Author: Steven Sahiounie

Türkiye and the US agreed on the significance of finding a way to end the conflict in Gaza, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday after the seventh meeting of the US-Türkiye Strategic Mechanism in Washington. “Türkiye, US in joint statement emphasize the importance of finding a way to end the conflict in Gaza, and to immediately overcome the humanitarian crisis,” the ministry said in the statement released after the meeting between Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and his US counterpart Antony Blinken. The statement also added that the countries relaunched the Türkiye-US Counterterrorism Consultations to “expand…

The Western countries are building up their military potential and pursuing a policy of total militarization in an attempt to defeat Russia, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has said. “What is happening now is madness. They all thought that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin would be easily defeat. Now they see that this is not so,” Vucic said. “The current trend is toward total militarization and a five-fold build-up in all respects,” he told the media while visiting the Belgrade Military Technical Institute and inspecting armaments on display. The Serbian leader together with Defense Minister Milos Vucevic inspected new weapons of the…

A US charity says it is loading aid for Gaza onto a boat in Cyprus, preparing for the first shipment to the war-ravaged territory along the new maritime corridor the EU hopes will open this weekend. The Spanish-flagged vessel Open Arms docked three weeks ago in the port of Larnaca in Cyprus, the closest EU member state to the enclave. “World Central Kitchen teams are in Cyprus loading pallets of humanitarian aid onto a boat headed to northern Gaza,” the charity said. “We have been preparing for weeks alongside our trusted NGO partner Open Arms for the opening of a…

Donald Trump will be able to stop the conflict between Russia and Ukraine if he wins the election in November and returns to the White House, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said. Orban, who has a good long-standing relationship with Trump, made the comment in a video message on his Facebook page on Saturday dedicated to his meeting with the 45th US president at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida the previous day. While he was in office between 2017 and 2021, Trump was “the president of peace, he enjoyed respect all over the world and thus created the conditions for…

Pedro Sanchez announced he will push Congress to recognise a Palestinian state before the end of his mandate in 2027. “We will do it because of moral conviction, because it’s a just cause, but also because it is the only way that two states – Israel and Palestine – can live together and coexist in peace and security,” Sanchez said. The Spanish leader is the highest-ranking and most well-known European official to condemn Israel for its attack on Gaza, joined only by politicians in Ireland and Belgium. In December, Sanchez said given “the footage we are seeing and the growing numbers of…

Head of the politburo of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has called for immediate efforts across the Muslim world to force an end to the war in Gaza in the days remaining to the holy month of Ramadan. In a statement issued on Saturday, Ismail Haniyeh urged heads of states, notable figures and clerics in Muslim countries around the world to expedite their political, diplomatic and legal actions to prevent the continuation of an Israeli aggression that has killed nearly 31,000 Palestinians in Gaza since early October. “Our people welcome Ramadan this year burdened with pain and hopes, and our…

Sweden announces an opening disbursement of $20 million for UNRWA amid promises of extra checks on its spending and personnel. Sweden revealed Saturday that it was going to proceed with providing aid to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) with an opening disbursement of $20 million after receiving promises of extra checks on its spending and personnel. “The government has allocated 400 million kronor to UNRWA for the year 2024. Today’s decision concerns a first payment of 200 million kronor,” the Swedish government revealed in a statement. It stated that in return for…

Yerevan’s Foreign Minister says that Armenia “do have European aspirations” and the idea of submitting a membership application to join the bloc is being internally discussed. Armenia is considering applying for membership in the European Union and is holding major internal discussions on the matter, Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan told Turkish broadcaster TRT World.  “Well, especially having in mind all the challenges that we have been facing during recent couple of years, three years, four years, many new opportunities are largely being discussed in Armenia nowadays,” Mirzoyan said in a YouTube interview on Friday.  “That will not be a secret if I…

Thousands of protesters marched in central London on Saturday to call for a ceasefire in Gaza amid ongoing bombardments by Israel after the deadly Hamas attack on its territory on October 7.Regular marches protesting Israel’s military response to the attacks have seen dozens arrested for anti-Semitic chanting and banners, promoting a proscribed organization and assaulting emergency workers.The march, from Hyde Park Corner to the US Embassy, was the fifth major demonstration of the year so far in the capital.“We will continue to protest until a ceasefire is called, and until there is an end to all UK complicity with Israel’s…

Pakistani lawmakers elected Asif Ali Zardari as the country’s 14th president in a closely watched and hard-fought election on Saturday. Asif Ali Zardari, 68, the co-chairman of the center-left Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and widower of the late two-time Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, clinched victory as the candidate of the ruling coalition. He faced formidable competition from Mahmood Khan Achakzai, a seasoned politician representing the southwestern Balochistan province and a candidate of the opposition Sunni Ittehad Council, a religiopolitical group that has become the new political home for lawmakers associated with the incarcerated ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party. The…