The European Parliament (EP) is gearing up to tell Ankara that an independent press is vital for democracy amid growing concerns in the EU about the widespread occurrence of self-censorship by media owners and journalists in Turkey.

Ukraine has rejected draft laws that would allow the release of a jailed opposition leader, suspended plans for a landmark agreement with the European Union and announced it will renew active dialogue with Russia.

Iran said Monday that it would oppose attempts by Azerbaijan to officially register polo with the United Nations as a purely indigenous sport, arguing that polo is an international game and Azerbaijan has no right to claim that it originated there.

The candidate backed by the prime minister of Georgia has won the country’s presidential election, exit polls and preliminary results show.

The leader of the Association of Turkish Jews in Israel has urged Turkey to normalize ties with Israel before 1915, the centennial of the Armenian Genocide, or risk the Jewish lobby to “stay neutral” on that issue.

French investigators trying to solve the murder of three Kurdish women in Paris have collected evidence about the chief suspect’s connections to Turkey, four sources with knowledge of the investigation told Reuters.

Turkey deliberately blew the cover of an Israeli spy ring working inside Iran in early 2012 and dealt a significant blow to Israeli intelligence gathering, according to a report in The Washington Post on Thursday.

The Spokespersons of the European Union’s High Representative Catherine Ashton and Commissioner Štefan Füle have issued a statement on the worrying cases of state pressure on opposition, civil society, and media organizations in Azerbaijan.

The European Court of Human Rights says Turkey must pay 5 million euros in damages to two Greek nationals who sought to acquire three buildings in Istanbul bequeathed to them by their late sister.

A roundtable discussion on the Human Rights situation in Azerbaijan was held on September 24, 2013 in the European Parliament, just two weeks prior to the October 9 presidential elections in Azerbaijan, the European Armenian Federation for Justice and Development (ANC of Europe) informs.

The European Parliament has overwhelmingly adopted a resolution that deplores different types of pressure being exercised by Russia on the European Union’s Eastern neighbors, including Armenia.

Ever since Egypt’s President Mohamed Morsi was removed from office, Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been harshly critical of the new government, strongly advocating his fellow Islamist Morsi’s return to power.

President Vladimir Putin has met with his Abkhazian counterpart Alexander Ankvab, the Kremlin reported in a statement.

Russia’s vast energy resources have long given the country substantial influence in the international arena. As notes, however, a number of current developments present a threat to Russia’s economic and global position.