ISTANBUL Turkish police detained 17 suspected militants in a sweep in Istanbul on Thursday that included a raid on offices of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), state media said, hours after twin bomb attacks hit the mainly Kurdish southeast. Sec... More »
ATHENS At least 80 skeletons lie in a mass grave in an ancient Greek cemetery, their wrists clamped by iron shackles. They are the victims, say archaeologists, of a mass execution. But who they were, how they got there and why they appear to have been buried w... More »
SARAJEVO A World Heritage listing for 70,000 medieval tombstones spread across four countries that emerged from Yugoslavia’s bloody break up in the 1990s was praised on Monday as a rare example of successful cooperation between the former foes. Bosnia, Croatia... More »
ISTANBUL/ANKARA Turkey widened a crackdown on suspected supporters of a failed military coup on Sunday, taking the number of people rounded up in the armed forces and judiciary to 6,000, and the government said it was in control of the country and economy. Pre... More »
ANKARA The Turkish economy will not suffer permanently from Friday’s failed coup attempt despite a short-lived, downward impact on growth, Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek said on Monday. Simsek said Turkey’s macroeconomic fundamentals were solid and the go... More »
ATHENS A 2,000-year-old astronomical calculator used by ancient Greeks to chart the movement of the sun, moon and planets may also have had another purpose – fortune telling, say researchers. Heralded as the world’s first computer, the Antikythera Mechanism is... More »
SARAJEVO Italian experts are helping Bosnian colleagues preserve the collections of the Sarajevo National Museum, providing equipment and know-how to set up a center for restoration of cultural heritage in the ethnically divided country. The museum, a custodia... More »
SARAJEVO A group of artists unveiled a huge mural of David Bowie in Sarajevo on Saturday to commemorate the British musician’s humanitarian work during the Bosnian war. To the sound of Bowie’s “Space Oddity,” up to 300 people attended the inauguration of the m... More »
ATHENS Greece’s government trumpeted a debt relief deal with other euro zone countries on Wednesday as the beginning of the end of its bruising six-year financial crisis but Greeks remained skeptical and markets were cautious. After years of austerity demanded... More »
ISTANBUL Turkish and U.S.-led coalition forces struck Islamic State targets north of the Syrian city of Aleppo on Sunday, killing 27 fighters, state-run Anadolu Agency and other media reported. Turkish artillery and rocket launchers fired into Syria while warp... More »
LONDON Europe is becoming “a bad word” due to the strains of the migrant crisis and growing inequality among euro zone countries that risk driving the continent apart, Italy’s Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan said on Wednesday. Speaking at an event hosted by... More »
IDOMENI, Greece Within sight of a razor wire fence guarded by Macedonian police, 35-year-old Iraqi migrant Saima Hodep rolls dough with an old steel water pipe outside her tent, in preparation for customers for her unleavened bread. Saima is one of a small but... More »
ANKARA Tayyip Erdogan’s ambitions for a swift move to strong presidential rule could suffer if dissidents in Turkey’s nationalist opposition succeed in a party leadership challenge that could bolster their party’s electoral support. A bid by several hundred me... More »
ISTANBUL Long-running efforts to fully restore Israeli-Turkish ties strained after an Israeli raid of a Turkish boat in 2010 must now await the formation of a new government in Ankara, Israel’s top diplomat in Turkey said. Turkey downgraded diplomatic relation... More »
JAGODINA, Serbia Ultra-nationalists are set to return to Serbia’s parliament in an April 24 election after an absence of several years, boosted by growing discontent with Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic’s pro-European Union stance and austerity policies. They ... More »
BERLIN Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday Germany wanted to find a solution to the migrant crisis but this was separate to artistic freedom after the Turkish leader filed a complaint against a comedian for insulting him with a satirical poem. “I want to ... More »
ATHENS Greece and its international lenders were edging closer to a compromise on signing off on a review of bailout reforms which could unlock more aid to the country, government sources said on Monday, after marathon talks with creditors. Just over ten hours... More »
DIKILI, Turkey/LESBOS, Greece Migrants sent back from the Greek island of Lesbos began arriving in Turkey on Monday under a disputed European Union scheme aimed at closing the main route by which a million people poured across the Aegean Sea to Greece in the l... More »
ANKARA The death toll in a car bomb attack in the Turkish capital Ankara has risen to 37 people, Health Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu said on Monday, adding that 71 people were still being treated in hospital. Of those in hospital, 15 were in serious condition, ... More »
GENEVA/BRUSSELS The United Nations and human rights groups warned on Tuesday that a tentative European Union deal to send back all irregular migrants to Turkey in exchange for political and financial rewards could be illegal. “I am deeply concerned about any a... More »
ISTANBUL A day after Turkey’s top-selling newspaper Zaman was taken over by the state, it dropped its criticisms of the government on Sunday and published flattering stories on President Tayyip Erdogan. The episode is the latest twist in a long-running conflic... More »
BRUSSELS British and EU negotiators agreed much of a reform package on Thursday to help keep Britain in the European Union, leaving Prime Minister David Cameron to settle tricky final issues, notably on migration, at a summit next week, diplomats said. After t... More »
BEIRUT The Syrian army advanced toward the Turkish border on Monday in a major offensive backed by Russia and Iran that rebels say now threatens the future of their nearly five-year-old insurrection against President Bashar al-Assad. Iranian backed-militias pl... More »
KRAKOW, POLAND Germany qualified for the 2016 Olympic Games men’s handball tournament after winning their second European championship with an impressive 24-17 victory over favorites Spain in Sunday’s final. Beaten by the Spaniards 32-29 in the preliminary gro... More »
SOFIA Bulgaria’s retired double Olympic wrestling silver medalist Stanka Zlateva said on Sunday she was once offered cash to lose a world championship final but had refused to do so. “I was offered money at a world championship but for me, it’s much more impor... More »
BERLIN Support for German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative bloc fell 2.5 percentage points to 32.5 percent, its lowest level since the 2013 election, an INSA poll in Germany’s top-selling Bild newspaper showed on Tuesday. The poll also put the right-win... More »
ANKARA Turkey is unsettled by “anti-Islamic” messages in the U.S. presidential race, in which the Republican front runner called for a ban on foreign Muslims, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Monday. Donald Trump last month advocated banning all forei... More »
VIENNA Austria’s Vice Chancellor said on Monday that Austria could not accept more than 100,000 migrants a year, following a pledge from its larger neighbor Germany to limit arrivals. Hundreds of thousands of people, many of them fleeing conflict and poverty i... More »
FRANKFURT The European Central Bank looks set to continue to support the economy as the euro zone’s upswing broadens and strengthens, Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem said on Thursday. “The ECB has been accommodative … supportive for the economic recovery a... More »
ISTANBUL Disparate ideas like a sea-borne zoo, an Aboriginal peace treaty and the lost birdsong of a ruined Armenian capital form a cohesive body of work at this year’s Istanbul Biennial, a top international art show taking place in turbulent times. “Saltwater... More »
WARSAW Poland’s Law and Justice party (PiS) would consider a partnership with rock star Pawel Kukiz and his anti-establishment grouping if they fall short of a clear majority in the final results of Sunday’s election, the party’s likely candidate for defense m... More »
WARSAW Poland’s eurosceptic Law and Justice party (PiS) claimed victory on Sunday in a watershed election that risks putting the ex-communist state on a collision course with key European Union allies. Run by Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the twin brother of Poland’s la... More »
ATHENS Greek Prime Minister-elect Alexis Tsipras has reaffirmed his dominance on the political landscape, but now faces the daunting task of building consensus in a fractious society traumatized by years of austerity, local media said on Monday. On the morning... More »
ATHENS The leftist Syriza party of Alexis Tsipras won 35.47 percent of the vote in Sunday’s Greek national election based on 99.44 percent of votes counted, the Interior Ministry said on its website. Conservative New Democracy won 28.09 percent, the ministry s... More »
SARAJEVO Bosnia’s National Museum, a custodian of culture for a region torn by ethnic divisions, re-opened on Tuesday after a three-year closure, displaying treasures including a medieval Jewish book of Passover rites. After Bosnia’s divided authorities finall... More »
BERLIN German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday that the euro zone economy was in better shape than a year ago and said reform efforts by countries like Spain and Ireland had paid off. “If we look at the euro zone as a whole, we can say that there is ... More »
ISTANBUL Turkey’s military said on Monday its warplanes bombarded Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) targets overnight after the militants staged a deadly attack in which, one security source told Reuters, 16 Turkish soldiers were killed. The PKK said it had killed... More »
VIENNA The European Union might have had a better start, but in the end it was the Balkan countries who brought the game home in this unlikely diplomatic soccer match on Wednesday to kick off the Western Balkan summit in Vienna. Team “FC EU”, made up of Austri... More »
ANKARA The leader of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish HDP opposition said on Tuesday his party was ready to take part in an interim power-sharing government but that he would not be surprised if the prime minister tried to form a cabinet without the HDP. President Tayyip ... More »
ATHENS Greece and its international lenders reached a multi-billion euro bailout deal on Tuesday to keep the nation in the euro zone and prevent financial meltdown, officials said. Here are some of the details of what Greece is required to do for up to 85 bill... More »
ATHENS Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Wednesday Greece is close to concluding a deal with lenders on a multi billion euro bailout, which he said would end doubts over the country’s presence in the euro zone. “We are in the final stretch of conclud... More »
BERLIN French finance minister Michel Sapin has criticized his German counterpart Wolfgang Schaeuble for suggesting that Greece could temporarily leave the euro zone, but said the Franco-German relationship is “not broken”. In an interview with German business... More »
ATHENS Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Wednesday that his government would not implement reform measures beyond what was agreed with lenders at a euro zone summit earlier this month. “I know well the framework of the deal we signed at the euro zone... More »
BERLIN The German government’s panel of independent economic advisers favors creating an insolvency mechanism for euro zone states and says countries should be able to leave the single currency as a last resort. The Greek crisis has called into question the fu... More »
BERLIN German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel criticized Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble in a television interview to be broadcast later on Sunday for suggesting that Greece could quit the euro zone temporarily. Schaeuble has said that Greece could take a ... More »
BERLIN More than half of Germans think the planned deal with Greece is bad and many would have preferred that the crisis-stricken country left the euro zone rather than getting the chance for further aid, according to an opinion poll. Lawmakers in Germany, the... More »
BERLIN German lawmakers gave their go-ahead on Friday for the euro zone to negotiate a third bailout for Greece, but a warning from Chancellor Angela Merkel that the alternative was chaos failed to prevent a hefty rebellion in her own party. The Bundestag, the... More »
BERLIN German lawmakers gave their go ahead on Friday for the euro zone to negotiate a third bailout for Greece, heeding a warning from Chancellor Angela Merkel that the alternative to a deal with Athens was chaos. The Bundestag lower house of parliament, whos... More »
BRUSSELS Greece has secured debt restructuring and medium-term financing in a growth package worth 35 billion euros in a deal with its creditors that will allow the country to stay in the euro, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said in Brussels on Monday. He said ... More »
ATHENS The Greek opposition party To Potami will not enter a national unity government with the ruling Syriza party, but will support a solution for the nation’s interests, a party official said on Monday. Euro zone leaders argued late into the night with near... More »
BRUSSELS Euro zone leaders told near-bankrupt Greece at an emergency summit on Sunday it must enact key reforms this week to restore trust before they will open talks on a financial rescue to keep it in the European currency area. Leftist Prime Minister Alexis... More »
TOKYO Oil futures hovered below three-week lows on Tuesday as investors waited for developments in Greece following a bank shutdown, keeping them away from riskier assets and putting Brent crude on course for a second month of declines. Brent crude futures wer... More »
