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Election day has come and gone, and we don’t yet have a winner. This, of course, is not a surprise. Many experts, election officials and journalists have anticipated precisely such an outcome, and have sought to counsel patience. An election, after all, is not a day but a process, and the process is not complete until all votes have been counted. If we are unaccustomed to having to wait for the results, we are also unaccustomed to voting in a time of pandemic. The fact that we don’t yet know who our next president will be is not evidence of a system malfunctioning; to the contrary. It is proof that election officials around the country are taking the requisite time to make sure that all ballots – including all those cast by mail – are properly tallied. Counting early ballots – and some 100 million Americans cast their vote before election day – is labor intensive. Envelopes often need to be hand-opened; signatures need to be checked against those in-state records; and election officials will have to perform these acts while practicing safe-distancing. Some states, such as Colorado, have been counting mail-in ballots since they arrived; others, such as several counties in Pennsylvania, will only begin the task after election day. So patience is the order of the day. The integrity of the electoral system demands no less. Alas, this commonsensical message appears to have been lost on the president himself, who early Wednesday morning recklessly declared, “Frankly, we did win this election.” At a campaign rally in the key swing state of Pennsylvania on Saturday, Trump direly predicted that if election day passes without a clear winner, “You’re going to have bedlam in our country.”

In an escalation of the row between France and Turkey over Paris tolerating and encouraging Islamophobia, Turkey’s president on Monday called for a sweeping public boycott of French-made goods. "I call on our people to never buy French products," Erdogan said at the opening ceremony of a week in the capital Ankara honoring the birth of the Prophet Muhammad, insulting cartoons of which in France fed the row. Decrying rising Islamophobia in Europe, he said hostility to Islam and Muslims has become state policy in some European countries, a policy which enjoys support at high levels. Addressing his fellow world leaders, he urged: "If there is persecution in France, let’s protect Muslims together." He went on to say that as the European Parliament speaks up on every issue related to Turkey, it would be wrong for it to stay silent in the face of rampant Islamophobia. Earlier this month, French President Emmanuel Macron described Islam as a religion "in crisis" and announced plans for tougher laws to tackle what he called "Islamist separatism" in France. He condemned the murder of a French teacher who showed cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in class, but said France would "not give up our cartoons." Several Arab countries, as well as Turkey, Iran, and Pakistan, have condemned Macron’s attitude toward Muslims and Islam, with Erdogan saying on Sunday that the French leader needs "mental treatment." After Erdogan’s remarks, France recalled its ambassador to Turkey.

Pakistanis on Monday joined the campaign to boycott French products in response to recent controversial comments made by President Emmanuel Macron on Islam, and his decision to continue publishing blasphemous cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. While the hashtag, #boycottfrenchproducts, was among the top trends on Twitter in Pakistan, leaders and scholars urged the citizens to stop consuming French products. "After insults against the Holy Prophet by France and its president, will we still continue buying and selling, and import of French products? They will only learn a lesson when Muslims around the world will boycott their products...," religious scholar Muhammad Taqi Usmani tweeted. “The current trend of boycott of French products and anti-Macron protests around the Muslim world shows people's anger, and how much they are hurt by the French president’s statement,” Sirajul Haq, the chief of Jamaat-e-Islami, a leading religio-political party, told Anadolu Agency. Calls for a boycott of French products have been made in many Middle Eastern countries as well. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who earlier said the French leader needs "mental treatment," also urged Turkish citizens "to never buy French products." Pakistan's Prime Imran Khan, and other opposition politicians have condemned the French president for "attacking Islam." The country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the French ambassador to convey "deep concerns" over the recent "illegal and Islamophobic acts," and condemned equating Islam with terrorism. Khan also wrote to Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, asking him to put a ban on Islamophobic content. Haq, meanwhile, called for expulsion of the French envoy in Pakistan. Earlier this month, Macron described Islam as a religion "in crisis," and announced plans for tougher laws to tackle what he called "Islamist separatism" in France. He also paid tribute to a French teacher murdered after he showed cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in class.

The Armenian leadership must think carefully, they are already on their knees, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said in his Tuesday’s address to the nation. “We have brought them to their knees. We have shown them the place they deserve. We will drive them out of our lands! We will drive them out!” the head of state said. “Good news comes in every day. Every day, our flag is raised in a new settlement. This is the strength of the Azerbaijani state, the Azerbaijani people.” President Aliyev noted that for 30 years, the Armenian leadership has been spreading myths about a “strong army”, myths about an “invincible Armenian army”. “Where is this “invincible Armenian army?” Look at the way it runs away from us. It was all a myth, it was all a lie. We have exposed it,” he addedi

Turkish fighter jets neutralized 18 PKK terrorists as part of a counter-terrorism operation in northern Iraq, the country’s National Defense Ministry said on Friday. The terrorists, who were detected by reconnaissance and surveillance activities, were neutralized in the Qandil region, the ministry said on Twitter. "Our operations will continue until the last terrorist is neutralized," said the statement. Turkish authorities often use the word "neutralized" in statements to imply terrorists in question surrendered or were killed or captured. PKK terrorists often take shelter in northern Iraq to plan cross-border terrorist attacks in Turkey. In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S., and EU – has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants. The YPG is the PKK's Syrian offshoot.

A Turkish military cargo plane carrying medical supplies to assist the U.K.’s fight against the coronavirus pandemic landed in London, the Turkish Defense Ministry said on Friday. "Our Turkish Armed Forces plane carrying medical supplies prepared for the UK to help combat the COVID-19 virus has landed in London," said the ministry in a tweet. The ministry announced the help operation early Friday via Twitter by saying: "At the direction of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish Armed Forces aircraft that will transport to the United Kingdom the medical aid supplies prepared by Turkey’s Health Ministry to be used in the fight against COVID-19 has departed Etimesgut/Ankara." The medical aid supplies also carried on a message for the people of the U.K., reading: "After hopelessness, there is so much hope and after darkness, there is the much brighter sun. Rumi." The aid package includes protective masks and overalls. On Wednesday, U.K. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab thanked Turkey in a phone conversation with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu for sending medical supplies to help the country deal with the coronavirus pandemic, according to diplomatic sources. Raab said the move is an "indication of strong friendship between the two countries." Turkey also sent medical aid to five Balkan countries including Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Kosovo on Wednesday, as well as to Italy and Spain -- the countries in Europe worst-hit by the virus -- last week. After originating in Wuhan, China last December, COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, has spread to at least 185 countries and regions across the world. The pandemic has killed over 97,000 people and infected over 1.61 million, while more than 364,600 people have recovered from the disease, according to figures compiled by the U.S.’ Johns Hopkins University.     *Writing by Fahri Aksut

ANKARA Turkey will continue to fight all terror groups with resolution and determination, the National Security Council said late Tuesday. “Counter-terror operations, Claw and Claw 2, in northern Iraq will continue until terrorists are wiped off in the region,” the council said in a statement after its meeting at the Presidential Complex in Ankara. The council said Turkey is committed to creating a peace corridor in Syria with all its strength. Turkey maintains a determined and principled stance toward the protection of its and Turkish Cypriots' rights and interests in Eastern Mediterranean under the international law and abides by its commitments and obligations under international law and expects the same sensitivity from its allies, it added. Turkey will also monitor efforts for clarification of circumstances of an attack on a diplomat martyred in Erbil, Northern Iraq, the council stated.