Erdoğan: Türkiye ‘leading actor’ in resolving regional crises

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Friday that Türkiye is no mere spectator to regional crises but “the leading actor” in efforts to resolve them, pointing to the Iran war as the latest example. “Türkiye is not a bystander to regional crises but, as most recently seen in the Iran war, the leading actor in efforts to resolve them,” Erdoğan said during the opening ceremony of the Halkalı‑Istanbul Airport Metro Line.

NATO summit and year of summits

Erdoğan said Türkiye is preparing to host NATO leaders, including US President Donald Trump, on July 7‑8. Before the leaders’ summit, a NATO parliamentary summit will be held in Istanbul on June 28‑29. “Over the course of the year, many international events will be held under Türkiye’s hosting. In other words, 2026 will be, in the full sense of the word, a year of summits for Türkiye,” Erdoğan said, noting that these events would boost Türkiye’s brand value and confirm its role as a “playmaker” of global diplomacy.

New metro line

The Halkalı‑Istanbul Airport Metro Line, built by the Transportation Ministry, is set to ease access to air travel by cutting travel time between Halkalı and Istanbul Airport to just 30 minutes. Istanbul Airport, already a major air hub, was the second‑busiest airport in Europe and the seventh busiest worldwide last year, serving 84.5 million passengers. The new line will further enhance the airport’s connectivity and reinforce Istanbul’s position as a global transit hub.