Turkey's significant increase in exports of critical goods to Russia sparks fears of sanctions evasion, leading to urgent diplomatic discussions and potential ramifications for Turkey's relations with NATO.

Turkish exports of essential goods to Russia, crucial for Moscow's military production, have experienced a significant spike in 2023.

This surge has intensified worries about potential sanctions circumvention, with the United States and the European Union actively seeking to curb Russia's access to dual-use goods through third-party nations.

According to the Turkish president's office, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi discussed approaches toward a durable ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and agreed to sustain coordinating efforts on the topic.

The Turkish media has a “big role” in proving the use of white phosphorus by Israel in the Gaza Strip, a French lawyer has said, Anadolu Agency reports.

Gilles Devers, the lawyer who advocates Palestinians’ rights at the International Criminal Court (ICC), attended a meeting in the Parisian suburb of Stains on Saturday about the complaint that was filed on Nov. 9 against Israel’s alleged war crimes.

He criticized the French officials for their indifference towards what happens in the Middle East and the attacks targeting Palestinian civilians.

Turkish forces conducted on Friday evening airstrikes against 17 targets of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in a cross-border operation in northern Iraq, said the Defense Ministry.

In a statement, the ministry said the operation was carried out in the Metina, Hakurk, Gara, and Qandil regions, hitting 19 caves, caches and shelters believed to house senior PKK members.

It added that "many terrorists were neutralized," without giving the exact number.

Ankara plans to ask the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to investigate whether Israel possesses nuclear weapons, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced.

According to the Turkish president, Israel is among the few nations not signatory to the 1968 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. He stressed the significance of this step in balancing strategic interests in the region, and asserted that Turkey would continue to exert pressure on Israel regarding its nuclear capabilities.

Approximately 1,000 boats will gather in Turkey on Wednesday before heading toward Gaza in an attempt to break the Israeli blockade and disrupt maritime trade coming into Israel during the war with Hamas, in an apparent repeat of similar attempts from over a decade ago.

In an interview with Turkish news website Haber7, Volkan Okçu, one of the organizers of the protest, indicated the boats will carry 4,500 people from 40 countries, “including anti-Zionist Jews.”

More than 10,000 civilians have been killed in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion last year, the United Nations says, with about half of the deaths in the past three months taking place far behind the front lines.

The actual toll is expected to be “significantly higher” than the official tally since corroboration work is ongoing, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine said on Tuesday.

Ankara uses diplomatic means to break the blockade of the Gaza Strip, but may opt for other ways if these efforts fail, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said.

"We are now employing diplomatic means to break the [Gaza] blockade. Unless these methods work, there are other ways," he said in an interview with the Al Jazeera television channel.

Türkiye will ask international inspectors to determine whether Israel has nuclear weapons, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Saturday. 

Speaking to reporters on his flight home from Germany, the Turkish leader noted that Israel is among the few countries that are not parties to the 1968 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

Erdogan said Ankara would ask the International Atomic Energy Agency to investigate whether the Jewish state has a nuclear arsenal.