All Stories Archive

The European Union has confirmed its intention to work with the new government in Tunisia following the elections for the National Constituent Assembly. The Islamist Al-Nahda (Renaissance) Party won a majority of seats in the new assembly. A statement issued by the EU Council of Foreign Affairs in Brussels...

Reports in Turkey say that debris from the wreck of an Israeli Air Force reconnaissance drone has been found in the Turkish town of Karatas. An inquiry has been opened by the Turkish government. According to Turkish newspaper Yeni Safak on Saturday, a Turkish fisherman found parts of an...

Russia's permanent delegate at the United Nations has called the continued construction of illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories "the biggest obstacle to the two-state solution". Vitaly Churkin also called on Israel to stop demolishing Palestinian homes in Occupied Jerusalem. Speaking during an open UN Security Council...

The Turkish government has declined an offer of help from Israel following the devastating earthquake in the east of the country. Israel made its offer of help on Sunday after more than 200 people were known to have been killed by the quake and hundreds more were injured. The...

Britain's Foreign Secretary has expressed his dismay at Israel's announcement last Friday of a new settlement at Givat Hamatos. William Hague described the Israeli step as "provocative" and "disappointing". He called upon the Israeli government to revoke its statement. In a press release from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office,...

The Turkish government has said that it intends to join the European Union mission to monitor the Constituent Assembly elections in Tunisia. According to media reports on Sunday, two Turkish MPs will join the EU mission later this week. Hurriyet newspaper added that the MPs will be part of...

Britain's Foreign Secretary has praised the role played by the Yemeni activist who has been awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace. According to William Hague, MP, Tawakkul Karman "has played a leading part in the struggle for women's rights and for democracy and peace in Yemen. These are actions...

Ofcom, the independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries has rejected a complaint put forward by Dr Saeb Erekat on his own behalf and on behalf of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) against Al-Jazeera for publishing the Palestine Papers.   Dr Erekat, the PLO's chief negotiator,...

Today, 6 October 2011, former Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni visited the United Kingdom . Ms. Livni was Foreign Minister during Israel's 27 December 2008 – 18 January 2009 offensive on the Gaza Strip (Operation Cast Lead. OCL). Significant evidence was collected indicating her individual criminal responsibility for war...

Turkey has criticised the Middle East Quartet plan to revive the Palestine-Israel peace process because it "ignores the UN recognition issue" and calls upon the Palestinians to go back to the negotiation table without requiring any prerequisites from Israel. Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that the Palestine issue does...

In the wake of the popular uprising in the Arab world, the European Commission has announced its adoption of four new resolutions in support of democratic programmes in the region: growth, job creation, microcredit and higher education. The total cost is estimated to be €460m. In a press statement,...

Sources in Israel have revealed that Turkey's Prime Minister has rejected an American proposal for solving the diplomatic crisis between Tel Aviv and Ankara. The initiative produced by the Ambassador to Tel Aviv would require a mutual apology to be made by the two sides over the Israeli attack...

Turkey's Foreign Minister has walked out of a conference on anti-terrorism at the UN headquarters in New York moments before a speech by Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister. It was reported that Ahmet Davutoglu left the room after his own speech, in which he stressed the importance of cooperation in...

The Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats has told a fringe meeting at the party's conference that they are fully supportive of the Palestinian application for recognition of an independent state by the UN. Simon Hughes MP made his statement at the meeting co-hosted by the New Statesman and...

Turkey has rejected US mediation to resolve the diplomatic crisis between Ankara and Tel Aviv, following Israel's refusal to apologise for killing nine Turkish activists during its assault on the Freedom Flotilla in May 2010. The ships were taking humanitarian aid to the besieged Gaza Strip. According to the...

The Turkish Foreign Minister has warned Israel not to use Kurdish separatists in an effort to weaken Turkey. Ahmet Davutoglu said that Turkey "will respond to Israel or any other country which thinks about using the PKK terrorist organisation as a tool, or resorts to terrorism against our country"....

The Turkish Red Crescent has announced its readiness to resume work on renovating the water supply networks in the Gaza Strip. The besieged territory suffers from a severe potable and irrigation water shortage as a result of the blockade that has been imposed for five years. The first task...

A Turkish official has hinted that Ankara could take more punitive measures against Israel if Tel Aviv continues to reject Turkish conditions for ending the diplomatic crisis between the two countries.  The Turkish presidential adviser, Ersat Hürmüzlü, told Radio Israel on Tuesday, September 6, that the ball is currently...

Turkey's Foreign Minister has announced that his country has expelled the Israeli ambassador to Ankara. Making the announcement following the leaked publication of the UN Palmer Report into Israel's murderous assault on the Mavi Marmara, Ahmet Davutoglu said that his country is also suspending all military agreements with the...

Turkey has launched its first observation satellite to have been designed and manufactured wholly by Turkish engineers and technicians. The satellite is part of the planned self-sufficiency in Turkey's military and developmental industries, officials said. The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey's Space Technologies Research Institute (TÜBITAK-UZAY) manufactured...

Turkey's Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has hinted that his country would resort to its 'Plan B' as a new strategic policy for dealing with Tel Aviv if Israel continued to refuse to apologize for its military attack on the Mavi Marmara; the Turkish ship that formed part of...

The European Union has called on the Israeli authorities to let Palestinians reopen the Orient House and the Arab Chamber of Commerce in Occupied East Jerusalem. In a joint statement, the European missions in Jerusalem and Ramallah said that they "regret the recent Israeli decision extending once again the...

The European Union's foreign policy chief has said that she "deeply regrets" hearing that the Israeli government has approved expansion plans for the illegal settlement of Ariel in the occupied West Bank. Catherine Ashton said in a statement from Brussels that "parties must do their utmost to avoid acts...

The Turkish Foreign Ministry has issued a warning to the Israeli government of the repercussions of its continued settlement activity in occupied Jerusalem, saying that settlement construction "aims at changing the demographics of this sacred city". In a press release issued by the Turkish Foreign Ministry, it strongly condemned...

The Turkish government has announced the beginning of work on a plan to restore the Hijaz raliway line built during the Ottoman era in the early 20th century which links Istanbul in Turkey to Makkah in Saudi Arabia. Official Turkish media outlets reported that the plan begins with preparations...

Britain's minister for the Middle East and North Africa, Alistair Burt, has condemned the Israeli Foreign Ministry's announcement approving the construction of over 900 new housing units in the settlement of Har Homa (Jabal Abu Ghneim) in Jerusalem. In a media statement published by the press section of the...

The manifesto written by Norway's terrorist, Anders Behring Breivik, ahead of the July 22 attacks reflects a zealous support for Israel and an intense hostility toward Muslims and other cultures. According to Israel Today, the word 'Israel' was mentioned more than 300 times in the 1,500 page manifesto published...

Turkey's Minister for Transportation, Binali Yildirim, has laid the foundation stone for an airport to be built on an artificial island in the Black Sea between the Turkish provinces of Ordu and Giresun. Ordu-Giresun (OR-GI) Airport will be the first of its kind in Europe and only the second...

EXCLUSIVE PICTURES On Monday 18th July, Sheikh Raed Salah, the leader of the Islamic Movement in Israel, was released on conditional bail after winning his appeal last week. He was detained on June 28 for allegedly entering the country illegally after the Home Secretary, Theresa May, claimed a travel...

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius has announced that Paris and London are to ask the EU to re-schedule to an earlier date its foreign ministers' meeting planned for the middle of May; the agenda will include a review of the arms embargo on Syria. Speaking to France-info Radio, Mr....

In future, the 'State of Palestine' will be the official alternative name for the 'Palestinian Authority' within all UN institutions, but not in Palestinian-Israeli institutions, Ban Ki-Moon has said. The Israeli Hebrew newspaper, Maariv, reported on Thursday that the General Secretary of the UN announced a report prepared to...

A spokesperson for EU High Representative Catharine Ashton has demanded that the Israeli government respect international human rights obligations regarding Palestinian prisoners and their families. This demand came as Ashton replied to a letter sent to her by the General Union of the Palestinian Communities in Europe. A statement issued by...

Turkey's Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, has stated that the apology made by Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, over Israel's attack on the Mavi Marmara ship in 2010 has nothing to do with the Syrian crisis. Davutoglu said in an interview with the...

Several Members of European parliament have protested at a visit and speech given by Israeli President, Shimon Peres, at the European Parliament on Tuesday. The MEPs held up the pictures of numerous Palestinian prisoners, including Samer Issawi who has been on hunger strike for over 231 days. They also...

The British Minister for the Middle East and North Africa, Alistair Burt, arrived in Cairo from Bahrain on Wednesday in a 2-day visit to Egypt as a part of a tour of the region which will also take him to Saudi Arabia. Airport sources note that the British official...

The German Foreign Minister has rejected the idea of providing the Syrian opposition with weapons for their struggle against the Assad regime. Guido Westerwelle told Der Tagesspiegel newspaper that providing weapons "always involves the risk of promoting a weapons-race" and a slide towards a "proxy war that may lead...

Members of the UN Human Rights Council observed a minute's silence on Wednesday as a mark of respect for the late President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, even though the Council expressed concerns frequently regarding freedom of expression, an independent judiciary and arbitrary detentions in the South American country. The...

Turkey's Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, has denounced the international campaign against recent remarks made by Recep Tayyip Erdogan in which the Prime Minister described Zionism as a "crime against humanity". Davutoglu said that Turkey has every right to criticise Israel and its founding ideology. Speaking at a press conference...

Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has called for worldwide participation in carrying out reform of the United Nations stressing that the UNSC should represent all the countries of the world. He pointed out that the five permanent members of the council did not actually represent the whole world,...

Britain's Foreign Secretary has said that there is a need for new negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis to make progress towards a two-state solution. In a press statement issued after what he called a "useful and productive" meeting with Ehud Barak, Israel's Minister of Defence, William Hague pledged...

The London-based Arabic daily newspaper, Al-Hayat, reported on February 17, 2013 that the EU's High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton, has expressed concern about the deteriorating health condition of four Palestinian prisoners on a hunger strike in Israeli prisons. She called on Israel to guarantee the...

The Palestinian West Bank is today controlled by Israel through a complex web of illegal settlements, with their associated infrastructure of separate roads, security buffer zones, checkpoints and the apartheid Wall. Illegal settlements are a cornerstone of Israel's expansionary policies aimed at confiscating more Palestinian farm lands and entrenching...

The Turkish foreign ministry has summoned the US ambassador to Ankara, Francis Ricciardone, to explain his criticism of the country's Judiciary. The Turkish newspaper, Zaman, said Ricciardone was asked about his remarks regarding the Erjinkon case in which several businessmen, academics and military leaders are being tried for plotting...

The EU foreign policy chief, Catharine Ashton, has said that the EU desires to see Palestine granted the status of a full-member state at the UN. "Achieving this is a part of the conflict resolution," she said. In a letter sent to the executive member of the PLO, Hanan...

The German Foreign Minister and former-Vice-Chancellor, Guido Westerwelle, has affirmed that his country will continue to offer financial aid to Egypt, a German newspaper reported on Wednesday. Westerwelle believes that Egypt is still in need for foreign support. "Without investments, tourism and foreign aid, no credible economic and social...

The Turkish Interior Minister has revealed that seven people who had planned separately for the assassination of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan have been arrested over the past few years. Idris Naim Shahin was responding to a parliamentary question from the Deputy Leader of the opposition Republican People's Party,...

Official statistics have revealed that 65 Syrians sought asylum in Germany last year, a 41 per cent increase over the previous year. Despite this dramatic increase, the number of asylum seekers from all countries did not exceed the numbers witnessed during the 1990s, which saw a huge influx of...

The British Minister of State in the Home Office, Jeremy Browne, said on Monday that Britain is committed to recovering as much of the money stolen by the Mubarak regime and its associates as possible. In a press conference during a visit to Cairo with his team, Browne warned...

Britain's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs has issued a warning about the worsening situation in Syria. William Hague called for more help to reach a political solution and aid the transition to a new government. Commenting on the speech by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad earlier this week, Hague...

Egypt's former Minister of Finance, who is wanted in his home country on corruption charges, may be handed over to the government in Cairo after a British minister said the UK will not be a "haven for fugitives". According to Al-Mesryoon newspaper, the statement opens the door for Youssef...