Government of Turkey

In what was seen as an attempt to push the narrative of Athens fueling tensions, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has blamed Greece for the attempted search by German marines of a Libya-bound Turkish ship for weapons earlier this week.

France is leading a push for European Union sanctions on Turkey next month to follow through on a threat made by the bloc in October, but has yet to win support from EU governments beyond Greece and Cyprus, officials and diplomats said.

Turkey does not expect ties with the United States to be strained under President-elect Joe Biden and does not anticipate sanctions over its purchase of Russia S-400 defense systems, a senior official in President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's AK Party said.

Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has criticized the government over its policies introduced against the pandemic, reiterating that medical experts' advises must be heard in fighting the virus.

Security forces detained at least 19 suspects, including the deputy mayor of Istanbul's Şişli district over their alleged links to the PKK/KCK terror group, sources have said.

As part of an investigation, earlier detention warrants were issued for a total of 25 suspects.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Nov. 26 welcomed Qatar's Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani with an official ceremony in the capital Ankara.

Al Thani arrived in Ankara to attend the sixth meeting of the Turkey-Qatar Supreme Strategic Committee.

He was welcomed by a ceremony at the presidential complex, and the two leaders met one-to-one following the event.

Turkish court jailed 337 former pilots and other suspects for life in one of the largest trials stemming from the bloody 2016 coup attempt against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Wednesday suggested Greece and Cyprus were behind the interception of a Turkish vessel by German soldiers on behalf of a European Union mission off the Libyan coast late Sunday.

The economic and judicial reforms to improve the investment climate in Turkey will be led by the People's Alliance, composed of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said, informing that necessary legislation would soon be brought to the agenda in the parliament.

Turkey's agriculture-based exports have increased by 6.3% year-on-year in the first nine months of 2020, a senior official said on Nov. 24. 

"We have seen the advantages of the strong infrastructure we created in agriculture during the pandemic period," said Forestry and Agriculture Minister Bekir Pakdemirli in a written statement.