Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Thursday that Turkey expects the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia to fulfil a deal the group agreed with the Syrian government, under which it is to integrate into Syria's armed forces.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday that he didn’t think Russian President Vladimir Putin would go to talks in Turkey with Ukraine if he wasn’t there.

MUSTAFA KUTLAY is a Senior Lecturer at City St George’s, University of London, a Senior Scholar at Istanbul Policy Center, and a co-author, with Mina Toksoz and William Hale, of Industrial Policy in Turkey: Rise, Retreat and Return.

Turkey's finance minister said the country's economic transformation was on track and that the country was prepared to deal with slower growth.

For Turkey, peace with the PKK now would further reduce a weakened Iran’s ability to project power westward. Some groups suspected of being affiliated with the PKK, such as the Sinjar Resistance Units in northern Iraq, have been indirectly supported by Iran.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — President Trump said Tuesday that Secretary of State Marco Rubio will represent him at Russia-Ukraine peace talks expected to take place Thursday in Istanbul — after suggesting he might go himself to try to end Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World War II.

It began in Riyadh with Trump saying he wanted to make a deal with Iran, before meeting the new leader of Syria Ahmed al-Sharaa. A short flight on Air Force One then whisked him over to Doha where he signed financial and arms deals worth billions of dollars with the Emir of Qatar.

A landmark meeting in Antalya follows Trump’s surprise decision to lift Syria sanctions, handing Ankara a diplomatic victory.

President Donald Trump is visiting the United Arab Emirates on Thursday as part of his international tour in the Middle East. Follow here for the latest live news updates.