Turkey

PRISTINA, Kosovo As of Saturday (June 6th), Turkey lifted its visa regime for Kosovo citizens holding newer passports, not those with older ones issued by UNMIK. Foreign ministry officials say it reflects a new phase of bilateral co-operation.

ANKARA, Turkey Warplanes have bombed hideouts of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq, media reported on Sunday (June 7th), citing military sources. Turkish military jets conducted the bombings on Saturday evening after PKK militants were spotted on Iraqi territory, as ground forces shelled PKK targets near the …

Armenia’s prime minister Tigran Sargsyan made a speech in support to opening of the Armenian-Turkish border. Delivering a lecture “Crisis as an opportunity” to young professionals in Yerevan, he particularly mentioned, that Armenia currently is too dependent on Georgia. “2/3 of our foreign turnover is carried out via Georgia, transit …

NICOSIA, Cyprus The UN is not working on any plan to reunify the divided island of Cyprus, nor attempting to interfere in the negotiating process between the Greek and Turkish communities, UN envoy to Cyprus Alexander Downer said on Wednesday (June 3rd).

NICOSIA, Cyprus President Demetris Christofias said on Tuesday (June 2nd) he has made no concessions in the ongoing reunification talks, and has no intention of doing so. “Any such move would harm Greek Cypriots’ interests and efforts to find a solution to the island’s political problem,” he stressed.

Serbia and Turkey have signed a bilateral economic free trade agreement at the annual economic summit in Istanbul, which will take effect on January 1, 2010. Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Regional Development Mladjan Dinkic and Turkish Foreign Trade Minister Zafer Caglayan signed a free trade …

A majority of Turks support their government’s bid to join the European Union, but most say the bloc views it with prejudice because Turkey is a Muslim nation, a new study showed. Three out of four Turks believe the EU is trying to divide Turkey and 81 percent believe the …

NICOSIA, Cyprus Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat said on Friday (May 29th) chances are “quite high” for settling the Cyprus problem by the end of this year or early next. In an interview with Reuters, however, he warned that the current process may be the last chance to reunify …

NICOSIA, Cyprus Foreign Minister Markos Kyprianou said on Wednesday (May 27th) that UN forces in the country, known as UNFICYP, are still necessary despite the ongoing reunification talks between leaders of the two communities on the divided island. The forces, deployed in 1964, consist of over 900 UN staff based …

ANKARA, Turkey The newly elected Turkish Cypriot government said Friday (May 22nd) that it sees little hope that ongoing talks will lead to the reunification of the divided island. “The Greek Cypriot side is creating problems even on smaller issues. I am not optimistic for a solution, though I want …