Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan addresses his supporters following his victory in the second round of the presidential election at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey May 29, 2023. (Reuters)  

Politico: Erdoğan pulls out of European summit  

The Turkish leader, who won reelection Sunday, was expected to attend the meeting, which is meant as a show of solidarity against Russia. 

CHISINAU — A massive gathering of European leaders on Thursday has suffered its first high-profile casualty, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan pulling out at the last minute. 

The Turkish leader, who won five more years at the helm of his country in second-round elections on Sunday, will not travel to Moldova for the one-day summit, according to three officials involved in the preparations. 

The so-called European Political Community (EPC) — a new collective launched in the wake of Russia’s war in Ukraine — is meant to draw together European leaders beyond the EU. More than 40 European leaders will be present Thursday, including those from all 27 EU countries plus non-EU countries like Britain and Turkey, as well as the Western Balkan nations. 

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WNU Editor: Even though he won another 5 year term as President this weekend, the pressure is on Erdogan to change his policies …. Biden links Turkey’s F-16 sale with Sweden’s NATO bid in call to Erdogan (Al-Monitor). More here …. US ratchets up pressure on newly re-elected Erdogan ‘to change course’ (Arab Weekly). 

My guess is that he does not want to be pushed around at a conference where many of these EU leaders are not friendly with him in the first place.