Turkey seizes 34 terrorist suspects

Daily Sabah newspaper has announced that the police in Istanbul have seized at least 34 foreign nationals suspected of connections with the Middle East terrorist group Islamic State. In figures released by the authorities the suspects have been members of the group and have planned to carry out terrorist attacks. The nationality of detained foreigners has not been specified. It is expected that they will be deported to their countries of origin.

Perspective of EU enlargement into Balkans good

In the coming years the European Commission sees opportunities for closer ties between the Western Balkan countries and the European Union, the Austrian newspaper Wiener Zeitung writes. According to the publication the European perspective of Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo is now better. Pointing out that offsetting skepticism to enlargement that is dominant mostly in the countries of West Europe will take a few years, the publication sums up that candidate countries are ready for EU accession but member states are not.

Albania destroys tons of Soviet, Chinese weapons

The Albanian Defense Ministry has announced that the army has completed the destruction of tons of ammunition and thousands of weapons that do not meet NATO standards. After that country joined NATO in 2009, now it is replacing its outdated Kalashnikov guns with NATO- compliant weapons. As part of the replacement, 26,000 tonnes of Soviet and Chinese ammunition and over 100,000 light weapons have been destroyed. However, during the civil unrest in 1997, 656,000 weapons and 1.5 million cartridges were stolen from Albanian military depots.

Minister Dacic dismisses option of Serbia accession to NATO

Serbia's First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic has said in an interview with the Russian newspaper Izvestia that his country has received a good offer from Russia for the purchase of military equipment whose implementation will allow modernizing its armed forces. Dacic has dismissed the option of Serbian joining NATO by stressing that Belgrade is not interested in joining NATO or any other military alliance and will continue to adhere to a policy of military neutrality. The foreign minister has confirmed that Serbia is seeking to enter the EU but will never go against its own interests and introduce sanctions against friendly Russia.

Ancient marriage contract allowing sexual slavery found in Turkey

During excavations of funerals dating back to the times of Assyria in the town of Kayseri, Turkish archeologists have found one of the earliest ever marriage contracts with an estimated age of 4000 years, writes Daily Sabah. The contract represents a clay tablet with a text according to which the husband was allowed using a slave as a surrogate mother unless his own wife gives birth to a child in the first two years of marriage. After giving birth to a baby boy the woman should be released. Experts contend that the clay tablet is in fact the first case of a marriage contract which discusses infertility.

Complied by Stoimen Pavlov

English Daniela Konstantinova