Recep Tayyip Erdogan is a NATO leader who talks to Vladimir Putin. The Turkish president is a close partner of Donald Trump who maintains an open channel to Tehran, against whom Trump went to war. He's now a signatory to a new Middle Eastern defense pact that could see Turkey— officially Türkiye—come to the aid of Saudi Arabia or Pakistan.
In an exclusive written interview with Newsweek, published here in full for our members, Erdogan laid out an ambitious vision of Turkey's place in a world he believes is being reordered around new centers of power. "The world's center of gravity is shifting," Erdogan said. His answer to that shift is not to pick a side, but to stay in NATO, deepen ties with China, talk to Putin and keep Tehran on the line.
And despite what critics might describe as conflicting loyalties, he is explicit about the principle behind it. "We do not believe it is right to impose on Türkiye a choice between 'the West or the East,'" Erdogan said. The result is a foreign policy built less around picking a camp than occupying the increasingly valuable space between them.
For Erdogan, Turkey's geography—straddling Europe, Asia and the Middle East—is not a complication but its greatest advantage. The following interview has been lightly edited for clarity. Newsweek: You arrive at the United Nations at a volatile time for international affairs, one in which Türkiye is in a unique position between conflicts occurring in Europe and the Middle East.
What are your primary aims for this year’s General Assembly? Erdogan: The world is going through profound shifts. The Russia-Ukraine war continues to our north.
Conflicts to our south and east directly affect our region's security, economy, and stability. At times like these, it is the collective responsibility of the international community to expand the space for diplomacy rather than narrow it. Türkiye’s priority at the General Assembly is to prevent conflicts from spreading to other regions, keep diplomatic channels open and contribute to bringing the parties back to the negotiating table.
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