Turkey

Turkey — Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew celebrated an Orthodox mass on Sunday (August 15th) to mark the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. The mass, at the Panagia Sumela Monastery in northeast Turkey, was the

President Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu held another round of talks Tuesday (August 10th) aimed at reunifying the divided island. They focused this time on the property issue. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s special adviser on Cyprus, Alexander Downer, described the discussions as “good” and said they will …

Cypriot President Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu held a meeting Wednesday (August 4th) as part of the ongoing talks to reunify the divided island. The leaders continued discussions on the

The start of the EU-sponsored gas transit pipeline Nabucco should be given with the construction of of a gas network connection between Bulgaria and Turkey within one year, according to Bulgarian Economy Minister Traikov.

President Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu met on Wednesday (July 28th) as part of ongoing talks to reunify the divided island. The two officials discussed the issue of property, involving numerous complex claims between the two sides concerning property seized decades ago. The UN Secretary-General’s special adviser …

Cyprus marked the 36th anniversary of the Turkish Army’s intervention on the island Tuesday, a move that effectively divided the island into Greek-dominated south and Turkish-dominated north. Eight years later, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was declared, which is only recognised by Ankara. In a joint declaration to mark …

Despite rising political tensions due to terror attacks, Turkey’s government seems to be standing firm on its democratic initiative aimed at boosting the rights of the Kurdish minority. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen named former Turkish presidential advisor Huseyin Dirioz as the organisation’s deputy secretary-general in charge of defence and planning on Friday (July 16th). The move came following a promise Rasmussen made when he took the post in 2009 to appoint a Turkish citizen as his deputy.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul will travel to Slovenia on a formal visit on Wednesday. President’s Press Office released a statement and said Gul’s visit takes place in July 14-15, upon an invitation of Slovenian President Danilo Turk.

One of Bulgaria’s right-wing nationalist parties, VMRO, said that it would ask Parliament to debate whether the country should hold a referendum on Turkey’s accession to the European Union, after the party claimed to have gathered 300 000 signatures from Bulgarian citizens calling for a referendum.