Day: April 29, 2023

Turkish opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu has told the Financial Times that he would revive EU membership talks if he defeats President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in next month’s election. While Kilicdaroglu’s campaign rhetoric makes heavy use of pro-Western rhetoric, Erdogan’s government has scathingly criticized Brussels.

Kilicdaroglu said on Friday that he would “immediately move towards resurrecting Türkiye’s moribund EU membership talks,” in the newspaper’s words.

The 74-year-old former civil servant, whose People’s Republic Party (CHP) leads the six-party National Alliance, condemned Erdogan for restricting civil liberties and said that if elected, his main priorities would be “the economy and democracy.”

Türkiye applied for EU membership in 1987 and was recognized as a candidate in 1999. Membership negotiations opened in 2005, but progress was slow, and no talks have taken place since 2016. EU officials have since condemned Erdogan over alleged human rights abuses, and the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament warned in a 2017 report that constitutional reforms strengthening his powers could run afoul of EU law and threaten Ankara’s membership bid.

Erdogan dismissed Brussels’ warning. "You can write as many reports as you want,” he said at the time. “We do not recognize your reports. We will not recognize them in the future, either.”

Türkiye places little stock in what the EU says as Europe’s geopolitical influence is waning and its states are little more than American vassals, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu explained earlier this month. “There is no such thing as Europe,” he told members of a youth association in Istanbul. “Europe is a mule in America’s convoy. It has no special features.”

Kilicdaroglu has been more obsequious toward the EU and its demands. “We are going to start with the normalization process in domestic politics,” his adviser, Unal Cevikoz, told Politico last month. “This will simply give the message to all our allies, and all the European countries, that Türkiye is back on track to democracy, and that certainly will create a very serious change in the perception about Türkiye’s position.”

Türkiye is the only member of NATO that has not condemned Russia over its military operation in Ukraine, and Ankara and Moscow have strengthened their trade links since the conflict began. Kilicdaroglu told the Financial Times that he would maintain economic links with Russia, but declared that “we do not find it right for [Russian President] Vladimir Putin to attack and occupy Ukraine.”

To secure a third term in office, Erdogan will need to win over an electorate grappling with stubbornly high inflation and a weakening currency, in addition to the economic fallout caused by last month’s earthquakes near the southern city of Gaziantep. Polls currently put Erdogan and Kiliicdaroglu in a statistical dead heat.

Source: Russia Today

Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has attended the Teknofest festival in Istanbul along with Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev and head of the UN-recognised government of Libya Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh.

Türkiye is the guarantor of peace, stability and safety in our region, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said, speaking on the occasion.

Speaking at Türkiye's major technology event Teknofest on Saturday, Aliyev stressed that Türkiye became a country that has a say in the world during the last 20 years.

He noted that Türkiye and Azerbaijan are always together and friends.

Mentioning the country's struggle with Armenia in the Karabakh region last year, he said Türkiye supported Azerbaijan from the beginning to the end of the war.

Congratulating Selcuk Bayraktar, the head of T3 Foundation, the organiser of Teknofest, and chief technology officer of Turkish aviation firm Baykar, Aliyev said Baykar will soon open a centre in Azerbaijan to produce aircraft.

Aliyev also drove Türkiye's indigenous electric car TOGG's T10X model at the event.

'Rooted cooperation'

Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, head of the Tripoli-based government of Libya, said his visit to Teknofest is a result of the rooted cooperation between Türkiye and Libya.

Mentioning the newly launched Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, he congratulated Türkiye on becoming one of the countries with nuclear power plants.

Dbeibeh also said Türkiye takes a firm stance against all challenges.

He also conveyed his thanks to Türkiye and the Turkish aviation firm Baykar for improving Libya's air defence systems.

Source: TRTworld.com

Türkiye has selected Alper Gezeravci and Tuva Cihangir Atasever as the country's first space travellers to be sent into space in the last quarter of this year, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced.

Speaking at the country's major technology event Teknofest on Saturday, he said Gezeravci, a pilot in the Turkish Air Force, will be sent to the International Space Station, while Atasever, a system engineer in the Turkish missile producer Roketsan in the field of space launch systems, was chosen as the reserve candidate.

Türkiye established the Turkish Space Agency in 2018, and announced the country's space program in 2019, as well as the crewed space mission.

Young people will carry Türkiye to the top league, and they will realize the country's dream of full independence, Erdogan said, adding: "We have struggled a lot to establish a climate in our country where our young people can pursue their dreams without fear."

"We broke the shackles of backwardness in Türkiye, we built the infrastructure of a great and powerful Türkiye," he noted.

World's number one event

He also said Türkiye became a hope for all oppressed people, noting: "We have shown that it is not the destiny of our nation to live by depending on others."

On Teknofest, he said it is the world's number one aviation and space event, and it became a brand in its field.

He stressed that the number of participants in the event has been increasing each year since 2018.

While the first edition of the event received 4,233 applications from competitors in 2018, this year, the figure reached 333 teams and 1 million people, he said.

Mentioning the country's recent defence products, such as uncrewed fighter jet Kizilelma, the fifth generation warcraft TF-X, satellite IMECE, light warcraft and jet trainer Hurjet and Multirole Heavy Combat Helicopter ATAK-2, he said Teknofest is the symbol of all of these developments.

The five-day Teknofest, which started on Thursday, features several cutting-edge technology projects and defence products.

Source: TRTworld.com

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has spoken on the telephone with the UN chief and said the extension of the cross-border aid mechanism to Syria in July will be of "great importance," according to a Turkish Communications Directorate statement.

Erdogan and Antonio Guterres discussed the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and developments in Syria and Sudan on Friday.

He said Türkiye, as a country that can establish a dialogue with both sides, is ready to cooperate with the UN to invite the parties in Sudan again to peace talks and help resolve their differences.

Underlining the importance of the continuation of the Black Sea grain deal, Erdogan said they are ready to participate in the working group to be formed with an inter-institutional delegation in case of an agreement on the ammonia pipeline.

The UN said Guterres and Erdogan exchanged views on how to guarantee the expansion and extension of the grain deal as well as the exports of Russian food products and fertilizers.

They also discussed the situation in Syria and Sudan, it added.

Russia wants obstacles to the exports of its fertiliser to be removed to agree to another extension of the grain deal which was signed in Istanbul last July between Türkiye, the UN, Russia and Ukraine.

The deal will expire on May 18.

Source: TRTworld.com

Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev and head of the Tripoli-based Government of Libya Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh are welcomed to Teknofest by Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Source: TRTworld.com

Türkiye has officially become a nuclear energy country after receiving its first batch of nuclear fuel to its Akkuyu power plant. TRT World’s Diplomatic Correspondent Hasan Abdullah reports.

Source: TRTworld.com