ANKARA DAILY - 11 MARCH 2026
Turkish Retail Sales Climb 18.8% Year-On-Year; Erdoğan Tells Zelensky Iran War Must Not Derail Ukraine Peace; Nordic Monitor Reports Erdoğan Aide Who Said Turkey "At War With Crusaders" Named Vatican Ambassador
Erdoğan Tells Zelensky Iran War Must Not Obstruct Ukraine Peace Efforts
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that Iran conflict must not obstruct Ukraine peace negotiations.
Erdoğan Aide Who Called Turkey 'At War With Crusaders' Named Vatican Ambassador
President Erdoğan appointed former communications chief Fahrettin Altun as Turkey's ambassador to Holy See, positioning combative propagandist in diplomatic post.
IEA Proposes Record Emergency Oil Stockpile Release as Iran War Chokes Supply
International Energy Agency proposing largest-ever emergency oil reserve release as Iran war blocks Strait of Hormuz, threatening global energy security.
DRIVING THE DAY
SUMMARY: Turkey's retail sales climbed 18.8 percent year-on-year in January, led by food, drink, tobacco and non-food sales, reinforcing Ankara's economic recovery narrative as global markets swing wildly on energy shocks. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a call March 10 that the conflict in Iran "must not obstruct the peace efforts for Ukraine," marking Ankara's latest attempt to balance regional crisis management against its role in Ukraine diplomacy. Nordic Monitor reported March 11 that Erdoğan has appointed his former communications chief Fahrettin Altun, who said Turkey is "at war with Crusaders," as ambassador to the Holy See, placing one of Ankara's most combative government propagandists in the diplomatic post representing a Muslim-majority country to the center of the Catholic world. MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli accused the US and Israel of driving the region deeper into war, saying the "military and political will of the Zionist-imperialist alliance is steeped in blood, hatred and malice." END SUMMARY.
