Author: Daily Sabah

Thousands of people gathered at Galata Bridge at the heart of Istanbul on Wednesday for a rally in support of Palestinians facing genocide at the hands of Israel. Organized by the National Will Platform, which brings together some 400 civic society organizations, the demonstration was led by the Turkish Youth Foundation (TÜGVA). Authorities have closed major roads heading to the bridge ahead of the rally. Demonstrators took boats to ports near the bridge and others preferred walking. Groups gathered outside Istanbul’s iconic mosques near the bridge, from Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque to Sultanahmet (Blue Mosque) in the early hours of…

Türkiye is determined to maintain and strengthen its diplomatic approach, which seeks permanent cooperation and creating solutions to global problems, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Tuesday, as he bid farewell to 2024. Noting that Türkiye was able to reap the benefits of its efforts to facilitate peace, stability and prosperity in the region and beyond, Fidan said Ankara, led by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s visionary foreign policy, will continue to work towards regional stability in 2025. He continued by saying that Türkiye is determined to maintain its solutions-oriented diplomatic approach. “We will continue to defend our country’s interests with a…

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan discussed Türkiye-Armenia relations and global developments in a phone call on Tuesday, diplomatic sources said. No further information was provided about the phone call. Türkiye and Armenia had little ties in the past, and relations were entirely cut off in the aftermath of the dissolution of the Soviet Union as Armenia engaged in a conflict with Azerbaijan and occupied the territory of Karabakh. Türkiye is the closest ally of Azerbaijan. Türkiye and Armenia have also been at odds over their shared history. Armenia accuses Türkiye of “genocide” of hundreds of thousands…

Devlet Bahçeli, leader of the government ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), who is the architect of a call to the terrorist group PKK to lay down its arms, said the latest meeting between the group’s jailed leader Abdullah Öcalan and a political party would give momentum to a good beginning. Bahçeli, who has been a fierce proponent of counterterrorism efforts against PKK and other terrorist groups, issued a stern warning to the group, though, in his New Year message. “Under new circumstances, changing balance of power and against gamechanger Türkiye, PKK can only dream gaining a stronghold in northern Iraq,…

Speaking to French broadcaster France 24 in an interview released on Monday, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan urged the European Union to return to the “pre-Sarkozy” era for his country’s membership process. Fidan noted that before French President Nicolas Sarkozy took office (in 2007), the EU had a strategic view of Türkiye, but after Sarkozy, relations between the bloc and Türkiye fell victim to “domestic policies” of the bloc’s members and identity politics. “There are two tendencies in Europe now: should Europe be a geostrategic thinker, including Türkiye into the club and create its own center of gravity in its own…

Türkiye will not shy away from using an iron fist to realize its terror-free vision, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Tuesday. “We will take determined steps to turn our terror-free Türkiye and terror-free region vision into a reality,” Erdoğan vowed in a video message to mark the new year. “We are making every effort for this process, which will open up a new path for our country, to work in peace, mutual goodwill and understanding,” Erdoğan said, referring to a recent push by his government to end four decades of terrorism in Türkiye. “But we will not shy away from…

The year 2024 was a rollercoaster for the sports fandom, packed with unforgettable moments that kept them on the edge of their seats. Turkish giants Galatasaray capped the year with flair, defending their Süper Lig title and asserting their dominance in the Europa League. The Crescent-Stars defied expectations at Euro 2024, rising to the occasion when it mattered most. Turkish shooter Yusuf Dikeç captured the spotlight at the Paris Olympics with his poised brilliance, while Melissa Vargas led the Sultans of the Net to a year of remarkable triumphs. Lions’ roar Galatasaray, reigning Süper Lig champions for two consecutive seasons,…

A total of 536 suspects were captured in operations against the Daesh terrorist group in 57 provinces in the past 12 days, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced on Tuesday. “Operation Mace” was carried out in coordination with prosecutor’s offices, the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) and the counterterrorism department of the police, Yerlikaya said in a social media post. Since the 2019 collapse of their self-proclaimed “caliphate,” some suspected Daesh members have settled in Türkiye, operating a so-called Khorasan Province (Daesh-K) network, which looks for “new methods” and recruits more foreign members for its activities after constant counterterrorism operations became a…

Türkiye’s rise as an influential actor in the international community continued in 2024. Throughout the year, Ankara sought to normalize ties with countries it fell out with, further severed relations with some and played a key role in conflicts far away and in its region. A power broker pursuing a delicate balance between sides of various conflicts, Türkiye occasionally achieved its ambitious diplomatic goals. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, a veteran politician in power for over two decades as prime minister and president and Hakan Fidan, former intelligence chief turned foreign minister, led this diplomatic blitz. The year began with the…

Türkiye has welcomed remarks from the PKK’s jailed leader for supporting a process that may lead the terrorist group to lay down arms. “The presence of terrorism is poisoning democratic politics; we want a democracy not shadowed by terrorism,” Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz said Sunday in the first reaction from the Turkish government to landmark statements from Abdullah Öcalan. Öcalan is “ready to make a call” to back a new initiative by the Turkish government to end terrorism in Türkiye, a party close to the PKK said Sunday. Two lawmakers from the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), known…