Politics
Armenian PM slams burning of Turkish flag in Yerevan as ‘provocation’
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Friday condemned the burning of the Turkish flag during a torchlit march in Armenia’s capital, calling the act a “provocation” that risks escalating tensions.
According to the state news agency Armenpress, Pashinyan criticized the incident that took place during a march organized by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun), describing it as “clearly provocative and inciting.”
In a statement to Armenpress, the prime minister’s spokesperson, Nazeli Baghdasaryan, said Pashinyan views such actions as “irresponsible and unacceptable,” emphasizing that the burning of the flag of an internationally recognized state, particularly that of a neighboring country, cannot be justified.
The incident comes amid fragile relations between Armenia and Türkiye, as both countries have engaged in intermittent efforts to normalize ties in recent years.
The two countries share a complex history. Armenia, for a long time, has accused Türkiye, or rather, the Ottoman Empire, of committing “genocide” against the Armenian population in the country during World War I. Türkiye has repeatedly denied the claims, although it has acknowledged a high number of deaths among Armenians due to isolated incidents and diseases.
The “genocide,” as Armenia calls it, is a thorn in the bid to normalize relations between Türkiye and Armenia. Türkiye rejects Armenian discourse on the 1915 mass deaths of Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire and has repeatedly urged its neighbor to leave the matter to historians and not let it overshadow ties.
Armenia pursues normalization efforts with Azerbaijan and Türkiye, a process accelerated particularly after Azerbaijan’s victory over Karabakh, a territory occupied by Armenia for years.
Relations began to thaw after the 2020 Karabakh war, with both sides appointing special envoys to pursue normalization talks and negotiating the reopening of their land border. So far, limited agreements have allowed third-country citizens and diplomats to cross, but a full reopening remains elusive.
Türkiye late Thursday rejected a European Parliament resolution on Cyprus, calling it “null and void” and accusing the EU of taking a biased approach to the decades-long dispute.
In a statement, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said the resolution contained “baseless and preposterous allegations against the heroic Turkish Armed Forces.”
“The resolution adopted by the European Parliament, which contains baseless and preposterous allegations against the heroic Turkish Armed Forces, is null and void,” the ministry said.
The ministry also expressed full support for a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) in response to the resolution.
Describing the text as “replete with despicable slanders,” the ministry said it represented “the latest example of the biased and distorted approach adopted by the EU and the European Parliament in particular, under the influence of certain circles, with respect to the Cyprus issue.”
The ministry also voiced concern over the EU’s increasingly one-sided stance on Cyprus.
“It is concerning that EU institutions are increasingly approaching the Cyprus issue in a manner that departs from historical realities and impartiality,” the statement said.
The island has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the U.N. to achieve a comprehensive settlement.
Ethnic attacks starting in the early 1960s forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety. In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at Greece’s annexation led to Türkiye’s military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence.
As a result, the TRNC was founded in 1983. The country is fully recognized only by Türkiye, which does not recognize the Greek Cypriot administration in the south.
The island has seen an on-and-off peace process, but negotiations have been stalled since 2017.
Türkiye’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) is expected to discuss further organizational changes at a key executive board meeting on Friday, amid continuing tensions following a court ruling that reinstated former Chairperson Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.
According to Turkish media reports citing party sources, nearly 10 provincial party chairs could be dismissed during the meeting as the leadership moves to consolidate control over the organization.
The reports also claimed that CHP parliamentary group chair Özgür Özel could be removed from his post.
The leadership has repeatedly stressed that it will not tolerate what it describes as a dual power structure or disciplinary violations within the party following the court’s “absolute nullity” ruling, which returned Kılıçdaroğlu to the party leadership.
Since the ruling, the CHP has dismissed 36 provincial chairs, while 11 others have reportedly been referred to the party’s disciplinary board over statements and actions directed at the new leadership.
Media reports said provincial organizations in Trabzon, Afyonkarahisar and Rize are among those expected to face leadership changes at the latest meeting.
The reports also said appointments could soon be made to fill a number of provincial chairmanships that have remained vacant following previous dismissals.
Party officials are also expected to begin restructuring district organizations after changes at the provincial level are completed. According to the reports, newly appointed provincial chairs will oversee appointments at the district level, while local officials accused of undermining the party leadership could face disciplinary proceedings.
The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) on Friday strongly condemned a resolution adopted by the European Parliament criticizing Türkiye’s 1974 Peace Operation in Cyprus, accusing the assembly of distorting historical facts and acting in line with Greek Cypriot narratives.
In a written statement, the TRNC Foreign Ministry rejected the resolution, saying it misrepresented Türkiye’s 1974 military operation while unfairly targeting both Türkiye and the Turkish Cypriot people.
The ministry argued that Türkiye launched the operation on July 20, 1974, under its rights and obligations as a guarantor power stemming from the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee, following a coup carried out on July 15, 1974, by supporters of union with Greece. It said the operation not only ensured the safety of Turkish Cypriots but also prevented mass killings on the island.
The statement criticized the European Parliament for ignoring atrocities committed against Turkish Cypriots while making “baseless accusations” against the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK).
According to the ministry, the resolution would serve only to reinforce what it called Greek Cypriot propaganda aimed at misleading the international community.
The ministry also noted that female lawmakers from the TRNC Parliament had sent letters to the relevant European Parliament committee before the vote, disputing claims contained in the draft resolution and seeking to present what they described as the realities on the island. Despite those efforts, the resolution was adopted, which the ministry said demonstrated that European Union institutions had lost their impartiality on the Cyprus issue and were acting as advocates for the Greek Cypriot side.
The ministry said decisions that disregard the will of the Turkish Cypriot people, ignore their inherent rights and deliberately distort realities on the island are “null and void” from the TRNC’s perspective and carry no legitimacy.
It also called on the European Parliament to abandon one-sided approaches, refrain from using the Cyprus issue as a political tool, and respect both the current realities and historical facts on the island.
Türkiye’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) remained the country’s most popular political party in a June opinion poll conducted by research company GENAR, maintaining a nearly 8 percentage-point lead over the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).
According to a report by Sabah newspaper, the survey, conducted with 2,200 respondents across all 81 provinces, asked voters which party they would support if a parliamentary election were held this Sunday.
According to the poll, the AK Party received 36.2% support, while the CHP stood at 28.3%.
The Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) ranked third with 9.2%, followed by the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) at 8.1%, and the Good Party (IP) at 7.1%.
The New Welfare Party (YRP) received 3.8%, while the Key Party (AP) and Victory Party (ZP) recorded 2.5% and 2.1%, respectively. The Workers’ Party of Türkiye (TIP) received 1.3%, with other parties collectively accounting for 1.4%.
GENAR said the results suggest that the current balance among Türkiye’s major political parties has remained largely unchanged despite recent political developments.
“The June survey shows the AK Party leading with 36.2%, while the CHP remains at 28.3%,” the polling company said in its assessment.
According to GENAR, the findings indicate that the country’s political landscape has not experienced a major realignment and that the hierarchy among the leading parties remains broadly intact.
The company also said the main opposition CHP’s recent internal political turmoil has not yet been fully reflected in voter preferences.
Türkiye’s main opposition has been plunged into a deepening leadership crisis after a court annulled the party’s 2023 congress, setting off a power struggle between reinstated former Chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu and ex-Chair Özgür Özel amid clashes at party headquarters and growing uncertainty over who will ultimately lead the opposition.
Attention is now shifting to how and how quickly the CHP can resolve the dispute, with rival camps sharply divided over the timing and format of an eventual congress that could decide the leadership question.
A pistol with the name of the recipient engraved on its barrel and a leather-bound book were among the gifts handed to each head of state and government who attended the NATO summit in Ankara this week, media outlets reported.
A photo shared by the office of Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda confirmed the reports. It shows Gümüşay (Silver Moon), Türkiye’s first locally made revolver, included in an elegant wooden box, next to a paper box containing apparently live bullets.
A German government spokesperson told Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) on Wednesday that Merz’s revolver had been handed over to the German Embassy so that it could be properly imported and then inventoried in the collection of official gifts. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer earlier told reporters about the gifts on his flight home from the summit, according to reports by The Guardian and the Press Association news agency. Starmer said Erdoğan had given all leaders at the summit a similar present, with each weapon engraved with the recipient’s name. Despite a note from Erdoğan waiving export controls, Starmer left his revolver in Türkiye to be decommissioned, as importing it would have breached the U.K.’s strict gun laws, the reports said.
Media outlets reported that Erdoğan also gifted a book entitled “The Politics of Courage: Erdoğan and the Rise of Türkiye,” published by a foundation bearing his name, to leaders. The book recounts Türkiye’s contemporary political history, landmark decisions, challenges, reforms and long-term ambitions through the lens of President Erdoğan’s political life, according to a statement by the Presidency’s Directorate of Communications.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan held a series of bilateral meetings with Balkan leaders on Thursday on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, focusing on defense cooperation, regional stability, trade and Europe’s security architecture.
Erdoğan met Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, Slovak President Peter Pellegrini and Montenegrin Prime Minister Milojko Spajic during the second day of the 36th NATO Heads of State and Government Summit, hosted by Türkiye.
According to the Directorate of Communications, Erdoğan and Rama discussed bilateral ties and regional issues as NATO leaders gathered in the Turkish capital for alliance talks. The meeting at the Presidential Complex was attended by Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, National Defense Minister Yaşar Güler, National Intelligence Organization (MIT) Director Ibrahim Kalın, AK Party spokesperson Ömer Çelik, Communications Director Burhanettin Duran and senior presidential adviser Akif Çağatay Kılıç.
The Ankara gathering marks the second NATO summit hosted by Türkiye after the alliance’s 2004 summit in Istanbul. The meeting has also served as a platform for bilateral talks between allied and partner countries on political, security and economic cooperation.
During his meeting with Slovak President Peter Pellegrini, Erdoğan said strengthening NATO’s European pillar remains important and stressed that European Union defense initiatives should complement the alliance, according to the directorate.
The two leaders also discussed expanding cooperation in trade, investment, energy and transportation. Erdoğan reaffirmed Türkiye’s efforts to support diplomatic solutions to the wars in Ukraine and Iran, while emphasizing Ankara’s continued push to help end the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and promote regional stability.
In talks with Spajic, Erdoğan said Türkiye was committed to further deepening bilateral cooperation, particularly in trade, investment, tourism, the defense industry and security.
Erdoğan also welcomed the role of the Balkan Peace Platform, launched under Türkiye’s initiative, describing it as an important mechanism for addressing issues including border security, energy and transportation across the region. He said he expected the platform to contribute to lasting peace, stability and prosperity in the Balkans.
Türkiye, which joined NATO in 1952, used the Ankara summit to reinforce its role within the alliance while advancing bilateral ties with regional partners through a series of high-level diplomatic engagements.
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