Turkey

FM Davutoğlu seeks support for Armenian reconciliation

TURKEY Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu meets with three opposition parties to discuss the reconciliation process with Armenia and urge them to support the two proposed protocols in the upcoming parliamentary vote. Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu consecutively visited three opposition parties Tuesday afternoon to urge them to back the two agreed-upon …

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History of PKK in Turkey

TURKEY After Turkey’s 1980 military coup, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, gained strength in the Southeast, and four years later, the group began its armed attacks. Now, more than 20 years later, the residents of villages in the region still live in fear and wonder what their lives were …

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IMF deal ‘not tied to Istanbul summit’

TURKEY The International Monetary Fund’s goal of reaching agreement with Turkey for a possible loan to the country doesn’t have to be achieved at the lender’s annual meeting next month in Istanbul, an IMF spokesman said. “Both the Turkish authorities and the IMF would like to reach a conclusion regarding …

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Georgian parliamentary speaker and Turkish FM notes necessity to intensify inter-parliamentary relations

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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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