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 ...

As the conflict between Turkey and Syria keeps rising another incident took place on Monday where a Syrian Air plane was forced to land in Ankara’s Esenboğa Airport, by Turkish warplanes. It was claimed by official authorities that the plane was carrying military communication devices. An announcement made by Turkish Foreign Ministry said "Turkish jets have accompanied a Syrian civilian plane to Ankara's Es ...

"The increased terror attacks in Turkey is the price for the country's support for the 'Syrian people,' according to Iraq's exiled vice president Tariq al-Hashemi. Escalation in the terrorist activities of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Turkey is to be expected, because of Turkey's allying itself with the Syrian people against the al-Assad regime, fugitive Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashem ...

Forming an international coalition to impose a partial no-fly zone over Syria, in order to provide protection for the Syrian population on the run from the civil war ongoing in the country, has been under discussion among Western allies for the last few weeks, Turkish official sources confirmed to the Hürriyet Daily News on Aug. 24. The confirmation came after French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian had ...

Turkey says it can take no more than 100,000 Syrian refugees Turkey cannot handle more than 100,000 Syrian refugees and instead proposes a UN buffer zone inside Syria to shelter them, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said in remarks published Monday. "If the number of refugees increases to 100,000, we will not be able to shelter them in Turkey. We have to welcome them in Syrian territory" under UN a ...

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki said on Sunday he would favor improved relations between Turkey and his central government in Baghdad.“We favor the strengthening of relations between the governments. And we want relations with Turkey to be better than they were before,” Maliki told the Anadolu Agency. Maliki stated that Iraq would be happy if Turkey wants to boost ties not with Iraqi groups but with th ...

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in Istanbul for talks on the Syrian conflict on Saturday as fighting for control of the strategic city of Aleppo raged just 50 kilometres (30 miles) from Turkey's southern border. Clinton was to discuss with Turkish leaders boosting support for the Syrian opposition after Washington gave up on securing action at the UN Security Council against President Bashar al-As ...

Turkish Foreign Ministry strongly condemned comments by the top Iranian army officer blaming Ankara for the bloodshed in Syria and warning Turkey it would be next, as baseless and inappropriate, on the eve of Iranian foreign minister’s snap visit to Ankara for talks on 48 of its citizens taken hostage in Syria. “We strongly condemn statements of baseless accusations and inappropriate threats against our cou ...

Kılıçdaroğlu slams FM on foreign policy Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu is the most helpless foreign minister Turkey has ever had, Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu said Aug. 3. “I am saying he is the most helpless foreign minister because his starting vision was to have ‘zero problems’ with neighbors, but his ending point has been contention with everyone,” Kılıçdaroğlu said in an ...

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Kirkuk Governor Representative Necmettin Kerim. DHA PhotoTurkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu visited north Iraq city of Kirkuk today. His visit comes a day after Davutoglu met northern Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) leader Masoud Barzani, for talks that focused on the conflict in Syria, and at a time of notably cool relations between Baghdad and A ...

A critical meeting held prior to Foreign Affairs Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu's departure today for Erbil brought National Intelligence Organization Undersecretary (MİT) Hakan Fidan, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioğlu and Turkey’s Ambassador to Baghdad Yunus Demirer together to discuss the messages Turkey intends to deliver to Massoud Barzani, the leader of the Kurdish Autonomous Region in North ...

Turkish Foreign Minister Davutoğlu will pay a visit to northern Iraq by Aug 1 at the very latest to ‘share Turkey’s sensitivities and determination’ the issue of KRG’s recent joint mobilization with Syrian Kurds The Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) recent joint mobilization with Syrian Kurds could potentially cause further ethnic polarization along Turkey’s southern border, Turkish officials have said ...

Differences of opinion on how to approach Syria should not cast a cloud over Turkish-Russian ties, Turkish sources have said ahead of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s key visit to Moscow today. Although Erdoğan is expected to attempt to convince Russian President Vladimir Putin to drop its support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, Ankara is confident that the divergence of views on the Syr ...

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 ...

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 ...

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has said that when he described Turkey as playing a pioneering role in the Middle East, he did not mean it in a “hegemonic sense.” “We are the owners of this region with all the other nations, we own the problems of the region, this does not mean it is our property, it means solving the problems of the region shoulder to shoulder with the other nations,” Davutoğlu s ...

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy chair Faruk Loğoğlu has slammed Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu for saying Turkey has a pioneering role in the new Middle East, calling this view a “dangerous fantasy.” “I am only smiling at this. I interpret this as a fantasy. I wouldn’t have a word to say if it was a safe fantasy, but it is a dangerous fantasy. The Turkish foreign minister, w ...

Turkey blocks the participation of Israel in a NATO summit in May despite calls from NATO allies including the US. ‘There will be no Israeli presence unless they issue a formal apology’ for Mavi Marmara attack, says an official Turkey has blocked the participation of Israel in a key NATO summit that will take place in Chicago on May 20 and 21, despite calls from influential allies including the United State ...

As Ankara pushes Moscow to press on Damascus to adhere to the tenuous cease-fire, Khartoum solicits Turkey’s help on its recently erupt crisis. Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has asked Russia to put more pressure on Syria to implement the cease-fire that was to have gone into effect April 12 in accordance with a plan by U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan. Davutoğlu met with Russian Foreign Ministe ...

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu returned from China to Ankara yesterday, hours before UN-brokered ceasefire is expected to take effect. Davutoglu was firstly briefed by Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay on the contacts held by UN-Arab League Envoy to Syria Kofi Annan in Turkey's southeastern province of Hatay. Afterwards, Davutoglu conducted a coordination meeting on Syria which was held at Turkish Foreig ...

The new round of Iran nuclear talks will be held in Istanbul on April 13, says US Secretary of State Clinton. The US wants concrete results from the talks U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton conferred with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan about his nuclear discussions with Iran, a day after she declared that nuclear talks between Iran and world powers will take place in Istanbul on April 13. ...

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu will begin an official visit to Austria Thursday for talks focusing on Turkey's EU bid and Cyprus, his ministry said Wednesday. During Davutoglu's visit, Turkish-Austrian bilateral relations, Turkey's EU accession process and Cyprus will be discussed, alongside a range of international issues, a statement from the ministry read. The visit comes after a period of slow ...

French candidate Hollande promises to bring back 'genocide' bill French presidential frontrunner François Hollande has promised to bring back a government-backed law criminalizing denials of the 1915 events as genocide if he is elected even though the country’s Constitutional Council rejected a similar bill yesterday, Anatolia news agency reported. Hollande promised to reopen the debate in a peaceful negoti ...