Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu

Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Wednesday referred to the eastern Aegean Imia islets as "Turkish soil."

Cavusoglu was responding in writing to a question tabled by a Turkish MP regarding the status of islands and islets in the Aegean.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will pay a working visit to the southern province of Antalya's Alanya district on Dec. 1 in his first visit after the normalization of Russian-Turkish ties following a crisis after a Russian warplane was shot down on Nov. 24, 2015, for allegedly violating Turkish airspace.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's recent assertion that the Turkish military operation in Syria was aimed at "ending the rule of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad" has raised eyebrows in Russia, with the Kremlin and the Russian Foreign Ministry awaiting an explanation. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin has confirmed to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan that an airstrike on Turkish soldiers near al-Bab in Syria was not carried out by Russian aircraft, Deputy Prime Minister and government spokesperson Numan Kurtulmuş said on Nov. 28.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called on Nov.

The Turkish nation is frustrated by the European Union's "hypocrisy and double standards" toward Turkey, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has said, noting that the government was consequently considering holding a referendum about Ankara's future relations with the bloc.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has said it is "up to the Turkish people" to decide on whether to continue accession talks with the European Union, while reaffirming Berlin's "serious concern" at measures taken by Ankara since the July 15 military coup attempt.

Like the town fool who thinks he is a traffic policeman, gesturing at passing cars that do not take him seriously as he has no real authority, the EU is losing its remaining political leverage on Turkey. That leverage has been fading for some time anyway.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has accused the head of the European Parliament of defending the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) after the latter criticized the detention of journalists and opposition lawmakers on terror charges.
      

The Turkish government has congratulated Donald Trump for his presidential victory on Nov. 9, while repeating its call for the extradition of U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen, accused of orchestrating the failed coup attempt of July 15.