Istanbul is set to host a global meeting focused on humanitarian aid to Somalia, which is scene to persistently high and alarming levels of food insecurity and malnutrition, with an estimated 4.7 million people - nearly 40 per cent of the Somali population - in need of humanitarian assistance.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's recent visit to three Latin American countries - Peru, Ecuador and Chile - is a continuation of an earlier focus on the region that started in February last year with visits to Cuba, Colombia and Mexico. It is no coincidence that Turkish TV dramas entered the Latin American market almost exactly at the same time.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday embarks on a major tour of Latin American countries in a bid to expand Ankara's ties outside its traditional sphere of influence.

This radical sea change and negative public diplomacy toward Erdoğan's image gradually found inroads in Turkey, leading some observers of Turkish politics to wrongly claim that the sociological basis of the "Erdoğan effect" has already expired. 

The recent massacre at Charlie Hebdo magazine’s Paris office sent shockwaves through Europe and beyond, with freedom of opinion and the press defended in the West as a fundamental principle and pillar of democracy. 

Given the current turmoil along Turkey’s eastern borders, many have forgotten that Ankara is still technically vying for EU membership. This bid, however, remains in the doldrums due to a combination of factors involving Turkey and Europe.
 

Six years ago tomorrow, the Hrazdan Stadium in the Armenian capital of Yerevan erupted into a wall of noise as two unlikely opponents lined out in the first World Cup meeting of Armenia and Turkey -- a match which became the first round of the so-called 'football diplomacy' between the two troubled neighbors.