Azerbaijan

Turkcell is looking for acquisition opportunities to expand regionally and Iran could be a target market as sanctions against Tehran are lifted, the chief executive of Turkey's largest mobile operator said on Jan. 18.

Armenia and Bulgaria are beginning a feasibility study of two transport corridor projects, the two countries' top diplomats said on Friday.

The news was announced during a visit of Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandyan to Sofia.

Turkish-born singer Serhat Hac?pa?al?o?lu will compete for the Republic of San Marino in the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest in a year that Turkey will be missing on stage. 

Prime Minister Boyko Borisov expressed his ambition to turn Bulgaria into a key state for the transit of natural gas in the region of Southeastern and Central Europe.

In an interview for Deutsche Welle, Borisov referred to the projected gas hub Balkan, which is planned for construction near the city of Varna.

The Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project - a network of investigative centres, media outlets and journalists - has handed Montenegro's leader a far-from-flattering New Year's award.

Its annual poll saw the long-standing Montenegrin strongman narrowly beat the wife and children of Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev for the "award" of "Person of the Year in Organized Crime".

The Turkish government has expressed concern an agreement between Russia and Armenia to unify their air defense systems and Armenia's recent statement that a ceasefire with arch-foe Azerbaijan over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh virtually no longer exists will increase the risk of clashes in the Caucasus. 

Armenia said on Dec. 22 that the ceasefire with arch-foe Azerbaijan over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh virtually no longer exists, describing frequent skirmishes at the frontline as "war."

Bulgaria can use Iran as a doorway into other markets to sell its goods there, Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov has said while on a two-day visit to Tehran.

Mitov made his comments after meetings with Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif and, later with the country's ministers of transportation and culture, Abbas Akhoundi and Ali Jannati, respectively.

Bulgaria and Azerbaijan have discussed options for a more intense activity of friendship groups in their respective legislatures.

At a meeting between Parliament Speaker Tsetska Tsacheva and Azerbaijan's Ambassador to Bulgaria Emil Karimov, the former put emphasis on the role of reciprocal visits of MPs in developing interparliamentary ties, according to Azernews.

The Azerbaijani Central Bank devalued its currency by almost 50 percent on Dec. 21 due to global economic weakness and falling oil prices, according to a statement issued by the bank.

The Central Bank decided to devalue the manat by 47.63 percent to 1.55 manats per dollar and 1.68 manats per euro, which corresponds to a devaluation of 47.88 percent, said the statement.