Author: Anadolu Agency

Ukraine’s place is in NATO but it “will take some time,” the UK defense secretary said Wednesday. “We as NATO alliance … have always been clear that Ukraine’s rightful place is in NATO. That is a process that will take some time, and for now … the duty of the nations around that table is to make sure that Ukraine is in the strongest possible position going into any talks in the future,” John Healey said at a news conference following a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group (UDCG) in Brussels. In a separate news conference earlier, US Secretary…

Senior UN officials on Wednesday urged international support to seize Syria’s crucial moment in its political transition, calling for coordinated efforts to ensure stability and economic recovery. “We are at a very important moment in the unfolding political situation in Syria,” Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen told the Security Council. Pedersen noted the new government’s commitment to close consultations with UN officials, and said: “We look forward to seeing this commitment translated into concrete follow-up action.” “I believe that moving towards the shared goal of stability and a national army will likely be linked to the overall political transition…

Türkiye will receive 1.3 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas from Turkmenistan via a swap agreement with Iran from March until the end of the year, the Turkish energy and natural resources minister announced on Wednesday. Natural gas from Turkmenistan will be sent to Iran and then transported to Türkiye’s Gürbulak entry point through the Iran-Türkiye Natural Gas Pipeline, Alparslan Bayraktar told Anadolu. Bayraktar’s remarks followed his announcement on Tuesday regarding the Türkiye-Turkmenistan agreement to begin Turkmen gas supply on March 1. Noting the agreement’s importance for diversifying Türkiye’s energy sources, reducing gas costs, and ensuring a more competitive…

Perceptions of Türkiye are shifting positively in line with its rising international influence, according to the 2025 report by the Munich Security Conference, prepared using surveys done in multiple countries. According to the report, in all surveyed countries except France, a greater percentage of people see Türkiye as an ally than as a threat, many by double-digit margins. The difference between those considering Türkiye an ally versus a threat was 28 points in the UK and Japan, 26 points in China, 25 points in India, 19 points in South Africa, 14 points in the US and Canada, 10 points in…

Palestinian medics and rescue teams retrieved eight more bodies from the rubble in the Gaza Strip, pushing the overall death toll from Israel’s genocidal war since October 2023 to 48,219, the Health Ministry said on Tuesday. A ministry statement said that the toll also included three Palestinians killed by Israeli fire in the last 24 hours. According to the ministry, 10 injured people were also admitted to hospitals, taking the number of the injured to 111,665 in the Israeli onslaught. “Many victims are still trapped under the rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them,” the…

Brazilian Foreign Minister Alexandre Padilha said Tuesday that Brazil won’t retaliate against President Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum, which affect Brazilian exports. On Monday, President Trump announced a global-level imposition of tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, a vowed measure to foster the national industries and US producers. Next to Canada and Mexico, Brazil is one of the top steel suppliers to the US. During the Meeting of New Mayors opening ceremony in Brasilia, Brazil’s capital city, Minister Padilha said the Federal Government led by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has not discussed effective measures to…

In a significant step toward strengthening economic ties, Türkiye has implemented new regulations governing trade with Syria, the Turkish Trade Ministry said Tuesday. Older and restrictive policies tied to Syria’s previous regime have been replaced thanks to the move, marking a fresh phase of economic collaboration. Dated Feb. 8, the regulation seeks to ease restrictions on exports, transit, and imports, aligning trade conditions with those applied to other nations, said a ministry statement. Under the new regulation, current restrictions on exports and transit shipments to Syria via the Turkish Customs Zone have been lifted. Goods transported from Türkiye to Syria…

Türkiye and Turkmenistan have signed an agreement to supply Turkmen gas to Türkiye starting on March 1, the Turkish energy and natural resources minister announced on Tuesday. “We took a historic step in Türkiye-Turkmenistan energy cooperation,” said Alparslan Bayraktar on X, announcing the agreement between the Turkish Petroleum Pipeline Corporation (BOTAS) and Turkmengaz to facilitate the supply of Turkmen gas to Türkiye. “Gas flow is planned to start on March 1,” Bayraktar said. “Today, we have reached the concrete output of the memorandum of understanding to develop of our cooperation in the field of natural gas,” he said, referring to…

A 5.2 magnitude earthquake struck Morocco’s northern Ouezzane province on Monday night, local authorities said. Nasser Jebour, head of the National Institute of Geophysics, told Anadolu that the tremor was also felt in several western provinces, including Rabat, Kenitra, Sidi Kacem and in the northern provinces of Fas, Ouezzane, Ksar el-Kebir and Larache. No casualties have so far been reported by local authorities. Social media users posted videos showing people fleeing their homes out of fear. On Sept. 8, 2023, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck Morocco’s Al-Haouz province, leaving at least 3,000 people dead and over 6,000 others injured, and…

North Korea on Tuesday condemned the arrival of a US Navy nuclear submarine in South Korea, saying that it will use “any defense means” to protect itself, according to the state-run media. In a statement, the Defense Ministry called the deployment a “concentrated expression of the US’ unchangeable madness toward North Korea.” “We express grave concern over the dangerous hostile military actions of the United States that could push the acute military standoff on the Korean Peninsula into an actual armed conflict,” the statement said, urging Washington to halt “provocative acts that lead to further instability.” This came a day…