Ömer Çelik

A total of 12 people were killed and 22 were wounded late on Nov. 29 when a fire broke out at a private girls' dormitory in the Aladağ district of the southern province of Adana, the governor's office has announced.

Adana Governor Mahmut Demirtaş announced that 12 bodies, including one educator, were retrieved dead in the fire, while the 22 wounded were taken to hospital. 

The European Parliament's decision to recommend temporarily freezing accession talks with Ankara has "no vision," Turkish EU Minister Ömer Çelik told reporters in Brussels on Nov. 29.

The Turkish government has reacted angrily to the European Parliament's Nov. 24 recommendation by an overwhelming majority to freeze Ankara's EU accession negotiations, with chief negotiator Ömer Çelik saying the "debates lack vision."

Companies in Turkey are concerned about rising tensions between the Turkish government and the European Union, according to Cansen Başaran-Symes, chair of the Turkish Industry and Business Association (TÜSİAD). 

Turkey-EU relations are extremely important for businesses, Başaran-Symes said during an interview on private broadcaster CNN Türk on Nov. 18. 

Turkey's ruling party has voiced its displeasure with European Parliament Rapporteur for Turkey Kati Piri, who they said lost her "neutrality" during a recent visit to southeastern Diyarbak?r, where she allegedly spent time with members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is considered a terrorist organization by both the EU and the U.S., in addition to Ankara.

Turkey has accused Greece of causing the death of 31 migrants in the Aegean Sea on Jan. 5, claiming that the Greek authorities forced migrant boats that later capsized in the Aegean to return to Turkey.

A senior member of Turkey's Justice and Development Party (AKP) has underlined the government's determination to supply "meaningful and qualitative" support to the Turkmens in Syria that will ensure their "material and moral security."

In initial remarks in response to a European Commission progress report which urged Turkey to re-launch a process aimed at ending the three-decade-long fight between security forces and militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), the country's ruling party has strictly refused the report's wording on the issue, suggesting the EU has apparently been "influenced by the language used

Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu and Justice and Development Party (AKP) spokesman Ömer Çelik are treading cautiously and refraining from triumphalist outbursts following their landslide victory in the Nov. 1 elections. 

Creating a brand-new constitution will be one of the foremost tasks of the new government following the Nov. 1 polls, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) has said.