UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who met yesterday in Ankara, reaffirmed their ‘common objective’ of ending the war in Ukraine as soon as possible, according to a statement from the United Nations (UN). The parties stressed the urgent need for effective access through humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians and deliver much-needed assistance to devastated communities. Guterres expressed his support for Turkey’s ongoing diplomatic efforts regarding the war in Ukraine, noting that he and Erdogan agreed to stay in contact to follow up on ongoing initiatives.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated after the Cabinet meeting yesterday that he would hold a phone call with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. He said Turkey is continuing peace talks to end the war.
President Erdogan also criticized U.S. President Joe Biden’s recent statements on the events of 1915, calling them ahistorical and based on misinformation. “The U.S. president should learn and know history very well,” Erdogan noted. “We cannot forgive this attempt to challenge Turkey in the absence of such (historical) knowledge,” he said, adding that such statements on the events of 1915, which are recognized by various countries’ governments and parliaments, do not affect Turkey.
President Erdogan also announced that the work on a TRY 15bn social aid support package has come to an end. He also said the government will grant TRY 1.1bn to 32,572 farmers for their machinery and equipment purchases and rural infrastructure investments and to 418 entrepreneurs for their agriculture investments.
A Turkish court has sentenced prominent civil rights activist, philanthropist, and businessman Osman Kavala to life in prison without parole. The court in Istanbul cleared Kavala of espionage charges but found him guilty of attempting to overthrow the government amid mass protests in 2013. Seven other defendants were also sentenced to 18 years in prison amid boos in the courtroom. Kavala who has already spent more than four years in jail denies allegations that he financed the anti-government protests. In his final defense statements on Friday, Kavala said the claims are ‘not plausible’ and based on ‘evidence that is not evidence’. Human rights organizations and foreign governments have widely condemned Kavala’s persecution as unjust and political.
The Trade Ministry is working on a new regulation to resolve the issues and ensure more effective competition in e-commerce. The new regulation, which will consist of two main items, aims to prevent unfair competition and monopolization. According to the regulation, large-scale or dominant platforms won’t be allowed applications to remove competition. As a second step, digital platforms, that have more bargaining power than the sellers incorporated by them won’t be allowed to impose commercial conditions against these sellers in favor of themselves.
DAILY AGENDA
Trade Minister Mehmet Mus will meet with UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi within the frame of the Turkey-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) (5.00 pm).
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