Finland will become the 31st member of Nato on Tuesday, the Western military alliance’s secretary general has announced. The application was prompted by the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, with which Finland shares a long border. Turkey had delayed the…
Turkey approves Finland Nato membership bid
Finland will become the 31st member of Nato after Turkey’s parliament voted to approve its application. Turkey had delayed Finland’s bid to join the West’s defensive alliance for months – complaining the Nordic nation was supporting “terrorists”. Sweden, which applied…
Turkey says it will ratify Finland’s bid to join NATO
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says his country will start the ratification process for Finland’s membership to NATO. The announcement caps a nearly 10-month wait for Finland to join the alliance as Erdogan has delayed a decision on the matter.…
Kemal Kilicdaroglu: Opposition picks ‘Turkey’s Gandhi’ to challenge Erdogan in election
Turkey’s often divided opposition parties have come together to choose a single candidate to face President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in May’s election. Kemal Kilicdaroglu leads the main secular opposition party, the centre-left Republican People’s Party (CHP). Polls suggest a tight…
Erdogan indicates Turkey elections to be in May, 3 months after quake
President Tayyip Erdogan indicated on Wednesday that elections will be held on May 14, sticking to his previous plan for the vote. The date indicated for the election is just over three months after a devastating earthquake killed more than…
6.4 magnitude earthquake hits southern Turkey
A 6.4 magnitude earthquake has struck southern Turkey, weeks after a deadly quake devastated the region. Turkey’s disaster and emergency agency Afad said the tremor occurred at 20.04 local time (17.04 GMT). Witnesses told the Reuters news agency there had…
Top U.S. diplomat in Turkey backs NATO membership for Sweden, Finland
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday reiterated his support for swift NATO membership for Sweden and Finland. Blinken reiterated the support at a press conference with his Turkish counterpart Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu in Ankara on Monday. The two Nordic…
Blinken pledges long-term aid for Turkey after devastating earthquakes
U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, said during a trip to Turkey that Washington would help Turkey “for as long as it takes” after earthquakes rocked the country two weeks ago, as authorities carried out wide scale demolitions of damaged…
A week after catastrophic earthquakes, focus shifting to misery — and anger among survivors
As time goes on and the death toll steadily rises in Turkey and Syria from the massive earthquakes a week ago — and with hopes of finding people alive amid the rubble all but gone — homeless, grief-stricken and, in…
Baby born in rubble of Syria earthquake is named Aya and has new guardian
A Syrian baby girl whose mother died after giving birth to her under the rubble of their home during this week’s earthquake now has a name: Aya, Arabic for “a sign from God”. With her parents and all her siblings…