Turkey

The main opposition party in Greece has elected a former foreign minister and party rebel as its new leader, causing both concern and hope in neighboring Turkey. While giving a tacit support to Turkey’s EU membership bid, Antonis Samaras is also expected to purse hard-line foreign policy. The unexpected result …

Turkish-Armenian deals can only be ratified after the Nagorny Karabakh issue is resolved. This is according to Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who spoke at a meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov in Athens on Tuesday.

Turkey has waded into the row over Switzerland’s ban on mosque minarets, saying the decision highlights the resurgence of racism in Europe. The Swiss people voted to stop the building of minarets on mosques in a referendum on Sunday. Turkish immigrants account for about a quarter of Swiss muslims. In …

The status quo on the war-divided island of Cyprus will not continue and a solution should be found soon, the British minister of state for Europe has said. Speaking to journalists after his meeting with Turkish Cypriot President Mehmet Ali Talat, British minister Chris Bryant said the ongoing reunifying talks …

Turkey has planed to convoke it the near future a joint sitting of Greek and Turkey council of ministers on Cyprus issue. The first steps would be made by Turkish and Greek foreign ministers Ahmet Davutoglu and George Papandreou. The aim of Ankara is referendums to be held in Cyprus …

The Cyprus government rejected on Wednesday a Turkish proposal for a five-party conference under the United Nations’ supervision to discuss a solution of the Cyprus problem. Cyprus President and Greek Cypriot leader Demetris Christofias stated that the proposal was reminiscent of a procedure followed in 2003, which resulted in a …

Plans to open more negotiation chapters in the EU accession negotiations are being thwarted for political reasons and Turkish leaders are fuming. Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, speaking to the Daily News in Spain, says it’s not understandable. ‘We are criticized by the Europeans for not being fast enough, but …

Meeting with his Spanish counterpart Miguel Angel Moratinos in Cordoba over the weekend, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Turkey is very optimistic about Spain’s upcoming six-month European Union term presidency starting on Jan. 1. Stating that Turkey and Spain have strategic relations, Davutoglu said that during their meeting they discussed …

Bulgaria’s parliament is scheduled to debate on Friday a a declaration demanding that President Georgi Parvanov recall the Bulgarian ambassadors to Turkey and the United States. The center-right ruling GERB party, far-right ‘Ataka’, the rightist Blue Coalition and the conservative ‘Law, Order, Justice’ party (RZS) submitted on Wednesday the declaration, …

Interior Minister Beşir Atalay said on Friday that the government’s much-debated Kurdish initiative would not divide the country but strengthen it under the slogan “more democracy for everyone.” In his address to Parliament, he said the government’s initiative, which the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, has billed as …