Tonight: President Erdoğan has a busy week. The Central Bank cuts the rates again. Iranian women protest the death of Masha Amini in Istanbul. Conservatives protest the LGBTI+ community. And Istanbul’s mayor is under indictment, looking at prison time if convicted; but it’s not what you think. But our main story tonight: President Erdoğan has had a full agenda. Erdoğan has addressed the international community in the United Nations Headquarters in Midtown Manhattan where he praised Turkey’s achievements.
Everything from the Turkish COVID vaccine to securing the safe passage of grain ships coming from Ukraine. But he didn’t forget to call Greece tyrannical. But why President Erdoğan was really state-side was, he wanted to talk about that F-16 deal Turkey has been trying to close. Turkey was ejected from the F-35 program last year for buying S-400 surface to air missiles from Russia.
Uncontent, Turkey instead asked for F-16’s for the billions it had already paid for the purchase. Now, this wouldn’t have been that big of a deal, if President Erdoğan hadn’t attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit days earlier, and expressed interest in joining the club. The SCO is composed of several nations but most notably, Russia, China and Iran. Countries that the United States calls near-peer adversaries.
News Texts: Mehmet Tanverdi, Murat Türsan
Voice Overs: Kathleen Phelps
