Eurasia

Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said Tuesday that Turks living in Bulgaria were acting like bridges between two countries. “The social, political, and cultural relations between the neighbouring countries Turkey and Bulgaria are so strong,” said Bozdag during his 3-day visit in Bulgaria adding he believed the relations would even get better.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon discussed Thursday the escalating humanitarian crisis and increasing sectarian violence in Syria with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Broken diplomatic ties between Georgia and Russia are unlikely to be mended unless Moscow stops recognizing the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Georgia’s foreign minister said.

Tunisian police shot dead an Islamist militant in Tunis and two soldiers were killed in a blast near the Algerian border on Sunday, as the government grappled with growing security and political crises.

The overwhelming majority of refugees who fled the conflict in northern Mali were unable to vote in the first round of the presidential election because their identity cards had not reached them, according to a report by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.

Tunisia’s President Moncef Marzouki invited the Tunisian people as well as political parties and components of civil society to “leave their differences aside” during the 3-day Eid break, in a televised message

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius on Thursday called on all parties in Egypt to open dialogue, saying France is ready to assist any political process to reduce the conflict in the country.

Egypt’s Foreign Ministry clarified a stance announced by the country’s presidency on the end of mediation efforts aiming to break the political deadlock that followed the ouster of elected President Mohamed Morsi.

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday expressed “sadness” over the border clashes in Kashmir, and said India and Pakistan must take “effective steps” to restore normalcy on the frontier. Sharif told foreign ministry officials in Islamabad that he was sad over the incidents  involving Pakistani and Indian troops along …

Holland’s Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans affirmed here Thursday that Europeans were keen on the future of Egypt, stressing that his current visit to the country was to support the EU efforts to help create dialogue among Egyptian political factions.