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Category: EU Members

European Council decided to open accession negotiations with Turkey on 17 Dec. 2004

  • A Cast-Iron Church In Istanbul

    by Sean McLachlan

    This church on the shoreline of Istanbul looks ornate yet pretty normal – that is until you go up and take a closer look. The Bulgarian St. Stephen Church isn’t made of stone but rather of cast iron. It’s a rare survival of a 19th-century craze in prefab cast-iron churches.Also known as the Bulgarian Iron Church, its parts were cast in Vienna in 1871 and shipped down the Danube in a hundred barges to be assembled in Istanbul. This building marks an important time in the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. Bulgaria and Greece were both ruled by theOttoman Empire. Bulgarian Christians were under the domain of the Greek Patriarch, but the Bulgarians complained that he favored Greeks over Bulgarians. So the Sultan granted the Bulgarians their own Exarch, giving them a religious independence that they have to this day.
    If you’re in Istanbul, head on over to this church, pull a coin out of your pocket and tap it against the wall. You’ll hear a loud ding ding ding that proves it’s really metal! Needless to say, iron buildings need love and care. Currently the building is undergoing restoration work so that it can amaze visitors and churchgoers for generations to come.

    Liverpool can boast two cast-iron churches, St. Michael’s and St. George’s, although they are only partially iron. For the full prefab effect, you need to go to Istanbul.

  • Syria opposition must distance itself from “terrorists:” Germany

    Syria opposition must distance itself from “terrorists:” Germany

    Reuters
    Syria opposition must distance itself from “terrorists:” Germany
    Sat Apr 20 16:29:00 UTC 2013
    ISTANBUL (Reuters) – German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said on Saturday the Syrian opposition must distance itself from extremist forces and he said Germany was skeptical about supplying weapons to the rebels.”We expect from the opposition that they clearly distance themselves in Syria from terrorist and extremist forces,” Westerwelle told reporters in Istanbul at a meeting of Syrian opposition leaders and their international backers.

    “We are skeptical as the German government when it comes to delivering weapons because we are concerned that weapons could fall into the wrong, namely extremist, hands, but it is a matter that must now be discussed in the European Union.”

    A U.S. official said on Friday Washington planned to provide about $100 million in new non-lethal aid to the Syrian opposition that could include for the first time battlefield support equipment such as body armor and night-vision goggles.

    Secretary of State John Kerry was expected to announce the new aid package, which would mark a recalibration of U.S. policy toward Syrian rebel groups at Saturday’s meeting. Fresh U.S. humanitarian aid for Syrian refugees is also likely.

    The new assistance would stop short of supplying weapons to rebels fighting to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. It is also far less than what is sought by Syrian opposition leaders, U.S. allies Britain and France and some U.S. lawmakers.

    The 11-nation “core group” of the Friends of Syria, including the United States, European and Arab nations, has been deadlocked over how to remove Assad, whose security forces killed and arrested thousands of protesters who took to the streets to demand democratic reforms in March 2011.

    Syria’s opposition has said it hopes the Istanbul meeting will give teeth to a tacit agreement that arming rebel groups is the best way to end Assad’s rule.

    More than 70,000 have been killed in the revolt and subsequent civil war. But a military stalemate has set in and much of Syria is left in ruins because of a divided and ineffective opposition, a lack of action by foreign allies and Assad’s ability to rely on support from Russia and Iran.

    (Reporting by Nick Tattersall; Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Robin Pomeroy and Stephen Powell)
  • Deutsche Boerse decleares its interest in Turkey’s Istanbul exchange

    Deutsche Boerse decleares its interest in Turkey’s Istanbul exchange

    Germany’s Deutsche Boerse has decleared its interest in Istanbul’s renewed bourse, which is looking for international partnerships with technlogy providers, market makers and investment funds.

    The newly reorganized Borsa Istanbul is looking for strategic partners in three different categories to elevate its reputation amid attention from the German bourse, which has expressed interest in the Turkish bourse’s partnership plans.

    “The first of these [categories] will be selected from among the groups that will support our technological infrastructure, enhance our market access and increase our international popularity. The second will be among the market makers that could permanently provide liquidity, and the third will be among large and private investment funds that are acknowledged as opinion leaders in the global markets,” _brahim Turhan, Borsa Istanbul’s chairman and CEO, told daily Hrriyet yesterday, adding that 40.5 percent of the stock exchange would be given to strategic partners in the three categories.

    Borsa Istanbul has already attracted attention from Germany following its recent reorganization.

    “Turkey has a spectacularly fast-growing economy between Asia and Europe,” Deutsche Boerse Corporate Affairs Deputy President Frank Herkenhoff told Anatolia news agency yesterday.

    “That’s why we are closely interested in the efforts [of Turkey] to make Istanbul an international finance center. We are interested in the plans of the Turkish government about this issue,” the Gruppe Deutsche Boerse spokesman said.

    Global interest

    Herkenhoff said the recent consolidation of the gold and stock exchanges under the single umbrella of Borsa Istanbul was an important step in Istanbul’s attempt to become a financial center, adding that the Deutsche Brse viewed possible strategic partnerships with the Turkish exchange favorably.

    “Our Bourse has an understanding to build a successfully strategic partnership with the stock market in Istanbul,” Herkenhoff added.

    The Turkish government and Borsa Istanbul have both said their next move will be to form international partnerships.

    Some media reports claimed Borsa Istanbul was in talks with information technologies (IT) departments of leading global stock exchanges including the Deutsche Brse, Nasdaq, the London Stock Exchange, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange-CME and The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) for technology infrastructure equipment partnerships.

    After the completion of all required works by the end of 2015, bourse officials plan to offer 49 percent of the entity to the public, Turhan said.

    bne/Hurriyet Daily News

    photo verybig 143735

  • EU commissioner sees momentum in Turkey bid

    EU commissioner sees momentum in Turkey bid

    By Andreas Rinke

    EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Fule speaks during a news conference in TiranaBERLIN (Reuters) – The European Union’s enlargement commissioner said he expected a breakthrough this year in Turkey’s stalled EU membership bid and welcomed Ankara’s peace talks with Kurdish rebels and reforms of its justice system.

    Turkey began talks on joining the European Union in 2005 but has only completed one of the 35 policy areas, or “chapters”, every candidate must conclude to be allowed entry due to disagreements over the divided island of Cyprus and hostility especially from France, though that is now easing somewhat.

    Commissioner Stefan Fule called on EU states to recognise Turkey’s reform efforts, to open further policy negotiations with Ankara and to show more “credibility” in the talks.

    Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has called Turkey’s wait to join the bloc “unforgivable” and has accused Brussels of not being a fair or genuine negotiation partner.

    Fule, a Czech, wants four further chapters to be opened this year, including the one entitled “fundamental rights”, noting this could help steer Ankara’s future reforms.

    “This chapter is the strongest transformational element that we have,” he told Reuters in an interview in Berlin.

    Turkey’s parliament last week approved a reform of its anti-terrorism laws, narrowing the definition of terrorist propaganda in line with EU demands that it boost freedom of expression.

    The changes coincide with progress in efforts by the government and Kurdish militants to negotiate an end to a 28-year insurgency.

    Fule expressed optimism there would be progress in talks on easing visa restrictions for Turks travelling to the EU.

    Fule urged Ankara to extend a customs agreement with the European Union by opening its ports to goods from Cyprus, one of the key issues hindering its ambitions to join the EU.

    Turkey has no diplomatic relations with the Republic of Cyprus, an EU member since 2004, instead backing a breakaway Turkish Cypriot entity in the north of the Mediterranean island.

    Cyprus is currently distracted by its financial crisis after it had to request emergency loans from the EU and the International Monetary Fund to avert bankruptcy, but Fule said he hoped President Nicos Anastasiades would bring “new energy and ideas” to the task of reviving stalled reunification talks.

    Anastasiades backed a 2004 U.N. plan to reunite the island, though a majority of his Greek Cypriot compatriots rejected the plan in a referendum shortly before they joined the EU. The Turkish Cypriots in the north backed the plan.

    (Writing by Alexandra Hudson, editing by Gareth Jones)

    Euronews

  • Irish call to Turkey

    Irish call to Turkey

    DUBLIN – The Irish Presidency of the EU has urged Turkey to comply with its obligation to fully implement the additional protocol and to make progress in normalizing its bilateral relations with the Republic of Cyprus.

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    Irish European Affairs Minister Lucinda Creighton speaking Wednesday before the European Parliament in Strasburg, during a discussion on Turkey’s progress report, noted that there is no progress as regards the full implementation of the additional protocol, which provides for the recognition of Cyprus.

    She also stressed that it is unfortunate that Turkey chose to freeze its relations with the EU during the Cyprus Presidency last July and urged the candidate country to normalize its relations with Cyprus.

    Creighton also referred to the need for constitutional changes in Turkey and progress in the human rights issue.

    Accession negotiations with Turkey began in October 2005. Turkey has so far managed to open 13 of the 34 chapters.

    In December 2006, due to the Turkish failure to apply the Additional Protocol to the Ankara Agreement, the European Council decided that eight relevant chapters will not be opened and no chapter will be provisionally closed until Turkey has fulfilled its commitment.

    In addition, France has frozen other five chapters, while Cyprus froze in December 2009 other six chapters. The last time that a negotiating chapter opened was during the Spanish EU presidency in June 2010.

    Turkey, whose troops have occupied Cyprus’ northern part since the 1974 invasion, does not recognise the Republic of Cyprus and refuses to normalise relations with Nicosia.

  • EP: EU and Turkey must renew their mutual engagement, MEPs say

    EP: EU and Turkey must renew their mutual engagement, MEPs say

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    18 April 2013 | 13:58 | FOCUS News Agency
    Home / Southeast Europe and Balkans
    Strasbourg. Renewed mutual engagement is needed to maintain constructive relations in EU-Turkey relations in the context of the negotiation process, MEPs said on Thursday, a press release of the European Parliament informs. In a resolution on the 2012 progress report on Turkey, they call for opening of negotiations on the judiciary, fundamental rights, and home affairs and praise recent talks which might help settle the Kurdish issue.
    “We need commitment from both the EU and Turkey,” said Ria Oomen-Ruijten (EPP, NL), the EP rapporteur for Turkey. “Turkey needs to step up efforts to guarantee freedom of expression, media freedom and all other fundamental freedoms in line with the values of the EU. The EU must do its utmost to support Turkey in the reform process – renewed efforts for the opening of further negotiation chapters are important,” she added.
    Judicial reform
    Reform of Turkey’s judiciary is central to its democratic consolidation and modernisation, MEPs stress. They welcome the adoption of the third and fourth judicial reform packages but insist on fully narrowing the broad definition of criminal offences, namely of the act of terrorism, shortening excessively long pre-trial detention periods and curbing the role of special courts in practice.
    To accelerate the reform process, MEPs call on the Council to open negotiations on the judiciary and fundamental rights (chapter 23) and justice, freedom and security (chapter 24).
    Women’s rights
    Parliament hails Turkey’s efforts to fight “honour killings”, domestic violence and phenomenon of forced marriages and child brides but is concerned that violence against women is still recurrent. MEPs also call for active promotion of women’s rights, education and participation in the labour market and in politics.
    Kurdish issue
    MEPs welcome direct political dialogue between the government and former PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan and say this might open the perspective of a historic agreement settling the Kurdish issue peacefully and democratically.
    Cyprus Presidency “missed opportunity”
    MEPs regret that Turkey had “missed an important opportunity to start a process of engagement and normalisation of relations with Cyprus” during the Cypriot Presidency of the Council.
    Syria and foreign affairs
    MEPs praise Turkey for its humanitarian assistance to the increasing number of Syrian refugees but insist that the EU and Turkey should also develop joint strategic vision allowing ending the tragic crisis in Syria. They also say Turkey should develop its foreign policy in closer dialogue and coordination with the EU than in 2012.