U.S. President Obama and Turkish PM Erdoğan had a meeting at White House on Thursday 16th May 2013. Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, EU Minister Egemen Bağış and Economy Minister Zafer Çağlayan were among the many representatives participating in the meeting on behalf of the Turkish delegation. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel also took part in the large meeting. The ...

It is reported that US State Secretary Kerry is scheduled to visit Ankara on his tour to Europe and Middle East region between February 24 and March 6. The secretary is known to have important issues on his agenda such as priorities to attend to after the crisis in Syria comes to an end. Among countries the secretary is expected to visit are the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, Saudi A ...

It is expressed by authorities that Turkey and EU have made a good start in 2013, regarding accession process of Turkey to the Union. In fact, it is also reported that new chapters are very likely to be opened in 2013 as expressed by Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert (head of Turkey delegation) at the Turkey-EU Joint Parliamentary Commission in the Turkish Parliament on Thursday. Referring to the meeting atten ...

The importance of Turkey has been endorsed again by a top important politician, namely Van der Linden, former Pace president. Mr. Van der Linden stated in an interview that Turkey was extremely important for the future of European continent. The former president of the Senate of the Dutch Parliament and former president of the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe (PACE) Senator Rene van der Linden we ...

It is a known fact nowadays that Turkey and the United States disaccord in regards several major foreign policy issues and have been experiencing sort of tension between administrations, from time to time. Now, on top of this unfavorable situation the most recent critical comments from the U.S. Ambasssador regarding the undemocratic nature of the Turkish judicial system has caused great disturbance in gover ...

Turkey’s possible membership in the Shanghai Cooperation would be interesting, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Jan. 28. A few days ago Turkish PM was reported to have said in a TV interview that Turkey was seriously considering seeking membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) as an alternative at a time when EU does not seem to have a bright future. The conflict of in ...

Turkey, in parallel with its foreign policies for the past decade has been trying to be actively involved in the ever so complex Middle East politics, in particular. As Turkish Foreign Minister has often put it, Turkey wants to secure its place among major players in the region. Within this scope Turkish PM has also paid plenty of visits to the countries in the region to improve relations with concerned cou ...

A very interesting development has been reported in regards to the practices of the current government in Turkey. It has been on the agenda for a while that the Turkish government has been receiving criticism from some western sources that the rule of law and protect political freedoms in Turkey does not comply with the standards accepted in the western world. To be in parallel to this argument some leading ...

In compliance with the agreement with Nato, Turkey has started to receive the Patriot missiles to help the country defend against any threats to come from neighbouring Syria. Germany, The Netherlands and the United States had agreed earlier to supply the ground-to-air missile batteries, which Turkey requested after repeated cross-border shelling from Syria, including an October attack that killed five civil ...

Turkey and Israel were two friendly countries in the Middle East until the Mavi Marmara raid by Israeli commandos a few years back. Since said incident, Turkey has been demanding an apology from Israel for having killed passengers on board after stopping the vessel carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza. It has often been stated since then that Turkey and Israel have stopped their direct relations in spite of se ...

It is reported that Turkey is trying to obtain the support of USA and Iran to influence Iraq’s Shiite PM Nouri al-Maliki to cease actions that could trigger a sectarian war in Iraq. The Turkish Government is known to be conducting talks with the two countries to share with them the vitality of the situation and reflect the concerns of Sunni politicians in Iraq over likely hostile attitude from over Prime Mi ...

Davutoğlu who is in Finland's capital Helsinki for an official visit held a joint press conference with his Finnish counterpart Erkki Tuomioja. He delivered some important messages about the conflict in Syria and President Assad and said that Al Assad was very close to being unseated. Davutoğlu went on to say it was not possible for the Assad regime to stay in power any longer. The minister also said that T ...

Iran keeps on declaring firm objections against planned deployment of NATO Patriot missiles along Turkey's border with Syria in case Syria takes a hostile action to harm Turkey. In fact, General Hassan Firouzabadi, the Iranian armed forces chief was quoted to say on Saturday that this issue could lead to a "world war" that would threaten Europe as well. To recap, Turkey had asked NATO for the Patriot system ...

Turkey was pleased to observe Brussels take the first step to give momentum its relations with the EU, prior to Ireland's term presidency to begin in January. The EU foreign ministers have approved of the Turkey paragraph of the enlargement decisions in their meeting in Brussels. It was noted that the word " accession " had been used for the first time in five years. EU have much space to Turkey in the enla ...

It is reported that Turkish-Russian Social Forum is planned to bring together Turkish and Russian businessmen, nongovernmental organizations, universities, religious officials, historians and law experts which is supposed to start a new era in relations between Turkey and Russia. It is also reported that the chairman of Turkish Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee is assigned to act as the chairman of Tu ...

Fule thanks Ergin for supporting EU reforms Turkey's Justice Minister was in Brussels to meet with EU Commissioner Stefan Fule for Enlargement and Neighborhood Policy. It is known that Turkey is not pleased with the pace things are moving in the process for its EU membership. Turkey uses all opportunities to express such disappointment. Parties made some statements in a press conference following the meetin ...

Davutoglu: Turkey will always stand by Libya and its people Turkish FM Davutoğlu attended a panel about Turkey and Libya in Ankara yesterday and held a speech at the opening. The panel was titled "New Region, New Relations: Turkey and Libya and was organized by the SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research in Ankara. Turkish FM delivered a speech and said  that Turkey would always stand by ...

As part of the modernization and development programs exercised by the government Turkey has mostly tried to do its part on the way to becoming a member of the European Union. Turkey on the other hand however has always been the party to complain EU has not done its part to comply with the commitments made as per agreements between 2 parties. EGEMEN BAGIS minister responsible for EU affairs currently has go ...

Just when the patriots are to be sent over to Turkey, United Nations Secretary General Ban ki Moon is expected to arrive in Turkey on Friday. It is reported that  Mr. Moon is scheduled to meet Syrians in Gaziantep, who fled clashes in their country and crossed into Turkey. Regarding other contacts UN Chief is expected to make, Mr Moon is reported to have scheduled visits to President Gül, PM Erdoğan as well ...

As part of the efforts to provide Turkey with protection measures against a possible Syrian assault the German parliament has agreed to send  two Patriot missile batteries to Turkey and deploy400 troops. Germany's cabinet also agreed on Thursday to allow utilization of AWACS planes, which are currently stationed in the region, within the scope of NATO operations. ...

Russian President Vladimir Putin has paid a visit to Turkey on which occasion several agreements have been concluded and signed between two countries. In the press conference after his meeting with Prime Minister Erdoğan Russian Head of State has made some important statements. After the meeting that was held on December 12th Putin said Russia's stance towards Syria crisis was similar to Turkey stance. Puti ...

PM Erdoğan made a statement saying the final decision on the deployment of Patriot missiles along the Turkish border with Syria will be taken after meetings with a NATO delegation, currently in Turkey for survey. Earlier Iran had criticised Turkey for deciding to deploy Patriot missiles in Turkey. Erdoğan slammed Iran saying the Turkish state takes orders from its people, only. Erdoğan went on to say “Have ...

Turkey has asked Nato to deploy  Patriot anti-aircraft missiles at its border with Syria. Nato in return has accepted this request and taken required action. However dispute over the issue has been on the agenda for a while with controversial comments from parties involved. In fact the  missiles has led to tension between the alliance and Moscow and Russian Foreign Ministry has made comments criticising the ...