Eastern Mediterranean

Eyes and ears were fixed over the weekend on what will come out of U.N. headquarters in New York. Would Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akıncı appear in front of the cameras with a face similar to the snapshot he gave to reporters at the last summit with former secretary-general Ban Ki-moon? Or would he smile this time? Would U.N.

The Greek Police (ELAS) is planning to boost its anti-terror capacity by drastically expanding its network of informants, Kathimerini understands.

Will U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres bring back life to the Cyprus talks process murdered in cold blood by the greed of Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades? Will this last attempt to salvage the sunken Cyprus ship succeed?

Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots are ready to take part in a summit in Geneva to work out a peace accord reunifying ethnically divided Cyprus as long as Greek Cypriots drop unacceptable "conditions," Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Thursday.

Turkey and Turkish Cyprus have a "positive stance" on resuscitating the hampered talks with Greek Cyprus on unifying the island and are ready to meet for a conference in Geneva on the subject, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said in Nicosia at a joint press conference with Turkish Cypriot President Mustafa Akıncı on June 1. 

Turkey's exports rose again for the seventh month in a row, hitting $12.5 billion in May, Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci said June 1, adding that the contribution of the country's exports to economic growth would total approximately 1.5 percent in the first quarter. 

Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Georgia signed a deal on June 1 to help their small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) secure easier access to the global e-commerce market.        

The total amount of water collected in major Turkish dams decreased by 30 percent in the first five months of 2017 compared to the same period of last year, raising the prospect of increased electricity prices in the future, daily Habertürk reported May 31.

U.N. special envoy for Cyprus Espen Barth Eide was in Ankara on May 30 where he held discussions on maintaining stalled Cyprus talks, which is believed to be "on the brink of collapse" due to an international conference. The talks are considered to be the "final stretch" to a comprehensive settlement of the dispute. 

Commenting on the long expected and highly anticipated collapse of the Cyprus talks process, Turkish Cypriot President Mustafa Akıncı placed the blame on the shoulders of his Greek Cypriot counterpart Nikos Anastasiades. After, Anastasiades shot back with an equally blunt statement, claiming it was Akıncı who objected the modality of the talks and landed the process in a deadlock.