News archive of March 2016

We had two pains, both of which brought Turkey into a head-on collision with its allies. 

One of them is the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) tent incident at the EU capital of Brussels that came like a stab at a time when our relations were improving. 

In the past year we all lived through a major experience; while we were talking about the resolution process, we found ourselves in a grave war environment. The number of killed soldiers has exceeded 300; the number of terrorists killed is past 3,000, it is reported. 

Apparently, the louder Turkey's leaders talk of "principled foreign policy," the faster we should count our spoons.

Here is a tiny, negligible parenthesis of the chronology of our virtuous, moral, unbiased, principled foreign policy:

Let us look at the obstacles and neglect in the struggle against violence and sexual abuse against women and children. The general coordinator of the lawyers' network for children (ÇAÇAv.), ?ahin Antakyal?o?lu, explained the situation in these bullet points: 

The participation of a collection of Western consuls-general at the opening session of the Can Dündar-Erdem Gül court case, which has become a symbol on the limits of press freedom in Turkey, has placed a big question mark on the country's relations with the West. In many European and American publications there is a search for an answer to a vital question: Can Turkey still be a member of NATO

Following the Picasso and Ara Güler exhibitions, the Antalya Culture and Arts Center (AKS) is now hosting Andy Warhol, who is known for his many iconic works.

The exhibition, titled "Pop Art for Everyone," includes pieces from Slovakia's Zoya Museum. 

Organized by the Sevda-Cenap And Music Foundation, the 33rd International Ankara Music Festival will open on April 4. With the participation of nearly 330 artists from 17 countries, the festival will present a total of 12 events until April 30. Among the events will be three world premieres and eight Turkey premieres. 

Bulgaria's energy regulator has endorsed a proposal of state-owned wholesale gas supplier Bulgargaz to cut natural gas price by 23.02% for the second quarter of 2016.

The latest cut takes to 48% the drop in gas price since the start of last year, the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (KEVR) said in a statement on Thursday. 

Gunshots reported at the Greyhound bus station in Richmond, Virginia, with at least six people wounded and two of them being in critical condition.

According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, two of the victims were State troopers and that a third was a female civilian.

The shooter was also shot by police and is arrested.

Seven buses carrying about 350 Syrian refugees, mainly families with young children, arrived shortly after 6pm at abandoned LM Village in Myrsini, Kyllini, which will be used as a refugee center.