Turkey’s UNGA scorecard

Дата публикации: 25-09-2026 16:30:00

Turkey’s UNGA scorecard
Greetings from Ankara.Welcome to AL-MONITOR Turkey, where we wrap up the leading stories of the week.This week, we take a post-mortem look at Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s New York visit. Plus, the latest on Turkey’s fund scandal.Wishing you a great weekend 🌞Ezgi (Follow me on X: @ezgi_akin)What topics would you like to read more about in this newsletter? Please share your suggestions with me at eakin@al-monitor.com.Leading the week Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi meets with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in New York City, Sept. 23, 2026. — Iraqi Prime Minister's OfficeWhile Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s New York visit delivered a breakthrough with Iraq, it yielded little progress in ties with Washington as uncertainty persisted over Turkey’s efforts to acquire F-35 fighter jets.Erdogan returned from New York on Wednesday, with his meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi emerging as the highlight of his marathon of talks on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.Bashiqa breakthrough: Following the meeting, Turkey and Iraq announced that Ankara would gradually hand over control of the Bashiqa military base in northern Iraq to Baghdad. The Turkish military presence in Bashiqa has been a contentious point between Turkey and the Iraqi federal government, which has repeatedly called on Turkey to withdraw from the base.Turkey established the base near Mosul in 2015 to train Iraqi forces fighting the Islamic State, and has continued using the base for operations against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). The Turkish-Iraqi agreement comes amid an ongoing peace process with the PKK inside Turkey. The militant group has fought against Turkey for Kurdish self-rule inside the country since 1984 but declared it would disarm and disband in May 2025 as part of the talks the Turkish government launched in 2024. Details are here.Nuclear grant deal: Another, albeit smaller-scale, highlight was a US-Turkey agreement on nuclear energy cooperation. The two countries signed a $2 million grant deal for technical work aimed at paving the way for the deployment of small modular reactors in Turkey, as Ankara seeks to diversify its nuclear partnerships beyond Russia and expand capacity through 2050.No Erdogan-Trump meeting: US Ambassador to Ankara Tom Barrack last week suggested that Erdogan and US President Donald Trump could meet but no formal bilateral meeting took place.The UNGA came amid Ankara’s efforts to acquire F-35 fighter jets from the United States. In 2019, Turkey was blocked from getting six F-35 jets it had paid roughly $1.4 billion for after Washington sanctioned Ankara over its purchase of Russian S-400 missile systems.Turkish media reported in July that Ankara was in talks with the United Arab Emirates for the sale of its S-400s for the removal of sanctions. However, Turkish journalist Mehmet Acet, who traveled with Erdogan’s delegation in New York, reported earlier this week that the UAE had backed away from the idea following Israeli objections. In July, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu openly urged Washington not to provide Ankara with the aircraft, arguing that doing so would undermine Israel’s regional air superiority.F-16 talks resume: With the F-35 track appearing stalled, Ankara and Washington resumed discussions over F-16 jets, a person familiar with the talks told me earlier this week. Washington approved a sale of 40 new F-16 Block 70 jets and modernization kits for 79 aircraft, but Ankara later dropped the upgrade kits while talks over the new jets stalled amid Turkey’s efforts to return to the F-35 program. Other top storiesTurkish police surround Istanbul's courthouse on Jan. 11, 2023. — OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty ImagesTurkey has been consumed for nearly two weeks by one of its biggest financial scandals in years, involving more than $18 billion in assets that has affected more than 455,000 investors. The scandal erupted last week after funds heavily invested in artificially inflated stocks struggled to meet withdrawal requests, triggering a domino-like market selloff. Regulators have since ordered 131 funds into liquidation, with their holdings to be sold and proceeds returned to investors.As of Friday, 45 suspects were jailed pending trial, including founders and executives of the funds. Public anger deepened as prosecutors moved to seize two private jets, a luxury yacht and high-end cars linked to suspects, with many Turks now asking how such conspicuous wealth and extraordinary fund returns had escaped regulatory scrutiny for so long.Barin Kayaoglu explores how Ankara plans to support Riyadh under the Turkey-Pakistan-Saudi Arabia defense pact. A Turkish official told him Ankara will help strengthen Saudi defenses through training, intelligence sharing and joint planning, but will stop short of joining the war in Yemen.Turkey warned that the Greece-Cyprus-Israel undersea power cable cannot cross waters where Ankara claims seabed rights without its approval, reviving Eastern Mediterranean tensions that triggered a Turkish-Greek naval standoff in 2024.What else we're readingAmnesty International raised alarm over Turkey’s widening crackdown on LGBTI groups and activists, saying mass arrests, online restrictions and pressure on rights defenders were part of a broader deterioration in civil liberties.As usual, don’t miss Nazlan Ertan’s culture newsletter, which rounds up the latest in arts, books, food and culture in Istanbul and beyond.
eakin@al-monitor.com
Fri, 09/25/2026 - 12:30



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