Category: Politics

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday relieved Russian ambassadors to Estonia, Latvia of duties. Russian envoy Vladimir Lipayev left Estonia in early February after Russia lowered the level of diplomatic relations in response to the expulsion of its diplomats. Meanwhile, Latvia, in solidarity with Estonia, decided to lower the level of diplomatic relations with Russia, and as a result Russian ambassador Mikhail Vanin also returned to Moscow. In a separate statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry said it declared persona non grata one Estonian diplomat in response to the recent expulsion of an employee of the Russian embassy in Tallin. The ministry summoned Estonian charge d'affaires Jana Vanamolder and told her that based on the principle of reciprocity, an Estonian diplomat of the same rank has to leave. The ministry said it will "be forced to take other retaliatory measures against the persistent provocative activities of the Estonian authorities against Russia," adding that "responsibility for the collapse of bilateral relations is on those who make decisions in Tallinn."

Source: Anadulo Agency

The Algerian ambassador to France resumed duties after several weeks of consultations with his government over a wanted activist. The Algerian Embassy in Paris said in a statement on Thursday that Said Moussi returned to his post in Paris and met with French Ministry of Foreign Affairs Secretary-General Anne-Marie Descotes. 'The meeting was an opportunity to take stock of the next bilateral deadlines within the framework of the political agenda agreed between the high authorities of the two countries,' the statement added. The Algerian government recalled its ambassador to France in early February after Amira Bouraoui, a journalist and activist, wanted by Algerian authorities boarded a flight to France from Tunisia.

Source: Anadulo Agency

Türkiye has become the final NATO nation to ratify Finland's membership of the defence alliance in the wake of Russia's offensive in Ukraine.

Lawmakers on Thursday unanimously backed the Nordic country's accession.

The Turkish Parliament was the last among the 30 members of the alliance to ratify Finland's membership after Hungary's legislature approved a similar bill earlier this week.

Finnish President Sauli Niinisto thanked NATO's member states for "their trust and support."

"Finland will be a strong and capable ally, committed to the security of the alliance," he said in a statement released on Twitter.

Türkiye's ratification leaves Finland — which has a 1,300-kilometre border with Russia — only a few technical steps from becoming the 31st member of the world's most powerful military bloc.

Finland and its neighbour Sweden ended decades of military non-alignment and decided to join NATO last May amid Russia's offensive in Ukraine.

Their applications were accepted at a June alliance summit but the bids still needed to be ratified by all the members' parliaments — a process that stalled after political and security objections raised by Türkiye and Hungary.

'Finland was more prepared'

Türkiye, a NATO member for over 70 years, asked the two Nordic countries to take concrete action against terrorist groups like the PKK and the Fetullah Terrorist Organisation [FETO] in order for it to join the alliance.

Last June, Finland and Sweden signed a memorandum with Türkiye to address Ankara's security concerns, and senior diplomats and officials from the three countries have held various meetings since then to discuss the implementation of the trilateral agreement.

Meanwhile, Sweden passed an anti-terror law last November, hoping that Ankara would approve Stockholm's bid to join the NATO alliance.

The new law, which will go into force on June 1, will allow Swedish authorities to prosecute individuals who support terrorist organisations.

Türkiye says Finland has done what was necessary to gain membership, while Sweden still has work to do.

Finland has shown its will and determination in the fight against terrorism both in regulation and in practice, said Deputy Foreign Minister Burak Akcapar, who briefed the parliamentarians on the proposal of the bill.

"From the beginning of this process, Finland was more prepared and determined to meet the sensitivity and expectations of our country," he added.

Source: TRTworld.com

Türkiye has urged the international community to adopt a stance of global solidarity to address the challenges presented by global migration.

"It is time to renew our commitments to the Global Compact, and make human mobility an engine for reaching our sustainable development goals," Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told a UN meeting on Thursday in New York focused on international migration.

The Global Compact for Migration, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2016, is the first intergovernmental negotiated agreement to address "all aspects" of international migration, according to the UN.

In the nearly seven years since it was brokered, however, there has been an upsurge in global crises that have accelerated the international movement of people seeking a better life worldwide.

Cavusoglu pointed to what he called a "triple food crisis," including the blows to global food security caused by the war in Ukraine, which he said Ankara addressed via negotiating a key international accord that saw grain exports resume from Ukraine's Black Sea ports.

"The war in Ukraine brought global supply to a critical level, and we stepped in," he said, pointing to the Black Sea Grain Initiative. "We will continue our efforts to secure its effective implementation."

The Turkish foreign minister also pointed to a "crisis of food for the global economy," saying that "high-interest rates and inflation deprive nations of accessing to investments funds and credits."

'One humanity, one world' approach

"Environmental problems such as waste threaten our existence," he said.

"As one of the top three donors in development assistance in relation to GDP, we are doing our best to enable economies deliver to their citizens."

“We are doing our part on the environment too. Today's high-level UN event to mark March 30 as Zero Waste Day, an initiative championed by the first lady, her excellency, Emine Erdogan, will be a landmark."

Cavusoglu said a third "crisis of food for thought" is marked by rapid developments in technology, but "uneven" access worldwide.

"Global youth is desperate without proper educational opportunities or future prospects. And this is one of our priorities. Half of all Syrian refugee youth enrollment in higher education takes place in Türkiye," he said.

"We can overcome those complex problems if we adopt a 'one humanity, one world' approach to the challenges we are facing today," he added.

Source: TRTworld.com

French daredevil Philippe Petit showed off his gravity-defying skills at the National Building Museum in Washington. At 73, Petit still walks the wire without a safety net or harness. Maxim Moskalkov talked with the famous wire walker. Video: Artyom Kokhan, Aleksadr Bergan

Source: Voice of America

Russia hopes that friction between Iran and Azerbaijan is temporary and will be settled soon, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday. Russia is ready to provide all necessary assistance for the reconciliation between the two countries, Lavrov said at a news conference in Moscow, following a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian. "We hope that the current friction in relations between Baku and Tehran is temporary and will be overcome as soon as possible," he said. Asked about the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal, Lavrov said: "We follow the contacts that take place between Iranian colleagues and Europeans, between Iranian colleagues and Americans. We proceed from the fact that this contact will bring about the result that everybody is talking about - the resumption of full-fledged implementation of the agreements on Iran's nuclear program." Lavrov added that the "world is still waiting for the US to fulfill its obligations under the nuclear deal," including lifting of "all illegal sanctions against Iran." The Iran nuclear deal was signed in 2015 between Iran and the permanent members of the UN Security Council -- the US, UK, Russia, France, and China -- plus Germany and the EU. Under the deal, Iran pledged to limit nuclear research that may be used in arms production, while the Western countries obliged to lift sanctions in return. Former US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew Washington from the landmark agreement in 2018 and re-imposed sanctions on Iran, prompting Tehran to retaliate by taking steps away from its nuclear-related commitments. Lavrov said he also discussed the situation in Ukraine with his Iranian counterpart and welcomed Tehran's "balanced position." 'Once again, we have pointed to the subversive line taken by NATO countries, which have been involved in the conflict for a long time and are being drawn deeper and deeper into it - though I don't think it is hardly possible to get more involved. They are practically fighting on the side of the Kyiv regime,' he added. Commenting on remarks by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken who said proposals for an immediate cease-fire in Ukraine could be a 'cynical trap,' Lavrov said the West sees its own geopolitical interests in the war and therefore 'does not want to stop it.' 'In this war, it (the West) is pursuing its own geopolitical interests, primarily in terms of attempts to eliminate Russia as a competitor on the world scene,' the Russian minister said. On Tuesday, Blinken said: 'I think we should all be aware and watch out for what looks like well-intentioned efforts, like calls for a ceasefire, but in reality, can freeze the conflict, allowing Russia to consolidate its gains, just buy time to rest, resupply, and attack again.'

Source: Anadolu Agency

The Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant in Mersin province, which Turkish President Erdogan said is "the largest project in the history of Turkish-Russian cooperation", will receive nuclear facility status next month.

Türkiye will officially grant Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant nuclear facility status on April 27, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Wednesday.

Erdogan made the announcement on Wednesday at his Justice and Development (AK) Party's group meeting in Ankara.

He also pledged to complete the permanent houses in last month's earthquake-hit regions and affirmed to carry out efforts that will ensure that the lives of quake victims return to normal.

In addition, he pledged to announce "good news" on April 20, during "the ceremony of transporting Black Sea Gas to Filyos."

"Next month (April), we will share with our nation the joy of our many remarkable defense industry projects, from Hurjet to Anadolu ship," he added.

Hurjet is a domestically produced jet trainer and light attack aircraft, designed to play a critical role by using its superior performance features with its single-engine, tandem, and cockpit with a modern avionics suite.

Meanwhile, the TCG Anadolu, which will be Türkiye's largest warship, is also preparing to join the inventory.

Saying that he will host the executives of Türkiye's first indigenous electric vehicle brand Togg, Erdogan said: "We stated that we want the first TOGG to be produced at the inauguration ceremony of the factory. I hope we will receive our vehicle on Monday."

Erdogan said Togg received over 177,000 pre-orders.

Pre-orders for the TOGG T10X will be taken online on March 16-27 and deliveries will start in late March.

The price of the standard range model T10X will range between about $50,200 and $55,600, while the long-range model is priced at about $64,000.

Source: TRTworld.com

The presence of Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus does not increase the risk of nuclear conflict in Ukraine, according to an assessment by a Polish think tank. 'It will, however, be another confirmation of the incorporation of Belarus into the Russian military space,' said a report from the Center for Eastern Studies (OSW) in Warsaw. 'Moscow's actions are facilitated by the constitutional resignation of Belarus from the status of a nuclear-free state, which allows for the deployment of Russian nuclear weapons on its territory.' President Vladimir Putin this week said Russia plans to finish the construction of a special storage facility for tactical nuclear weapons by July, with staff training to begin on April 3. His remarks came as a response to the UK's announcement that it will give Ukraine tank munitions with depleted uranium. Belarus is among Moscow's closest allies and some fear it will be used as a launching ground for a fresh offensive. Belarus has had no nuclear weapons on its territory since the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. Belarusian propagandists have praised the deployment of Russian nuclear weapons. 'Enemies, are you squealing? Belarus is a nuclear state! A state that, in the event of an attack on its territory, can respond with tactical nuclear weapons,' 28-year-old Ryhor Azaronak said on state television. 'Warsaw will melt and Vilnius will sink. We will watch the dull sunset and how the mushroom cloud will float over the Polish swamp. Don't move, gentlemen, or we'll irradiate you. You forced us, so don't complain - you've been warned,' he said. Ukraine and its allies led by the US have condemned the Russian decision to station nukes in Belarus. However, the US said it has not 'seen any movement of any tactical nuclear weapons or anything of that kind since this announcement (by Putin).' 'We certainly haven't seen any indication that Mr. Putin has made some sort of decision to use weapons of mass destruction, let alone nuclear weapons inside Ukraine,' National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said in a briefing on Monday.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said Wednesday that the long-term cooperation agreement with Russia will be finalized and signed within a month. The top diplomat made his remarks at a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Moscow following their delegation-level talks. Amir-Abdollahian said the document of 'strategic and long-term cooperation' between the two sides has been reviewed in both capitals and is expected to be finalized and signed "within next month". During their first in-person meeting in January 2022, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed to bolster bilateral ties as part of the cooperation agreement between the two countries. The deal, signed in March 2001, was originally designed for 10 years and was subsequently extended for five years twice. The updated version of the agreement proposes increased cooperation and collaboration between Tehran and Moscow in key areas, including trade, security and transportation. Amir-Abdollahian said the high-level delegations from the two sides are exchanging opinions on various issues and the presidents are also in contact with each other. He also expected continued cooperation between Tehran and Moscow in international organizations, most importantly the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) of which Iran is the latest member. The delegation-level talks, Amir-Abdollahian said, also featured the developments in the Caucasus region, stressing that Iran does not consider the tension between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the interest of the region and issues must be resolved through the 3+3 mechanism. The Iranian minister said Tehran and Moscow are trying to bring the views of Trkiye and Syria 'closer to each other' in order to facilitate the restoration of full diplomatic ties between them. The quadrilateral meeting of Iran, Russia, Trkiye and Syria will be held next week at the level of deputy foreign ministers, which may be followed by a ministerial-level meeting, he added. The top Iranian diplomat arrived in Moscow on Tuesday evening accompanying a high-level delegation. Upon arrival, he said bilateral, regional and international issues will be discussed during the visit, including the stalled talks to revive the 2015 nuclear deal. He also said that trade volume between the two countries has increased 3.5 times in the past year and a half with tensions soaring between the West and the two countries.

Source: Anadolu Agency