Foreign Ministry

Turkish Foreign Minister Feridun Sinirlio?lu flew to Vienna on Oct. 22 in order to take part in a key summit on Syria on Oct. 23, which will be attended by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. 

Sinirlio?lu met with Austrian President Heinz Fischer on the first day of his visit. 

Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev's Foreign Policy Secretary, Tihomir Stoychev, will be next Bulgarian envoy to the United States, 24 Chasa ("24 Hours") daily reports.

My two previous columns were focused on an ongoing tension between the United States and Turkey over the former?s Oct. 10 airdropping ammunition to the Syrian Democratic Union Party (PYD), which is considered a terrorist organization by the Turkish government.
 

Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias will meet with the Foreign Minister of Bulgaria, Daniel Mitov, at 11:00 on Wednesday, 21 October, at the Foreign Ministry.

Their one-on-one meeting will be followed by expanded talks between the Greek and Bulgarian delegations, and Messrs. Kotzias and Mitov will make statements to the news media at 12:30.

One of last week?s most important issues was the Turkish government?s strong reaction against the United States airdropping military logistics to local forces, including the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) who is fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in northern Syria.

The Golden Dawn party has brought to light a document from the Foreign Ministry on the name dispute with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). The document refers to the Foreign Council Meeting on July 22, 2015, and asks Golden Dawn President Nikos Mihaloliakos to express his viewsregarding which names or compound names for the neighboring country he would find acceptable.

Welcoming a ruling by the top European court of human rights, which said Switzerland had violated a Turkish politician?s right to freedom of speech by convicting him for denying the killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915 amounted to genocide, Turkey has called the ruling ?an important turning point, as it provides a reply to the exploitation of history and law for political motives.?

?Super-cyber Turkey in Syberia? appeared in this column on Apr. 11, 2014 ? barely a year and a half ago. It mentioned how Turkey?s security apparatus proudly launched a Center for Response to National Cyber Threats. Earlier, the Turkish military headquarters had formed a Cyber Warfare Command. In 2013 alone, Turkey had hosted about a dozen conferences on cyber security and new technologies.

The Foreign Ministry issued on Thursday an advice to Bulgarians to refrain from visiting Jerusalem, especially its Old City and other tourist destinations in Israel and the West Bank.

The ministry recommends to Bulgarians already in Israel to avoid traveling by public transport and visiting public spaces of mass gatherings due to the potential threat of clashes and terrorist attacks.

Turkey has summoned ambassadors from both Russia and the United States regarding ties with Kurdish forces in Syria, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu has said, reacting to any probable arms support to groups which have ties with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).