AFP/GETTY IMAGES- Last year, 2.7 million British citizens visited Turkey
Turkey moved out of Europe ? by Post Office travel insurance
by Acturca
The Independent (UK) Wednesday, 31 August 2011, pages 12-13 By Simon Calder, Travel Editor at Large As Turkey moves closer to the EU, the Post Office in Britain has deemed that the nation lies entirely beyond Europe. Last month, at the start of the school summer holidays, the Post Office moved the boundaries used for […]
Turkey to Return Seized Property to Religious Minorities
from NYT > Turkey by By SEBNEM ARSU
The European Union has pressed the country to ease or eliminate laws and policies that discriminate against non-Muslim religious groups, including restrictions on land ownership.
Return of Assets of Minority Foundations
from Mavi Boncuk by M.A.M
In a significant move that appears to meet European Union demands, Turkish authorities have announced that they intend to return properties confiscated from religious minorities since 1936, and pay compensation for seized assets that have since been sold to third parties. Minority foundations are obliged to make an official appeal within 12 months to reclaim their immovables. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the decision formally on Sunday when he hosted religious leaders and the heads of about 160 minority trusts, at a fast-breaking dinner for the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.
Turkey Has ?Lost Confidence? in Syrian Government
from NYT > Turkey by By ANNE BARNARD
President Abdullah Gul of Turkey stopped just short of calling for Syria?s president, Bashar al-Assad, to step down.
Turkey facing most difficult test for its strategy
by Acturca
Dar Al Hayat (UK) 15 Agust 2011
George Semaan
It would be too early to speculate about Turkey?s upcoming steps in case its efforts with Damascus were to fail, as it would be too early to know the direction it will adopt to primarily preserve its interests before responding to the calls of the Syrian opposition after Washington rejected the deadline given to the Syrian regime. While the Arab action has constituted and continues to constitute a test to Ankara?s foreign policy, what is happening in Syria is the decisive factor which will determine the correctness or wrongfulness of this policy. And the question at this level if the following: Can Recep Tayyip Erdoğan handle a major setback which might affect his positions whose outcome is awaited by the United States and many Arab and European countries, i.e. the outcome of the talks conducted by his Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu with President Bashar al-Assad?
La Turquie redouble ses efforts envers l?Afrique
by Acturca
La Tribune.fr (France) mercredi 17 août 2011
Delphine Nerbollier, à Istanbul
C?est à la demande de la Turquie que l?Organisation de la coopération islamique (OCI) qui représente 57 pays musulmans s?est réunie en urgence mercredi à Istanbul pour débattre de la crise humanitaire qui frappe la Somalie et la Corne de l?Afrique.
Israel refuses to apologise to Turkey over Gaza flotilla raid
UN report into Gaza ship killings had been delayed to allow for possible Israel-Turkey talks
Israel will stick to its refusal to apologise to Turkey for killing nine of its citizens on a Gaza-bound ship, officials have said, a position Ankara said would sink any prospects for reconciliation.
EU warned of Turkey border ?risks?
by Acturca
Financial Times (UK) Monday, August 1, 2011, p. 4
By Helen Warrell in London
Turkey?s accession to the European Union would pose serious risks to the security of the EU external border and make member states more vulnerable to organised crime, warn a group of UK parliamentarians.
Article | Turkish-Syrian Ties Worsen
by M.A.M
Mavi Boncuk
Turkish-Syrian Ties Worsen by Soner Cagaptay
PolicyWatch | August 9, 2011
Today’s six-hour meeting in Damascus between Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Syrian president Bashar al-Asad is a turning point for the two countries, ending the already frayed rapprochement between Ankara and the Asad regime. Unless conditions in Syria somehow magically revert to normalcy, Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) will likely lead the international community in taking a tougher line against the brutal crackdown.
Trade flow between Turkey and Syria dries up
from FT.com – World, Europe
The protests against the Assad regime, refugees streaming across the border and criticism from Ankara have hit business between the neighbours
Syrian Leader, Assad, Rejects Turkey?s Plea to End Crackdown
by By NADA BAKRI
A series of delegations traveled to Syria on Tuesday to appeal to President Bashar al-Assad to end a crackdown that has emerged as one of the bloodiest chapters in the Arab uprisings.
Great Bluffing On Cyprus
by USAK
Prof. Dr. Sedat LACINER
Cyprus question presents a role like a litmus paper in Turkey and EU relations. It is possible to see the future of these relations by looking at Cyprus… If our hypothesis is right, it is clear that Turkey would never be a member of the EU. It is because European countries nearly ignored Turkey and violated international law publicly on Cyprus issue.
On Europe?s Fringes: Russia, Turkey and the European Union
by Acturca
Chatham House Briefing Papers (UK) July 2011, REP/EP BP 2011/01, 16 pages
The Royal Institute of International Affairs
Philip Hanson
Russia and Turkey, significant powers on the fringes of the European Union, both have awkward relations with Brussels.
As Russia?s and Turkey?s strength becomes greater and the EU?s declines, the relationships between them will increasingly involve political as well as economic factors.
Turkey won’t let Syria become another Iraq | Fadwa al-Hatem
by Fadwa al-Hatem
Arab kingdoms and the US have good reasons for wanting Turkey to lead the campaign against Assad’s regime
The beginning of the end for the first world war came not on the killing fields of Europe but with the conquest of Damascus. TE Lawrence, the young British officer who was a pivotal figure in the first Arab revolt, recognised the importance of Damascus to the Turks. He believed that capturing this historic city would lead to the collapse of the Ottoman empire, and eventually the defeat of the Central Powers.
Cyprus endgame
by Acturca
New Europe (Belgium) 22 August 2011
Robert Ellis
Within the next year the tragic division of Cyprus in 1974 will either be brought to an end or confirmed. That is, if UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon or Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan are to be believed.
Security challenges raise questions about Turkey?s regional power status , Radu Nikolaus Botez
from open Democracy News Analysis – by Radu Nikolaus Botez
As Turkey flies air strikes against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq and fails to play an important role in the Syrian crisis, its ambitions to become a regional power need to be questioned. Report highlights links between Islamist insurgents in northern Nigeria and al-Qaeda. In West Africa, piracy is on the rise, while a human rights commission reveals that thousands of unidentified bodies have been buried in mass graves in Kashmir. All this in today’s security briefing.
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