Turkey

ANKARA, March 8 (Xinhua) -- Turkey and Russia will begin joint patrols in Syria's northern province of Idlib, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Friday.

Speaking in an interview with the state-run Anadolu news agency, Akar said the joint patrols in the de-escalation zone will be an important step for maintaining cease-fire and ensuring stability.

Akar denied concerns that Turkey was in direct contact with the Syrian government, saying Ankara was only holding talks with Russia and Iran when needed.

ANKARA, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The Turkey-U.S. Joint Working Group to coordinate the U.S. troop withdrawal from Syria concluded a two-day meeting in Ankara, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

The bilateral meeting focused on the U.S. pullout from Syria's Manbij and the area east of the Euphrates River.

This is the second meeting of its kind following the initial one held in Washington on Feb. 6.

The group meeting in Ankara is operating as a sub-unit of the Syria Working Group established in February 2018 between Turkey and the United States.

MOSCOW, February 27. /TASS/. In an interview with the Turkey’s NTV channel, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed hope that Washington would eventually change its mind on Turkey’s plans to buy S-400 missile defense systems from Russia.

"At present, relevant agencies conduct all the necessary talks, and will continue to do so, including a speech before the Congress. I hope that this wrongful approach by the United States would change," he said, commenting on the possibility of US sanctions over the deal.

ANKARA, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Turkey and the European Union are again clashing over Ankara's enduring accession bid amid a call by European lawmakers to suspend the already stalled negotiations, but experts believe that mutual interest will prevail in the end.

Last week, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament called on the European Commission and member states to formally halt the talks, citing Turkey's disregard for human rights and civil liberties, influence on the judiciary, and disputes over territory with neighboring Cyprus.

ISTANBUL; 25 Feb 2019; AA: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he will never meet Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi unless the latter releases prisoners.

“I will never meet with such a person. First of all, he [al-Sisi] needs to release all prisoners with a general amnesty. As long as he does not release those people, we cannot meet with al-Sisi,” Erdogan said in a televised interview on late Saturday.

Trabzon; 25 Feb 2019; AA: Turkey will reveal links between the U.S. and PKK/PYD terrorist group in the coming days, the country’s interior minister said on Sunday.

Suleyman Soylu said that he will announce to the public about what kind of relations the U.S. generals and the PKK/PYD had.

Soylu added that recently captured PKK members shared information about their links to the U.S. as well as some European countries.

ANKARA, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Turkish parliament on Sunday elected ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) lawmaker Mustafa Sentop as its new speaker, replacing Binali Yildirim who is AKP's Istanbul mayor candidate for upcoming local elections.

According to official news from the parliament, Sentop, a lawmaker from northwestern Tekirdag province, received 336 votes in the third round of voting by the Turkish National Assembly of 600 seats.

KAYSERI, 19 Feb 2019; AA: Turkish police have seized a 13th-century painting depicting the crucifixion of Jesus, security sources said on Tuesday.

The find came when police raided the office of a suspected antiquities smuggler in the central Turkish province of Kayseri, said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

ANKARA; 20 Feb 2019; AA: Turkey’s president said Tuesday that the country would not be able to shoulder a new potential migration wave on its own.

Speaking in Istanbul at the 6th Ministerial Conference of the Budapest Process on Migration, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said building higher walls with barbed wire was no way to prevent irregular migration.

EDIRNE, 16 Feb 2019; AA: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday that Turkey aims to reduce its dependence on foreign energy sources.

Speaking at a campaign rally for local March 31 elections in northwestern Edirne province, Erdogan said that Turkey aims to maximize domestic resource utilization in energy.

"In 2017, our electricity generation from domestic sources was 45 percent. Now, it has reached 60 percent," Erdogan said.