Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Turkish Islamist strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan published photos on his social media accounts on Tuesday appearing to play basketball with retired NBA star and commentator Shaquille O’Neal in Istanbul.

The government of Turkey confirmed that it had arrested 357 people on Tuesday in nationwide operations against Islamic State terrorists suspected of plotting attacks on New Year’s Eve – following a multi-hour operation on Monday that killed three police officers.

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday in Turkmenistan to discuss the war in Ukraine. Their meeting was unexpectedly interrupted by Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who demanded an audience with Putin to secure his support against India and the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

Pope Leo XIV led a prayer meeting for Catholics in Turkey, highlighting Turkey’s status as a “holy land” critical to early Christianity.

Islamist strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued an address on Thursday in which he warned that Turkey was facing an impending “disaster” due to its rapidly declining birth rate, which has been under replacement fertility for nearly a decade.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Ankara, Turkey, on Wednesday for in-person meetings with strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who asserted his desire to see Russia and Ukraine return to the “Istanbul process” of negotiations.

Prosecutors in Turkey published an indictment on Tuesday against Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, widely considered the most popular candidate in the 2028 presidential election, charging him with nearly 150 crimes and requesting a 2,000-year prison sentence.

Early responses to President Donald Trump’s peace deal in Gaza have been strongly positive, even from adversarial nations like Russia, which grudgingly admitted the ceasefire would be a positive diplomatic achievement — if it holds up.

The Vatican announced on Tuesday that Pope Leo XIV will make visits to Turkey and Lebanon beginning in late November, his first international travel as the head of the Catholic Church.

President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House on Thursday that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan could pressure Russia to end the war in Ukraine “if he wants to.” Erdogan was sitting next to Trump when he said it.

President Donald Trump mocked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during his state visit to the White House on Thursday, saying he is well acquainted with “rigged elections.”

President Donald Trump, during a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Thursday, called on Turkey to cease purchasing Russian oil.

President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will discuss the F-35 and F-16 fighter jets, as well as the U.S.-made Patriot missile defense system, during a private meeting at the White House.

Turkish Islamist strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan used his time at this year’s United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday to condemn humanity for insufficiently supporting Gaza, repeatedly accusing Israel of “genocide” while also celebrating his own relationship with Armenia, a nation against whom Turkey committed the first modern genocide.

President Donald Trump is set to host Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for a state visit at the White House next Thursday.

A massive rally was held in Turkey’s capital of Ankara on Sunday to protest an upcoming court hearing that could strip opposition leader Ozgur Ozel of his post.

The delivery of F-35 fighter jets from the United States to Turkey will remain on “hold” by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch (R-ID), despite Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s recent claim that he made progress on getting the planes in a meeting with President Donald Trump at the NATO summit last month.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is hopeful that his decade-long quest to obtain the F-35 joint strike fighter might finally succeed after an upbeat meeting with President Donald Trump at the NATO summit last week – but Trump does not seem to be in any hurry to give Erdogan his long-sought prize.

The government of Turkey offered a warm welcome to a delegation representing the jihadist terrorist organization Hamas on Wednesday, expressing support for its cause and accusing the government of Israel of “genocide” for engaging in self-defense operations against the group.

Turkish authorities on Monday arrested cartoonist Dogan Pehlevan for committing an “Islamophobic hate crime” by drawing a cartoon allegedly depicting Islam’s prophet Muhammad. 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday that his country’s chances of buying advanced F-35 fighter jets from the United States are looking up after his meeting with President Donald Trump at the NATO summit this week.

Turkish strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan reportedly warned in a conversation with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Friday that Europe could face a new mass migration wave and “nuclear leakage” if the conflict between Iran and Israel escalates.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday condemned Israel’s airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear program and, in his typically self-aggrandizing manner, offered his “state wisdom and deep experience” to negotiate an end to the conflict.

Human rights activist and former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom testified before Congress on Tuesday about the persecution he had personally experienced from the Islamist regime in Turkey, warning that strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s stranglehold on power is a threat to NATO.

Reports on Thursday confirmed that Turkish Islamist strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan had organized a constitutional committee, featuring ten lawyers and mostly senior members of his Justice and Development Party (AKP), to replace the nation’s current constitution.

Islamist Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters on Thursday that he has “no interest” in running for another term in office during remarks calling for the country to draft an entirely new constitution.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that Russia would make “adjustments” in its demands to Ukraine “due to developments on the ground,” a vague declaration following the Kremlin’s confirmation that strongman Vladimir Putin would reject Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s call to meet in person.

Progress on Russia-Ukraine peace talks will depend on a leaders meeting with President Vladimir Putin, President Donald Trump said. 

President Donald Trump spoke positively of his meeting Wednesday with Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia.

The Kremlin has refused to confirm who’s going to Turkey and whether it will include Putin while Ukraine has said that Zelensky will only sit down with the Russian leader.

Soon after President Donald Trump arrived in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, the White House said he was prepared to meet with Ahmed al-Sharaa, the former al-Qaeda and Islamic State lieutenant who has governed Syria since his insurgent alliance toppled dictator Bashar Assad in December.

The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a militant Kurdish separatist organization in Turkey, confirmed Monday it will disband after 40 years of conflict and over 40,000 deaths.

Former Foreign Minister of Colombia Álvaro Leyva revealed in a letter published on Tuesday that far-left President Gustavo Petro refused to speak to Chinese communist dictator Xi Jinping for the entirety of a lavish banquet on his official visit to Beijing in 2023 — an incident Leyva claimed as evidence of Petro’s drug addiction problems.