FIDAN HOSTS GÜRLEK AT FOREIGN MINISTRY
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan hosted Justice Minister Akın Gürlek in Ankara on Oct. 13. The Foreign Ministry announced the meeting.
Analysis
In-Depth Analysis
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ANKARA SENDS MIXED SIGNALS AFTER PASHINYAN ELECTION WIN
Questions about the future of Turkey-Armenia normalization have grown after Turkish Foreign Ministry removed key wording from its statement on Armenian elections, putting pressure on Armenia rather than also pushing Azerbaijan and it took President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan four days to congratulate the Armenian prime minister on his election win.
TURKEY EASES ARMENIA TRADE EMBARGO AS PASHINYAN SEEKS MANDATE FOR REGIONAL PEACE PUSH
One of the most concrete steps yet in the normalization process between Turkey and Armenia—launched in 2021—has been taken with a move toward direct trade between the two countries. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is heading into a June 7 election widely seen as a vote of confidence on his parallel agendas of steering the country toward the West while pursuing peace with Azerbaijan and normalization with Turkey. Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesperson Öncü Keçeli announced on X on May 13 that bureaucratic preparations for the launch of direct trade between Turkey and Armenia had been completed as of May 11.
WORLD IS BIGGER THAN FIVE—EXCEPT WHEN IT ISN’T
From Donald Trump’s perspective, he has just one interlocutor in Turkey: President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. No criticism of the United States — no matter how harsh — coming from presidential advisors, the AKP spokesperson, the Foreign Ministry, or the MHP chair matters in the slightest to Trump.
ANKARA WANTS NATO TO LOOK SOUTH AS MUCH AS NORTH
Turkey wants NATO to address threats from all directions — including from Middle Eastern countries — during the Ankara Summit on July 7-8. 'We are reminded that what happens in the south does not stay in the south,' said Ambassador Mehmet Burçin Gönenli, director general for International Security Affairs at the Foreign Ministry, speaking at the 18th Istanbul Security Conference organized by Başkent University and the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung.
THREE TURKISH MP’S RETURNS TURKEY
The three Turkish MPs, who joined the Freedom Flotilla in support of Gazans and were detained by Israel, arrived in Istanbul on Oct. 9 following the announcement of a ceasefire. The news was shared on social media by Foreign Ministry spokesperson Öncü Keçeli.
PROMOTION OVERHAUL UNDERMINES MERIT SYSTEM IN FOREIGN MINISTRY
A new directive issued by Turkey’s Foreign Ministry is drawing criticism from within diplomatic circles, with several senior sources saying it undermines the long-standing merit-based promotion system of the diplomatic corps.
LOVE HAS NO PLACE IN TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTRY
When Hakan Fidan met the new recruits who passed the Foreign Ministry’s examinations in February, he told them not to marry foreigners. He has made his objections known since the first day he came to office in June 2023, complaining that the rate of Turkish diplomats married to a foreign national had reached 20 percent. He also made clear that while those already married to foreigners would not be discriminated against, from now on those who would marry foreigners would not be appointed to critical positions.