Volkan Bozk

A Turkish government official says to eliminate a root cause of Islamist extremism, European countries must give their Muslim residents greater opportunities and more reasons for hope.
                   
Volkan Bozk?r, Turkey's EU Minister, said March 21 that many Muslims living in Europe "now feel they are the other."
                   

Since the dawn of time every Muslim is a Turk in the eyes of the West, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an has claimed, stressing it was not used as a term of superiority but rather as proof grounded in historical evidence.

Turkey?s foreign minister is set to attend the European Union member states? informal Gymnich meetings, after Ankara has long urged Brussels to invite it to the foreign policy meetings.

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavu?o?lu will attend the meeting on March 6-7, a written statement issued by the ministry said on March 5.

Turkey and the European Union will celebrate the 20th anniversary of their decision to bring the former to shared customs with the latter on March 6.

Around 143.5 million euros of grants will be available for Turkey until the end of 2016 in the framework of the EU's Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance for Rural Development (IPARD) program, said Turkish EU Minister and Chief Negotiator Volkan Bozk?r.

IPARD is the rural development section of the EU's Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA).

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an strongly criticized Austria on Feb 28 for approving a controversial bill that revises the status of Muslims in the European country Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an strongly criticized Austria on Feb. 28 for approving a controversial bill that revises the status of Muslims in the European country.

Turkey and the United States will begin training and equipping moderate Syrian opposition fighters on March 1 within the framework of a Feb. 19 agreement signed by the two countries, Ankara has announced.

"I can say that it will begin as of March 1," Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tanju Bilgiç briefly told reporters at a press conference on Feb. 27.

The use of regionally strategic ?ncirlik Air Base as part of the international campaign against the extremist jihadists in Syria depends on the results yielded by the recently signed train-and-equip program, a senior Turkish government official has said.

Turkish Interior Minister Efkan Ala has attempted to justify the government's controversial homeland security bill by referring to the EU's 2014 Progress Report on Turkey, which stated that "reforms are needed to improve civilian scrutiny of the military, the police, the gendarmerie and the intelligence services."

Whenever you ask diplomatic sources about U.S.-Turkey relations, the kind of answer you get is usually about the ?absence of any problems.?