Erdogan Says Türkiye Could Take Joint Steps with Elon Musk on Tech

Türkiye’s President and leader of Justice and Development (AK) Party Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends an election campaign rally in Istanbul on March 24, 2024, ahead of the March 31 municipal elections. (AFP)
Türkiye’s President and leader of Justice and Development (AK) Party Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends an election campaign rally in Istanbul on March 24, 2024, ahead of the March 31 municipal elections. (AFP)
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Erdogan Says Türkiye Could Take Joint Steps with Elon Musk on Tech

Türkiye’s President and leader of Justice and Development (AK) Party Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends an election campaign rally in Istanbul on March 24, 2024, ahead of the March 31 municipal elections. (AFP)
Türkiye’s President and leader of Justice and Development (AK) Party Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends an election campaign rally in Istanbul on March 24, 2024, ahead of the March 31 municipal elections. (AFP)

President Tayyip Erdogan said Türkiye could take joint steps with Elon Musk on technology if opportunities for cooperation in that field arise, broadcaster TRT Haber reported on Wednesday.
US President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday named Musk to a role aimed at creating a more efficient government, handing even more influence to the world's richest man who donated millions of dollars to helping Trump get elected.
"Musk is a businessman who works in the space and technology field," Erdogan told reporters on a return flight from Baku. "Technology isn't a field you can advance on your own, you absolutely need some cooperation. In the event cooperation opportunities arise in this field, steps can be taken with Musk," he was cited as saying.



Italian Journalist Cecilia Sala Released from Iran and Returning Home

This photograph taken in Pordenone on September 16, 2023, shows Italian journalist Cecilia Sala posing for a photo at the Pordenonelegge Literature Festival in Pordenone. (ANSA/AFP)
This photograph taken in Pordenone on September 16, 2023, shows Italian journalist Cecilia Sala posing for a photo at the Pordenonelegge Literature Festival in Pordenone. (ANSA/AFP)
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Italian Journalist Cecilia Sala Released from Iran and Returning Home

This photograph taken in Pordenone on September 16, 2023, shows Italian journalist Cecilia Sala posing for a photo at the Pordenonelegge Literature Festival in Pordenone. (ANSA/AFP)
This photograph taken in Pordenone on September 16, 2023, shows Italian journalist Cecilia Sala posing for a photo at the Pordenonelegge Literature Festival in Pordenone. (ANSA/AFP)

An Italian journalist detained in Iran since Dec. 19 and whose fate became intertwined with that of an Iranian engineer wanted by the United States was freed Wednesday and is heading home, Italian officials announced.

A plane carrying Cecilia Sala took off from Tehran after “intensive work on diplomatic and intelligence channels,” Premier Giorgia Meloni’s office said, adding that Meloni had informed Sala's parents of the news.

There was no immediate word from the Iranian government on the journalist’s release.

Sala, a 29-year-old reporter for the Il Foglio daily, was detained in Tehran on Dec. 19, three days after she arrived on a journalist visa. She was accused of violating the laws of the country, the official IRNA news agency said.

Italian commentators had speculated that Iran was holding Sala as a bargaining chip to ensure the release of Mohammad Abedini, who was arrested at Milan’s Malpensa airport three days before on Dec. 16, on a US warrant.

The US Justice Department accused him and another Iranian of supplying the drone technology to Iran that was used in a January 2024 attack on a US outpost near the Syrian-Jordanian border that killed three American troops.

He remains in detention in Italy.