French President François Hollande is preparing to pay a two-day official visit to Turkey on Jan. 27-28 upon the invitation of his Turkish counterpart, Abdullah Gül, to add new momentum to the relations between the two

The UN said on Thursday that Secretary General Ban Ki-moon met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Montreux, Switzerland to discuss the Syrian conflict.

While describing Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s recent visit to Brussels as “extremely successful,” the EU Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has said EU membership is an “indispensable goal” for Turkey, despite certain flaws and mutual resentments.

Bulgaria is ready to offer technical and expert assistance to Serbia in its path towards EU integration, revealed the Bulgarian Foreign Minister Kristian Vigenin. On Thursday, he met with his Serbian counterpart Ivan Mrkic, who is on an official visit to Sofia.

Ukraine’s opposition sought to ratchet up pressure on President Viktor Yanukovich after clashes between police and protesters turned deadly.

U.S. calls on Azerbaijan and Armenia to refrain from violence and continue peace efforts. The U.S. Department of State calls on parties to try to refrain from violence and continue

Ukrainian opposition leader Vitaly Klitschko blamed the government for escalating violence in an article published on Thursday, as another protest leader called for the President to stand down, and the death toll reached at least three.

International mediators opened a series of meetings with the Syrian Government and Opposition on Thursday in an 11th—hour bid to secure their participation in peace talks scheduled for the next day.

US President Barack Obama spoke via phone to Russian President Vladimir Putin on a number of issues namely the Syrian question and Iran’s nuclear programme.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius called on Wednesday, Jan 22, for immediate ceasefires in Syria and the opening of humanitarian corridors to deliver aid to civilians. Fabius, addressing an international conference in Switzerland, said: “This terrible situation, which is killing thousands of innocent women, children and