Eurasia Press & News
GEORGIA The chairmen of the Georgian parliamentary committees on Foreign Relations and Integration with Europe will visit Turkey in November to promote inter-parliamentary relations. This agreement was reached during a meeting between the Georgian Speaker of Parliament, David Bakradze, and the Turkish Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davudoglu. Davudoglu also noted the …
Read More »Report on EU bid reaffirms Turkey’s reform will: state minister
TURKEY A recent report by former senior leaders in Europe that urged European Union (EU) to accelerate Turkey’s accession talks has reaffirmed the Turkish government’s determination to carry out reforms, a Turkish state minister told the semi-official Anatolia news agency Monday, Xinhua informed. State Minister Egemen Bagis, who is also …
Read More »Arınç praises Kurdish move in Kurdish
TURKEY Deputy PM Bülent Arınç lashes opposition claims of ‘treason’ due to his government’s Kurdish initiative and praises the so-called democratic move, using the Kurdish expression ‘Xwede şi te razi,’ which means ‘thank you’ in Kurdish Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç censured opposition claims of ‘treason’ and praised the so-called …
Read More »Experts urge Europeans to respect Turkey
TURKEY Turkey-skeptic European leaders should change their stance while Turkish government leaders should recommit themselves to the reform process, a group of experts recommended Monday for putting Turkish-European relations back on track. The latest report by the Independent Commission on Turkey, which is chaired by Finland’s 2008 Nobel Peace Prize …
Read More »Turkish FM urges EU to speed up membership talks
TURKEY Turkey’s foreign minister has urged his European Union counterparts to speed up the process of his country’s EU membership bid and not let the Cyprus issue stall negotiations. In an opinion piece in Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter, Ahmet Davutoğlu said his country has started an “unparalleled reform” process to …
Read More »Talat: Turkish Cypriots have alternatives
TURKEY Discussions picked up speed on both sides as Greek Cypriot President Dimitris Christofias announced Thursday that he would meet Turkish Cypriot President Mehmet Ali Talat for a second round of talks. Talat said Turkish Cypriots have other alternatives to consider if the Greek Cypriots “refuse resolution as they did …
Read More »Democratic initiative, protocols with Armenia likely to be praised in EU progress report on Turkey
TURKEY The European Commission’s progress report on Turkey, which is expected to be released on Oct. 14, is likely to include praise for the government’s democratic initiative involving the country’s Kurds and the recent protocols announced between Turkey and Armenia.
Read More »Greek Cypriots postpone second round of peace talks
CYPRUS Greek Cypriot representatives had postponed the second round of peace talks following a dispute over a pilgrimage to an orthodox church in the Turkish Cypriot north, an official said on Wednesday. The leaders of the two rival communities were scheduled to start the new round of negotiations on Thursday …
Read More »Turkey’s opposition parties criticize normalization talks with Armenia
TURKEY Turkey’s opposition parties on Tuesday criticized the government’s move to start talks on establishing diplomatic ties with the country’s long-time foe Armenia for making unilateral concession. Armenia has not changed its policy enough or implemented necessary preconditions to allow a reconciliation with Turkey, the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet Daily News …
Read More »Hostile Turkey and Armenia to hold diplomatic talks
TURKEY Relations between hostile neighbours Turkey and Armenia have taken a turn for the better with the two countries’ agreeing to hold talks on establishing diplomatic ties. It was last year’s unprecedented meeting between their leaders in the Armenian capital which began the slow improvement after almost a century of …
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