EU: Turkey's regional importance grewOctober 29, 2008 - 18:01 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkey's importance to the EU has increased in the areas of energy, and regional security and conflict prevention in the Caucasus, says the EU annual progress report on Turkey to be released on November 5.The EU reforms, it says, makes Turkey "a stronger force for stability" in the volatile region, which witnessed a Russian-Georgian war over the breakaway region of South Ossetia in August. It said Turkey played a "constructive role" in the Caucasus and the Middle East by proposing a Caucasus cooperation platform after the August crisis; by mediating peace talks between Israel and Syria; and by starting dialogue with Armenia with President Gul's visit in September. The report noted changes to the Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK), which the EU said restricts freedom of expression, but complained that the wording still remains largely the same and that the revised form, which requires prior authorization from the justice minister to open cases on the basis of Article 301, raises concerns that the article will be subject to political considerations. On the government, however, the report's tone was tougher, complaining that, although it expressed commitment to the reforms, it has not put forward "a consistent and comprehensive program of reforms" to bring Turkey closer to the EU, Today's Zaman reports. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Russia warns Armenia against “falling into West’s trap” Zakharova maintained, however, that anything that will benefit the people of Armenia can only be welcomed. CSTO: Armenia has not participated in secretariat’s work recently Recently Armenia has not participated in the work of the secretariat of the CSTO, Imangali Tasmagambetov said. Meeting with U.S., EU not against third parties, says Armenia The meeting scheduled for April 5 is dedicated to strengthening of the Armenia-EU-US cooperation, Yerevan added. Ucom launches network modernization efforts in few regions of Armenia In particular, on March 28, the legacy Mobile Switching Subsystem will be replaced with a new one. |