Mevlüt Çavu

The U.N.'s top official on the Cyprus issue has vowed that a final deal to reunite the divided east Mediterranean island will avoid any repeat of the sufferings of Turkish Cypriots in the 1960s, saying a "solid conclusion on governance" will guarantee the security of both Turkish and Greek Cypriots.

Regional officials including the foreign ministers of Ankara, Washington and Doha have held talks amid continuing regional tension over attempts to end Syria's civil war and the deployment of Turkish troops to Iraq.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavu?o?lu conducted phone conversations with U.S. Secretary State John Kerry and Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed al-Attiyah late Dec. 8 to discuss regional developments, particularly Iraq, according to official sources.

Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) President Massoud Barzani will visit Turkey on Dec. 9 to discuss coordination in the campaign against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), as well as the recent rift between Turkey and Iraq over the deployment of Turkish forces on Iraqi soil. 

Sevil Erku?sevil.erkus@hurriyet.com.trAnkara has moved to secure a higher level of coordination with Baghdad after the latter condemned the recent deployment of Turkish troops at the Bashiqa camp in Iraq's Mosul province, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Tanju Bilgiç said on Dec. 8.

The apparent aiming of a shoulder-held missile-launcher at Istanbul by a Russian sailor while passing through the Bosphorus is little more than a "childish show," Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmu? said on Dec. 7.

"We interpreted that image as a show," Kurtulmu? told a news conference in Ankara after a cabinet meeting.

Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) President Massoud Barzani will visit Turkey on Dec. 9, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavu?o?lu stated on Dec. 7. 

The Turkish Foreign Ministry summoned Russian ambassador in Ankara Andey Karlov on Dec. 7 in protest of the "provocative" passage of a Russian warship through Istanbul's Bosphorus Strait.

In his meeting with General Director Burak Özügergin, Ankara warned the Russian envoy over such "provocative acts," according to Turkish diplomatic sources. 

The Turkish Foreign Ministry is prepared to summon Russia's ambassador in Ankara on Dec. 7 in protest of the "provocative" passage of a Russian warship through the Bosphorus Strait, Turkish officials told Hürriyet Daily News. 

A Russian warship passed through Istanbul's Bosphorus en route to the Mediterranean on the morning of Dec. 6. One soldier was seen in footage of the boat passing holding a ground-to-air missile, drawing an angry reaction from Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavu?o?lu.