Turkey

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an has criticized the recent Constitutional Court ruling that paved the way for the release of two arrested journalists, saying he "does not accept or respect" the decision and vowing not to "obey" it.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an will visit four West African countries next week, in a new sign of Ankara's desire to be a major influence in the region.

Franco-Turkish director Deniz Gamze Ergüven's film "Mustang" won four awards at the Cesar film awards in Paris on late Feb. 26.      

The film, which focuses on five teenage sisters living in rural northern Turkey, won awards for best debut film, best original screenplay, best original music and best editing at the 41st Cesar ceremony at the Theatre du Chatelet.      

One police officer was killed on Feb. 28 in an outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) attack in the Nusaybin district of the southeastern province of Mardin.

PKK militants attacked an armored police vehicle with rocket propelled grenades, wounding three police officers inside. One injured police officer later died at Nusaybin State Hospital.

Defense Minister Nikolay Nenchev said on Sunday his institution will cancel some "less relevant" public procurement procedures to ensure a more efficient spending and transparency.

All crossing points on the border between Bulgaria and Greece are open to traffic both ways as of Sunday morning, Bulgarian police say.

Lyutvi Mestan, the expelled leader of Bulgaria's predominantly ethnic Turk Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS), said on Saturday that his new political project, DOST, will be 'a radical, pro-NATO and pro-EU party'.

The ad-hoc parliamentary committee set up to probe alleged interference of Russia and Turkey into Bulgaria's domestic affairs could only worsen Sofia's relationship with both Moscow and Ankara, Bulgaria's Prime Minister Boyko Borisov has said.

Turkey has begun work to repair a pipeline taking crude oil from northern Iraq to the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan and aims to restore flows in the shortest possible time, the Turkish energy ministry said on Feb. 27. 

It was a blunder to set up an ad-hoc committee in parliament to probe alleged interference of Russia and Turkey into Bulgaria's domestic affairs, a lawmaker from the main party in the governing coalition has opined.