Turkey resumed accession talks with EUJune 19, 2008 - 17:06 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkey has resumed its European Union accession talks. The agenda includes legislative issues referring to property and company rights. The whole process will take no less than 10 years, the RFE/RL reports. Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan claims that some states pose artificial obstacles to the accession process. "We launched talks on agriculture, transport, foreign policy and 15 other directions. However, certain states hamper the process," he said. Turkey opened accession talks with the EU in 2005 but progress has since been very slow. In 2006 the EU suspended accession talks with Ankara on eight chapters because of Ankara's refusal to open its ports and airports to traffic from Greek Cyprus. Ankara says it is ready to open the ports and airports in return for EU steps to ease trade restrictions on the Turkish Cypriots. The EU Commission proposed direct trade with the Turkish Cypriots in 2004 after they voted for a UN plan to reunite the island but the proposal, vetoed by the Greek Cypriots, have never been approved. 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 | Government reveals details from Pashinyan’s meeting in border village Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has met with a group of residents of a border village in Armenia’s northern Tavush province Narek Manasyan wins European Boxing Championships silver for Armenia Armenia’s Narek Manasyan (92kg) won Armenia’s second silver medal at the European Boxing Championships 2024 on April 28. Blinken urges Azerbaijan to continue negotiations with Armenia Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken has urged Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to continue negotiations with Armenia. Pashinyan, Blinken talk Armenia-U.S. ties over the phone Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had a phone conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on April 28, Pashinyan’s office reports. |