GUL RECEIVES HEAD OF BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA PRESIDENCY COUNCIL
President Abdullah Gul yesterday met with Haris Silajdzic, the chairman of Bosnia-Herzegovina's tripartite Presidency Council, at Istanbul's Ciragan Palace. The two leaders spoke with reporters before having a closed-door, 45-minute meeting. /Sabah/
PM ERDOGAN SET TO ATTEND G-8 MEETING IN ITALY
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will travel to L'Aquila, Italy today to attend a G-8 summit. While in Italy, he will also attend a Major Economies Forum (MEF) meeting hosted by Denmark, with the attendance of European Union Term President Sweden, Spain, the Netherlands, and European Commission representatives. /Turkiye/
DAVUTOGLU RECEIVES UAE FOREIGN MINISTER
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu yesterday met with his United Arab Emirates (UAE) counterpart Sheik Abdallah bin Zayid al-Nuhayyan at Istanbul's Ciragan Palace. The meeting lasted for one-and-a-half hours. /Hurriyet/
SYRIAN FM: "INDIRECT TALKS WITH ISRAEL UNDER TURKEY'S MEDIATION ARE THE BEST WAY"
At a joint press conference with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Damascus yesterday, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said, "We think that instead of direct negotiations with Israel, indirect talks through Turkey's mediation would be the best way." Turkey had mediated talks between Syria and Israel until Israel's offensive in Gaza late last year. /Cumhuriyet/
ANKARA CONFIRMS NABUCCO DEAL TO BE SIGNED NEXT WEEK
Ankara announced on Monday that it had reached a deal with several European countries on the terms of the proposed Nabucco pipeline, intended to supply Europe with gas, and that they would sign an intergovernmental agreement on the project in Ankara early next week. A Foreign Ministry statement said that since January Turkey has been negotiating gas transit fees and other issues with Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria, with the participation of Germany as well as the European Commission as a facilitator. "Negotiations on the agreement were successfully finalized in the seventh round of talks last month," the statement said, without further elaborating. /Today's Zaman/