During a visit to Turkey, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock spoke out on several thorny issues, including the country's Aegean islands dispute with Greece and Ankara's planned offensive in northern Syria.

Simone Tebet urged her voters to back Lula due to his "commitment to democracy." Former President Fernando Henrique Cardoso also endorsed his leftist former rival.

The Turkish president said his government would quickly start working on plans for the project — despite facing criticism from fellow NATO members over his relations with Russia amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.

The two leaders spoke over the phone in a further sign of their increasing closeness. Turkey has tried to remain a middleman amid tensions between Russia and NATO.

Can Dundar, the former editor-in-chief of Cumhuriyet, one of Turkey's main newspapers, discussed the press freedom situation in his native country during an interview with FRANCE 24. "If you are challenging the government's interests, you are branded a terrorist or a traitor," he said. Dundar added that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was trying to create chaos in a bid to win the next elections, scheduled for June 2023.

Over the past two decades, Recep Tayyip Erdogan has emerged as the undisputed master of Turkish politics. Elected prime minister in 2003, then president in 2014, he is gearing up for a hotly contested re-election bid later in 2023.

In December, Sweden extradited Mahmut Tat, a Turkish Kurd whom Ankara accuses of belonging to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which it considers a terrorist organisation

Turkish prosecutors have launched an investigation into the incident, which occurred during a Kurdish demo in Stockholm. Sweden said the act was an attempt to sabotage its bid to join NATO.

The Turkish president has indicated that a pivotal election could take place in May rather than June. Polls show a tight race in what could be a major test of Erdogan's rule.

The Turkish president reiterated Ankara's demands that Sweden extradite "terrorists." Finland and Sweden have made a joint bid to join the military alliance, ending decades of non-alignment.

A six-party coalition in Turkey aim to go against the block lead by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and undo his two-decade legacy, including reducing the president's powers.

In this special edition of Middle East Matters, we focus on the aftermath of last week's deadly earthquake in Turkey and Syria. Tens of thousands dead and millions in desperate need of basic food-stuffs, water, shelter and medical aid - frustration mounts over the response of Ankara and Damascus - both governments stand accused of a lack of leadership and accountability, and of mismanaging relief efforts.