Turkey formally demands that USA arrest Fethullah Gulen over attempted coup

The Turkish Justice Ministry has demanded that USA arrest Fethullah Gulen accused by the Turkish authorities of masterminding the attempted coup d'état in Turkey on 15 July, the Anadolu news agency reports. According to ministry officials, Ankara has made a formal request to the US Ministry of Justice in written form for the detention of the Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen who has been living in USA since 1999. The request alleges that the attempted coup on 15 July was ordered and commanded by Gulen. Meanwhile, in a video address to the international policy council in Philadelphia, Gulen states the Turkish government was persecuting his followers, who were being subjected to “oppression and tyranny, molestation and unlawful acquisition of their private properties.”

Armed terrorists with fake Bulgarian passports detained in Serbia

Serbia’s Ministry of the Interior has detained four individuals in an attempt to cross over into Hungary with a large quantity of arms and munition. All four citizens of Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iraq and Syria were carrying fake Bulgarian passports, BGNES news agency reports. The investigation has revealed that the weapons and munition were destined for Islamic terrorist groups in Europe. 

Serbia’s PM dreams of a Balkan trade bloc

Serbia’s Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic stated he feared for the stability of the Western Balkans, calling for a regional trade bloc as a way to overcome a painful past. In an interview for France Presse, Vucic stated that “what we need actually is political stability in the region.” Aleksandar Vucic who took the helm as prime minister in 2014 and promised Serbia would join the EU during his tenure, admitted that neighbourly collaboration was not easy after “not only decades but centuries of hatred and wars”.

Skopje prosecutor’s office files charges against Nikola Gruevski

The specialized prosecutor’s office in Macedonia is filing charges against former Prime Minister and leader of VMRO-DPMNE Nikola Gruevski, based on wiretapped conversations that caused a political tsunami to sweep across the country. The charges may entail a prison sentence of up to five years. In one of the conversations Gruevski is heard ordering that a political opponent – Andrej Zernovski, mayor of Centar Municipality in Skopje - “get slapped”.

Greece: We cannot comply with labour reforms demanded by IMF

Greece will tell its creditors it cannot comply with the labour reforms demanded by the International Monetary Fund as a condition of its support for the country's third bailout, Greece’s Labour Minister Georgios Katrougalos told Reuters. The leftist government considers the IMF's demand as a ban on the right of workers to negotiate wages and conditions on a collective basis. A breakdown with the IMF on the issue could jeopardize its financing of the 86 billion euro bailout and could undermine overall confidence in the deal.

President Hollande and PM Ciolos inaugurate helicopter plant

The President of France Francois Hollande and the Prime Minister of Romania Dacian Ciolos attended an inauguration ceremony of the Airbus Helicopter Industries factory in a suburb of Brasov. “This is an investment that benefits the investor as well as Romania because, aside from the investment itself, it puts Romania on the map of international helicopter producers with a new product,” Dacian Ciolos said, while President Francois Hollande added the factory was a project of European dimensions able to consolidate Europe’s defence industry. The initial investments in the enterprise, which will create 350 jobs, are in excess of 50 million euro.

UNESCO names Athens World Book Capital for 2018

Athens has been named by UNESCO World Book Capital for 2018. The programme features meetings with authors, translators and illustrators, as well as concerts, exhibitions, poetic readings and book publishing workshops. Athens will be the 18th World Book Capital.

Compiled by: Miglena Ivanova

English version: Milena Daynova