It will be a busy Monday for President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan after a relatively quiet schedule last week and over the weekend. Erdoğan, as he told reporters on Friday, will have a phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump and convene the first Cabinet meeting of 2026.
Though Erdoğan said that the phone call would focus on the situation in Gaza and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, a fresh topic may be discussed as well: U.S. attacks in Venezuela that ended up with the capture of President Nicolas Maduro and the first lady on Saturday. Erdoğan has not publicly commented on the issue, but the Foreign Ministry has called for restraint, while the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) termed the incidents as a violation of international laws.
Erdoğan and Trump’s phone call is scheduled at 4 p.m. local time. He told journalists on Friday that Türkiye was engaged in diplomacy with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Trump and EU leaders. He noted that Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan would attend a conference in Paris on the matter. He also stated that they would discuss with Trump issues related to Palestine. Türkiye has played a key role in brokering the cease-fire between Hamas and Israel, and endorses Trump’s Gaza peace plan, including contributing to an international peacekeeping force for the Palestinian enclave.
On Monday afternoon, Erdoğan will inaugurate the first Cabinet meeting of 2026, which is expected to primarily focus on the terror-free Türkiye initiative for disarming the PKK terrorist group. Erdoğan and ministers will discuss the progress in the process, according to media reports. The meeting will also discuss the integration of PKK’s Syria wing, YPG, a U.S.-backed terrorist group, into the new Syrian army, a process which is also critical to expanding the terror-free initiative into the region.
Media outlets reported that the Cabinet would also discuss the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza amid Israel’s violations of the cease-fire, the Russia-Ukraine conflict and its impact on the Black Sea’s maritime security and Israel’s controversial recognition of Somaliland.
