Politics by country

Turkey and Russia will hold two-day talks on Syria and Libya, the Turkish Foreign Ministry has an-nounced, amid ongoing ceasefires in both theaters.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on June 17 met with the leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) at the presidential palace.

Erdoğan was expected to inform the MHP leader about the recent military operations into northern Iraq, Operation Claw-Tiger and Operation Claw-Eagle, along with recent developments in Libya.

Foreign Affairs Minister Bogdan Aurescu had a telephone conversation on Wednesday with Kenyan counterpart Raychelle Omamo, at the request of the Kenyan side, a release of the Foreign Affairs Ministry (MAE) informs.

The current government in Serbia began its mandate in 2016 with Aleksandar Vucic as prime minister.

A year later, Vucic quit to become Serbian president, while Ana Brnabic took over the baton, becoming Serbia's first female and openly gay prime minister.

After taking office, in their speeches to parliament, the two of them made a total of 99 pledges.

At a meeting in the Council of Ministers, representatives of business, government and trade unions signed important agreements.

Leftist SYRIZA opposition is expected to change its name to SYRIZA Progressive Alliance as part of the party's efforts to diversify its political staff and expand its electoral catchment.
In a meeting of the party's political secretariat on Tuesday, it was decided that leader Alexis Tsipras will put forward the new name at the next political council.

Turkey may have to adopt a harder line on social interactions following a worrying jump in coronavirus infections but it has no plans to reverse an easing of lockdown restrictions aimed at reviving the economy, officials say.

Twenty Indian soldiers were killed during "hand-to-hand' fighting with Chinese troops in a disputed Himalayan region, India's military said, the first deadly clash between the nuclear powers in decades.

Both sides blamed the other for June 15's violence, which followed weeks of rising tensions over their competing territorial claims, with thousands of extra troops deployed.

High Advisory Board of Turkish presidency gathered on June 16 to discuss how to respond to "groundless and anti-Turkey allegations" regarding the events of 1915. 

Ankara, Moscow and Tehran agreed to hold a videoconference and then a face-to-face meeting on the Syrian settlement, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced on June 16.