Ministry of Foreign Affairs

WASHINGTON - Serbian First Deputy PM and FM Ivica Dacic met in Washington on Thursday with new US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, inviting him to visit Serbia.

Dacic paid a visit to Washington for the 65th National Prayer Breakfast, the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

Tanjug/Ministry of Foreign Affairs photo, Ognjen Stevanovic

Turkey and the Dominican Republic have agreed to boost cooperation on tourism, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said during a visit to the Caribbean state on Feb. 2.        

Speaking in a joint news conference following a meeting with his Dominican counterpart, Miguel Vargas, Çavuşoğlu said the agreement aimed to increase tourist flow.        

The decision of the Supreme Court of Greece on Jan. 26 that rejected Turkey's demand of the extradition of eight Turkish soldiers, who escaped to Greece on July 16, 2016 right after participating in the foiled coup attempt, will most likely start a new era of tension between Ankara and Athens. 

A group of Turkish citizens were not allowed to enter Tanzania and were sent back to Turkey for security reasons on the day of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's recent visit to the country. 

The Turkish Embassy has requested an explanation for the refusal, with the Tanzanian Foreign Ministry citing security concerns, a Foreign Ministry official told the Hürriyet Daily News. 

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has asked that Tarkan's "Şıkıdım" song be played in concerts in Moscow and Istanbul to commemorate the Red Army Choir, daily Habertürk has reported. 

The Turkish ENBE Orchestra started preparations for concerts which will be held in Moscow and Istanbul to commemorate 64 Red Army Choir members who were killed in a plane crash on Dec. 25, 2016.

Sofia City Prosecutor's Office has started an investigation against senior employees of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, announced the state prosecution.

The infiltration of Gülenists into the Foreign Ministry accelerated after a drastic change in the ministry's personnel policy between 2009 and 2013 under the rule of former Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, daily Hürriyet reported over the weekend. 

Meanwhile, the ministry also said it had dismissed 30 percent of its staff due to links to the group. 

The Greek Minister of Shipping declared that Greece is working on development plans for certain uninhabited islands that have the potential to support economic activity.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Turkish counterpart Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu agreed on Jan. 10 on the need to observe a ceasefire in Syria while continuing to fight "terrorist groups", Russia's foreign ministry said.

Lavrov and Çavuşoğlu, who spoke by telephone, discussed an upcoming meeting on the Syrian situation that is due to take place in the Kazakh capital Astana. 

Sonme 350 diplomats have been expelled from the Foreign Ministry since a July 2016 coup attempt due to links to the Fethullahist Terror Organization (FETÖ), the alleged mastermind of the putsch, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has said.