Despite Turkey's hyperactive diplomacy, its ability to play a key role in the Middle East is restrained by limited diplomatic power and institutional capacity.
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle speaks during the 14th Kronberg Talks Open Forum at Istanbul's Sabanci University on Tuesday (May 15th). "EU-Turkey relations and accession negotiations must be re-dynamised," Westerwelle said. [Reuters]
Believers hold nine volumes of the Koran in Braille at the Islamic Centre in Dushanbe, Tajikistan on Tuesday (May 15th). Twenty editions of the Koran in Braille, copied from a 9-volume version brought from Turkey, were distributed among the blind by the Islamic Centre on Tuesday, according to its representatives. [Reuters]
Galatasaray players, surrounded by riot police, celebrate after winning their Turkish Super League, Super Final soccer match against Fenerbahce at Sukru Saracoglu stadium in Istanbul on Saturday (May 12th). Galatasaray won the Turkish league title for the 18th time after a 0-0 draw against their arch-rival. Local fans clashed with police after the contest. [Reuters]
Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan (right), Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan and International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde (left) chat during the Turkey Investment Advisory Council Meeting in Istanbul on Friday (May 11th). Standard & Poor's report cited concerns over government debt in Turkey. "We will not give up fiscal discipline," Erdogan told a conference in Istanbul Friday. [Reuters]
A visitor looks at a gun made by Turkish firearms company TISAS at the Special Operations Forces Exhibition and Conference at King Abdullah I Airbase in Amman on Wednesday (May 9th). [Reuters]
Turkey Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, (left, with Italy Prime Minister Mario Monti), was named ''World Personality of the Decade'' on May 7th by the International Institute for Middle-East and Balkan Studies. The organisation, based in Slovenia, cited Erdogan's emergence as a world leader who ''has established co-operation and dialogue within Turkey as well as in the neighbouring countries, the region and the world.'' [Reuters]
Turkish journalists Adem Ozkose (left) and Hamit Coskun (right) pose with Fehmi Bulent Yildirim, president of the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (IHH), in Damascus in a handout photo released by IHH. The two journalists have been in Syrian custody since March. Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has been negotiating for their release with the Syrian and Iranian governments, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday. [Reuters]
Slovenia's Prime Minister Janez Jansa (right) and Turkey Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan inspect the guard of honour at the beginning of Erdogan's visit in Ljubljana on Monday (May 7th). Erdogan will also meet with Slovenian President Danilo Turk Parliament Speaker Gregor Virant. After his visit in Slovenia, Erdogan plans to attend Turkey-Italy Second Intergovernmental Summit in Italian capital Rome, according to Turkish Weekly. [Reuters]
Turkish mobile phone operator Turkcell said it received an official letter informing the company that the seller of Bulgarian telecommunications operator Vivacom gave up on sale. Turkcell continues to evaluate acquisition opportunities for similar buyouts, Turkcell Chief Executive Sureyya Ciliv told a news conference on Thursday (May 3rd). [Reuters]
German singer Doreen Kutzke plays a stringed instrument during she conducts a yodel workshop watched by participants at Berlin's Kreuzberg district. The distinctive warble of yodeling strikes a dissonant note in the middle of a gritty Berlin district that is home to a thriving Turkish population and peppered with trendy bars. [Reuters]
