Latest news with #Turkiye
Arab News
10 hours ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Armenian prime minister set for ‘historic' Turkiye visit
ISTANBUL: Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is set to make a rare visit to arch-foe Turkiye on Friday, in what Yerevan has described as a 'historic' step toward regional peace. Armenia and Turkiye have never established formal diplomatic ties, and their shared border has been closed since the 1990s. Relations are strained over the World War I-era mass killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire — atrocities Yerevan says amount to genocide. Turkiye rejects the label. Ankara has also backed its close ally, Turkic-speaking Azerbaijan, in its long-running conflict with Armenia. Pashinyan is visiting Turkiye at the invitation of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Armenian parliament speaker Alen Simonyan told reporters. 'This is a historic visit, as it will be the first time a head of the Republic of Armenia visits Turkiye at this level. All regional issues will be discussed,' he said. 'The risks of war (with Azerbaijan) are currently minimal, and we must work to neutralize them. Pashinyan's visit to Turkiye is a step in that direction.' An Armenian foreign ministry official told AFP the two leaders will discuss efforts to sign a comprehensive peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan, as well as the regional fallout from the Iran-Israel conflict. On Thursday — a day before Pashinyan's visit — Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev traveled to Turkiye for talks with Erdogan and praised Turkish-Azerbaijani alliance as 'a significant factor not only regionally but also globally.' Erdogan repeated his backing for 'the establishment of peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia.' Baku and Yerevan agreed on the text of a peace deal in March, but Baku has since outlined a host of demands — including changes to Armenia's constitution — before it will sign the document. Pashinyan has actively sought to normalize relations with both Baku and Ankara. Earlier this year, he announced Armenia would halt its campaign for international recognition of the 1915 mass killings of Armenians as genocide — a major concession to Turkiye that sparked widespread criticism at home. Pashinyan has visited Turkiye only once before, for Erdogan's inauguration in 2023. At the time he was one of the first foreign leaders to congratulate the Turkish president on his re-election. Ankara and Yerevan appointed special envoys in late 2021 to lead a normalization process, a year after Armenia's defeat in a war with Azerbaijan over then-disputed Karabakh region. In 2022, Turkiye and Armenia resumed commercial flights after a two-year pause. A previous attempt to normalize relations — a 2009 accord to open the border — was never ratified by Armenia and was abandoned in 2018.
Malay Mail
12 hours ago
- Politics
- Malay Mail
Foreign minister to represent Malaysia at OIC summit, highlight Palestine and religious hatred
PUTRAJAYA, June 20 — Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan will lead Malaysia's delegation to the 51st Session of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers Meeting in Istanbul, Turkiye, from June 21 to 22, 2025. The Foreign Ministry, in a statement released yesterday, said that the meeting will involve the participation of foreign ministers and representatives from 57 OIC Member States. 'The Foreign Minister will deliver a National Statement highlighting Malaysia's views and position on issues of common concern under the OIC, such as the situation in Palestine and their rights to self-determination,' said the ministry. The National Statement will also address the rise of Islamophobia and all forms of hatred towards religion, emphasise economic cooperation, and initiatives that Malaysia has undertaken in pursuing the objectives of the OIC, it added. With the theme of 'OIC in a Transforming World', this meeting is expected to deliberate and agree on common approaches for addressing the political, socio-economic, and cultural challenges faced by the Ummah, through the adoption of the Istanbul Declaration and nearly 146 proposed resolutions, the ministry stated. The meeting also serves as a platform to expand cooperation and solidarity among OIC Member States in promoting peace and security for the Ummah and the global community at large, particularly amid the current escalating tensions in the Middle East region, it said. — Bernama
CTV News
2 days ago
- Politics
- CTV News
‘This is the last time I'll see you': One Canadian doctor's story of escaping war in Iran
Adrian Ghobrial speaks with Canadians in Israel and Iran as they describe the terrifying threat of airstrikes from both sides. Panid Borhanjoo was rocked from his bed when an apartment building near his family home took a direct hit. He recalls hearing loud, rattling explosions from less than a kilometre away. Borhanjoo, a doctor from Hamilton, Ont., was visiting family in Tehran when Israel unleashed deadly airstrikes against the capital city. He considers himself one of the fortunate few who've managed to get out of Iran through a land border crossing into Turkiye, but it has come at a personal cost. 'I had to leave and say goodbye to (my family) in Tehran which was very emotional, especially my mom who hugged me and said, 'this is the last time I'll see you.'' After taking a moment to ponder the harsh possibilities of war, Barhanjoo shares that 'its possible, as sad as it is for me to say.' So far, officials in Iran say Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 224 people and wounded more than 1,200. Israeli officials say Iranian strikes have killed 24 people in Israel and wounded more than 500. Approaching the Razi-Kapiköy border crossing between Iran and Turkey, he watched missiles cross the night sky. On the ground, there were other risks. 'There's a lot of mugging and kidnapping happening, because there are a lot of people with money trying to cross the border. It's a very risky and unsafe process,' said Barhanjoo, who added his driver carries a gun for protection. This week, U.S. President Donald Trump told everyone in Tehran – a city of nearly 10 million people – to evacuate, something Barhanjoo says is simply impossible for hundreds of thousands of Iranians. 'There are only a few roads that connect Tehran to those neighbouring provinces. It's extremely unrealistic to assume that all these people can just get on a road somehow, all together in a matter of hours, get to safety,' said the doctor. He noted Tehran does not have a network of highways comparable to a similarly sized North American city. Iran Israel Mideast Wars A man carries a wounded girl after an explosion in downtown Tehran amid Israel's three-day campaign of strikes against Iran, Sunday, June 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Morteza Zangene/ISNA) Barhanjoo believes he was fortunate, because he made his own call to try and get out of the country before Trump wrote his evacuation notice. Now, 'all the roads are jammed, all the highways are gridlocked,' he said. 'The lineup to get at gas stations when I was travelling was three hours. You're limited to about 10 litres of fuel, which is nothing.' Commercial airspace over Iran has been completely closed for days as incoming rockets pose a danger to aircraft in the region. Speaking to CTV News just hours before boarding a flight from Istanbul to Toronto, Barhanjoo's heart is with his family, friends and loved ones trapped in the grips of war inside Iran. When asked if he has a message to share with his fellow Canadians, Barhanjoo shares his view that 'regular people are paying the price for this (conflict). What I want to see is the immediate de-escalation of this war because there are millions of people who are going to be without homes, without incomes, without food, without safety. The way things are going right now, I would hate to see Tehran become the next Gaza.'
Arab News
2 days ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Far-right Erdogan opponent slams opposition graft probes
Umit Ozdag was placed in pre-trial detention on charges of inciting public hatred on Jan. 20A court sentenced him to two years and four months behind barsISTANBUL: A far-right political opponent of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday slammed ongoing graft probes into Turkiye's opposition as unfair, a day after being released from Ozdag, who heads the small anti-immigrant Victory party, was placed in pre-trial detention on charges of inciting public hatred on January 20.A court on Tuesday sentenced him to two years and four months behind bars, but ordered his release on grounds of time already is also being tried on a separate charge of insulting the president — a charge often used to silence Erdogan's critics — with the next hearing on September to Anka news agency on Wednesday, Ozdag said the barrage of legal probes targeting municipalities run by the main opposition CHP was one-sided and 'harmful.''The application of one law for (Erdogan's AKP) ruling party and another for the opposition, is causing an extraordinarily harmful fragmentation within society,' he said.'You cannot convince the public that only CHP municipalities are involved in corruption and that there is no corruption worth prosecuting in AKP municipalities.'Over the past nine months, there has been a surge in legal cases against CHP mayors and municipal officials on graft charges, with observers seeing it as a government move to weaken the party which scored a huge victory against Erdogan's AKP in 2024 local most controversial move was the removal of Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, Erdogan's biggest political opponent and the CHP's candidate for the 2028 presidential was arrested on March 19 in connection with a graft probe and allegations of terror ties which critics say was designed to prevent him from arrest sparked protests across the country in the worst street unrest since 2013.
Arab News
2 days ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Pakistan calls for Iran-Israel ceasefire as deputy PM heads to OIC talks
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday urged global powers to broker a ceasefire between Iran and Israel, as Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar prepares to attend a meeting of foreign ministers of member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). The meeting in Turkiye from June 21-22 is expected to focus on coordinated diplomatic steps to de-escalate the Iran-Israel standoff and address the continuing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Thousands of people were fleeing Tehran on Wednesday after Israeli warplanes bombed the city overnight and the air fight between the two Middle Eastern powers entered the sixth day amid media reports US President Donald Trump was considering options that include joining Israel in attacking Iranian nuclear sites. 'I feel that ... global countries should try hard for a ceasefire,' Sharif told a federal cabinet meeting, calling the escalation 'regrettable' and condemning what he described as Israel's aggression against Pakistan's neighboring 'brotherly' country of Iran. Iran launched retaliatory strikes last week after Israeli forces attacked sites linked to Iran's nuclear and military infrastructure on June 13. Iranian officials say at least 224 people, mostly civilians, have been killed, while Israel has reported over 20 deaths. The latest escalation follows months of hostilities between Israel and Iranian-backed groups in Lebanon, Syria and Yemen, which intensified after the war in Gaza was launched late in 2023. Regional powers fear a direct confrontation could spiral into a broader conflict involving major oil shipping lanes and global energy supplies. For Pakistan, a close Iranian neighbor and a longtime opponent of Israel, a prolonged conflict risks disrupting border security, inflaming sectarian tensions at home, and possibly putting it in a tight spot with other Arab allies and the West. Pakistan does not recognize Israel and has historically aligned itself with the Palestinian cause of an independent state.
