President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke with reporters covering his day trip to Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan, where he attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the Iğdır-Nakhchivan Natural Gas Pipeline with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. His main remarks included the following:

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited Budapest on Sunday, along with heads of state and government from the Turkic states, the Balkans and Qatar, on the occasion of Hungary's national day.

There is no doubt that Türkiye has assumed the most influential role in the international arena since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. That role has two aspects. First, the Turks managed to take one of the few positive steps amid the Ukraine crisis by facilitating the grain deal and a prisoner exchange. Indeed, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s diplomatic achievements attracted plenty of global attention in 2022. Secondly, Türkiye made attempts at conflict resolution whilst seizing geopolitical opportunities created by the Ukraine crisis better than any other country.

There are three main reasons behind Berlin's passive approach to the Ukraine tensions. Among them, energy comes first

International focus has been on the Middle East for decades and particularly on Iran, Syria, Egypt, Iraq and Libya over the past several years. However, whatever is written about the Middle East, Russia is always part of the equation.

It is true President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Russian President Vladimir Putin have had an amenable relationship. Turkey and Russia are also both regional actors that share partnerships on many issues. The recent cooperation between the two countries is not as black and white as foreign affairs and alliances between countries were during the Cold War. To call this period of cooperation a "honeymoon," however, would be incorrect.

TurkStream substantially contributes to bringing to the foreground an aspect of energy sources that strengthens cooperation and provides economic benefit rather than conflict.

With Hungary, Bulgaria and Serbia to depend on TurkStream, Turkey’s importance to increase in terms of energy security

The fall of Tripoli could undermine European energy security and unleash a new refugee wave on already overwhelmed countries

U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to bring home thousands of American troops triggered a new rebalancing in Syria and the Middle East.

The U.S.' misguided actions and the EU's passive stance toward the Middle East and the Syrian civil war have laid the groundwork for the Turkish-Russian rapprochement

The Ankara summit, which facilitated closer cooperation between Turkey, Russia and Iran in Syria, fueled two concerns in Western capitals

In a world of intensifying international economic competition, neo-protectionism and aggressive growth, energy efficiency and procurement security rapidly turn into matters of prevalent national interest.

The neo-medievalism in regional geo-politics enforces passing alliances and unlikely groupings in several areas in the Middle East

According to United Nations records, Rohingyas constitute the most persecuted minority in the world. Their persecution has continued almost uninterrupted for decades.

Erdoğan and Putin, who discussed bilateral trade relations and amuch-debated solution to the Syrian crisis, completed their meeting more positively than ever

In order to become a central country in energy trade, it is first necessary for Turkey to reduce natural gas import dependence on a handful of countries. With LNG trading, Turkey will be able to achieve this independence.