Syrian foreign ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi is reported by Sabah daily newspaper as saying that the Syrian authorities were working to find two missing Turkish journalists. Makdissi has rejected media reports that the journalists – Adem Özköse and Hamit Coşkun – were held by the Syrian authorities. “We don’t intend ...

Parliament Speaker Cemil Çiçek said Turkey’s failure to become member of the EU would not be “the end of the world.” Yesterday Çiçek held a meeting with Finnish Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen. Çiçek said he was grateful for the support given by Finland in Turkey’s EU entry bid. “The EU ...

In a press conference with Finnish Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan expressed support for Annan’s plan in Syria, Sabah daily newspaper reports. He noted that the Syran regime continued to carry out bloodsheds, and stressed that Syrian tanks had to be pulled back to the barracks. Erdoğan noted that the Greek Cypriots ...

Istanbul prosecutor has managed to identify the Israeli officials who participated in a deadly flotilla raid on a Turkish-owned aid ship in international waters in 2010, Sabah daily newspaper says. Activists who were on Mavi Marmara ship when the raid took place have examined photos shown by the prosecutor. One of the witnesses said that Gavriel Ashkenazi,...

Today’s papers give extensive front-page coverage to storms that ripped through Turkey yesterday.Hürriyet daily newspaper reports that electric poles and trees were uprooted by the strong wind. The winds have blown off roofs and sunk fishing boats. A construction scaffold in Istanbul collapsed in the storm. Filming for ‘‘Skyfall,...

Massoud Barzani, president of the autonomous Kurdish region in Northern Iraq, comes to Turkey today. Hürriyet daily newspaper reports that during his visit Barzani was going to hold meetings with President Abdullah Gül, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu. He will meet also Iraqi Vice-President Tariq al-...

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is in China for an official visit. Yesterday’s Zaman daily newspaper noted that the visit was expected to give impetus to the development of ties between Turkey and China. Zaman described the visit as “historic,” and said that this was the first visit of a Turkish Prime Minister to China in the last 27 ...

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said the “legitimate demands of the Syrian people must be met, right here, right now” and in what appeared to be a reference to a possible military action, stated that it would be imperative for the international community to defend Syrian people's “right to self-defense” if the UN Security Council ...

The death toll in a passenger plane crash in Siberia has grown to ۳۱. Twelve survivors are in intensive care, sources from the regional centre of the Russian Ministry for Emergency Situations say. All crewmembers of the crashed ATR-۷۲ plane operated by UTair were killed in the crash outside Tyumen, sources from air traffic control services have told ...

Georgian soldiers from the ۴۲nd light infantry battalion of the ۴th Brigade run during a demonstration for the press at Vaziani training area outside Tbilisi during the Agile Spirit ۲۰۱۱ joint trainings with the U.S. Marines on July ۲۲, ۲۰۱۱. Second drills in series of annual Agile Spirit exercises were launched at Vaziani on March ۱۰, ۲۰۱۲. Photo:...

The State Department will continue to look movements in Armenian- Turkish rapprochement, Deputy Spokesperson Mark Toner said at the Daily Press Briefing, on March ۳۰. “Of course, those issues, those topics are a constant source of – or an issue that we discuss with Turkey and with Armenia, in fact. So we want to see the rapprochement process ...

Police used tear gas and batons to disperse a group of about ۴۰ supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad who tried to approach a congress hall in İstanbul where representatives of more than ۷۰ nations gathered to discuss Syria. Tensions escalated when another group, consisting of opponents of Assad, confronted the pro-Assad group. Police formed ...

The law enforcers destroyed two gunmen in the Sergokali district in Dagestan in the small hours on Monday. “The incident occurred on the outskirts of Kadyrkent in the small hours on Monday. The destroyed gunmen are being identified. The details of the incident are being investigated,” a spokesman of the Dagestani investigation department of the ...

An Azerbaijan-Ukraine business meeting will be held on April ۴ in Baku as part of a visit of Ukrainian delegation led by Prime Minister Nikolai Azarov. The event will be organized by Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO). The meeting will bring together businessmen representing agricultural, energy, ICT, machine building, ...

•Amendments to narrow circle of entities falling under the law’s regulations; •Wording “directly or indirectly related” to be removed; •Fines imposed by the state audit agency will be reduced; •۰.۲% of GDP cap on donations/spending to be amended; •Courts to have more say over state audit agency’s decisions;...

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said his government is committed to overcoming obstacles to Turkey's democratization and prosperity bid created by certain groups which he called “intriguers.” The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) leader was speaking during the Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists of Turkey (TUSKON) ...

On ۳۱ March Defense Ministry and Public Administration Academy of Armenia signed a memorandum of cooperation. It will enable the professors and lecturers of the Academy to implement experience exchange with specialists of the Defense Ministry in issues like examination of the psychiatric state of soldiers, implementation of educational, cultural programs ...

During Tuesday’s summit Dmitry Medvedev explained his attitude to the opposition. He is impressed by positions of those who do not violate the law on parties. Radicals, who do not observe the Russian legislation, the president considers to be criminals. He suggests calling the non-system opposition “parties, which failed registration.” ...

Professor of the Baku Slavic University Rahila Geybullayeva will be participating in an international conference entitled “European social science history” on April ۱۱-۱۴ in Glasgow, Scotland. The international conference will be attended by representatives of more than ۴۰ countries.

Russia’s planned military exercises this fall was timed deliberately to coincide with Georgia’s parliamentary elections, scheduled for October, President Saakashvili said on March ۳۱. “It is not a coincidence that our neighbor scheduled its large-scale military exercises for second half of September, just several days before elections ...