Turkey

TURKEY The International Monetary Fund’s goal of reaching agreement with Turkey for a possible loan to the country doesn’t have to be achieved at the lender’s annual meeting next month in Istanbul, an IMF spokesman said. “Both the Turkish authorities and the IMF would like to reach a conclusion regarding …

TURKEY Contrary to the all-too-common statements in the press, Turkey and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are no more likely to sign an agreement on the sidelines of the upcoming IMF World Bank Annual Meetings in İstanbul than they were at any time before or after the summit, said Caroline …

GEORGIA The chairmen of the Georgian parliamentary committees on Foreign Relations and Integration with Europe will visit Turkey in November to promote inter-parliamentary relations. This agreement was reached during a meeting between the Georgian Speaker of Parliament, David Bakradze, and the Turkish Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davudoglu. Davudoglu also noted the …

TURKEY A recent report by former senior leaders in Europe that urged European Union (EU) to accelerate Turkey’s accession talks has reaffirmed the Turkish government’s determination to carry out reforms, a Turkish state minister told the semi-official Anatolia news agency Monday, Xinhua informed. State Minister Egemen Bagis, who is also …

TURKEY Deputy PM Bülent Arınç lashes opposition claims of ‘treason’ due to his government’s Kurdish initiative and praises the so-called democratic move, using the Kurdish expression ‘Xwede şi te razi,’ which means ‘thank you’ in Kurdish Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç censured opposition claims of ‘treason’ and praised the so-called …

TURKEY Turkey-skeptic European leaders should change their stance while Turkish government leaders should recommit themselves to the reform process, a group of experts recommended Monday for putting Turkish-European relations back on track. The latest report by the Independent Commission on Turkey, which is chaired by Finland’s 2008 Nobel Peace Prize …

TURKEY Turkey’s foreign minister has urged his European Union counterparts to speed up the process of his country’s EU membership bid and not let the Cyprus issue stall negotiations. In an opinion piece in Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter, Ahmet Davutoğlu said his country has started an “unparalleled reform” process to …

TURKEY Discussions picked up speed on both sides as Greek Cypriot President Dimitris Christofias announced Thursday that he would meet Turkish Cypriot President Mehmet Ali Talat for a second round of talks. Talat said Turkish Cypriots have other alternatives to consider if the Greek Cypriots “refuse resolution as they did …

TURKEY The European Commission’s progress report on Turkey, which is expected to be released on Oct. 14, is likely to include praise for the government’s democratic initiative involving the country’s Kurds and the recent protocols announced between Turkey and Armenia.

CYPRUS Greek Cypriot representatives had postponed the second round of peace talks following a dispute over a pilgrimage to an orthodox church in the Turkish Cypriot north, an official said on Wednesday. The leaders of the two rival communities were scheduled to start the new round of negotiations on Thursday …