Turkey

The European Commission said Friday it has appointed an envoy to assist in the U.N.-brokered Cyprus reunification talks aimed at ending 35 years of division on the island. “The president of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, has decided to detach Leopold Maurer as his personal representative to the Good …

The informal meeting of foreign ministers of South-East European Cooperation Process will begin in Istanbul on Friday. The informal meeting of foreign ministers of South-East European Cooperation Process will begin in Istanbul on Friday. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu will host the two-day meeting. Foreign Ministers and deputy prime ministers …

Leader of Greek socialist party PASOK, Georgios Papandreou, who is the new Prime Minister of the country after winning the October 4 general elections, is to arrive Friday in Istanbul to take part in the informal meeting of the foreign ministers in the South East European Co-operation Process (SEECP).

Optimism is on the rise around the Aegean Sea after Greece’s main opposition party, PASOK, takes victory in elections, according to experts and observers. The man most likely to become prime minister, George Papandreou, is known for his friendly stance toward Turkey and a historic rapprochement he worked on with …

An Irish ‘yes’ to the Lisbon Treaty would create the legal conditions for future European Union enlargement, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said Friday at a meeting in Brussels. Turkey can help Europe become a major player on the international stage if Turkey is admitted to the union, EurActiv quoted Davutoğlu …

Russia is ready to extend a credit to Serbia and considers giving a loan to Bulgaria, Russian Deputy PM and Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin told journalists after a meeting with the finance ministers of the two countries in Istanbul where the IMF and World Bank hold an annual session.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who hosts the International Monetary Fund/World Bank annual meeting, wants to show that his $600 billion economy can survive the global crisis without IMF money. Turkey has been the fund’s biggest borrower this decade, drawing about $43 billion to help recapitalize more than 20 …

Relations with Turkey have become a hot topic amid Greek election campaigning with both the governing and opposition parties sharpening their anti-Turkish rhetoric as election day draws near. While supporting Turkey’s EU membership bid during his embattled premiership, New Democracy Party, or NDP, leader and Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis has …

Turkish Cypriot President Mehmet Ali Talat on Sunday met with Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos of Spain, which will take over rotating presidency of the EU in January 2010. “I informed Spanish Foreign Minister Moratinos on recent developments regarding the Cyprus issue. Because Spain will take over the EU presidency, …

Turkey and Armenia are expected to sign an agreement on establishing diplomatic relations on October 10, unnamed Turkish official said. Ministers of foreign affairs of both countries will ink two protocols whose contents have been already agreed to. Turkey and Armenia last month announced that they have agreed on two …