The European Union has warned Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to cease his interference in a major corruption probe into high-ranking officials.

Defence lawyers for wartime Croatian Serb political leader Goran Hadzic argued this week that the charges against their client should be dismissed because the prosecution had failed to prove its case.

European Union leaders said Friday the door to a closer partnership with Ukraine remained open but not necessarily for the current Ukrainian leadership, which chose a bailout from Russia in preference to a trade deal with

Turkish police have used tear gas against thousands of anti-government protesters in Istanbul as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to break the hands of “plotters”.

On Wednesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel European started her first speech as head of the new coalition government stressed that security and defense policy “needs to become more efficient, more visible and more effective.” 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday welcomed the release from a Russian prison of Kremlin critic and ex-oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

Former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky has said he does not intend to return to Russia until a USD 550 M lawsuit against him and Platon Lebedev is settled.

Former Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, freed on Friday after 10 years in prison, said he would not return to Russia till outstanding legal cases against him were closed. Addressing his first press conference in Berlin on Sunday, Mr. Khodorkovsky made it clear he had been effectively deported from Russia …

Turkey’s main opposition leader has raised the pressure on the government over the massive graft probe in which ministers’ sons have been arrested, claiming that the government has lost its legitimacy since the prime minister is protecting the figures who are involved in corruption.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan threw down the gauntlet to his rivals, including “spies” and “traitors” Dec. 22, warning them against using allegations of high-level corruption to undermine his rule or he would “break their hands.”