Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan attends a press conference with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni (not pictured), at Villa Doria Pamphili in Rome, Italy, April 29, 2025. REUTERS/Remo Casilli/File Photo
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan has probably never held more global sway: he will host the first direct Russia-Ukraine peace talks in three years on Thursday, days after his country's militant nemesis, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), dissolved.
His growing capital as international statesman - working towards stability in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, and receiving accolades from U.S. President Donald Trump for it - is turbocharging Turkey's rising regional influence.
