Politics
Trump hails Erdoğan as ‘great leader,’ highlights strong personal ties
U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday described President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as a “great leader” and a close friend, underscoring the strong relationship between the two leaders while dismissing concerns about potential tensions between Türkiye and Israel.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump was asked about the possibility of a confrontation between Türkiye and Israel amid growing regional tensions. The question came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a series of anti-Erdoğan remarks on social media, followed by Erdoğan’s warning against Israeli expansionism and violations.
The U.S. president said he had not heard of any such scenario and suggested he would personally intervene if necessary.
“He’s a very good friend of mine, and we’ve worked very well together,” Trump said of Erdoğan. “I like him. He’s a great leader and a very strong person.”
Trump expressed confidence that relations between Türkiye and Israel would not escalate into direct conflict, pointing to the mutual respect he said exists between himself and Erdoğan.
“If I heard something like that, I would call him and make sure everything was fine,” Trump said. “I don’t think something like that will happen with Türkiye. He respects me, and I respect him. Beyond that, we have a good friendship.”
The remarks highlighted the longstanding rapport between the two leaders, who have maintained regular communication on a range of regional issues despite periodic disagreements between Washington and Ankara.
Türkiye is a fierce critic of Israel and one of the few countries in its region to openly defy the Netanyahu administration’s genocidal campaign of expansionism that spread from the Palestinian territories to Lebanon and beyond.
For Ankara, Israel is the biggest obstacle to peace in the wider region. The country has exerted efforts for a diplomatic solution to the Palestine-Israel conflict and cut off all ties with Israel since the genocide in Gaza began three years ago. Erdoğan is at the forefront of the criticism and has repeatedly urged the international community to stop Israel before it embarks on another campaign of terror in Lebanon.
Former Minister of Food, Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Mehmet Mehdi Eker has been nominated by Ankara to be the next chair of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
He is the first candidate for the organization’s top seat from Türkiye and hopes to win to leave a mark on Türkiye’s efforts to boost its international recognition and efficiency.
Eker has been campaigning since the 181st session of the FAO Council began in Rome on June 8 and held talks with representatives of about 40 countries, explaining his goals if he wins the election in 2027.
He told Anadolu Agency (AA) on Wednesday that with his nomination for the director-general position of the FAO, one of the leading organizations of the United Nations, Türkiye has embarked on a new path in transferring its experiences both in foreign policy and in agriculture and food security.
Pointing out that his candidacy is a new journey for Türkiye, Eker said: “Türkiye has set out on a path. Under the leadership of our president, Türkiye has carried its visibility and effectiveness to a better point in the international arena and international organizations. Alongside Türkiye’s foreign policy moves made so far, this is also an important step.” Stating that the FAO is very important and is a technical assistance and consultancy organization among U.N. agencies, Eker reiterated that 193 countries are members of the FAO.
Noting that the FAO prepares the world food code and establishes the international plant protection code, Eker said: “It has the world’s largest statistical data network related to agriculture, food, livestock and fisheries. The FAO also collects, analyzes, turns into reports and presents those statistics to all member countries. This is a major source of data for trade, protection from diseases, and increasing production.”
Expressing that alongside these core activities, the FAO also has a fundamental function such as fighting global hunger, the veteran official said: “This is especially very important. Food security is essentially a global security issue. If your neighbor is hungry, you are not safe.”
Drawing attention to the fact that the world population is 8.3 billion and enough food to suffice 11 billion people is produced today, Eker said: “More food is being produced. However, 730 million people are hungry. With the recent crises, another 40 million-45 million are expected to be added to this. This means it will reach 800 million; 1.4 billion people suffer from obesity, and 2.3 billion people suffer from malnutrition and unbalanced nutrition. In other words, there is something on their plate, but what they eat does not contain the micronutrient elements necessary for their needs for a healthy body, mind and life. Now, this is the situation in the world. It is very unbalanced. Furthermore, one-third of the total food produced is either lost or wasted.”
Türkiye’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Deputy Chairperson Kürşad Zorlu said Tuesday that the Turkish people remain closely connected to their compatriots in North Macedonia, emphasizing Ankara’s commitment to strengthening bilateral ties and supporting Turkish communities in the Balkans.
Speaking during a visit to the village of Dolno Količani near Skopje, Zorlu conveyed greetings from President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and highlighted the deep historical and cultural bonds between Türkiye and North Macedonia.
“Under the leadership of our president, the hearts of 86 million citizens are always here with you. Never forget that,” Zorlu told members of the local Turkish community.
The senior AK Party official expressed confidence that relations between Türkiye and North Macedonia would continue to deepen in the coming years through expanded cooperation and stronger people-to-people ties.
Earlier in the day, Zorlu began his visit with a meeting at the Turkish Embassy in Skopje, where he was received by Ambassador Fatih Ulusoy. He also held talks with rectors of universities in North Macedonia and met with Zülfikar Zeynula, leader of the Turkish Democratic Party (TDP).
Zorlu said Türkiye closely follows developments in North Macedonia and shares the excitement of its people whenever news emerges from the country.
“If you feel excited when you hear a Turkish word or watch a television channel from Türkiye, believe me, we feel the same when we hear news from Macedonia, from the descendants of the Ottoman legacy in the Balkans,” he said.
Accompanying Zorlu during the visit were Ahmet Kılıç, head of the Türkiye-North Macedonia Parliamentary Friendship Group and AK Party lawmaker from Bursa, along with AK Party Central Decision and Executive Board members Ahmet Bilal Kıymaz and Mehmet Ali Kurt, and Deputy Head of Relations with Turkic States Temel Akyürek.
Justice Minister Akın Gürlek on Tuesday reaffirmed Türkiye’s commitment to combating violence against women, saying that legal measures alone are not sufficient and that effective coordination among institutions and greater public awareness are essential to addressing the issue.
Speaking at the 19th Meeting of the Coordination Board for Combating Violence Against Women in Ankara, Gürlek said the government maintains a zero-tolerance policy toward violence against women and continues to strengthen legal and institutional mechanisms to protect victims.
“We can never accept even a single woman being subjected to violence,” Gürlek said during the meeting, which was also attended by Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi, Family and Social Services Minister Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş and Religious Affairs President Safi Arpaguş.
The justice minister highlighted a series of reforms introduced in recent years, including constitutional amendments guaranteeing women’s rights and legal changes that increased penalties for crimes committed against women.
Gürlek noted that intentional injury against women is now considered grounds for detention, while persistent stalking has been established as a separate criminal offense. He also said provisions allowing sentence reductions for so-called “good conduct” in crimes against women had been removed.
To improve access to justice, victims of offenses such as stalking, intentional injury and torture can request free legal representation through local bar associations, Gürlek said. He added that courts designated to implement protective measures under Law No. 6284 on the Protection of the Family and Prevention of Violence Against Women have been established in courthouses across the country.
According to Gürlek, specialized prosecution offices handling domestic violence and violence against women cases now operate in 303 courthouses across all 81 provinces.
He also highlighted the expansion of judicial interview rooms designed to prevent victims from being retraumatized during legal proceedings. Türkiye currently has 176 such rooms in 167 courthouses, where more than 173,000 statements have been recorded since their establishment.
Gürlek said judicial support and victim services directorates have provided psychosocial assistance to more than 2.5 million people to date.
“Success in combating violence against women can only be achieved through strong institutional cooperation, effective implementation, swift intervention and public awareness,” Gürlek said, pledging continued coordination among government agencies to strengthen protections for women and improve access to justice.
The first edition of National Security Conferences, organized by the National Security Council chaired by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, was held in Ankara on Tuesday.
Addressing the event at the Presidential Complex, Erdoğan outlined the progress Türkiye made in security and other fields despite multiple challenges and how they envisioned the future for the country as an influential power.
The conferences are organized upon the instructions of Erdoğan, and the Office of the Secretary-General of the National Security Council said they aim to deepen knowledge on national security matters and enhance viewpoints on those matters for harmony on the knowledge for administrators or relevant institutions.
In his speech, Erdoğan hailed the transformation of the National Security Council, which was once tasked with other issues such as “inspection of work of cinema and music.”
“This is one of the silent revolutions in the state administration now oriented on national will and civilian politics,” Erdoğan said.
“This is valuable both for Turkish democracy and national security,” Erdoğan said.
The council was once dominated by military brass, which employed it to deliver ultimatums to the governments in the dark times of military tutelage in the country, preceding the governments of Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AK Party).
Erdoğan stated that Türkiye has acquired power and is set to gain more thanks to the advantages of the executive presidency system inaugurated in 2018. The system streamlined Türkiye’s governance and sped up decision-making mechanisms, especially in matters of urgency like national security.
He noted Türkiye’s location beset with challenges and how its ancestors established states spanning from Europe to Central Asia.
“We have faced countless challenges (throughout history), but we always rose from the ashes like a phoenix after every fall. Today, we have nothing to rely on to maintain our state’s security other than our own power,” he said, adding that this was the understanding that led to the creation of the Republic of Türkiye and guided more than 40 years of counterterrorism efforts against the terrorist group PKK.
“We paid a heavy price, but we gained much more. Especially through our strategy to eradicate the terrorism in its source we adapted after the betrayal called July 15, we made great achievements both in the country and abroad,” he said, referring to the 2016 coup attempt by military infiltrators of Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ),” he said.
Erdoğan underlined that Turkish cross-border operations in Iraq and Syria “shattered the glass ceiling” (of acting upon instructions of other countries or relying on them for weaponry) and “launched a new era in our security paradigm.”
“Türkiye is no longer a country delivered a role in scenarios of others. It is now a country writing its own stories, a playmaker in its region,” Erdoğan emphasized. “They don’t let us live in these lands if they catch us off guard. We have no option but to stay strong (to survive),” he added.
He referred to the terror-free Türkiye initiative to end the PKK’s campaign of terrorism and said it was part of the strategic vision of the state in the new century and was beyond a mere security policy. “When the process is fully accomplished, it will strengthen our home front and open new doors for our nation,” Erdoğan stated.
“In our age’s understanding of security, attacks on energy lines as well as cyberthreats that render the banking system inoperable directly fall within the scope of national security. On battlefields, software plays as decisive a role as tanks and missiles. We attach great importance to data security. When used correctly, artificial intelligence accelerates the decision-making process. Artificial intelligence also harbors serious risks. Handling artificial intelligence as a security issue with ethical, legal and social dimensions is a necessity rather than a choice,” Erdoğan also said.
Türkiye has been one of the countries that best reads battlefields, first notices the changing security paradigm and prepares itself for this early on. We have strived to continuously improve ourselves. By strengthening our defense industry, we have minimized our foreign dependency. We see the value of our capacity very clearly when we look at the crises surrounding us. We will build the big and powerful Türkiye, which finds its meaning in the phrase “The Century of Türkiye,” step by step. Our source of inspiration is our nation,” he added.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will pay an official visit to neighboring Bulgaria on June 11 for talks expected to focus on expanding cooperation in strategic sectors, regional security and Türkiye’s relations with the European Union, Foreign Ministry sources said.
The visit comes as Ankara and Sofia continue to strengthen ties based on good neighborly relations and their shared status as NATO allies. Fidan last visited Bulgaria in January 2024.
According to the sources, Fidan is expected to discuss ways to deepen bilateral cooperation in energy, transportation, connectivity and the defense industry, while exploring new opportunities for collaboration between the two countries during his meetings.
The Turkish minister is also expected to underline the importance of close coordination between Türkiye and Bulgaria in promoting stability and prosperity across the Balkans through a regional ownership approach.
Bulgaria plays a key role in Türkiye’s land transportation links with Europe, serving as a major transit route for trade and passenger traffic. Turkish officials are expected to raise expectations for the smooth movement of goods and travelers across the border, an issue of growing importance as bilateral trade continues to expand.
According to official figures, the trade volume between the two countries exceeded 8.4 billion euros ($9.70 billion) in 2025, making Türkiye one of Bulgaria’s largest trading partners.
Fidan is also expected to reiterate Türkiye’s priorities regarding relations with the European Union, including its long-standing goal of full EU membership, and emphasize the importance Ankara places on Bulgaria’s support within that framework.
Regional and international security issues are likely to feature prominently in the discussions. The Turkish minister is expected to stress that Russia’s war in Ukraine continues to have significant consequences for European security and stability in the Black Sea region, while reaffirming Türkiye’s support for diplomatic efforts aimed at achieving a just and lasting peace.
Fidan is also expected to highlight the role of the Black Sea Mine Countermeasures Task Group, established by Türkiye, Bulgaria and Romania, in enhancing maritime safety and freedom of navigation in the region.
The talks are also expected to address developments in the Middle East, including the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, tensions involving Iran, and efforts to maintain dialogue between Tehran and Washington.
More than 1 million people of Turkish descent live in Bulgaria, making it the Balkan country with the largest Turkish minority population. The two countries also cooperate closely in regional organizations, including the Southeast European Cooperation Process and the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization.
The Turkish minister was scheduled to represent President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the Southeast European Cooperation Process (SEECP) Summit in Sofia on Wednesday, where regional leaders are expected to discuss cooperation, security and economic development across the Balkans.
The summit, hosted by Bulgaria under the theme “Strengthening Regional Unity for a Stable, Secure and Sustainable Future: Reflections on 30 Years of Partnership and Progress,” brings together heads of state and government, foreign ministers from 13 participating countries and the secretary-general of the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC), the operational arm of the SEECP.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Tuesday notified a new round of diplomatic appointments, assigning ambassadors and senior diplomats to key overseas missions, including Türkiye’s embassies in Iran, Ukraine and Iceland, diplomatic sources said.
According to the sources, Ambassador Ahmet Aydın Doğan, currently head of foreign relations and protocol at the Turkish Parliament, was appointed ambassador to Iran, while Türkiye’s ambassador to Ukraine, Mustafa Levent Bilgen, was assigned as the country’s first ambassador to Iceland, where Ankara is establishing an embassy in Reykjavik.
Among other appointments, Ambassador Alper Aktaş was named ambassador to North Macedonia, while Ambassador Fatih Yıldız was appointed ambassador to South Korea. Ambassador Burak Akçapar, Türkiye’s permanent representative to the United Nations Office in Geneva, was assigned as ambassador to the Netherlands.
The diplomatic reshuffle also included appointments to several Middle Eastern, African and European capitals. Hakan Karaçay was named ambassador to Jordan, Hüseyin Ergani to Oman and Can Oğuz to Kuwait.
Ayşe Sözen Usluer, currently the Foreign Ministry’s representative in Istanbul, was appointed permanent representative to the U.N. Office in Geneva. Raziye Bilge Koçyiğit was assigned as Türkiye’s permanent representative to the Council of Europe.
Additional appointments included Fatma Ceren Yazgan as ambassador to Ukraine, Senem Güzel to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nazmiye Başaran to Moldova and Necati Sancaktutan to Bahrain.
In Africa, Ferhat Alkan was appointed ambassador to Somalia, Ayça Oşafoğlu Inam to Mozambique, Selin Özaydın to Kenya, Fahri Türker Oba to Sudan and Özgür Gökmen to Gambia.
Further appointments included Havva Yonca Gündüz Özçeri as ambassador to Estonia, Kaan Esener to the Philippines and Fikriye Aslı Güven to Namibia.
The appointments are part of Türkiye’s regular diplomatic rotation process and come as Ankara continues efforts to expand its diplomatic presence and engagement across Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
Congratulatory message from Minister Gürlek to the 3 names after the appointments: “I believe that they will make significant contributions to our high judiciary.”
Killer Netanyahu targeted President Erdoğan! He could not digest the words “We will not allow the Promised Earth”
Trump hails Erdoğan as ‘great leader,’ highlights strong personal ties
Congratulatory message from Minister Gürlek to the 3 names after the appointments: “I believe that they will make significant contributions to our high judiciary.”
Killer Netanyahu targeted President Erdoğan! He could not digest the words “We will not allow the Promised Earth”
Trump hails Erdoğan as ‘great leader,’ highlights strong personal ties
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