The Rajin-Sonbong Free Trade Zone in the extreme northeast corner of North Korea was always something of a joke. The zone was created in 1991 by the late North Korean dictator Kim Il-sung when the North was in one of its periodic flirtations with Chinese-style free markets. But nothing much came of it.

• February 1, 2011

The United States and the European Union on Monday imposed sanctions against President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko and scores of other officials in Belarus for a broad crackdown on the opposition after the fraudulent presidential election late last year.

• February 1, 2011

The White House says it is troubled by reports that dozens of people detained during demonstrations in Moscow and other Russian cities have been mistreated, including accusations that some were beaten by police.

• February 1, 2011

Ministry of Economic Regulation (MER) of Kyrgyzstan intends to attract Turkish businessmen to develop the mining sector, as the head of the investment policy of MER Kubat Murzaev stated at a joint Kyrgyz-Turkish Business Forum.

• February 1, 2011

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will pay a two-day official visit to Kyrgyzstan on February 1

• January 31, 2011

Russian experts confirmed during a presentation of the Kaliningrad nuclear power plant project in Riga yesterday that the project will have no detrimental effect on the environment.

• January 29, 2011

Turkey has played an increasingly visible role in Arab affairs in recent years, but the country's top diplomat in the United States suggested Friday that the violence in Egypt is an internal matter.

• January 29, 2011

Today I would like to talk about Turkey in the foreign policy of the EU. I am not going to talk about the European approach to Turkey as it is already well known – especially here in Europe; but I will talk about the position of Turkey in its region, and from the Turkish point of view.

Turkey today is perceived as one of the region’s most sucessful countries. Although it is improving its relations with the east, such as Iran, Russia, Iraq, Syria; its relations with the EU is getting closer to a deadlock.

In my speech, I would like to focus on the new Turkish foreign policy focusing on Turkey’s complicated position as a “bridge” or as a “buffer” between the East and West, namely between the European Union and the Middle East.

• January 29, 2011