Turkey

ISTANBUL, June 27 (Reuters) - Turkish defence firm Baykar said on Monday it would donate three unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to Ukraine, after a crowdfunding campaign there raised enough funds to buy "several" of the Bayraktar TB2 model.

The TB2 has been hugely popular in Ukraine, where it helped destroy Russian artillery systems and armoured vehicles. It even became the subject of a patriotic expletive-strewn hit song in Ukraine that mocked Russian troops, with the chorus "Bayraktar, Bayraktar".

ANKARA, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a phone conversation with U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday, discussing the agenda of the upcoming NATO summit, Turkey's presidency said.

The two leaders also discussed bilateral issues and some regional matters, according to a statement from the Turkish presidency.

ANKARA, June 27 (Reuters) - A NATO summit this week is unlikely to see a breakthrough to overcome Turkey's opposition to Sweden and Finland's membership bids as Ankara takes an unrushed approach to negotiations, according to Turkish officials and Western diplomats.

In response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership in what would be a historic enlargement of the Western defence pact. But Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan surprised allies by opposing it in May over what he called the Nordic countries' support for terrorist groups.

26 June 2022; MEMO: Turkiye's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed a range of issues over the phone on Saturday, including bilateral relations and the enlargement of NATO, Anadolu Agency reports.

Sweden and Finland formally applied to join NATO last month, a decision spurred by Russia's war on Ukraine that began on February 24.

26 June 2022; MEMO: Iran and Turkiye have agreed to enhance tourism cooperation following a meeting yesterday between officials of both countries.

The Director-General of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts of Tehran province, Parham Janfshan announced yesterday the holding of a meeting to develop tourism ties with Turkiye's Batman province.

26 June 2022; MEMO: Saudi Arabia has lifted its unofficial boycott of goods and products from Turkiye, after the two countries and their leaders reconciled following years of deteriorated diplomatic ties.

ANKARA, June 24 (Xinhua) -- Turkey seems determined to block Sweden and Finland's NATO memberships in the alliance's upcoming summit as long as they do not address Turkey's security concerns, although the NATO chief has vowed "a common way forward" on the issue at stake, experts said.

Ankara has said it will not prepare to rush through the NATO accession process of the two Nordic countries unless there are "satisfactory assurances" that they would cut support of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and other groups outlawed by Turkey.

ANKARA, June 24 (Xinhua) -- Turkey on Friday has issued an arrest warrant for 18 Turkish nationals for allegedly providing financial aid to the Islamic State (IS) group, the semi-official Anadolu Agency reported.

The police teams carried out simultaneous raids in 12 provinces of Turkey as part of a capital Ankara-based operation and detained 12 suspects.

The suspects were allegedly providing assistance to the IS by collecting cash aid through their bank accounts.

ANKARA, June 22 (Xinhua) -- Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud on Wednesday arrived in Ankara, Turkey's capital, to start his first visit to Turkey since the death of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan greeted the crown prince with a grand welcoming ceremony, which was followed by a private meeting between the two leaders.

Turkey is the third stop of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's regional tour, which also brought him to Egypt and Jordan.

22 June 2022; MEMO: Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, on Wednesday arrived in the capital, Ankara, on an official visit to Turkiye.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is set to receive the Crown Prince with an official ceremony at the presidential complex.

Ahead of an official dinner, the two leaders will hold one-on-one and inter-delegation meetings.

Erdogan earlier said they would discuss ways to take bilateral relations to a much higher level during the Prince's official visit.