Greece offers support to Turkey ‘s 2020 Olympic bid
from Yahoo News Photos
ISTANBUL (AP) — Greece has offered its support to regional rival Turkey ‘s bid to host the 2020 Olympics.
Turkey will be Europe’s strongest economy in 2050: Turkish President Gül
from Hurriyet Daily News
Turkey will become the first economy of the continent in 2050, the Turkish president said in a special interview with Swedish daily..
Turkey?s tentative EU springtime
from Yahoo news
The translucent white marble stairs and cream gilt and stucco ceilings of the ceremonial hall of Ankara?s new presidential palace rarely echo to spontaneous applause, but the words ?Turkey will always be part of my heart? did the trick.
Turkey?s tentative EU springtime: EU Romance Rekindled
by Acturca
The Majalla (UK) 4 March 2013 Hugh Pope * The translucent white marble stairs and cream gilt and stucco ceilings of the ceremonial hall of Ankara?s new presidential palace rarely echo to spontaneous applause, but the words ?Turkey will always be part of my heart? did the trick. The declaration came from a source to
Avoiding a Shrinking EU in an Expanding Planet: A Turkish Contribution to the Debate on Europe?s Future
by Acturca
Policy Brief (German Marshall Fund of the United States) February 28, 2013 Bahadır Kaleağası * Global challenges are pushing the EU toward an unavoidable dilemma. The EU ought to expand to include new countries and reach a critical size that will let it weather the 21st century. However, the EU has to also be a
Athènes et Ankara : un réchauffement des relations
by Acturca
Les Echos (France) no. 21390, mercredi 6 mars 2013, p. 8 Dans la presse étrangère Jacques Hubert-Rodier Le réchauffement des relations entre la Grèce et la Turquie, a franchi un nouveau degré après la rencontre lundi à Istanbul du Premier ministre Antonis Samaras avec son homologue turc, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, estiment les journaux grecs et
Economic crisis; a curse or a blessing for Turkish-Greek relations
from Hurriyet Daily News
A recent statement by the Greek Foreign Ministry created a sort of ?nostalgic? effect on me.
Où va la Turquie ?
by Acturca
Le Figaro (France) no. 21332, mardi 5 mars 2013, p. 14 Bibliothèque des essais Laure Marchand Au cours de ses cinq années à Ankara, Marc Pierini, alors chef de la délégation de la Commission européenne, était en immersion complète dans son objet d?étude. De 2006 à 2011, chargé de préparer l?intégration du pays candidat à [
‘My Turkey’: Berlin, immigration and the amateur football scene
from open Democracy News Analysis – by Catherine Stupp
Berlin’s Turkish football clubs tell the tale of a local struggle for multiculturalism and integration, far away from the politics of migration.
Quote of the Week: EU Member States? Perceptions on Turkey?s Accession to the EU
by Changing Turkey
A publication of the Center for European Studies, Middle East Technical University
Editors: Sait Akşit, Özgehan Şenyuva, Çiğdem Üstün
Christian Syrian Refugees Denied Support in Turkey
from Kamil Pasha by Jenny White
CHP member of parliament Safak Pavey recently returned from Syria where she and a group of Turkish lawmakers met with President Bashar al-Assad in an attempt to free foreign journalists believed held by his regime. Pavey crossed overland in Hatay and on her trip spoke with Syrian refugees. She learned that Christian refugees were being denied places in Turkey?s refugee camps; it is argued that this is for their own safety because of their association with the Assad regime. Instead Christian Syrians are left to their own devices without support and without being counted in the statistics of the displaced that now includes one in every ten Syrians. Christians make up nine percent of Syria?s population. In her press statement, Pavey recounts meeting a Christian family in Iskenderun that had escaped Syria several months ago but was not accepted into a refugee camp. Their money had run out and now they didn?t know what to do. The father, a man in his fifties, had run out of hope as well.
A Complicated Trio: Turkey , Cyprus and the EU
from Yahoo News Photos
Will Turkey finally be admitted to the EU or will the memory of Cyprus haunt the process?
Turkey says Syrian rebels at disadvantage as not properly armed
from Yahoo News Photos
Ahmet Davutoglu said he discussed the embargo barring delivery of all arms to Syria with Britain and Germany.
Turkey rejects ‘neo-Ottoman’ label
from Yahoo News Photos
ANKARA, Mar 4: Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu on Sunday responded to the labeling of Turkey ‘s foreign policy as neo-Ottoman by asking why those who united European countries are not called ?neo-Romans.?
Muddy Water: Greece, Turkey Spar Over Sea
by Acturca
The Wall Street Journal Europe (USA) March 8, 2013, p. 1 By Alkman Granitsas and Stelios Bouras, Athens Greece has renewed its territorial claims over a broad swath of disputed waters in the eastern Mediterranean where the indebted country hopes to find vast oil and gas deposits? a plan that risks sparking a confrontation with
UE/Turquie : Nouvelle collaboration scientifique entre l?UE et la Turquie
by Acturca
Europolitique (Belgique) 8 mars 2013 Par Marie-Martine Buckens Le Centre commun de recherche de la Commission européenne (CCR) et le Conseil turc de la recherche scientifique et technique (Tübitak) ont décidé de collaborer dans une série de domaines, dont l?environnement et le transport. L?annonce de la signature prochaine d?un protocole d?accord entre les deux instituts
UE/Turquie : La révolution ferroviaire turque est en marche
by Acturca
Europolitique (Belgique) 8 mars 2013 Par Markus Bernath La Turquie investit massivement dans sa plaque tournante des transports. C?est dans ce cadre que s?ouvre la foire EurAsiarail, le 7 mars à Istanbul. Les appels d?offres pour des lignes à grande vitesse dans 15 provinces du pays d?ici 2016 mettent en concurrence les constructeurs ferroviaires tels
Turkish President Gül includes minority leader on Sweden trip
from Hurriyet Daily News
In the first ever state visit by a Turkish head of state, President Abdullah Gül will..
Erdoğan, Zionism and Israel
from Hurriyet Daily News
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan was probably not aware that his condemnation of ?Zionism? in a speech..
Turkish opposition CHP?s role on path to Syrian solution
from Hurriyet Daily News
In a surprise and highly secretive visit to neighboring Syria, deputies from Turkey?s main opposition CHP met with embattled and deeply isolated Syrian President..
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Greece supporting Istanbul (Constantinople) for 2020 Olympics is no surprise at all. It is the natural thing for Greece to do Isn’t a pride for Greece to celebrate a Greek origin institution (the Olympics) in a city where until recently there was a large Greek community? Besides the Olympics bear a strong symbolism for peace (in ancient Greece all wars had to be lead to a truce during the Olympics. Greece also supports Turkey’s EU membership (it has been proved that being a NATO ally wasn’t enough). EU guaranties a vast range of values important for the peace between Greece and Turkey (it is ridiculous to have daily airspace violations by turkish jets now within NATO it will be double-ridiculous to have air space violations when in EU). I am not sure if the Turkish public knows that the biggest obstacle for Turkey’s EU membership is not Greece but Turkey itself. Anyway, although this “low level-diplomacy is going well and should be continued, the real problems remain and I quote from the article: “Turkey and Greece nearly went to war three times between 1974 and 1996. Relations between the uneasy NATO allies have improved greatly since the late 1990s, but Athens and Ankara remain at odds over a broad range of issues, including war-divided Cyprus, Aegean Sea boundaries, and illegal immigration.”