Interviews

Speaking to reporters at the TEKNOFEST Southeast grounds on October 4, Selçuk Bayraktar, Chairman of the T3 Foundation's Board of Trustees and of the TEKNOFEST Board, talked about record attendance in Şanlıurfa, young people's "Kızılelma" ideal, the TEKNOFEST generation growing up in Azerbaijan, Fergani Space's work on a positioning system and reverse brain drain.

Speaking on CNN Türk on August 8, Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz said the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement is not an alternative to NATO, that a Saudi partnership in the KAAN fighter jet is possible, and explained how disarmament will be verified under the Terror-Free Türkiye law, the latest on EU visa liberalisation and the update of the Medium-Term Programme.

In an interview with TRT Haber on August 4, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar discussed Kirkuk oil and the Iraq–Türkiye pipeline, the latest on Sakarya gas and Gabar oil, deep-sea drilling off Somalia, security of supply in the face of the Hormuz crisis, energy projects for the TRNC, the goal of first power at Akkuyu, and offshore wind tenders.

In an interview with Doha-based Al Jazeera Arabic television, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan discussed the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, the US-Israel war with Iran and the Strait of Hormuz, developments in Syria, Lebanon and Gaza, the F-35 file with the United States, and relations with Russia and the European Union.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan answered written questions from Ghassan Charbel, Editor-in-Chief of the London-based newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat. Erdoğan discussed how the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement signed with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan came about, its collective defence clause and its contribution to Gulf security, the situation in the Strait of Hormuz, relations with Saudi Arabia, and developments in Lebanon and Syria.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan answered questions from US-based Newsweek magazine on the occasion of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly. Erdoğan addressed UN Security Council reform, the Iran-US war and the Strait of Hormuz, the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, his relationship with Trump, Israel, Syria, the Terror-Free Türkiye process, the Russia-Ukraine war and Türkiye's place in a multipolar world.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan answered questions from NTV on 19 September 2026. Fidan spoke about his visit to Damascus, the integration of the SDF, the Netanyahu government, the Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, the institutionalisation of the Mecca Alliance, Gaza, the Iran–US negotiations, grain shipments in the Black Sea, Greece, the UN General Assembly, CAATSA and the S-400s, the Terror-Free Türkiye process and artificial intelligence.

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan was the guest of Anadolu Agency's Editor's Desk on 8 August 2026, the day after Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed the Mecca Defence Agreement. Fidan spoke about the agreement's similarity to NATO's Article 5, its institutional structure, the possibility of its enlargement, the Strait of Hormuz crisis, the Gaza Peace Plan, the attacks in the Black Sea, the Terror-Free Türkiye framework law, Cyprus and the ASEAN Dialogue Partnership.

İlker Sözdinler, who founded United Payment, took it into international markets and saw it through an exit, is now the founder of Oleka Capital, working between London and Istanbul. Speaking to Fintechtime's September issue, Sözdinler discussed how fintech has changed, the signals he looks for in founders, Türkiye's growth-capital gap, how foreign investors see Türkiye and how artificial intelligence is changing the investment world.

Former head of the planning directorate of the German Ministry of Defense, senior expert at the Munich Security Conference Nico Lange said: 'The meeting, which will take place on June 24-25 in The Hague, should not be just a signal of partnership between Europeans and the transatlantic side.'

Ahead of his state visit to Türkiye, South Korean President Lee Jae-myung said his country will continue to value and strengthen its strategic partnership with "brotherly Türkiye," adding: "Türkiye is a strategic partner for Korea and an important hub in the Eurasia region."

Prof. Richard Falk, President of the Gaza Tribunal, says the contradictions between the West's response to the Russia-Ukraine war and to the Gaza genocide expose a clear "moral hypocrisy" in international law, arguing that the law is treated as a policy tool against rivals but as an obstacle when applied to allies.