Turkey

Greece ready to back any Cyprus deal, says Greek PM

Greece will support any possible agreement that aims to resolve the longstanding dispute on Cyprus, the Greek prime minister has said. Prime Minister George Papandreou, who is also in charge of the Greek Foreign Ministry, called on his European counterparts to work together on the Cyprus dispute in a statement …

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Kurdish move leads to tension in Turkish Parliament

The ruling party’s Kurdish initiative heats up Parliament as the debate comes packed with plenty of criticism of the Justice and Development Party’s efforts and what many opposition leaders are calling intentionally bad timing. Tuesday was also the anniversary of the death of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern …

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Gül emphasizes Turkey’s growing regional leadership role at OIC meetings

Turkish President Abdullah Gül formally inaugurated the 25th session of the Organization of Islamic States, or OIC, meeting of the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation, COMCEC, Saturday morning in Istanbul. The 56 member organization is meeting in Istanbul this weekend to discuss greater cooperation in response to the …

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Turkey to finalise nuclear deal by December, minister says

Turkey expects to finish talks with Russia’s Atomstroiexport by next month on building its first nuclear power plant and will accelerate plans to construct more, Energy Minister Taner Yıldız said on Wednesday. Turkey has repeatedly pushed back a deadline to finish the tender, held in September 2008, at which Atomstroiexport …

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Erdoğan: Despite growing ties, Turkey still anchored to West

Turkey is still anchored to the West and closer ties with neighboring Iran do not indicate a change of course in foreign policy, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Tuesday, brushing aside criticism of his recent trip to the Islamic Republic. Erdoğan’s visit to Iran in late October and his …

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EU: Current situation with Armenia-Turkey relations can’t last forever

Current situation with Armenia-Turkey relations can’t last forever, so the perspective of rapprochement and border opening should be accepted. Scenarios of protecting regional interests should be developed, EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus Ambassador Peter Semneby stated. According to him, the war in Georgia has shown everybody there are …

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Obama to welcome Erdoğan to White House on Dec. 7

President Barack Obama will meet with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the White House on Dec. 7. The White House announced the meeting Thursday. Press secretary Robert Gibbs said Obama looks forward to discussing a broad range of issues with Erdoğan, including strategies for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Middle …

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Nothing will change in region after opening borders between Turkey and Armenia: Georgia’s former minister of economy

Nothing will change in the South Caucasus region after opening borders between Turkey and Armenia, since the routes of energy supplies will not change without solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, said Georgia’s former minister of economy, a senior fellow at the Fund for Strategic and International Studies of Georgia, Professor …

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