EU visa concessions for Turkey not on the horizon, diplomats say
EU visa concessions for Turkey not on the horizon, diplomats say
Brussels – The European Union is unlikely to respond to Italian-led calls for the bloc to start talks on easing visa restrictions for Turkey, diplomats said on Tuesday. The EU and Turkey are due to sign over the next few months a readmission agreement which would commit Ankara to taking back irregular migrants found to have entered the EU through the Turkish border. Italy, heeding a long-standing Turkish request, suggested Monday that ‘in parallel’ to the signature, EU states should allow the European Commission to start a ‘visa dialogue’ that could eventually lead to travel permits being abolished for EU-bound Turkish citizens. But diplomats speaking ahead of an EU interior ministers’ meeting on Thursday, which is meant to give political backing to the readmission deal, said the suggested dialogue would not lead to any opening of the EU’s borders.
Turkey?s Changing Foreign Policy And Its International Ramifications « Eurasia Review
Ouf ! Nicolas Sarkozy ne passera que quelques heures en Turquie le 25 février.
Le 25 février prochain, le président du G20 et de la République française se rendra bien en Turquie. Mais ouf ! Il ne fera qu?un passage éclair. Sa visite ne durera que cinq heures, nous rassure Zaman.fr et il n?ira qu?à Ankara. Manquerait plus que ça qu?il s?arrête à Istanbul, la capitale économique et culturelle du pays, dont le dynamisme rappelle davantage celui de New-York que celui de Paris. Mieux vaut garder le souvenir de la ville telle qu?il la découvrait peut-être à la fin des années 80, avant de se rendre en Cappadoce comme tout bon touriste qui se respecte (là non plus il ne retournera pas). Les clichés ça se cultive. Et puis il faut quand même qu?il montre aux Français, dont c?est la principale préoccupation, qu?il est toujours FERMEMENT opposé à l?entrée de la Turquie dans l?UE.
French president to visit G-20 member Turkey
Turkey slams Sarkozy?s ?touch and go? visit plan
Values, hopes and fears
La France perd du terrain en Turquie
Le Journal du Dimanche (France), Dimanche 20 Février 2011
Propos recueillis par Guillaume Perrier, à Istanbul
Farouche opposant de l?entrée de cet Etat dans l?Union européenne, Nicolas Sarkozy doit se rendre en Turquie vendredi prochain. Un séjour éclair de quelques heures dans la seule ville d?Ankara qui suscite la déception dans un pays en pleine croissance économique et à la position stratégique évidente. L?universitaire Cengiz Aktar, spécialiste des questions européennes, ne comprend pas cette cécité française à l?égard de la Turquie.
Turkey and the Future of EU Enlargement
For the last 50 years Turkey and the EU have been toying around with EU membership. But at the beginning of 2011 they are not really advanced to the point where we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Negotiations for accession have been going on without enthusiasm for the past five years and might be grinding down to a halt in the near future unless a miracle happens.
Leader of northern Cyprus fumes at lecturing by Turkey
Cyprus should be ruled by Cypriots
Our extremely dangerous dance on Cyprus by Orhan Kemal Cengiz
Norman Stone Explains Why Egypt Isn’t Turkey – Newsweek
Article | Finally, Turkey Looks East
Elif Shafak is the author, most recently, of the novel ?The Forty Rules of Love.?
Mavi Boncuk |
NY Times OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR
Finally, Turkey Looks East By ELIF SHAFAK
Published: February 22, 2011
Naguib Mahfouz with a delay that embarrasses me, not until my early 30s. In the Turkey of my formative years, he was not well-known. His famous ?Cairo Trilogy,? published in the 1950s, wasn?t widely available in Turkish until 2008.