United Nations

BELGRADE - Serbian Defence Minister Bratislav Gasic on Friday received a farewell call from the head of the United Nations Office in Belgrade, Peter Due, noting that Serbia's cooperation with the UN has great significance for the continuation of reforms in his ministry.

The owner of the U.S.-based yoghurt maker Chobani, Hamdi Ulukaya, has said he could not have been commercially successful if he had stayed in Turkey, as capital is in the hands of a small number of people.

Over the past more-than-half-a-century of the history of Cyprus peacemaking, Greek Cypriots have been applying a rather intriguing tactic: Never accept anything, but pretend to. It takes years for international mediators to discover the mental setup of Greek Cypriots and often they start getting a realistic picture only after they are ordered to pack up and move on.

A report by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon which spoke of Turkish-Cypriot isolation on the divided island while failing to criticize Ankara for its violation of Cyprus?s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) has prompted a reaction from Nicosia.

Canadian foreign minister John Baird said he had a "fruitful" meeting with his Egyptian counterpart Thursday to seek the release of a Canadian journalist imprisoned with two Al-Jazeera colleagues.
      
But Baird played down expectations that his visit could see Canadian-Egyptian Mohamed Fahmy freed imminently after more than a year in jail.
      

Croatia wants Serbia to process war crimes

Croatian officials said Zagreb will block Serbia's European integration unless Belgrade processes the war crimes committed on Croatian territory during the 1990s.

The release of war criminal Vojislav Seselj sparked tension between Croatia and Serbia. [AFP]

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavu?o?lu will attend a meeting on countering the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) in London next week, British Ambassador to Ankara Richard Moore said via Twitter yesterday, Jan. 14. That tweet was in reference to my piece titled ?Turkey should not be excluded from anti-terrorism league? in the Hürriyet Daily News on Jan. 13.

United Nations Special Adviser on Cyprus Espen Barth Eide on Wednesday appeared downbeat on the chances of reunification talks on the island resuming even though President Nicos Anastasiades indicated that he would be willing to include all ?remaining issues? in the final phase of talks.

Deadly Ukraine bus attack condemned

BELGRADE -- OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Ivica Dacic has condemned in the strongest terms the attack on a bus near a government-controlled checkpoint in Buhas, Ukraine.

The Serbian foreign minister, speaking in his OSCE role, called for an immediate ceasefire.

BELGRADE - The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic, has condemned in the strongest terms the deadly attack on a bus near a government-controlled checkpoint in Buhas, eastern Ukraine, and called for an immediate ceasefire.