Turkish army kills more than 90 PKK fighters

The Turkish army has announced that it has killed 94 terrorists in the southeastern provinces of Hakkari, Sirnak, Diyarbakır, Bingol, Tunceli, Mus and Agri. Fifty-three hideouts and warehouses of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) have been destroyed during the operations. The PKK is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, USA and EU.  Since it resumed its armed struggle in July 2015, around 8,000 PKK members have either been killed or captured. More than 300 civilians have been killed, as have 800 security forces personnel, the Anatolian news agency reports.

Tsipras rules out early elections in Greece

Greece's Prime Minister and SYRIZA party leader Alexis Tsipras has firmly rejected any possibility of early parliamentary elections in the country. In recent weeks, there has been growing discussion of early elections in the country due to Tsipras' disastrous approval rating. The latest sociological survey shows that the prime minister has a 24 percent approval rating in Greece, occupying sixth place out of eight leading politicians in the country. The list is topped by opposition leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis with 45 percent. 

Presidential elections in Serbia in April

Serbia's President Tomislav Nicolic has predicted that the next presidential elections in the country will be on 9 April, 2017. Nicolic is entitled to a second term of office, though he declined to answer the question whether he would be standing for reelection. The date of the presidential elections is officially set by the National Assembly speaker. She is expected to do so in February or the beginning of March.

Bosnian prosecutor's office charges six Serbs with war crimes

The Bosnia and Herzegovina prosecutor's office has charged six Serbs with war crimes committed against Bosnians (Muslim Slavs) in 1992 in Skelani near Srebrenica. There were no less than 40 victims in the attacks and more than 1,000 Bosnians were displaced.  Fierce clashes between Bosnian and Serb formations took place during the 1992-1995 armed conflict in and around Srebrenica, the most notorious of them being the massacre of over 6,000 Muslim men and boys, shot dead by the Serbian forces under the command of General Ratko Mladic in July 1995.

Monte Negro restores volunteer military service

As of 2019, Monte Negro is restoring volunteer military service, the Defence Ministry in Podgorica has announced. Its restoration is to take place thirteen years after mandatory military service in the country was abolished. An Atlantic Alliance survey shows that more than half of the young people in the country are ready to enlist voluntarily. Training will take place over three months during which the young people will be paid and will then be entitled to enlist in the professional army.

Bulgarian company concession holder of mine in Macedonia

The Toranica lead and zinc mine in Kriva Palanka, Macedonia has reopened after the Bulgarian company Minstroy was issued a concession to operate it. To reopen the mine, the Bulgarian company founded a company in Macedonia - Bulmac 2016. Under the contract concluded with the Macedonian government, Bulmac 2016 also reopened Zletovo mine in Probistip. The two mines currently employ 500.

Compiled by Stoimen Pavlov

English version: Milena Daynova