Prime Ministry

Three parties in Turkey's parliament have reached a consensus on a joint stance against terror, PM Binali Yıldırım stated after gathering with opposition leaders on Dec. 14 to discuss a recent terrorist attack in Istanbul's Beşiktaş district. 

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım will meet with opposition party leaders on Dec. 14 to discuss the terrorist attack in Istanbul's Beşiktaş district over the weekend, which killed 44 people and wounded over hundred. 

Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım will visit Russia on Dec. 5-7, where he will discuss Ankara's  first steps to ensure that trade with China, Russia and Iran is conducted in local currency, along with several other key issues.

All accommodation expenses and other expenditures by the Turkish delegation will be paid for in Russian rubles, the Prime Ministry said in a statement yesterday. 

The results of a recent economy coordination board (EEK) meeting will be announced in detail on Dec. 8, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım has stated.

"We held the EEK meeting and our friends have now been undertaking technical work. We will make a detailed announcement on Dec. 8, when we return from our Russia visit," Yıldırım said on Dec. 5, ahead of a two-day visit to Russia.

Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor Harun Kodalak has denied that his office applied to the Prime Ministry for permission to hear National Intelligence Chief (MİT) Hakan Fidan's victim and witness testimony as part of an ongoing probe into the July 15 coup attempt in Turkey. 

The Turkish-Israeli normalization process is continuing, albeit at a slow pace.
On Tuesday, the Israeli Foreign Ministry nominated the deputy ambassador to Britain, Eitan Na'eh, as its new envoy to Turkey. 

Ambassador Mekin Mustafa Kemal Ökem has been named Turkey's new ambassador to Israel, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Nov. 16.

"He took up the position yesterday," Erdoğan told reporters before he departed for Pakistan. 

Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım held a meeting with Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli to offer two constitutional drafts on changing Turkey to an executive presidential system, also inviting the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) to participate in talks despite differing opinions.

Eleven lawmakers from the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) have been detained for failing to appear in response to summons by prosecutors asking for testimony in a terrorism propaganda case, a government office said in a written statement early Nov 4. 

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) wants a unitary presidential system. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has emphasized this numerous times. Parliamentary Constitution Committee head Mustafa Şentop said it one more time the other day. The proposal will be for the unitary, not a federal, presidential system.