Government of Turkey

İYİ (Good) Party chair Meral Akşener has turned down a proposal by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to join the People's Alliance between the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), stressing she would never leave her party comrades in the lurch.

Turkey's defense industry body on Aug. 11 said Ankara was determined to continue its policies to ensure that the Turkish defense industry operates fully independently.

A Turkish military plane carrying medical aid arrived in Lebanon's capital Beirut on Aug. 11 following the deadly blast last week that killed at least 171 people and injured thousands.

Hakan Çakıl, Turkey's ambassador to Lebanon, the Turkish embassy staff and Lebanese officials met the plane at the Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to hold a telephone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel this week, according to reports in the Turkish media.

Erdogan wants to raise his proposal for a commonly accepted "formula" among the states of the Eastern Mediterranean, Turkey's Sabah newspaper reported.

Only hours after Turkey announced plans to issue gas exploration and drilling licences in the Eastern Mediterranean, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged states in the region to agree on a commonly accepted "formula."

İYİ (Good) Party leader Meral Akşener on June 17 criticized a tweet containing sexual assault threats against Başak Demirtaş, the wife of jailed former Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş, urging a stop to "doing politics over female bodies."

Turkey on June 16 remembered its ninth president, Süleyman Demirel, who passed away five years ago.
Demirel was ousted twice in military coups and survived an assassination attempt before dying of heart failure at the age of 91.
He was one of Turkey's most prominent center-right political figures, serving as prime minister seven times and as president from 1993 to 2000.

Turkey may have to adopt a harder line on social interactions following a worrying jump in coronavirus infections but it has no plans to reverse an easing of lockdown restrictions aimed at reviving the economy, officials say.

High Advisory Board of Turkish presidency gathered on June 16 to discuss how to respond to "groundless and anti-Turkey allegations" regarding the events of 1915. 

The issue of performing Islamic prayers at the Hagia Sophia next month was discussed at a meeting of the High Advisory Board of the Turkish presidency, as the status of the landmark historical structure is a widely debated subject in local politics.