Turkey

The Bulgarian nationalist party VMRO is making formal steps to call a referendum on Turkey’s EU accession. On Friday, the party will formally notify the Parliament on its intention to start collecting signatures in order to request the holding of a national referendum, as required by law.

Bulgaria wants to participate in the European missile shield, and it is in its interests to do so, according to the Foreign Ministry. Speaking in an interview with Dnevnik published on April 15 2010, Foreign Minister Nikolai Mladenov said

President Barack Obama met with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the nuclear security summit in Washington on Tuesday (April 13th). They discussed the situation in the Middle East and the Caucasus, Iran’s nuclear programme, and relations between Turkey and Armenia. Obama thanked Turkey for its …

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou on Monday (April 12th) urged the government in Nicosia to continue talks aimed at reunifying the divided island, regardless of the outcome of the upcoming presidential election in the Turkish-dominated north.

Taking advantage of both being in Washington for the nuclear summit, the leaders of Armenia and Turkey have met to try and breath new life into efforts to improve ties. The get together between President Serzh Sarksyan and Turkey’s Prime Minister Reccep Tayyip Erdogan follows months of little progress since …

Turkey and Greece on Thursday announced a series of measures to build confidence between the two neighbors. The deal was reached in the course of the meeting between Greek Alternate Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas and Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. The five measures include joint educational programs

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in Paris on Wednesday that he hopes French President Nicolas Sarkozy will change his stance on EU membership for Turkey.

Greek Alternate Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas is due to arrive in Ankara on Thursday and meet with Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. The talks are expected to focus on open issues between the two countries as well as the marking of the sea border.

US State Department spokesperson Philip Crowley on Friday hailed progress made in the Cypriot reunification talks and promised Washington’s support for a “just and lasting” settlement. Crowley said the US was “encouraged” by a statement of progress following the latest meeting of Cypriot President Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader …

Bulgarian Economy, Energy and Tourism Minister Traycho Traykov and his Turkish counterpart Taner Yildiz have discussed a possible joint project for a liquefied gas terminal. The port will have a 6 billion cub.m. capacity and will be located on the Turkish coast.