Jailed leader of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Abdullah Öcalan called on PKK forces for a cease-fire and withdrawal from Turkey, in a long-awaited, historic announcement during celebrations of Nevruz, a spring festival, in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır on Thursday.

Serbia’s PM Ivica Dacic met with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon ahead on a UN Security Council session on Kosovo on Friday. Dacic informed Ban about the Belgrade-Priština dialogue and said that UNMIK should have a leading role in Kosovo.

The European Union gave Greeks Cyprus till March 25 to raise the billions of euros it needs to secure an international bailout or face a collapse of its financial system that could push it out of the euro currency zone.