ISTANBUL

Türkiye's KIZILELMA, an unmanned fighter jet, scored a world-first in aviation history this weekend, the president said on Monday, arguing that the country is experiencing "this dynamism" across all fields.

The unmanned combat aircraft achieved a new milestone as it struck a jet-powered target aircraft with a beyond-visual-range (BVR) air-to-air missile, its developer Baykar said on Sunday.

Türkiye has expanded its national income from $238 billion in 2002 to $1.5 trillion now, setting a goal of reaching $1.9 trillion by 2028, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in remarks after a Cabinet meeting in the capital Ankara.

Full membership to the EU remains Türkiye's strategic priority despite obstacles, the president said.

He recalled hosting Pope Leo XIV and his delegation in Turkish capital Ankara on Nov. 27, saying they discussed key shared issues such as Israel’s attacks on mosques, schools, hospitals and churches in Gaza. He said Türkiye appreciates both the late Pope Francis' and Pope Leo XIV’s principled stance on Palestine.

Erdogan said he conveyed Türkiye’s sensitivity regarding preserving the ceasefire and ensuring humanitarian aid reaches Gaza, and protecting Jerusalem’s historical status quo.

He said the talks touched on threats facing the family institution, while both sides emphasized the significance of the UN-backed Alliance of Civilizations, which now brings together 160 member countries. The recent surge of Islamophobia in the West was also a key item on their agenda, he added.

Referring to attacks on two commercial tankers in the Black Sea, he said the Ukraine war appears to have reached a level that clearly threatens navigation safety in the Black Sea.

Targeting of merchant ships in Türkiye's Exclusive Economic Zone "signals a worrying escalation," the Turkish president stressed.

Ankara cannot excuse attacks on its Exclusive Economic Zone, "which threaten navigation, life and environmental safety," he said.

Erdogan said Türkiye is closely following the latest diplomatic efforts to end the war and consistently emphasizes that it stands ready to contribute whenever necessary.

Erdogan also said that he hosted South Korean President Lee Jae Myung the same day, and the two discussed broad cooperation opportunities. He announced that Hyundai will begin producing fully electric vehicles at its factory in Izmit, the province of Kocaeli.

He added that Türkiye and South Korea are also advancing joint defense projects and continuing talks on a nuclear power plant, with a new memorandum between Korea Electric Power Corporation and Türkiye Nuclear Energy Company taking the process “one step further.”

The president said he will also share his assessment of this year’s G-20 summit, hosted by South Africa, at his party’s group meeting, adding that they will present a brief overview of how far Türkiye’s relations with the African continent have advanced over the past 23 years.