G20 nations

Europe needs to find a solution to the migrant crisis or risk losing its identity, Italy's Matteo Renzi warned June 24 ahead of a key EU summit, as tensions rose over the asylum issue.

The Turkish tourism sector is facing one of the coldest summers it has seen in the last decade, and several factors have contributed to the chilly atmosphere. Sector representatives said they are taking various measures to minimize the expected losses this year, including speeding up their efforts to diversify tourism markets and discovering new tourism areas that promise growth potential, such

Turkey and the European Union have wrapped up a program on harmonizing prison standards, during which 1,000 days of training was given to prisoner officers.

The training, which was given to prisoner officers in Turkey with the motto "Change starts inside," cost 1.9 million euros ($2.1 million) and was provided in a twinning arrangement with the United Kingdom and Portugal.

The European Parliament's rapporteur for Turkey, Kati Piri, has expressed concerns over the "independence of the judiciary, freedom of expression and the freedom of press" in Turkey, adding "shutting Turkey's door to the European Union is not what the parliament wants."

The revision of the Customs Union between the EU and Turkey will provide an opportunity for the parties to overcome chronic problems such as visa issues and transport quotas, as well as enabling Turkey to build a solid foundation for new Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) that are becoming more important in EU trade policy, the Economic Development Foundation (IKV) in a note on May 13. 

Two Germany Navy vessels reached Crete on Monday, on a mission to assist in migrant rescue operations in the Mediterranean, the German Defense Ministry announced.

Task force supply ship Berlin and frigate Hessen are expected to reach their final destination off Libya later in the week.

World military spending was largely unchanged in 2014 as lower spending in the United States and Western Europe was matched by increases elsewhere, prompted by conflicts in the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Africa, an arms watchdog said April 13.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said total global arms expenditure was down 0.4 percent at $1.8 trillion.

Turkey's economic growth weakened last year to 2.9 percent, well down on 2013 and creating worries for the Turkish government ahead of June legislative elections, official data showed on March 31.
      

Three Saudi Arabian citizens and one Russian citizen were arrested on March 25 in the southeastern province of Gaziantep province before entering Syria, local officials have said.

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).