Turkey

Source : Guardian/UK | 03 Apr 2013

Turkey conquered the Balkans five centuries ago. Now Turkish power is making inroads through friendlier means. Two Turkish-run universities have opened in Bosnia's Ottoman-influenced capital Sarajevo in recent years, bringing an influx of Turkish students and culture to a predominantly Muslim country still reeling from a brutal ethnic war almost two decades ago.

By Ahmet Davutoglu | FP | 21 Mar 2013

Following its electoral victory in 2002, Turkey's Justice and Development Party (AK Party) embarked on an ambitious reform program in both domestic and foreign policy. The Middle East has changed dramatically over the past decade, but our government's foreign policy philosophy remains the same. In particular, our "zero problem with neighbors" principle remains alive and well -- and more relevant than ever to resolving the challenges facing our region.

Source : Al Arabiya | 27 Mar 2013

Israel’s apology to Turkey over the Mavi Marmara event will lead to an altered balance in the Middle East peace process, said Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in an address to lawmakers on Tuesday.

Israeli forces killed nine Turkish nationals aboard a vessel carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza in the 2010 incident.

A bilateral deal has been struck whereby Israel must cooperate alongside the Turkish government over the region’s peace process.

The move represents a more assertive stance for Turkey with regard to regional politics.

By Reuters | 01 Mar 2013

Israel’s prime minister accused his Turkish counterpart on Thursday of making a “dark and false” statement by calling Zionism a crime against humanity- a comment likely to hit efforts to repair ties between the two former allies.

The Turkish premier’s statement, made at a U.N. meeting in Vienna a day earlier, was also condemned by the head of Europe’s main rabbinical group who called it a “hateful attack” on Jews.

By Agencies | 02 Jan 2013

A group of some 20 Syrian soldiers including a general defected from the army Tuesday and fled to Turkey, joining hundreds of other ex-troops from Syria’s military, a Turkish diplomat told AFP.

“The soldiers who fled to Turkey include a general, three colonels and several other officers,” the source said on condition of anonymity.

By Al Arabiya | 31 Dec 2012

The Turkish government is considering chemical castration for sex offenders who target miners, a local newspaper reported Sunday.

The draft proposal, titled “Draft Law on Reproductive Health and Child Abuse,” is in the process to be made into a law. However, it doesn’t contain details on how to implement chemical castration on pedophiles, the Turkish newspaper Today’s Zaman reported.

The daily said that the Ministry of Heath will decide on the implementation.

Source : Anadolu Agency | 26 Dec 2012

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has suggested that he would have apologized to Turkey over the killing of nine Turks during a raid on the Mavi Marmara ship carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza.

“If I were prime minister, I would have apologized to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the Turkish people because civilians lost their life,” Olmert said while speaking at a conference in Tel Aviv on Tuesday.

Source : Agencies | 14 Dec 2012

The U.S. will send two batteries of Patriot missiles and 400 troops to Turkey as part of a NATO force meant to protect Turkish territory from potential Syrian missile attack, the Pentagon said Friday.

The order was signed shortly before Panetta arrived on an unannounced visit to Turkey to meet American troops stationed at the Incirlik Air Base, the last stop on a week-long trip that took him to Afghanistan and Kuwait.

Source : The Express Tribune | 13 Dec 2012

In an effort to promote trade an economic cooperation, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Turkey on Wednesday set up ‘trilateral trade council’ at a summit meeting among the presidents of the three countries. 

Source : Agencies | 06 Dec 2012

The parliamentary Coup and Memorandum Investigation Commission has indicated that the US State Department sent a cable to the US Embassy in Ankara in 1996 telling embassy officials to convince the Turkish military to take action against the government of the time, the Habertürk daily reported on Wednesday.

The parliamentary commission prepared a report about the Feb. 28, 1997 military coup, which contained the cable, which was labeled confidential and urgent and sent to the US Embassy in Ankara.