Sedat Önal

Turkey and the European Union will hold a political dialogue in Ankara on May 31, the Turkish Foreign Ministry has said in a written statement.

A senior Turkish official said after talks with Swedish and Finnish officials on May 25 that Turkey would not agree to the two Nordic countries joining NATO unless specific steps are taken to address Ankara's objections.

Turkey has called on Sweden and Finland to give concrete assurances in their fight against terrorism, particularly the PKK and its Syrian offshoot YPG, if they want to join NATO. The message was delivered to the Nordic states at a three-way meeting in the Turkish capital Ankara on May 25.

A senior United States official has described the role Turkey has been playing in the Ukrainian crisis as "pivotal," appreciating its mediation efforts between Moscow and Kiev.

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu held a phone conversation with his Israeli counterpart, Yair Lapid, on Feb. 20 ahead of a visit by Israeli President Isaac Herzog to Turkey.

The conversation came after a Turkish delegation, headed by presidential spokesperson İbrahim Kalın and Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Önal, visited Israel last week.

Senior Turkish officials held meetings in West Jerusalem on Feb. 17 ahead of a rare visit by Israeli President Isaac Herzog to Turkey, officials said.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog will pay a visit to Turkey upon the invitation of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on March 9 and 10 as part of an ongoing joint effort to normalize relations between the two countries, Turkish media reported on Feb. 15.

Senior officials from Turkey and Greece will hold the 64th round of exploratory talks on Feb. 22 in Athens, a dialogue mechanism that has been running since the early 2000s, amid an ongoing quarrel over the latter's continued efforts of the armament of the islands that must be kept demilitarized according to international law.

Meeting in Istanbul on Nov. 15, Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Önal and his Russian counterpart Andrey Rudenko discussed regional issues, including Afghanistan.

Turkey's deputy foreign minister reiterated Ankara's continued support on Nov. 12 for the Libyan Government National Unity and the political process.

Sedat Önal spoke at an International Conference on Libya in Paris that was co-chaired by France, Germany and Italy. He said it was very important that Libyans joined the group.