Politics
Iran says no attacks launched against Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Greek Cyprus
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Monday that Iran has not targeted Türkiye or several neighboring countries amid the ongoing conflict with Israel and the United States, as fighting entered its 10th day.
Speaking at a press briefing in Tehran, spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said Iranian forces had not launched attacks against Türkiye, Azerbaijan or the Greek Cypriot administration from Iranian territory.
“Iran’s armed forces have not targeted Türkiye, Azerbaijan or (the island of) Cyprus, and no attacks have been launched against these countries from Iranian soil,” Baghaei said.
The remarks came amid heightened tensions in the region following a series of strikes by Israel and the United States against Iranian targets.
Baghaei said Iranians were prepared to defend their country and insisted that the future of Iran would be determined by “the will of the Iranian people.”
He accused Washington of undermining diplomatic efforts that had been underway before the attacks began.
“While we were engaged in diplomatic talks, they launched a war,” he said.
Addressing the possibility of a cease-fire, Baghaei said discussions about ending the conflict would be meaningless as long as attacks against Iran continued.
“As long as the aggression continues, there is no meaning in talking about anything other than defense and retaliation against our enemies,” he said.
Baghaei also suggested that some reported attacks could be fabricated, warning that “the enemy” might stage false incidents in an attempt to create divisions between Iran and other countries in the region.
Türkiye’s Ministry of National Defense said last week that a ballistic munition launched from Iran and directed toward Turkish airspace was detected after crossing Iraqi and Syrian airspace. The projectile was intercepted and neutralized by NATO air and missile defense units deployed in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Türkiye summoned Iran’s ambassador to Ankara to convey a formal protest and expressed deep concern over the incident. Officials stressed that any steps that could expand ongoing conflicts or further destabilize the region must be avoided.
Following the missile incident, several organizations and states condemned the attack and voiced solidarity with Türkiye, including NATO, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Spain, the UAE, Albania, Belgium, Pakistan and Italy.
Meanwhile, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry reported that drones launched from Iranian territory had targeted the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. Following the incident, Iran’s ambassador to Baku, Mojtaba Demirchilou, was summoned and handed a protest note.
Vera Çelik, a 20-year-old Turkish Swiss candidate, has become the first headscarf-wearing member elected to Zurich’s municipal council, marking a milestone for political representation and religious freedom in Switzerland.
Çelik was elected from Zurich’s 10th District as a representative of the Social Democratic Party (SP), according to official election results on Sunday. She secured 4,772 votes in the municipal council race.
Currently training as a dental assistant, Çelik is the first politician in Zurich to serve on the city council while wearing a headscarf.
Her election has drawn attention both within Switzerland and among the Turkish community, where it has been widely welcomed as a significant moment for political participation and diversity.
Çelik has been active in campaigns addressing social justice issues and discrimination, including advocacy against headscarf restrictions and anti-Muslim sentiment in Switzerland.
She has also been involved in debates within the Social Democratic Party over workplace equality. Her efforts contributed to discussions that resulted in a party congress decision supporting the right of teachers to wear headscarves in schools.
The young politician has frequently appeared in Swiss media in recent years while speaking out against policies and rhetoric targeting Muslim women, particularly those who wear headscarves.
Her election from Zurich, Switzerland’s largest city, was greeted with celebration among many members of the Turkish community in the country, who see it as a step toward greater representation of minorities in local politics.
Turkish Ambassador to Bern Şebnem İncesu called Çelik to congratulate her after the election results were announced and also sent a message to her father, Ömür Çelik, a journalist and the publisher of the Turkish-language Post newspaper in Switzerland.
“There could not have been a better gift on International Women’s Day,” Incesu said, referring to March 8.
Türkiye’s consul general in Zurich, Fazlı Çorman, also congratulated Çelik by phone and wished her success in her new role.
Municipal councils in Switzerland play a key role in local governance, overseeing issues such as urban planning, education, social services and community policy.
Türkiye’s foreign and defense ministers will brief Parliament on Tuesday about U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran, escalating tensions in the Middle East and measures taken by Ankara in response, according to parliamentary sources.
According to the information obtained by Anadolu Agency (AA) reporters, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Defense Minister Yasar Güler are expected to address lawmakers at Parliament under Article 59 of the parliamentary bylaws, which allows ministers to provide information to Parliament on significant national and international developments.
The briefing will take place during Tuesday’s General Assembly session, where the ministers are expected to outline the latest developments in the Middle East, including the risk of the conflict spreading and its potential impact on regional security.
Parliament will decide after the session opens whether the briefing will be held behind closed doors. The meeting is widely expected to take place in a closed session, parliamentary sources said.
If the session is closed, journalists and visitors will not be allowed inside the General Assembly hall, and rooms adjacent to the chamber will be cleared and sealed for the duration of the meeting.
Following the ministers’ briefing, the closed session will end and lawmakers will resume the parliamentary agenda in an open session.
Records and summaries of closed parliamentary sessions can only be made public after 10 years under parliamentary rules.
Israel further expanded its heavy bombardment of Iran overnight Sunday, carrying out waves of strikes on civilian infrastructure, including fuel depots near Tehran, as fighting escalated on day 10 of the U.S.-Israeli campaign.
Lebanon was also drawn into the Middle East war last week, when Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during U.S.-Israeli strikes.
Lebanese authorities said nearly 400 people have been killed over the past week as Israel struck a hotel in central Beirut on Sunday, marking the first attack on the city center since the latest war against Hezbollah began.
Previous briefing sessions
Türkiye’s parliament has previously held several closed sessions on regional security issues. On Oct. 12, 2023, Fidan briefed lawmakers in a closed session on Israel’s military operations in Gaza.
Fidan and Güler also addressed parliament on Jan. 16, 2024, regarding a terrorist attack in the area of Operation Claw-Lock, which was conducted by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) in northern Iraq and the broader security situation in the region.
In another closed session on Oct. 8, 2024, the two ministers briefed lawmakers on developments surrounding Israel’s military actions in Lebanon.
Fidan also spoke before parliament on Aug. 29, 2025, during an extraordinary session convened to discuss Israel’s war in Gaza and the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territories.
Azerbaijan’s close ties with Israel and the recent flareup with Iran have helped perpetuate provocative social media posts in Türkiye.
Türkiye’s Center for Countering Disinformation on Saturday said that Türkiye and Azerbaijan have successfully overcome many challenges together, responding to posts containing criticism, disinformation and provocation targeting Azerbaijan and bilateral relations.
“Closely bound by unshakable historical ties and shared values, Türkiye and Azerbaijan have not only today but also in the past successfully overcome many challenges they faced,” the center, a subsidiary of Turkish Presidency’s Directorate of Communications, said in a statement on the Turkish social media platform NSosyal.
The center also noted that bilateral relations, led at the leadership level by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, continue to be carried out at all levels under the motto “One Nation, Two States.”
It also urged the public to remain cautious against exaggerated rhetoric, disinformation and black propaganda activities that could harm the brotherly ties between the two countries, and to consider official statements made by the authorities of Türkiye and Azerbaijan on critical issues.
At one point, social media posts reached a level calling for severing ties with Baku when Azerbaijan and Iran found themselves at odds after Azerbaijan accused Iran of committing terrorism after a drone strike in Nakhchivan last Thursday. Iran has denied firing any projectiles into Azerbaijan.
Türkiye has not officially taken a side in the ongoing U.S.-Israel-Iran war and urges all sides to stop attacks. Yet, the war has apparently divided Turkish social media sphere, with some calling on Ankara to side with Iran against the imperialist ambitions of the U.S. and Israel. Azerbaijan’s preparation for retaliation against Iran, as evidenced in harsh remarks of President Ilham Aliyev following the Nakhchivan incident, angered this group unconditionally defending Iran. Others in the Turkish social media sphere point to Iran’s past record in the region in what they called a hidden Shiite-Sunni conflict spreading from Syria to Yemen and oppose support to Iran.
Social media was awash with disinformation and propaganda after the war began. Communications Directorate Chair Burhanettin Duran said on Saturday that 41 social media accounts disseminating disinformation and making provocative posts were blocked and 75 posts were removed from digital platforms.
Duran said that the directorate had discovered a massive disinformation campaign and online psychological warfare in light of the latest developments in the region. He also said certain social media accounts deliberately shared unverified content to stir panic and fear in the public, adding that relevant public agencies have been monitoring these actions. “Necessary steps against digital manipulation attempts targeting public order, social peace and national security have been taken,” Duran stated. He noted that the accounts blocked were on digital media platforms, X, Facebook and Instagram.
Spain’s government seems to be effortlessly winning the hearts of Turks amid the U.S.-Israel-Iran war.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s staunch stand against the war despite threats by U.S. President Donald Trump sparked a newfound interest in the Spanish foreign policy among Türkiye’s social media community. Türkiye, like Spain, has refused to take sides in the ongoing war and equally criticized both parties while urging for diplomatic means to resolve their differences.
The European country has already won the admiration of the Turkish public for demonstrating the most passionate opposition to Israel’s massacres in Gaza. Again, the two countries’ policy in opposition to the Netanyahu administration’s genocidal actions in the Palestinian enclave runs largely parallel. But this time, it was the Turkish public who was more vocal in their admiration of Spain over its foreign policy decisions. A Turkish social media user humorously offered free treatment for Spaniards with male pattern baldness in his country, which has become more renowned for hair transplants.
Spain’s rejection of the usage of its territory for U.S. attacks on Iran endeared it so much on social media, another user offered the globally renown skills of Turkish contractors for the “completion of Sagrada Familia,” the largest unfinished Catholic Church in the world.
The Turkish government and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan are already known for their warm ties with the Sanchez government but the opposition has also jumped on the bandwagon. Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Özgür Özel shared a photo of himself with Sanchez during a Socialist International meeting on Twitter, accompanied with the message “un abrazo fraternal” (a fraternal embrace), while the CHP’s media-savvy lawmaker Mustafa Sarıgül shared a video of himself visiting the Spanish Consulate with a bouquet of flowers.
Sanchez eventually responded to the outpouring of love and shared on Saturday a video of Turkish flag being waved at a rally of his party. “Greeting to the Turkish Twitter community” was his message as the flag was being waved in front of a banner reading “No To War.”
Fourteen irregular migrants died after a smuggling boat sank off Türkiye’s southern coast early Monday, authorities said, as the country continues efforts to curb dangerous migrant crossings in the eastern Mediterranean.
Türkiye’s Coast Guard Command said the incident occurred off the coast of Finike district in Antalya province after a high-speed inflatable boat carrying a large number of migrants was detected by an unmanned aerial vehicle at 2:24 a.m.
Two coast guard boats were dispatched to intercept the vessel, which officials said was attempting to evade authorities.
According to the command’s statement, the boat, a high-speed inflatable with a fiber hull, ignored repeated visual and audio warnings from coast guard units and continued fleeing at high speed.
At around 5:09 a.m., the vessel abruptly turned toward a coast guard patrol boat during the pursuit, resulting in a collision that caused several migrants on board to fall into the sea.
Additional search and rescue units, including a coast guard helicopter, a patrol ship and three more boats, were immediately deployed to the area.
Authorities said rescue teams pulled six migrants alive from the water along with one Turkish suspect believed to be involved in migrant smuggling. The bodies of 14 migrants were recovered during search operations.
In a separate development related to the same incident, officials said another group of migrants reached shore after the boat fled the collision scene. Fifteen irregular migrants who disembarked near Beymelek beach in the Demre district were later apprehended by authorities.
Search and rescue operations remained ongoing to determine whether any additional migrants were missing, the coast guard said. Officials were also conducting interviews with survivors as part of the investigation.
The Finike Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has launched a judicial inquiry into the incident, and six suspects believed to be involved in organizing the smuggling attempt have been taken into custody.
Türkiye, which sits on a major migration route toward Europe, has increased maritime patrols and operations targeting human trafficking networks that organize irregular sea crossings.
Authorities frequently warn that smuggling groups place migrants at serious risk by sending them to sea in overcrowded and unsafe boats while attempting to evade law enforcement.
The tragedy also comes amid a rising toll of migrant deaths across the Mediterranean. According to the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration (IOM), at least 606 migrants have been reported dead or missing in the Mediterranean since the start of 2026, marking the deadliest start to a year on the route since the agency began tracking such data in 2014.
IOM says many of the fatalities occur on the central Mediterranean route, where smugglers frequently use unseaworthy boats and attempt crossings in dangerous weather conditions.
CNN International drew the ire of Türkiye for broadcasting a “misleading” map that misrepresents regions inhabited by Kurds, according to the Turkish Presidency’s Directorate of Communications, which called the channel’s editorial framing “seriously concerning.”
In an official statement on Saturday, the directorate said the visual content and editorial framing used in a video broadcast by CNN International, which was also shared on the channel’s official social media accounts, raise serious concerns. The map in question depicted areas inhabited by Kurds in Türkiye and neighboring countries amid reports that the United States sought to drum up ground support by Kurdish groups in its war against Iran.
The directorate criticized it for offering a “misleading” and “reductive” portrayal of the region.
“Citizens of different identities and ethnic backgrounds live together across our country, sharing the same social, political and public life for generations.
“Every individual among our 86 million citizens is an inseparable part of the Republic of Türkiye and constitutes one of the fundamental elements of our society. Approaches that target our unity, togetherness, and brotherhood through simplified and selective geographic depictions distort this reality,” the statement said.
It also stressed that equating Turkish citizens of Kurdish origin with any political or armed actor is unacceptable.
“Such associations can strengthen narratives that misrepresent Türkiye’s social fabric and ignore the diversity and social cohesion within our population. The language and narrative used in the video, combined with the map, produce an artificial geopolitical interpretation that does not correspond to realities on the ground and may create unnecessary tensions.
“When reporting on sensitive regional issues, international media organizations are expected to exercise maximum care regarding accuracy, contextual sensitivity and editorial responsibility,” it stated.
The directorate concluded by calling on CNN International to avoid using misleading maps and visual representations in its broadcasts and digital platforms and to exercise higher editorial diligence in future reporting.
It reiterated Türkiye’s commitment, under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, to embrace diversity as a strength, reinforce unity and brotherhood, and implement policies prioritizing the well-being and prosperity of all citizens.
Minister of Justice Gürlek met with young people: Never darken your excitement and determination
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Turkish-Swiss hijabi woman 1st to be elected to Zurich council
Minister of Justice Gürlek met with young people: Never darken your excitement and determination
After ‘Made in Europe’ inclusion, Türkiye sets its eye on customs union
Turkish-Swiss hijabi woman 1st to be elected to Zurich council
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