Tbilisi, Oct. 1, 2025
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan used his address at the UN General Assembly to spotlight the crises in Gaza and Northern Cyprus, while framing both as issues with implications that extend beyond Turkey to the wider Turkic world.
Speaking on Novosti Kavkaza’s “News of Turan” program, commentator Serikzhan Mambetalin noted that Erdoğan deliberately raised Northern Cyprus in New York, insisting that the international community could no longer ignore the island’s long-standing division.
According to Mambetalin, Ankara views Cyprus not simply as a Greek–Turkish dispute, but as a matter of Turkic identity dating back centuries.
Erdoğan also underscored solidarity with Palestinians, a theme that resonated widely across the UNGA. Analysts described his emphasis on Gaza as both a foreign policy marker and a message to Turkey’s domestic audience, for whom Palestinian issues remain politically charged.
The program suggested that the symbolism of Erdoğan seated alongside U.S. President Donald Trump and Arab leaders conveyed Washington’s tacit recognition of Ankara’s role in the Middle East.
Yet, Mambetalin argued, a parallel meeting between Trump and leaders of the Turkic states would be just as significant, creating space for Washington to engage with the region as a bloc rather than piecemeal.
On defense, Erdoğan’s team faced fresh scrutiny. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan acknowledged that U.S. export restrictions on aircraft engines remain an obstacle for the country’s KAAN fifth-generation fighter jet, despite earlier test flights.
The remarks were interpreted as a sign of tension within Turkey’s leadership over the future of its indigenous defense projects, and possibly as part of maneuvering among figures seen as contenders for the post-Erdoğan era.
The broadcast linked Fidan’s comments to emerging rivalry between him and Selçuk Bayraktar, the defense-industrial entrepreneur and Erdoğan’s son-in-law whose drones and new aircraft have become emblematic of Turkey’s ambitions. While Bayraktar’s projects draw popular support, Fidan is viewed as a system insider, fueling speculation over succession within Ankara’s ruling elite.
Mambetalin concluded that Erdoğan’s UNGA performance combined global themes with domestic calculations: reinforcing Turkey’s claim to leadership in the Muslim world, insisting that Cyprus cannot be sidelined, and signaling that the question of political succession is already shaping the language of Turkey’s diplomacy.
Source: Novosti Kavkaza (in Russian). Full video here
