Northern Cyprus

Turkey and the United States agreed March 28 that a political settlement may be possible this year in Cyprus, the Mediterranean island that has been divided for four decades.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavu?o?lu met U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Washington, and both diplomats were upbeat about chances for a deal.

The Turkish and Greek Cypriot sides are in intense negotiations to find a permanent settlement on the divided island.

One Turkish citizen was among the wounded in the deadly attack in Brussels on March 22, Do?an News Agency has reported.

A Turkish official working at the Brussels Airport said that he could not get information about his colleague but later learnt that he was hospitalized at Leuven Hospital.

Nobody doubts that the two bomb attacks which occurred two months apart in Istanbul were targeting tourists. In the first one, German tourists and in the second one Israeli and Iranian tourists lost their lives. The tourism sector, experiencing the deepest crisis in its history, is receiving blow after blow. 

Nobody doubts that the two bomb attacks which occurred two months apart in Istanbul were targeting tourists. In the first one, German tourists and in the second one Israeli and Iranian tourists lost their lives. The tourism sector, experiencing the deepest crisis in its history, is receiving blow after blow. 

The EU will disburse EUR 3 B to Turkey until 2018 for Syrian refugees and will allocate as much additionally after that period, the EU and Turkey's leaders have announced.

Additionally, Ankara will work to implement its remaining 45 (out of a total of 72) prerequisites to be granted visa-free travel to Europe by the end of the Dutch Presidency of the Council of EU at the end of June.

In a pre-emptive move to counter possible pressure from European Union leaders during meetings in Brussels on March 7, Turkey has raised its offers and demands regarding the plan to secure control over the migration from Syria (and elsewhere) into the EU, thus reactivating Ankara's relations with the EU.

Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Ak?nc? lashed out at European Union Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis for his plans to pay a courtesy visit of just 15 minutes when he comes to the island in the coming days.

Speaking at a local SME summit on March 2, Ak?nc? said they would not prefer a visit from Dombrovskis at all if it is only going to be a courtesy visit of 15 minutes. 

Turkey's Coast Guard has reported an eleven-fold year-on-year increase in the number of undocumented migrants discovered in the country's Aegean region.

Almost 8,500 refugees were found in Turkish Coast Guard operations in February 2016, 11 times more than the same month in 2015, officials told the state-run Anadolu Agency on March 1.

Figures shared by Europe's border control agency have painted a gloomy picture regarding ongoing efforts to stanch the influx of migrants and refugees from Turkey to the European Union, with the head of the agency confirming that the trend is not showing any signs of slowing down.