https://www.scmp.com/rss/524525/feed The latest news and top stories on Recep Tayyip Erdogan, known for his extensive political career, he has served as Turkey’s President since 2014, following an impactful tenure as Prime Minister from 2003 to 2014. Previously, he was Mayor of Istanbul (1994-1998), addressing urban challenges. His work has involved significant economic development and a shift to a presidential system, expanding executive powers. He actively engages in international diplomacy, mediating conflicts and asserting... en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Tom Hussain Tom Hussain Amid the rubble of the US-Israel war on Iran, a new Middle East appears to be taking shape as a constellation of regional powers jockey for a seat at the table. Led by Turkey and Saudi Arabia, the grouping stretches from the Gulf across the Caucasus to Central and South Asia, binding together countries with overlapping interests, interlocking partnerships and a shared conviction: that the post-war order should not be dictated exclusively by the US-Israel alliance or Iran and its battered but... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3351335/middle-easts-new-power-brokers-pakistan-turkey-saudi-arabia-egypt-unite?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3351335/middle-easts-new-power-brokers-pakistan-turkey-saudi-arabia-egypt-unite?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 25 Apr 2026 05:30:08 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Turkish lawmakers passed a bill late on Wednesday that includes restricting access to social media platforms for children under 15, state media reported. The legislation is the latest in a global trend to protect young people from dangerous online activity. Its passage comes a week after a 14-year-old boy killed nine students and a teacher at a middle school in Kahramanmaras, southern Turkey, in a gun attack. Police are investigating the online activity of the perpetrator, who also died, in a... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3351147/turkey-passes-bill-restrict-social-media-access-under-15s?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3351147/turkey-passes-bill-restrict-social-media-access-under-15s?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 23 Apr 2026 08:59:42 +0000 Biman Mukherji Biman Mukherji Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Friday urged the United States and Iran to guard against any provocations by Israel and use their current ceasefire to push for lasting peace. “We must not allow weapons to again replace words,” he told the fifth Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Turkey. “Let it not be forgotten, the shortest path to peace is dialogue and diplomacy. Peace is not a one-winged bird.” His remarks came as Washington and Tehran weighed the next steps after a temporary halt in fighting,... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3350539/turkeys-erdogan-urges-iran-us-use-ceasefire-push-lasting-peace?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3350539/turkeys-erdogan-urges-iran-us-use-ceasefire-push-lasting-peace?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 Apr 2026 15:16:46 +0000 Reuters Reuters Ukraine and Syria pledged greater security cooperation in talks on Sunday, President Volodymyr Zelensky said as Kyiv seeks to promote its military expertise across the region following the outbreak of the US-Israel war on Iran. Zelensky, continuing his tour of Middle East countries, ‌met with his Syrian counterpart, Ahmed al-Sharaa, in Damascus. “We agreed to work together to provide more security and opportunities for development for our societies,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram. In a later post,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3349106/zelensky-syria-discuss-security-cooperation-president-ahmed-al-sharaa?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3349106/zelensky-syria-discuss-security-cooperation-president-ahmed-al-sharaa?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 05 Apr 2026 20:01:40 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Russia and Ukraine traded deadly strikes overnight and on Saturday morning, killing 10 people and wounding several dozen more, officials on both sides said on Saturday. The attacks came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky travelled to Istanbul for talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He will also meet with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of Eastern Orthodox Christians. “We are working to strengthen our partnership to ensure the real protection of lives,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3349053/russia-ukraine-strikes-kill-10-zelensky-travels-turkey-talks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3349053/russia-ukraine-strikes-kill-10-zelensky-travels-turkey-talks?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 04 Apr 2026 15:48:49 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Turkey’s powerful foreign minister said on Saturday that there is no serious initiative to resume negotiations between the United States and Iran but that he believes Iran is open to backchannel talks. The comments by Hakan Fidan came as Ankara is striving to stay out of the widening war in the Middle East. Ankara, which has good relations with both Washington and Tehran, had attempted to mediate a solution between them before the US and Israel attacked Iran two weeks ago, triggering the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346637/turkey-says-iran-feels-betrayed-us-attacks-during-nuclear-talks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346637/turkey-says-iran-feels-betrayed-us-attacks-during-nuclear-talks?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Mar 2026 03:15:17 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Political efforts to cripple Turkey’s main opposition and lock up its presidential candidate will never stifle the people’s frustration with the government and their growing demand for change, Istanbul’s jailed mayor has said in an interview. “An irreversible process for a change in power has begun in Turkey and it won’t stop until it is complete. I cannot stop it … nor can the ruling party nor the judiciary,” Ekrem Imamoglu said in a written response to Agence France-Presse questions conveyed... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3345864/demand-change-turkey-cannot-be-stopped-jailed-istanbul-mayor-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3345864/demand-change-turkey-cannot-be-stopped-jailed-istanbul-mayor-says?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Mar 2026 07:30:51 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse A ballistic missile launched from Iran and heading towards Turkish airspace via Iraq and Syria was destroyed by Nato air defence systems, Turkish officials said on Wednesday. The defence ministry said it had been “engaged and neutralised by Nato air-and-missile defence assets deployed in the eastern Mediterranean”. It did not specify the missile’s intended target. A Turkish official, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said the missile had been “aimed at a base in Greek Cyprus but veered... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3345473/turkey-says-missile-launched-iran-destroyed-nato?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3345473/turkey-says-missile-launched-iran-destroyed-nato?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Mar 2026 14:52:34 +0000 Fan Chen,Shi Jiangtao Fan Chen,Shi Jiangtao Turkey remains committed to becoming a full member of the Brics bloc, positioning itself as a bridge between Asia and Europe despite widening transatlantic rifts, according to the new Turkish ambassador to China. Ankara, meanwhile, would continue to work with Beijing to deepen trade ties, promote high-level visits, expand cultural and academic exchanges and build political trust through dialogue on security, counterterrorism and other sensitive issues, the envoy told the South China Morning... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3342362/nato-member-turkey-reaffirms-brics-ambitions-amid-transatlantic-rifts?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3342362/nato-member-turkey-reaffirms-brics-ambitions-amid-transatlantic-rifts?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 05 Feb 2026 01:01:39 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press A day after a sweeping deal was announced between the Syrian government and the country’s main Kurdish-led force, the agreement appeared to be falling apart on Monday. After new outbreaks of clashes Monday, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces issued a statement calling for “all of our youth” to “join the ranks of the resistance”. “Just as our comrades in 2014 forged a historic resistance in Kobani and turned it into a graveyard for (the Islamic State group) ... today we affirm with the same... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3340481/syria-deal-kurdish-fighters-appears-unravel-islamic-state-prisoners-escape?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3340481/syria-deal-kurdish-fighters-appears-unravel-islamic-state-prisoners-escape?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 19 Jan 2026 23:22:02 +0000 Reuters Reuters Pope Leo lamented that the world was seeing an unusual number of bloody conflicts during his first trip outside Italy as Catholic leader on Thursday, and he warned that a third world war was being “fought piecemeal”, with humanity’s future at risk. In his first speech given overseas since his election in May to lead the 1.4 billion-member Church, Leo, the first US pope, said “ambitions and choices that trample on justice and peace” were destabilising the world. He told political leaders in... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3334417/pope-leo-warns-piecemeal-third-world-war-turkey-trip-future-humanity-stake?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3334417/pope-leo-warns-piecemeal-third-world-war-turkey-trip-future-humanity-stake?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 27 Nov 2025 14:25:17 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press European officials said on Monday they were comforted by the outcome of discussions on US peace proposals for Ukraine that they had viewed as tilted in Russia’s favour, but they didn’t disclose details of the weekend talks and warned of a long road to peace. “The negotiations were a step forward, but there are still major issues which remain to be resolved,” Finnish President Alexander Stubb wrote on social media about Sunday’s meeting in Switzerland between US and Ukrainian officials. US... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3333999/europe-demands-rework-us-peace-deal-russia-ukraine-war?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3333999/europe-demands-rework-us-peace-deal-russia-ukraine-war?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 24 Nov 2025 16:00:12 +0000 Reuters Reuters The United States and Ukraine said they had created an “updated and refined peace framework” to end the war with Russia that apparently modified an earlier plan drafted by the Trump administration which Kyiv and its allies saw as too sympathetic to Moscow. In a joint statement released on Sunday after talks in Geneva between US and Ukrainian delegations, the two sides said their discussion was “highly productive” and said they would continue in coming days. They did not provide specifics about a... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3333869/trump-blasts-ukraines-zero-gratitude-officials-meet-discuss-us-peace-plan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3333869/trump-blasts-ukraines-zero-gratitude-officials-meet-discuss-us-peace-plan?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 23 Nov 2025 17:17:48 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Russia pummelled Ukrainian cities with missiles and drones overnight, killing at least 25 people and throwing doubt over Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s attempts to “reinvigorate” the peace process with talks in Ankara later on Wednesday. “Twenty-five people, including three children, were killed as a result of Russian shelling of the city. Another 73 people, including 15 children, were wounded,” the country’s interior ministry said on social media, updating earlier tolls from one of... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3333434/ukraine-war-russian-strikes-kill-10-zelensky-pursues-peace-talks-turkey?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3333434/ukraine-war-russian-strikes-kill-10-zelensky-pursues-peace-talks-turkey?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 19 Nov 2025 11:05:22 +0000 Reuters Reuters A Turkish prosecutor demanded on Tuesday a prison sentence of more than 2,000 years for Ekrem Imamoglu, the jailed opposition mayor of Istanbul, for allegedly leading a vast corruption network that cost the state billions of lira. Imamoglu, who is President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s main political rival, has previously denied all the accusations against him, saying they are politically motivated, and his party on Tuesday rejected the new indictment as “nonsense”. In a separate move that also... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3332402/turkish-prosecutor-seeks-2000-year-jail-term-istanbul-mayor?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3332402/turkish-prosecutor-seeks-2000-year-jail-term-istanbul-mayor?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 11 Nov 2025 21:26:40 +0000 Reuters Reuters Turkey on Wednesday said 20 of its soldiers were killed when a military transport plane crashed in Georgia a day earlier, marking the Nato member’s deadliest military incident since 2020. The C-130 cargo aircraft left Azerbaijan for Turkey and crashed in Georgia on Tuesday, leaving chunks of twisted metal strewn across a grassy knoll. Ankara has not provided a reason for the crash, but said Turkish and Georgian authorities have started inspections at the site, located in the Sighnaghu... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3332396/turkish-military-plane-crashes-georgia-least-20-board?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3332396/turkish-military-plane-crashes-georgia-least-20-board?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 11 Nov 2025 16:48:10 +0000 Tom Hussain Tom Hussain Turkey is closing out 2025 as a pivotal Middle Eastern power broker, its influence resurgent amid shifting alliances that have pushed Ankara to the centre of diplomacy spanning from Syria to Gaza. Twelve months ago, few could have predicted the speed – and irony – with which the tides would turn in Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s favour. Just five years after the US imposed sanctions on Turkey for its military campaign against Kurdish separatists in Syria, Washington is now throwing its... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3331982/middle-easts-diplomatic-drama-turkey-takes-centre-stage?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3331982/middle-easts-diplomatic-drama-turkey-takes-centre-stage?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 08 Nov 2025 08:00:18 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Gaza’s future must be Palestinian-led and avoid any new system of tutelage, Turkey and six of its top Muslim allies said on Monday after talks in Istanbul. Turkey, which played a central role in forging the now shaky three-week-old ceasefire, is pushing for Muslim nations to bring their influence to bear on the reconstruction of the embattled territory. “Our principle is that Palestinians should govern the Palestinians and ensure their own security, the international community should support... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3331399/turkey-and-muslim-allies-say-palestinian-self-rule-key-gazas-future?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3331399/turkey-and-muslim-allies-say-palestinian-self-rule-key-gazas-future?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 03 Nov 2025 22:09:16 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Hopes for a resumption of long-stalled talks to heal Cyprus’ decades-old ethnic rift were buoyed on Sunday when Turkish Cypriots elected a leader who campaigned on getting back to negotiating a two-zone federation with rival Greek Cypriots after an eight-year stalemate. Tufan Erhurman, 55, won by a landslide, receiving 62.76 per cent of the vote, against incumbent Ersin Tatar’s 35.81 per cent, according to unofficial figures broadcast on BRT TV. Nearly 65 per cent of 218,000 registered voters... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3329598/turkish-cypriots-elect-new-leader-boosting-hopes-talks-heal-cyprus-ethnic-split?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3329598/turkish-cypriots-elect-new-leader-boosting-hopes-talks-heal-cyprus-ethnic-split?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 19 Oct 2025 20:41:23 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse US President Donald Trump hailed a “tremendous day for the Middle East” as he and regional leaders signed a declaration meant to cement a ceasefire in Gaza, hours after Israel and Hamas exchanged hostages and prisoners. Trump made a lightning visit to Israel, where he lauded Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an address to parliament, before flying to Egypt for a Gaza summit where he and the leaders of Egypt, Qatar and Turkey signed the declaration on Monday as guarantors to the ceasefire... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3328871/trump-hails-tremendous-day-middle-east-leaders-sign-gaza-declaration?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3328871/trump-hails-tremendous-day-middle-east-leaders-sign-gaza-declaration?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 13 Oct 2025 18:39:36 +0000 Reuters Reuters The US Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear another bid by Turkey’s state-owned lender Halkbank to avoid fraud, money laundering and conspiracy charges in the United States for allegedly helping Iran evade American economic sanctions. The justices turned away Halkbank’s appeal of a lower court’s ruling that let the criminal case brought by the US government proceed, allowing that decision to stand. Halkbank shares closed 10 per cent lower in Istanbul after the news. The Supreme Court in 2023... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3328054/us-supreme-court-rejects-challenge-turkeys-halkbank-prosecution?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3328054/us-supreme-court-rejects-challenge-turkeys-halkbank-prosecution?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 06 Oct 2025 18:22:46 +0000 SCMP’s Asia desk SCMP’s Asia desk The presidents of Turkey and South Korea have become the latest leaders attending the UN’s signature diplomatic gathering to be forced to wait on the streets of New York City to let Donald Trump’s motorcade pass. Videos shared on social media showed Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s delegation attempting to move past barricades before officers blocked them from crossing a street on Tuesday, leaving the Turkish president irked. Erdogan was in the US city to take part in the annual United Nations General... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3326983/south-koreas-lee-among-world-leaders-stopped-new-york-trumps-motorcade-takes-priority?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3326983/south-koreas-lee-among-world-leaders-stopped-new-york-trumps-motorcade-takes-priority?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 26 Sep 2025 08:31:41 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press US President Donald Trump held talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the White House on Thursday and signalled that the United States might soon lift its hold on sales of advanced fighter aircraft to Ankara. During Trump’s first term, the US removed Turkey, a Nato ally, from its flagship F-35 programme after Turkey bought an air defence system from Russia. US officials worried that Turkey’s use of Russia’s S-400 surface-to-air missile system could be used to gather data on the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3326903/trump-hosts-erdogan-us-considers-lifting-ban-f-35-sales-turkey?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3326903/trump-hosts-erdogan-us-considers-lifting-ban-f-35-sales-turkey?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 25 Sep 2025 21:33:38 +0000 Tom Hussain Tom Hussain Some US$20 billion of foreign investment and financial aid is set to pour into Syria over the next few years, kick-starting the reconstruction of the war-torn country after Western sanctions were lifted two months ago. But the desperately needed funds forthcoming from Gulf Arab, Turkish and Western firms remain tied to Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s willingness to reach some kind of Washington-backed peace agreement with an antagonistic Israel, according to several Middle East experts who... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3318602/syrias-future-tied-israel-peace-deal-billions-investment-set-arrive?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3318602/syrias-future-tied-israel-peace-deal-billions-investment-set-arrive?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 17 Jul 2025 09:33:32 +0000 Tom Hussain Tom Hussain Once bound by history to Iran and Russia, Azerbaijan has been actively reconfiguring relationships with its neighbours in a bid to stake a claim as a major player in Eurasia – even at the cost of ratcheting up diplomatic friction with its former colonial rulers. Emboldened by the decisive seizure of Nagorno-Karabakh from Armenia in 2023, Baku has drawn on a web of diverse strategic partnerships to assert its autonomy. No longer content to be a subordinate neighbour, Azerbaijan is pushing back... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3317921/how-azerbaijan-defies-russia-and-iran-eurasias-new-order?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3317921/how-azerbaijan-defies-russia-and-iran-eurasias-new-order?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 13 Jul 2025 09:00:07 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press The mayors of three major cities in southern Turkey were arrested on Saturday, state-run media reported, joining a growing list of opposition figures detained since the mayor of Istanbul was imprisoned in March. Abdurrahman Tutdere, the mayor of Adiyaman, and Zeydan Karalar, who heads Adana municipality, were detained in early morning raids, according to Anadolu Agency. Both are members of the main opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP. The CHP mayor of Antalya, Muhittin Bocek, was... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3317098/3-mayors-arrested-opposition-crackdown-southern-turkey?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3317098/3-mayors-arrested-opposition-crackdown-southern-turkey?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 05 Jul 2025 11:42:12 +0000