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The opposition Social Democrats, SDSM, said they were withdrawing from the talks after the National Prosecutors Council on Wednesday gave the green light to just seven out of the 14 proposed deputy special prosecutors who will investigate alleged mass illegal wiretapping by the Macedonian authorities.

Bulgaria's energy regulator KEVR said on Wednesday that it hasn't discussed capping prices of electricity purchased by state-owned National Electricity Company NEK from two local thermal power plants owned by U.S. investors.

"We fully comply with the provisions laid down in the Energy Act," KEVR Chairman Ivan Ivanov told reporters, according to investor.bg.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu told Reuters on Oct. 14 some of the suspects in a suicide bombing that killed 97 people in Ankara had spent months in Syria and that they could be linked to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) or to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants.

U.S. soda giants Coca-Cola and PepsiCo are among the companies competing for a minority stake in yogurt maker Chobani, a person familiar with the process said on Oct. 13.

An Istanbul criminal court of peace ruled on Oct. 14 for the release of Today?s Zaman editor-in-chief Bülent Kene?, who was under arrest on charges of 'defaming President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an.'

A delegation of Iranian lawmakers arrived in Damascus on Oct. 14 in the build-up to a joint operation against insurgents in northwest Syria, and said U.S.-led efforts to fight rebels had failed. 

Turkish Energy Minister Ali R?za Alaboyun said plans have been made for Turkey?s third nuclear plant and Chinese, Japanese firms and U.S. companies have shown interest in an exclusive interview with the Anadolu Agency Editors? Desk on Oct. 14. 

Turkey has summoned ambassadors from both Russia and the United States regarding ties with Kurdish forces in Syria, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu has said, reacting to any probable arms support to groups which have ties with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). 

US diplomats are working in Greece to make sure the interconnector project between Athens and Sofia will be carried out, the Bulgarian National Radio has said.

"The interconnector with Bulgaria is a priority for Greece's energy policy as well," BNR's correspondent in Athens quotes Greek Energy Minister Skourletis as telling lawmakers in Parliament.

EU Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship Dimitris Avramopoulos will have a series of meetings with Turkey’s political leadership within the framework of European consultations with Ankara on the issue of refugees.

Avramopoulos will address an international forum on migration in Istanbul today.