Turkiye | Pakistan

Turkiye arrested three more opposition mayors early on Saturday as part of an investigation into alleged graft, officials from the main opposition, the Republican People’s Party (CHP) said, denouncing it as a “political operation”. The early morning arrests were the latest move targeting elected officials of the CHP as the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan puts increasing pressure on the party, which won a huge victory against his Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the 2024 local elections and is rising in the polls. The arrests were linked to an investigation into alleged graft which resulted in the removal in March of Istanbul’s powerful opposition mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, whose jailing sparked mass protests in Turkiye’s worst street unrest since 2013. Imamoglu is Erdogan’s biggest political rival and the CHP’s candidate for the 2028 presidential race. Earlier this week, police arrested more than 120 people as part of a probe into alleged graft in the opposition stronghold of Izmir, Turkiye’s t...

Firefighters battled wildfires in Turkiye and France on Monday, and more than 50,000 people were evacuated as an early summer heatwave hit Europe. Health alerts were issued in France, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Germany. Even the Netherlands, used to a milder climate, issued a warning for high temperatures in the coming days, coupled with high humidity. “Large parts of Western Europe are experiencing extreme heat and heatwave conditions that are normally observed in July or August, rather than June,” said Samantha Burgess, strategic lead for climate at the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. Temperatures were in some locations 5-10 degrees Celsius warmer than they otherwise should have been at this time of the year, she said. In Turkiye, wildfires raged for a second day in the western province of Izmir, fanned by strong winds, Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumakli said. More than 50,000 people have been evacuated from five regions, including more than 42,000 in Izmir, Turkiye’s AFAD emergency management author...

ISLAMABAD: Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar called on President of Turkiye Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul on Saturday during his visit to attend the 51st session of OIC CFM and discussed matters of bilateral and regional interest. He was accompanied by Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir. During the meeting, the FM Dar underscored the profound importance that Pakistan accords to its enduring bilateral relations with Turkiye. Both the leaders reaffirmed their commitment to further deepen and diversify the longstanding brotherly cooperation between the two countries. The leaders expressed strong condemnation of the continued Israeli attacks in blatant violation of fundamental principles of international law, reiterated support for Iran’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and its right to self-defense under the UN Charter, agreed to continue diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the situation, and urged the international community to play its part in restoring peace and stability...

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan and Turkiye on Satur­day reaffirmed their commit­ment to further deepen and diversify the longstanding broth­erly cooperation between the two countries.

ISLAMABAD - Upon the invitation of Foreign Minister of Turkiye, Hakan Fidan, Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar attended the Islamic Cooperation Youth Forum’s (ICYF), Grand Youth Award Ceremony held in Istanbul on Friday.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday conveyed his wishes to implement key decisions to boost bilateral ties with Pakistan, particularly in the field of trade, state broadcater PTV News reported. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif visited Turkiye for two days last month and expressed gratitude to Erdogan for Turkiye’s support during a brief military confrontation with India. According to PTV News, a delegation-level meeting between the two nations was “warm and most cordial” and both nations “reaffirmed the deep-rooted, historic, and brotherly ties between Pakistan and Türkiye, anchored in shared values, mutual respect, and a common vision for progress and prosperity”. PTV News reported that the Turkish president made his remarks during a phone call with PM Shehbaz, where both leaders exchanged Eidul Azha greetings. “While recalling their recent meetings in Istanbul and Lachin, the prime minister thanked President Erdogan once again for Turkiye’s strong and unwavering support to Pakistan during the rece...

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Monday departed for Iran after concluding his two-day official visit to Turkiye.

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif arrived in Istanbul, on a two-day visit to Turkiye.

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif will visit Turkiye, Iran, Azerbaijan, and Tajikistan from 25-30 May.

US President Donald Trump said on Saturday he would speak to the presidents of Russia and Ukraine on Monday following talks between the two sides at which a Ukrainian official said Moscow’s negotiators voiced new demands before a ceasefire could be agreed. In Moscow, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agencies preparations were underway for a conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump. The talks in Turkiye on Friday were the first time the sides had held face-to-face talks since March 2022, weeks after Russia’s full-scale invasion of its smaller neighbour. A senior Ukrainian official familiar with the talks said Russian negotiators demanded Ukraine pull its troops out of all Ukrainian regions claimed by Moscow before they would agree to a ceasefire. Trump, writing on Truth Social, said he would speak with Putin to discuss stopping the war at 10am on Monday. “The subjects of the call will be, stopping the ‘bloodbath’ that is killing, on average, more than 5000 Russian and...

NEW DELHI: With India finding itself friendless in the conflict with Pakistan, it has started taking revenge on countries who helped Islamabad in the recent military flare-up, reports said on Friday. The bizarre spectacle of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s supporters resorting to criticism and trolling of US President Donald Trump after he re-hyphenated the India-Pakistan saga as a bilateral issue he could help resolve, the anger turned on Turkiye and Azerbaijan. Regarding Turkiye, the Adani group-operated Mumbai and Ahmedabad airports have ended the ground handling concession agreements with Çelebi, an Istanbul-headquartered airport ground handling major. Air India is lobbying with the government to cancel the wet lease arrangement the Indigo Airlines has with its Turkish counterpart. While the move against Turkish Airlines is being considered, the two airports have ordered Çelebi to immediately hand over all its ground handling facilities in order to ensure uninterrupted operations at the airports, The India...

Turkiye-based Celebi, which provides airport ground handling in India, has launched a legal challenge to New Delhi’s decision to overturn its security clearance, arguing that “vague” national security concerns were cited without reasoning. Amid growing public anger in India about Turkiye’s stance on Pakistan in the India-Pakistan conflict, the Indian government on Thursday revoked Celebi’s security clearance in the “interest of national security”. Celebi Airport Services India, in a May 16 filing seen by Reuters, asked the Delhi High Court to set aside that decision, arguing it would impact 3,791 jobs and investor confidence, and was issued without any warning to the company. “Mere rhetoric of national security without elaborating upon in what manner is an entity a threat to national security is unsustainable in law,” the company said in the filing, which is not public. The order “fails to disclose any specific or substantive reason except for a vague and general reference to ‘national security’… [it] provide...

BENGALURU: Indians are cancelling holidays in popular resorts in Turkiye and Azerbaijan after the two countries supported Pakistan during the recent conflict, two booking firms said. Turkiye and Azerbaijan, popular budget holiday destinations for Indians, issued statements backing Islamabad after India’s air strikes last week. “Bookings for Azerbaijan and Turkiye decreasing by 60 per cent (over the last week) while cancellations have surged by 250pc during the same period,” a spokesperson for MakeMyTrip said. EaseMyTrip’s Chief Executive Officer, Rikant Pittie, said the platform had seen a 22pc rise in cancellations for Turkiye and 30pc for Azerbaijan “due to recent geopolitical tensions”. Travellers had switched to Georgia, Serbia, Greece, Thailand and Vietnam, he added. Another ticketing platform, ixigo, earlier said in a post on X that it would be suspending flight and hotel bookings for Turkiye, Azerbaijan and China. EaseMyTrip’s founder and chairman Nishant Pitti said in a post on X that 287,000 Indians ...

Pakistan has welcomed the announcement of PKK’s dissolution, a significant step toward lasting peace and a terror-free Turkiye.

Islamabad - Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif received a telephone call from Turkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday evening.