President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan signaled positive developments were on the horizon for Türkiye's relations with Greece and Israel, as he highlighted intense diplomatic efforts to revitalize relations, following a series of bilateral talks over the week.

Noting that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has changed "quite a lot," Erdoğan said his meeting on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly took place in a positive atmosphere.

He was speaking to journalists at a news conference in New York.

"We both welcomed it because there's nothing like peace," he said.

He also noted that the Israeli prime minister may visit Türkiye in the near future.

The leaders agreed to visit each other's countries soon, a statement from Netanyahu's office said. Israel's top-rated Channel 12 TV said Erdoğan may seek to mark the 100th anniversary of the Turkish republic next month with a pilgrimage to a major Jerusalem mosque.

There was no formal confirmation of the report.

Relations between Türkiye and Israel, former allies, crashed after Israel's forces killed 10 Turks in a 2010 raid on a pro-Palestinian activist ship that tried to breach its blockade on the Gaza Strip. Ankara expelled Israel's ambassador, a move reversed in 2016 but repeated two years later over the killing of dozens of Palestinians at the Gaza border. Israel reciprocally expelled Türkiye's envoy in 2018.

A visit to Türkiye by Israeli President Isaac Herzog in March 2022, followed by visits by both foreign ministers, helped the thaw.

Netanyahu himself was scheduled to visit Türkiye in July but a surgery he underwent led to the postponement of the visit. His predecessor Yair Lapid met Erdoğan last year, again, on the sidelines of the U.N. summit in New York.

Thessaloniki summit to take Türkiye-Greece ties forward

Regarding relations with Athens, Erdoğan said the upcoming Thessaloniki summit would be an important leap in Türkiye-Greece ties.

"We hope it will change many things and will mutually benefit both sides," he said, adding that the top diplomats of both countries would hold preliminary talks ahead of the summit.

"Our goal is to de-escalate tensions in the Aegean and Mitsotakis also has a similar attitude," Erdoğan said, adding that the upcoming summit would change many things in Türkiye-Greece ties.

Erdoğan also pointed that the two neighbors have been through serious natural disasters recently and these disasters brought them closer, which was further strengthened by diplomatic steps.

He warned against steps and statements that would damage the current environment of trust between the two countries.

Erdoğan and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis pledged to maintain the positive atmosphere regarding bilateral relations following a meeting on Wednesday.

"The leaders also confirmed the roadmap and timeline of contacts between the two countries, as agreed at the meeting of the Foreign Ministers in Ankara on September 5, which include: The meetings in mid-October of the Deputy Ministers for Foreign Affairs responsible for the political dialogue and the positive agenda; the meetings in November for the Confidence Building Measures; and the meeting of the Türkiye - Greece High-Level Cooperation Council on Dec. 7 in Thessaloniki," the Presidential Communications Directorate said.

Racism cannot poison Türkiye

Regarding recent provocations against tourists of Arab origin, Erdoğan said Türkiye would never let far-right groups to roam freely like they do in Europe.

He noted that he is in favor of having signs and banners in the language of tourists visiting touristic hot spots.

Calling racism and anti-Muslim hatred as some of the biggest problems in the world, Erdoğan said racism, which has been surging in European countries, has become a global pandemic and Türkiye is also affected by this.

He claimed that some circles, which aim to spread xenophobia in the West, attempt to do the same thing in Türkiye but warned them that their plan will not succeed.

"No matter how much hostility they sow, instigate and create hatred, they will get lost in the magnanimity of the Turkish people," the president said.

Erdoğan continued by saying that Türkiye will take legal action against attacks targeting tourists and that Turkish police are aware of the situation and have taken precautions to prevent such provocations.

He noted that there are attempts to show isolated incidents instigated by marginal groups as the norm, but this is not the case and that Turkish society will not allow such hatred spread.

"Provocateurs should know that they will be held accountable sooner or later," he said.

UNGA speech

In response to a question about his U.N. General Assembly speech, which resonated among many people across the world, as he touched upon global injustices, Erdoğan said he prepared in advance to make sure that he covered all topics of concern.

He noted that all leaders he spoke with told him that he did not leave out any issues behind in his speech and that Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim told him that he would proceed where Erdoğan left his speech from on Friday.

"We always talked about truth on the stage and defended justice," he said, adding that all statements he made at the UNGA stage were created based on directions of the Turkish people.

Erdoğan also said his famous message "World is bigger than five" has become a staple after his repetitions throughout the years and many global actors, including the U.N. chief and U.S. president, note that the current global system is insufficient to meet demands and issues. He said it was necessary to revise the current system with one which ensures peace and embraces humanity.

"Otherwise, the U.N. becomes a source of deadlock rather than a solution and further deepen chaos in the world," he said, adding that the embracement of his thesis that a "Fairer World is Possible" could be one of the first steps to be taken in this regard.

'Azerbaijan op. did not target Armenia'

Meanwhile, Erdoğan noted that Azerbaijan's anti-terror operation in Karabakh had nothing to do with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian or the Armenian state, it was targeting Armenian bandits in Karabakh, who attempted to arbitrarily hold elections, which disturbed Yerevan and Baku.

He continued by saying that Armenian separatists were warned numerous times but refused to smarten up and instead continued provocations.

"Azerbaijan took steps as they proceeded with provocations," the president said, adding that the operation was completed in a timely manner by hitting 90 positions.

Türkiye to continue to defend rights of Turkish Cypriots

Regarding the issue of Cyprus, Erdoğan reiterated once that the recognition of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus as an independent state would be the most effective step toward a solution on the island.

"We do not recognize other options," he said, adding that federation proposals on the island are not realistic and that Türkiye, as a guarantor, will continue to defend the rights of Turkish Cypriots in line with international law.

"We are waiting for the continuation of the door opened by the TRNC's accession to the Organization of Turkic States as an observer member. The recognition of the TRNC as an independent state by the countries one after the other serves peace and tranquility in the Eastern Mediterranean," he said.

He noted that Türkiye's roadmap would now focus on the full protection of TRNC's rights and effective steps to be taken to integrate the country in the international system.

On Wednesday, TRNC Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu thanked Erdoğan for urging the world to recognize his country’s sovereignty and establish diplomatic and economic relations.

Ertuğruloğlu noted that the Turkish Cypriot people are happy to hear that Erdoğan reiterated his calls for a two-state solution to the Cyprus issue and that he urged the U.N. peace force on the island to act impartially in his UNGA speech.

The island of Cyprus has been mired in a decadeslong dispute between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the United Nations for a comprehensive settlement.

Ethnic attacks starting in the early 1960s forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety. In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at Greece's annexation led to Türkiye’s military intervention as a guarantor of power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence.

The TRNC was founded in 1983. It has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years, including a failed 2017 initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries: Türkiye, Greece and the United Kingdom.

The Greek Cypriot administration entered the EU in 2004, the same year that Greek Cypriots thwarted a U.N. plan to end the longstanding dispute.

Türkiye fully supports a two-state solution on the island of Cyprus based on sovereign equality and equal international status.

'Family institution crucial for humanity's future'

Erdoğan also touched upon the importance of protecting family and expressed his disapproval of the indoctrination of LGBT ideology at an international level.

"You see the colors of the LGBT flag on the stairs as you enter the U.N. General Assembly and other areas in the compound," he said, adding that he would've liked to discuss the issue with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. He noted that anti-LGBT circles have a right to express their views as much as pro-LGBT circles because this was a "humanitarian issue."

The president said the family is the foundation stone of society and its strength is in direct correlation with the strength of society. He argued that "deviant" ideologies try to weaken the structure of the family and target youth, but Türkiye would take action to ensure that families, children and youth do not fall into the trap.

"We are determined to constitutionally protect the structure of the family," he said, adding that Türkiye was also ready to cooperate with other countries in this regard.

Erdoğan addressed the UNGA on Tuesday, highlighting various global issues, including the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, the Karabakh conflict, the Cyprus issue, anti-Muslim hatred and more.

Erdoğan 'believes' his economy team's policies to curb inflation

Meanwhile, Erdoğan reiterated his backing and said he "believes" in his new economy team of respected technocrats and the steps that have been taken to rein in inflation.

The president said he "hoped" they would start seeing the results of the new economic policies in the first quarter of 2024.

"I think we will start seeing positive developments regarding the inflation in the first quarter of next year. There are good signs right now," he noted.

Annual inflation rose to nearly 60% in August and is expected to increase further toward the end of the year. It had reached a 24-year high of 85.5% last October and stood at 47.83% this July after regressing to as low as 38.21% in June.

After winning reelection in May, Erdoğan named a new Cabinet, including two accomplished bankers, Mehmet Şimşek as treasury and finance minister and Hafize Gaye Erkan as the governor of the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye.

Under Erkan, the central bank launched aggressive interest rate hikes in a bid to tackle the country's long-term inflation issue.

The bank on Thursday raised its key interest rate by a lofty 500 basis points to 30%, marking a second month of aggressive tightening after Erdoğan expressed his strongest pledge of support for the economy team's policy overhaul.

The bank reiterated it is ready to raise rates further as needed to rein in inflation.

Earlier this month, the government lifted its year-end inflation forecast to 65%. Erdoğan said at the time: "With the support of tight monetary policy, we will bring down inflation to single digits again."

On Thursday, he said the officials told him that "we will start to get positive results as of the first quarter of next year.

"We trust them, we believe in them," Erdoğan said.

He stressed the fight against inflation was among the top priorities in the new medium-term program, unveiled earlier this month.

"How are we going to do this? With fiscal discipline, structural reforms, we will make our economy resistant to all kinds of storms," Erdoğan said.

"We've done it before, we'll do it again."

The new economic road map has garnered appetite among foreign investors, Erdoğan said.

"A crucial pillar of our program is attracting foreign investment to our country. Just preparing and announcing the program has already generated appetite among foreign investors," he noted.

"By harnessing this momentum, we will quickly move towards our goals."

Steps in energy drilling with Israel

Erdoğan also said Türkiye and Israel would soon begin taking joint steps in energy drilling, adding the two countries would also operate energy networks to Europe through Türkiye.

Erdoğan's meeting with Netanyahu in New York was primarily focused on potential energy cooperation between the two countries.

Erdoğan said the two leaders had agreed on mutual visits in the coming period, and that energy cooperation would ramp up after these.

"God willing, we will take this step without much delay and we will start energy drilling operations with Israel. We will also start operating energy transfer networks not just to Türkiye, but also from Türkiye to Europe," he added.

The meeting also focused on increasing bilateral trade volume between Türkiye and Israel.

"At the moment, our total trade volume is $9.5 billion," Erdoğan said.

"We agreed to raise this $9.5 billion trade volume to a minimum of $15 billion in the first phase," he noted.

Erdoğan added that he and Netanyahu had discussed forming a mechanism between their countries, including some ministries, to increase cooperation in energy, tourism and technology.

'Hopeful' about restart of grain deal

Meanwhile, Erdoğan said he remained "hopeful" that a solution could be found to revive the Black Sea grain deal with Russia and Ukraine.

He said he does not agree with the negative approach other leaders are showing toward his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, adding Russia could not be disregarded.

Russia quit the grain deal, brokered by the U.N. and Türkiye in 2022, saying that its own food and fertilizer exports, while not subject to Western sanctions, faced obstacles and that not enough Ukrainian grain was going to countries in need.

Ukrainian ports across the Danube River have since become a vital export corridor for grain, and Russia has targeted the route with regular air strikes.

Ukraine last month announced a "humanitarian corridor" to release ships trapped in its ports and to circumvent a de facto blockade.

Erdoğan earlier this month met with Putin in the Black Sea resort of Sochi to try to convince Moscow to reconsider its abandonment of the grain deal.

On Thursday, Erdoğan said he would again discuss the initiative with Putin, without mentioning a potential time frame.

Elon Musk to visit Türkiye

Furthermore, the president said Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk would "most likely" come to Türkiye soon and visit the country's largest aviation and technology festival.

Teknofest is set to kick off in the Aegean province of Izmir on Sept. 27 and last through Oct. 1.

Erdoğan and Musk have held a string of meetings both in Türkiye and on the sidelines of international forums, developing a friendship that they extended on Sunday in New York.

Erdoğan invited Musk to establish a Tesla factory in Türkiye.

For his part, Musk said that many Turkish suppliers are already working with Tesla and that Türkiye was among the most important candidates for its next factory.

Erdoğan also said Türkiye was open to cooperation on artificial intelligence and Starlink, the satellite internet venture of Musk's SpaceX.

"We discussed with Musk both Tesla's investment in Türkiye and taking joint steps in space studies. I hope they will conduct a joint study with our friends," he told reporters.

"I invited him to Izmir Teknofest. He will most likely come to Izmir Teknofest as well," Erdoğan said.

"If he comes to Izmir, there will be an Izmir Teknofest that will attract our young people very much."

Erdoğan said Musk had told him that he has been following Türkiye's breakthrough in combat drones and "found them successful."

"He is aware of the achievements of our country in the field of technology in recent years. This will also be a driving force for him to move his investments to Türkiye."