Turkey

06 August 2022; MEMO: Turkiye and Pakistan have strongly condemned Israel's airstrikes on the Gaza Strip yesterday which killed over a dozen Palestinians.

Israel yesterday launched a series of airstrikes against the Palestinian resistance movement Islamic Jihad and one of its key commanders Taysir al-Jabari, causing the group and its allies in the Gaza Strip to retaliate by firing rockets into Israel against the occupation forces.

05 August 2022; MEMO: Three more ships loaded with grain sailed from Ukraine on Friday under an UN-backed deal lifting Russia's blockade of the Black Sea, Turkiye's Defence Ministry said, Anadolu News Agency reports.

According to the report, the departure of grain ships came as Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Russian President, Vladimir Putin, are set to meet in Sochi for talks on ending the war in Ukraine and starting a new one in Syria.

ISTANBUL, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said he would discuss developments in Syria with Russian leader Vladimir Putin during his visit to Russia on Friday.

Sitting opposite Putin ahead of their talks in the Black Sea city of Sochi, Erdogan said earlier meetings between Turkish and Russian delegations on politics, economic and trade issues had been fruitful.

Their meeting, less than three weeks since they held talks in Tehran, comes after Turkey helped broker a deal to resume Ukraine's Black Sea grain exports which were blocked by Russia's invasion. 

ANKARA, Aug 5 (Reuters) - A top aide to Turkey's president said on Friday the international community cannot end the war in Ukraine by ignoring Moscow, as Tayyip Erdogan headed to Russia to meet his counterpart Vladimir Putin.

The meeting, less than three weeks since they held talks in Tehran, comes after Turkey helped broker a deal to resume Ukraine's Black Sea grain exports which were blocked by Russia's invasion. 

ISTANBUL (AP) — Three more ships carrying thousands of tons of corn have left Ukrainian ports, officials said Friday, in the latest sign that a negotiated deal to export grain trapped since Russia invaded Ukraine nearly six months ago is slowly materializing. But major hurdles lie ahead to get food to the countries that need it most.

ISTANBUL (AP) — The first grain ship to leave Ukraine and cross the Black Sea under a wartime deal passed inspection Wednesday in Istanbul and headed on to Lebanon. Ukraine said 17 other vessels were “loaded and waiting permission to leave,” but there was no word yet on when they could depart.

A joint civilian inspection team spent three hours checking the cargo and crew of the Sierra Leone-flagged ship Razoni, which left Odesa on Monday carrying Ukrainian corn, a U.N. statement said.

03 August 2022; MEMO: Turkish Defence Minister, Hulusi Akar, said the only goal that his country wishes to achieve from carrying out military operations outside its borders, including in Syria, is to combat terrorist organisations.

He pointed out that the Turkish forces have neutralised 2,226 terrorists since the beginning of this year in the context of combating terrorist organisations.

01 August 2022; MEMO: Turkiye's Defence Minister has expressed his suspicions that Greece is "up to something" in its recent moves and aggressive rhetoric against Turkiye, calling them "abnormal" as Athens continues to militarily posture against Ankara.

ANKARA, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Turkish Defense Minister on Monday said his country would "be glad" to help the shipments of foodstuff and fertilizers waiting at Russian ports in the Black Sea.

"There are also food and various chemicals in Russia's ports. The transfer of these is a separate issue apart from our work on Ukrainian grains. But if we can make a contribution, we would be pleased to do so as well," Hulusi Akar told the semi-official Anadolu Agency.

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — The first ship carrying Ukrainian grain set off from the port of Odesa on Monday under a deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkey that is expected to release large stores of Ukrainian crops to foreign markets and ease a growing food crisis.

The Sierra Leone-flagged cargo ship Razoni left Odesa carrying over 26,000 tons of corn destined for Lebanon.