Turkey

EU candidate Turkey has again threatened to freeze relations with the bloc over the thorny topic of Cyprus. Ankara is angry at plans to give internationally-recognized Greek Cypriot authorities the EU’s rotating presidency next July.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey told regional regions from Sarajevo they should create a new vision of the Balkans as a stable and prosperous region. Ahmet Davutoglu is on a several-day visit to Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu celebrates the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The foreign minister performed Eid prayer at Sarajevo’s Gazi Husrev Bey Mosque together with Bakir Izetbegovic, the Bosniak member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, on Tuesday.

The Turkish government has published a decree for the returning of all properties seized by the Turkish State in the last 75 years to minorities, their foundations or individual representatives.

Turkey’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Ahmet Davutoglu arrived in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where he will hold talks with the members of the BiH Presidency, the High Representative and the leaders of the main Bosniak political parties. Together with Grand Mufti Çeriç, Davutoglu will greet Turkish citizens and kinsmen in Sarajevo …

The Turkish military says 100 PKK members have been killed, while more than 80 others have been wounded during air and artillery strikes in northern Iraq. Up to 100 members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, have been killed in raids conducted by the Turkish military in northern …

Armenian clerics and US Armenian groups have been stepping up pressure on the US ambassador to Turkey after the diplomat said most of the Christian churches functioning prior to 1915 are still operating as churches in Turkey.

Turkey has contacted the US administration on Greek Cypriot plans to begin drilling for gas in the eastern Mediterranean. Greek Cyprus recently announced that it would begin drilling for oil and gas off the island’s southern coast on Oct. 1.

US President Barack Obama and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke on Thursday about the violence in Syria. “The two leaders underscored the urgency of the situation, reiterated their deep concern about the Syrian government’s use of violence against civilians and their belief that the Syrian people’s legitimate demands …

Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is to visit Bulgaria in September 2011. Erdogan will hold talks with Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Boiko Borissov, President Georgi Purvanov and other top officials, the reports said. On the agenda will be bilateral relations and the Nabucco energy project.