by the way, Egemen Bağış first accused EU of ‘racism’ then backed down…

Egemen Bağış, state minister and Turkey's chief EU negotiator. AA photo
Egemen Bağış, state minister and Turkey’s chief EU negotiator. AA photo

This is another sign of how Mr. Bağış did rise so fast politically. He is a loyal follower of his party leader in aggressive rhetorics.

In Auschwitz, Turkey minister accuses EU of ‘racism’

from Yahoo news
The EU risks being besieged by a racist mentality “that emulates the fascist methods of the 1930s,” said Turkish EU Affairs Minister Egemen Bağış, speaking at a Holocaust commemoration event in Auschwitz.

Turkey clarifies ‘fascist’ EU claim

ANDREW WILLIS

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – The European Commission has said Turkish EU affairs Minister Egemen Bagıs could have been ‘better chosen’ his words after he used a Holocaust commemoration event in Auschwitz to say the EU risks emulating ‘fascist methods of [the] 1930s’.”

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Turkey outlines five demands from EU for ties

from Hurriyet Dailynews
A fair negotiation process tops the list of five Turkish demands for the establishment of healthy relations between the EU Turkey, State Minister Egemen Bağış says.

Fortress Europe: Greece bids to stem migrant surge from Turkey with guns, wire and a ‘wall’

from World news: Turkey | guardian.co.uk by Helena Smith

Greece is now on the frontline of Fortress Europe, as non-EU refugees pour in across the Turkish border

The border between Greece and Turkey amounts, on land at least, to two parallel roads and a ditch. On both sides of this weed-infested chasm, conscripts face each other down the barrel of a gun, some perched on observation towers, others striding, rifles at the ready, past mud-churned fields along the road.

End of visa regime one step closer

by JOOST LAGENDIJK
It almost went unnoticed. Last week, after years of negotiating, the European Union and Turkey finally agreed on a so-called readmission agreement. It means that Turkey has agreed to take back illegal migrants who are arrested in EU countries and who travelled to the EU via Turkey.

WikiLeaks: Erdogan Not in Control of Military

ANKARA (Hurriyet Daily News)?Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has allegedly admitted to being unable to control Turkish military flights that frequently cause tension in the Aegean region between neighbors Turkey and Greece, according to a leaked U.S. Embassy cable from 2004.”

Turkey says EU becoming ‘Christian club’

from Yahoo news
Turkey’s deputy prime minister said on Saturday that the European Union was becoming an inward-looking “Christian club”, slamming a lack of progress in his country’s bid to join the bloc.

Turkey’s accession to EU faces impasse

After BRIC comes MIST, the acronym Turkey would certainly welcome | Simon Roughneen

from World news: Turkey | guardian.co.uk by Simon Roughneen

The term MIST has been coined to describe the next tier of large emerging economies – Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea and Turkey. Can Turkey live up to the hype?

Acronyms have long been a favourite of policy wonks and policymakers, shorthand for describing the world and the changes taking place in it. Jim O’Neill, the Goldman Sachs economist who came up with the now-mainstream “BRIC” catch-all for four quite different economies ? Brazil, Russia, India and China ? has done it again.

Turkey to EU: No visa-free, no clampdown on migrants

The lack of policy entrepreneurship in Turkey-EU relations by Mustafa Kutlay

by Mustafa Kutlay
After experiencing a ?golden age? between 1999 and 2005, Turkey-EU relations have plunged into deadlock in the post-2005 period. Many domestic and international factors contributed to the worsening of bilateral relations.

Greece Tries to Stem Immigrant Flow From Turkey

from NYT > Turkey by By SUZANNE DALEY
Immigrants are coming through the border with Turkey at a time when Greece can least afford to be hospitable.

Turkey leverages economy for global power

by acturca

The Washington Times (USA) Sunday, January 23, 2011

By Patrice Hill, Istanbul

While much attention has been focused on China and India, other quickly emerging nations are establishing themselves as powers to contend with in their parts of the world.

Turkeys President Abdullah Gul delivers ...

Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul delivers a speech to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, eastern France, January 25, 2011.? Read more » REUTERS/Jean-Marc Loos

Ukraine, Turkey set up ‘strategic partnership’

from EurActiv.com
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was in Kiev yesterday (25 January) where he signed with Ukrainian host Viktor Yanukovich a “strategic partnership” between the EU’s two biggest accession hopefuls. EurActiv Turkey reports.

Turkey’s Gul says European Union access not crucial

from Yahoo news
PARIS (Reuters) – Accession to the European Union is not crucial to Turkey as it continues to face obstacles joining the bloc, Turkish President Abdullah Gul said in remarks published on Thursday.

Turkish PM not pilot in dogfight policy, says leaked cable

Healthy man in a sick Europe

Reviving its historical Middle East ties helps Turkey assert itself in the affairs of the Islamic world”

Hungarians fine with Turks in EU, as long as they come on Hungarian-made buses

Judicial reform, ECHR and Turkey

by ABDULLAH BOZKURT
By coincidence or great design, judicial reform was one of the key issues in the speeches of all three presidents from Eastern Europe who came to Strasbourg last week to deliver speeches and respond to questions raised by deputies in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).

The Turkish public and foreign policy making

by KLAUS JURGENS
The democratically elected architects of today’s Turkish international relations are confronted by multiple layers of obstacles. First, the present government was faced with the dilemma of creating a proactive foreign policy more or less from scratch as many predecessors believed that Turkey’s interests were best served by isolationist, inward-looking measures.

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