israel launched airstrikes on several sites across Iran, including military and nuclear facilities, prompting Tehran to launch retaliatory strikes.

Israeli authorities said at least 25 people have been killed and hundreds injured since then in Iranian missile attacks.

Meanwhile, in Iran, 639 people have been killed and more than 1,300 wounded in the Israeli assault, according to Iranian media reports.

NATO member Türkiye has been a traditional ally to Palestine, but the more brutal Israeli attacks became, the harsher Ankara has made its criticism. It has condemned what it calls genocide, halted all trade with Israel and applied to join a genocide case against Israel at the World Court, which Israel rejects.

In addition to delivering humanitarian aid, the Turkish government has sought to rally international organizations, including the United Nations, NATO and the OIC, to both restrain Israel and encourage cooperation between Palestinian factions, most notably between Hamas and the Fatah movement.

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