Armenia's newly elected Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian's positive and hopeful remarks on Turkey are admirable, however, solid steps must be taken rather than remaining at the rhetorical level for a remarkable development in bilateral relations, experts say. On Wednesday, Pashinian visited Azerbaijan's Nagorno-Karabakh region occupied by Armenia - a day after the Parliament gave him the green light for the post - and said his country is ready to establish diplomatic and economic ties with Turkey without preconditions. Speaking at a news conference in regional capital Khankendi (Stepanakert in Armenian), Pashinian said Turkey is the side with conditions on normalizing relations with Armenia. "[Turkey] ties this precondition to its relations with another country, [Azerbaijan]. We don't expect them to recognize the genocide either. We show efforts for this issue to gain international recognition. And we do this for this tragedy to not to be repeated again," Pashinian said, referring to … [Read more...] about Pashinian’s remarks on Turkey positive, solid steps needed to move forward
Turkey
Surprises abound ahead of Turkey’s June 24 elections
Turkey is counting down the days until the June 24 elections, which everyone seems to agree will be a turning point in the country's political history. The Supreme Electoral Council (YSK) announced that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Meral Akşener, Muharrem İnce, Doğu Perinçek, Temel Karamollaoğlu and Selahattin Demirtaş will compete in the upcoming presidential race. Meanwhile, another 10 days are left until candidates for Parliament will become official.Although the campaign will be over relatively soon, I have no doubt that it will be quite intense. Last week, Erdoğan unveiled an election manifesto that concentrates on the future. Muharrem İnce, one of the opposition candidates, has been trying to keep an equal distance from all voters with his statements, pledges and courtesy visits. He wants to go beyond the limits of his election manifesto and the Republican People's Party (CHP) base as a presidential candidate. İnce hopes to be … [Read more...] about Surprises abound ahead of Turkey’s June 24 elections
Asian tigers show great interest in Turkey
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's recent South Korea trip showed that Asia's tigers, China, South Korea and Japan, are determined to take important roles in Turkish megaprojects. While the global political economy is being restructured, Turkey is moving from the Western-based economic-commercial-military perspective of the last 15 years to a new, multifaceted perspective enriched at the intercontinental level.Asian tigers, well aware of Turkey's key role in Eurasia, have intensified their desire to carry out joint investment projects with Turkey. Significant cooperation projects in energy, automotive, medical and health technologies, defense technologies, construction technologies, transportation technologies, smart urban technologies and agriculture technologies will be on the agenda one after another.We were in Shanghai to open the Shanghai Office of the International Cooperation Platform (ICP), which has been organizing the Bosporus Summit for nine years under the auspices of … [Read more...] about Asian tigers show great interest in Turkey
Turkey to station US-made F-35 jets at base protecting country’s borders with Iraq, Iran, Syria
ANKARA Turkey will station F-35 fighter jets due to arrive from the U.S. in June in the Eastern Anatolian province of Malatya, at a base that safeguards the country’s borders with Iraq, Iran and Syria. The joint strike fighters will be stationed in the 7th Main Jet Base Command in Malatya, which is also home to the Kürecik anti-missile shield has been functioning since 2011 as a protective measure for NATO, of which Turkey is a member. According to defense industry authorities, the delivery of the first of the 30 F-35 fighters will be made on June 21 at a ceremony in the U.S. Preparation work in Malatya to welcome the jets – 30 of them in the first delivery — is still ongoing, with construction and modernization works in place. Hangars that once housed F-4 fighter jets at the base are now being worked on to shelter the new fighter aircraft. While test flights have begun ahead of the jets’ arrival in Malatya, on the Turkish side two pilots of the … [Read more...] about Turkey to station US-made F-35 jets at base protecting country’s borders with Iraq, Iran, Syria
Turkish PM: If Armenia abandons hostile attitude, Turkey will respond positively
Ankara is ready to respond accordingly if Armenia wants to open new page in ties, but Yerevan first has to abandon its “hostile attitude” regarding the border issue, Turkey’s Prime Minister Binali Yildirimn has responded to Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s statement on the establishment of diplomatic ties with Ankara without preconditions, Hurriyet reported. “If Armenia gives up its hostile attitude, which it has shown for years against Turkey, if gives up its wrong attitude against Turkey’s territorial integrity and borders, if wants to opens a new page then we will respond accordingly after looking at the details,” Yıldırım told reporters on May 11. “We do not want to be hostile to anybody, especially our neighbors. If such an approach is taken, we will naturally evaluate it in the interests of our country,” he said, adding that the government’s principle is “to increase friendships and diminish … [Read more...] about Turkish PM: If Armenia abandons hostile attitude, Turkey will respond positively