Labor Ministry

Turkey's Health Ministry has said it launched an investigation into allegations a drug-maker, which it did not name, secured $85 million in business advantages through bribery.

Reuters reported this week an anonymous whistleblower accused Swiss company Novartis of paying bribes through a consulting firm to secure advantages worth an estimated $85 million.

Turkey has officially put into effect a new regulation against human trafficking, as part of measures to try to stem the flow of refugees heading to Europe through illegal means.

The leadership of Labor Ministry prepares for the negotiation talks with Greece’s lenders to start on Wednesday noon aiming to save primary pensions (except high pensions) and find compromise solutions for the other demands of the ‘Quartet’, such as national pension, supplementary pension and replacement rates.

Defence Minister Panos Kammenos announced on Thursday the creation of five additional temporary refugee and immigrant centers in northern Greece in an attempt to address the emergency situation that has developed following the restrictions imposed by FYROM in allowing refugees to cross its border.

The government's recent decision to enable Syrians to be employed in Turkey will present a win-win for both Turks and Syrians, says Bülent Pirler, secretary general of Turkish Confederation of Employer Association.

Greek officials from the Ministry of Labor took part in a teleconference with technical representatives of Greece’s creditors of the so-called Quartet. They appeared ready to harden their stand, calling for more cuts while also expression their objections to the national pension rate.

The Youth and Sports Ministry, the Energy Ministry, and the Labor and Social Security Ministry have all seen a big increase in their share of the state budget in 2016, according to the cabinet's newly announced Medium-Term Financial Plan. 

The new plan for Greek social security reform is to be submitted to Greek Parliament in mid-January rather than December 23 as originally expected. Despite the objections of the so-called Quartet of creditors (EC, ECB, ESM, IMF), Athens insists on alternative proposals for the increase of contributions so as to avoid pension cuts.

Greek fiscal targets will not be met unless deep cuts are made to pensions, even those that are lower than 1,000 euros per month.

Reforms to social security funds are sowing the seeds of panic to beneficiaries. The Labor Ministry has yet to provide its conclusions regarding the future for Greek pensioners, but there are a number of issues up in the air. These include:

– Pension rates, the new index to be created and the size of the slashes that are unavoidable