In Turkey

French President Emmanuel Macron said on June 10 that despite disagreements with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the two leaders have decided to meet and talk.  

Ankara is approaching an upcoming meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his U.S. counterpart, Joe Biden, with a positive agenda, and Turkey is receiving similar signals from Washington, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on June 9.

By George Gilson

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared at a meeting of his AK Parti that he is not about to back down from Turkey's unswerving positions on the Southeastern Mediterranean or other issues in his crucial talks with US President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the 14 June NATO Summit.

U.S. President Joe Biden and Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan will meet to discuss Syria, Afghanistan and other regional issues next week and will also look at the "significant differences" between Washington and Ankara, the U.S. national security advisor said on June 7. 

The Turkish security forces have neutralized a total of 18,140 terrorists since July 24, 2015, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar has said.

"As of July 24, 2015, every place that terrorists said 'inaccessible' was entered," he said while addressing military personnel at a dinner in the southwestern province of Muğla on June 6.

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves le Drian met on June 7 in Paris as part of efforts to normalize bilateral ties after a period of conflict due to differences on both bilateral issues and regional developments.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Çavuşoğlu is set to pay a two-day visit to France starting on June 6, according to an official statement.

Çavuşoğlu will meet his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian, the statement by the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.

Turkey has once again come across a large natural gas deposit in its search for natural resources in the Black Sea.

The drilling vessel Fatih recently discovered a deposit of 135 billion cubic metres in the Sakarya gas field, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday.

Turkey has vaccinated more than one-third of its over 80 million population to date, the Turkish health minister announced on June 4. 

"30M vaccine shots have been administered (in Turkey) as of today," Fahrettin Koca wrote on Twitter, adding that one-third of the country's population had been vaccinated.

If Israel wants healthy ties with Ankara, it must abandon its wrongful policies and end violence against Palestinians, Turkey's foreign minister said on June 2.