The heads of states and political leaders from 12 member countries of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation convene in Istanbul for a summit marking the 20th anniversary of the organization. The summit will focus on sustainable development, sustainable growth, energy, climate change and political dialogue Leaders of the member countries of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) are set t ...

NATO said yesterday it would discuss Turkey’s accusation of Syria shooting down one of its warplanes in international airspace, as international actors as well as Turkey weigh measures against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Britain, another member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, offered its support for “robust” international action. “The [al-]Assad regime should not make the mistake of belie ...

Damascus needs to ‘pay’ for an attack on a Turkish military jet in international waters amid growing world pressure for action against Syria Turkey has found out that the order to down a Turkish jet was given by the Bashar al-Assad administration, while a ranking Turkish source said the Syrian regime “should pay” for the attack. According to radar traces provided by the chief of General Staff, the Turkish F ...

A detailed announcement about Turkey’s reaction has been made on Sunday morning by Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, who has attended all three high-level security meetings and has been engaged in intense diplomacy since the incident took place. FM Davutoglu said that the Turkish  plane was UNARMED and TESTING national radar systems when it was shut down in int'l airspace. He added "the plane then fell into ...

Based the first official announcement released by the Syrian administration on the F-4 jet crisis it was stated the Turkish warplane had been shot down for defense purposes. Referring to the fighter jet as an 'unidentifiable object', Makdisi stated that unfortunately Syrian forces brought the aircraft down only to realize later that it was a Turkish F-4 jet. Makdisi went on to emphasize that this was in no ...

Turkey denies arms shipment to Syria rebels Ankara denied Friday allegations that it is shipping weapons to Syrian rebels across the border, after a report claimed Turkey was among nations arming rebels fighting the regime in Damascus. "Turkey does not ship weapons to any neighbouring country, including Syria," foreign ministry spokesperson Selcuk Unal said when asked whether Turkey was involved in an alleg ...

Visa exemption for Turkish citizens traveling to the European Union will take effect in about 3 to 4 years, EU Minister Egemen Bağış said in Brussels a day after the bloc authorized the EU Commission to launch talks with Turkey on the issue of visa exemption. The EU minister held a one-hour meeting with European Commissioner for Home Affairs Cecilia Malmström, European Commissioner for Enlargement Stefan Fü ...

Turkey confirms that Syria shot down warplane Turkey has officially announced that one of its jets was shot down yesterday by Syria while vowing to take the necessary steps once the incident is fully clarified. "In the light of the information gathered, it's been understood that our aircraft was shot down by Syria," said a government statement issue following a high-level security meeting late yesterday. Se ...

Turkey has ended sanctions on France that were enacted after former French President Nicolas Sarkozy's attempted to pass a bill criminalizing denial of the events of 1915 as genocide, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said today. The move was based on Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's orders, Davutoğlu said during an interview with private broadcaster CNNTürk.  "We can see that newly elected Pres ...

Obama and Erdoğan discuss Syria US President Barack Obama and Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met at the G20 summit Tuesday to discuss the need for a political transition in Syria. Erdoğan has become a key ally for Obama in the three years since he took office and the two men have met and spoken by telephone frequently to discuss various Middle East crises. "They discussed the importance of mov ...

The leaders of the world's major powers will seek to buy the global economy some breathing space at the G20 summit Monday with new support for an IMF financial firewall and for Greece. LOS CABOS- European leaders were relieved to be able to attend the summit after clearing the hurdle of Sunday's pivotal Greek election, which gave parties that support Athens' EU and IMF-led bailout terms a parliamentary majo ...

Language and religion will be two important elements of the bridge to be established between the homeland and the soon to be nearly 6.5-million-strong Turkish diaspora, Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag has said. "If you can be unified, then an organized society of 200,000 people can be more effective than 500,000 unorganized people," Bozdag said, addressing numerous Turkish non-governmental organizations ...

Turkey's foreign minister says when Greek Cyprus assumes the European Union presidency in July his country will continue to collaborate with the EU, but will not attend any event Greek Cyprus presides over. Turkey does not recognize Greek Cyprus as a sovereign nation and opposed the Greek Cypriot presidency before reaching a solution. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu spoke on Thursday during a joint ...

Foreign Affairs Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu announces that the United Nations will soon be opening a center in Istanbul. Foreign Affairs Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu recently announced that the United Nations will be opening up a center in Istanbul and stated, "All of the U.N.'s regional offices will convene in Istanbul and Istanbul will become a U.N. city." Davutoğlu was commenting on Turkey's foreign policy miss ...

WEF executive chairman Schwab says Turkey gives hope to everyone World Economic Forum's founder and Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab who arrived in Istanbul yesterday was hosted by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan ahead of the summit. The meeting which lasted for approximately half an hour was closed to the press. In his opening speech at the forum, Schwab said Turkey has reconciled a predominantly Muslim ...

Western, Arab foreign ministers to convene in Istanbul to dicuss Syria Foreign ministers from several Western and Arab countries will hold an unofficial meeting in Istanbul today to discuss the ongoing crisis in Syria. The unofficial meeting will take place prior to the Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF), which is set to convene tomorrow. Diplomatic sources have confirmed that Turkish Foreign Minister Ahm ...

The large economies of the world are failing to help the poor countries, according to Turkish PM Erdoğan. The rapporteurs sent to undeveloped countries earn a lot but do not provide enough aid or assistance, he says The world’s developed countries are not doing enough to help poorer nations, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in his opening speech at a WEF meeting on the Middle East, North Afr ...

Iran blasts Turkey, Saudi, Qatar over ally Syria A top military aide to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei today accused Ankara, Riyadh and Doha of serving US and Israeli interests in Syria, in a veiled warning to Turkey of worsening ties. "The Americans, Israelis, and some European and Persian Gulf nations, in particular Qatar and Saudi Arabia, have delegated to Turkey the task of achieving their goal t ...

Turkish authorities have asked all Syrian diplomats to leave the country in response to the recent Houla massacre, daily Hürriyet has reported. The motive behind the decision was cited as the recent Houla massacre, where "110 innocent citizens, 50 of them children, were murdered." "It is not a possibility to remain silent in the face of such an act, which constitutes a crime against humanity," a Foreign Min ...

'"MarketWatch", a blog produced by the United States' Wall Street Journal, recently published an interesting article regarding Turkey joining the euro zone. The article openly suggests that if Greece should depart the Euro zone then it would be wise to add Turkey in its place. "If Greece ends up leaving the euro zone, as the nonstop flow of "Grexit" rumors suggest might just happen Turkey should take its pl ...

Erdogan: Turkey and Kazakhstan are strategic partnersTurkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey and Kazakhstan were strategic partners. ASTANA- Cooperation between the two countries will develop within the scope of this understanding from now on, added Erdogan after he signed a joint declaration on setting up a high-level strategic cooperation council with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarb ...

Advancements made by the sides in the Cyprus dispute should not been thrown away now amid an impasse in negotiations, according to the U.N. secretary-general’s special adviser on Cyprus, Alexander Downer. “There have been more improvements than the public realizes. The United Nations does not want these improvements to be wasted,” Downer said at a press conference May 23 in New York following a meeting with ...

Turkey is hopeful of bringing the country into line with EU standards by 2014, European Union Minister Egemen Bagis said May 21. "The important thing for us is not about when we will be a member of the EU; what is important is when we will apply the standards of the EU," Bagis told private channel SKYTURK360, noting that Ankara would accomplish the goal within the next two years. Bagis, who is Turkey's chie ...