U.N. General Assembly in New York

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni paid her first visit to Türkiye on Jan. 20, engaging in discussions with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at Istanbul's Vahdettin Mansion.

The closed-door meeting marks the third in-person meeting between Meloni and Erdoğan, following their encounters at the NATO summit in Vilnius last July and the U.N. General Assembly in New York in September.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, whose empathetic handling of the nation's worst mass-shooting and health-driven response to the coronavirus pandemic led her to become an international icon but who faced mounting criticism at home, said Thursday she was leaving office.

Fighting back tears, Ardern told reporters in Napier that Feb. 7 would be her last day as prime minister.

Nuclear-armed North Korea fired what appeared to be a short-range missile into the sea on Sept. 28, the South's military said, as Pyongyang's U.N. ambassador insisted it had an undeniable right to test its weapons.

The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) will begin official talks on the Cyprus issue if its sovereign equality and international equal status are recognized, the nation's president said on Sept. 27. 

President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Ersin Tatar on Sept. 25 met with U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres on the sidelines of the 76th session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York. 

The two exchanged views on the Cyprus issue, according to a statement by the U.N.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Sept. 24 that he would make every effort to seek cooperation with Turkey. 

Mitsotakis' remarks came during an address to the U.N. General Assembly in New York where he said Greece always wants to keep the channels of dialogue open with Turkey, and Athens does not want tensions that occurred last year to reoccur.

The European Union must work with Turkey for the stability of the region and beyond, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on Sept. 23 after meeting a senior EU official.

The top diplomat met with Josep Borrell, the EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, on the sidelines of the 76th session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York.

After two decades in Afghanistan, the United States should do more to help the country's refugees, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in remarks aired on Sept. 22. 

Turkey hosts the world's largest refugee population - some 4 million, mostly Syrians - and has warned that it cannot accept any more arrivals from Afghanistan.

British Ambassador to Ankara Dominick Chilcott has congratulated Turkey's announcement that it will ratify the Paris Climate Convention in October.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has once again reiterated Ankara's stance on the Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) planned independence referendum in northern Iraq, saying "it should not be carried out."