Czech Republic took over the EU Presidency from France.

 

Slovakia joined the Eurozone.

 

TRT-6 started broadcasting in Kurdish.

 

 

The Financial Cooperation Agreement between Turkey and Germany signed in 2007 entered into force.

 

 

The European Commission officially launched the European Year of Creativity and Innovation 2009.

 

 

The European Commission adopted MEDIA Mundus Programme

 

Minister Egemen Bağış became the Chief Negotiator for the EU.

 

The European Union celebrated the 10^th anniversary of the Euro.

 

The EP passed the biometric passport rules.

 

The ECB decreased the interest rates by 2%.

 

The Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat and Greek Cypriot leader Dimitris Hristofyas had their 16^th meeting.

 

 

Prime Minister Recep Tayıp Erdoğan visited Brussels.

 

 

The Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bağış met the new members of Turkey-EU Joint Consultative Committee

 

The European Commission published the “Science, Technology and Competitiveness Key Figures Report 2008/2009”.

 

 

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) was established.

 

 

A meeting on the Nabucco project was held in Budapest.

 

 

The World Economic Forum was held in Davos.

 

The Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat and Greek Cypriot leader Dimitris Hristofyas had their 17^th meeting.

 

 

Turkey joined the Kyoto Protocol.

 

 

The 45^th Munich Security Conference took place.

 

 

Switzerland held a referendum on prolonging the free movement of labor with the European Union and extending the policy to workers from new EU members States  Bulgaria and Romania.

 

 

The Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bağış visited Brussels.

 

 

The EP adopted the changes in the Turkey progress report prepared by Ria Oomen- Rujten.

 

 

The lower wing of the Czech Parliament ratified the Lisbon Treaty.

 

 

 

The European Court of Justice announced its decision regarding the “Soysal case” in which it ruled that it is inadmissible to impose a visa requirement on Turkish nationals entering the territory of a Member State with a view to providing services there on behalf of an undertaking established in Turkey.

 

The Energy Council meeting was held in Brussels.

 

The EC-Turkey Customs Union Joint Committee met for the 22^nd time.

 

 

EU Foreign Ministers met in Brussels

 

No progress has been made at the meeting between Slovenia and Croatia regarding their border dispute.

 

 

The Turkish Parliament approved the “Women-Men Equal Opportunities Commission Act”.

 

 

The formal meeting of Head of States took place in Brussels.

 

 

The EU Enlargement Conference was held in Brussels.

 

 

The meeting of the EU-Turkey Agriculture and Fisheries Sub-Committee took place.

 

 

The European Policy Centre held a meeting with the topic: “Turkey as an energy hub for Europe: prospects and challenges”.

 

 

The NATO Minister for Foreign Affairs had a meeting in Brussels.

 

The European Summit of Regions and Cities was held in Prague.

 

 

The Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bağış met with the representatives of civil society in Ankara.

 

 

The Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat and Greek Cypriot leader Dimitris Hristofyas had their 22^nd meeting.

 

The Climate Conference in Copenhagen was held.(11-13 March)

 

 

The European Parliament approved the Progress Report on Turkey.

 

The 5^th World Water Forum was held in Istanbul. (16-22 March)

 

 

The European Parliament organized a seminar entitled “Turkey and gender equality in the EU”.

 

The Summit o fEU Heads of State and Government was held in Brussels. (19-20 March)

 

 

The Hungarian Prime Minister Gyurcsany resigned.

 

 

The Agriculture and Fisheries Council was held in Brussels.

 

The President of Turkey Abdullah Gül visited Brussels. (25-27 March).

 

 

The EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Commission had a meeting in Brussels. (31 March-2 April)

 

 

The G-20 meeting was held in London.

 

The NATO Summit took place in France and Germany.

 

The UN Alliance of Civilizations Summit was held in Istanbul.

 

President Barack Obama visited Turkey. (6-7 April)

 

The European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX) reached its full operational capability.

 

The Common Visa Representation Centre for Hungary, Slovenia and Estonia opened at the Consulate General of the Republic of Hungary in Istanbul.

 

Turkey made public its EU pre-accession economic programme.

 

A meeting on the “Soysal case” of the European Court of Human Rights was organized by the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges and the European Development Foundation.

 

 

General elections were held in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

 

 

The EU-Turkey Troika meeting was held in Prague.

 

The Swedish Prime Minister visited Turkey.

 

The Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bağış visited Paris and met former Minister for Social Affairs Elisabeth Guignou, Minister of Foreign Affairs Bernard Kouchner and the Secretrary of EU Affairs Bruno Le Maire.

 

The Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat and Greek Cypriot leader Dimitris Hristofyas had their 26^nd meeting.

 

The Minister of EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bağış visited Stockholm and met the Swedish Prime Minister Frederik Reinfeldt.

 

 

The Agriculture and Fisheries Council was held in Brussels.

The 26^th EU-Turkey Joint Consultative Committee was held in Istanbul. (27-28 April)

 

The first of May was announced as a national holiday – the Labor and Solidarity Day- in Turkey.

 

 

Albania submitted its application for EU Membership.

 

President Abdullah Gül, as a guest of the Czech President Vaclav Klaus, visited Prague.

 

 

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan presented his new cabinet. Prof. Dr. Ahmet Davutoglu was appointed as the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

 

 

Journalists Union of Turkey organized a conference upon the freedom of press in Turkey along the way to EU Membership.

 

 

The Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bağış visited Spain.(4-5 May)

 

 

The Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bağış visited the UK. (5-7 May)

 

 

The Senate of Czech Republic ratified the Lisbon Treaty.

 

The European Green Party of the European Parliament organized a meeting entitled: “EU Visa for Turkish nationals: time for clarity”.

 

 

The EU employment Troika met in Prague.

 

 

An international conference on “Bridges of Understanding: Intercultural Europe and Turkey’s contribution” took place in Bremen.

 

 

Europe Day was celebrated in the EU and candidate countries.

 

The Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat and Greek Cypriot leader Dimitris Hristofyas as well as the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Cyprus and Head of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) came together for the 28^th time.

 

 

The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon presented its report on the UN operation in Cyprus. It covered developments from 24 November 2008 to 10 May 2009 and brought up to date the record of activities carried out by the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP)

 

 

The 47^th meeting of EU-Turkey Association Council was held in Brussels.

 

 

The European Council adopted the “EU Blue Card: more advantages for high-skilled foreign workers.”

 

 

Turkey joined the Information Communication Technology Policy Support Programme (ICT PSP).

 

 

The European Commission's study revealed that Europe’s 20% of renewable energy target could give jobs to 2.8 million people.

 

 

The Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat and Greek Cypriot leader Dimitris Hristofyas had their 31^st meeting.

 

 

The European Parliament Elections took place in 27 Member States. The election delivered a setback for the European left and gains for center-right and right-wing parties (4-7 June)

 

 

The Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bağış attended the Meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the South-East European Cooperation Process in Chisinau.

 

The German Embassy in Ankara released a press statement announcing that it had undertaken an administrative change that would ease the visa procedure applied to Turkish nationals and widen the scope of Turkish nationals who would be able to enter Germany by providing a visa exemption document.

 

 

The European Court of Human Rights found Turkey in violation regarding protection against domestic violence. (case of Nahide Opuz)

 

 

The Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat and Greek Cypriot leader Dimitris Hristofyas had their 32^nd meeting.

 

The Bonn Climate Change Conference took place in Germany. (11-12 June)

 

 

The Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat and Greek Cypriot leader Dimitris Hristofyas as well as the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Cyprus and Head of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) came together for the 33^rd time.

 

 

The EU Committee of the Regions’ Plenary Session took place. (17-18 June)

 

 

The European Council meeting was held in Brussels. (18-19 June)

 

 

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had a meeting with the ambassadors of Turkey in the European Union.

 

 

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited Brussels. (24-27 June)

 

Croatian accession negotiations were suspended due to border disputes with Slovenia.

 

 

President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso met Mehmet Ali Talat and Dimitris Hristofyas.

 

 

The “Taxation” chapter in Turkey's EU accession was opened to negotiations.

 

The German Constitutional Court ruled that the Lisbon Treaty is compatible with Germany's constitution.

 

The “Turkish Season” started in France.

 

Sweden took over the EU Presidency from the Czech Republic.

 

 

The Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bağış hosted the French Businessman Association MEDEV.

 

 

 

 

President Nicolas Sarkozy noted during his visit to Sweden that he considers Turkey to be a bridge between east and west but that he is not in favor of Turkey becoming an EU Member State.

 

 

 

 

The director Nuri Bilge Ceylan was awarded with the ‘Grande Medaille de Vermeil’ in Paris within the “Turkish season” framework.

 

 

Negotiations about intellectual property law between Turkish authorities and representatives of the European Commission were held. (7-9 July)

 

 

The G-8 Summit took place. (8-10 July)

 

The European Commission presented its 2008 report on the financial aid to North Cyprus.

 

The Minister of EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bağış visited Croatia.

 

 

The Secretariat General for EU Affairs in Turkey got a new structure for its organization.

 

The Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat and Greek Cypriot leader Dimitris Hristofyas, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Cyprus and Head of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) came together for the 36^th time.

 

 

The Nabucco Project Agreement was signed in Ankara.

 

 

The European Parliament started its new 5 year term after the elections in June 2009.

 

 

The Parliament of Iceland decided to submit their application for EU Membership.

 

The agreement within the Joint Programme “Dissemination of Model Prison Practices and Promotion of Prison Reforms in Turkey” was signed between Turkey, the EU and the Council of Europe.

 

 

The German government unilaterally suspended the country's double taxation treaty with Turkey.

 

 

It has been 50 years that Turkey applied for EU Membership.

 

The EU announced to support Serbian and Turkish governments respectively with 100 million and 85 million euro because of the financial crisis.

 

The former Prime Minister of Denmark, Anders Fogh Rasmussen was appointed as the General Secretary of the NATO.

 

 

Decision on Turkey’s new EU relations senior staff was accepted. Volkan Bozkır was appointed as the head of the Secretariat General for EU Affairs.

 

 

The Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat and Greek Cypriot leader Dimitris Hristofyas had their 40^th meeting.

 

John Christopher William (Matthew) Kidd was appointed as British High Commissioner to Cyprus

 

 

The Central Bank announced that Turkey’s income from tourism decreased by 13,8% during the first half of 2009.

 

 

Two Turkish businessmen, Bülent Selçuk and Uğur Akdoğan, took advantage of specific clauses in the Ankara Agreement providing for a residence permit for those who want to start a business or want to invest in England and they achieved to enter England.

 

 

The first youth project within the Lisbon strategy in Turkey was initiated. (24-29 August)

 

 

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen visited Ankara.

 

 

The Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bağış visited Austria.

 

 

A State Language Act came into force in Slovakia and has made Slovak a mandatory language to be used by all civil servants, including teachers and doctors, in their official capacity.

 

 

Barroso outlined his vision of Europe for the next five years.

 

The WTO ruled that Airbus received illegal subsidies from EU governments.

 

The G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors had a meeting in London.

 

An Informal Meeting of EU Foreign Ministers was held. (4-6 September)

 

 

The Independent Commission published its report on Turkey: “Turkey in Europe: Breaking the vicious circle”.

 

 

The European Commission opened negotiations with Turkey upon accession to the Energy Community.

 

 

National broadcasting station TRT acquired 15, 7% of the shares in Euronews. Euronews will broadcast in Turkish as well.

 

 

José Manuel Barroso was appointed for the second time as the President of the European Commission.

 

 

The Minister of EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bağış visited France in the framework of the “Turkish Season”. (17-20 September)

 

The European wing of the Delegation to the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee was announced. Hélène Flautre was assigned as the chairwoman.

 

 

The European Court of Justice ruled upon the T. Şahin case. The ECJ ruled that according to the Article 13 of Decision No 1/80 of 19 September 1980 on the development of the Association, the amount of administrative charges for granting a residence permit or an extension of the period of validity asked from Turkish nationals is disproportionate as compared with the amount required from Community nationals.

 

The European Court of Human Rights ruled against Turkey in the VARNAVA AND OTHERS v. TURKEY case.

 

General Başbuğ attended the NATO Military Committee Conference held in Lisbon.

 

 

The European Court of Human Rights condemned Turkey for the deportation of Iranian refugees.

 

 

Germany ratified the Lisbon Treaty.

 

The Minister of EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bağış revealed that the province of Konya benefits the most from EU grants and funds.

 

 

The G-20 Summit took place in the USA.

 

Federal elections in Germany took place. The Christian Democrats won with 33.8 percent of the vote.

 

 

Turkey signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities.

 

The European Commission adopted the regulation 906/2009 regarding practices between liner shipping companies.

 

 

The International Crisis Group presented its report entitled: “Cyprus: Reunification or partition?”

 

 

 

Referendum was held in Ireland. The people of Ireland voted in favor of the Lisbon Treaty (47,6%).

 

Eight new chapters were opened with Croatia while five others provisionally closed.

 

Minister for Foreign Affairs Ahmet Davutoğlu visited Brussels.

 

 

Elections in Greece. The centre-left Pasok party led by George Papandreou won the elections with 43,92% of the vote.

 

 

“Turkish Season” activities started in France.(7-9 October)

 

The Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bağış visited Brussels. (7-9 October)

 

 

George Papandreou visited Turkey and said that Turkey would be ready to join the EU in 2014.

 

President Abdullah Gül and the Minister of EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bağış visited Paris.

 

Leopold Maurer was appointed as the representative of the European Commission to assist UN in Cyprus.

 

 

Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

 

 

 

Armenia and Turkey signed two Protocols according to which both countries were going to establish diplomatic relations and reopen the countries’ borders.

 

 

The European Commission adopted its annual strategy document explaining its policy on EU enlargement.

 

The Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat and Greek Cypriot leader Dimitris Hristofyas had their 44^th meeting.

 

 

The European Union signed a Free Trade Agreement with South Korea.

 

 

The “EU Bookshop” Digital Library was launched.

 

 

TheP of the Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB), Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu was elected deputy chairman of the Association of European Chambers of Commerce andIndustry (Eurochambres). Hisarcıklıoğlu is the first deputy chairman of Eurochambres from a country that is not a member of the EU.

 

 

Governments of Italy, Russia and Turkey signeda joint agreement for the construction of the Samsun-Ceyhan pipeline.

 

 

The Minister of EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bağış met EP members and the President of the ECHR Jean-Paul Costa in Strasbourg. (20-22 October)

 

 

The Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs of the European Commission published a report entitled: “Growth and economic crises in Turkey: leaving behind a turbulent past?”

 

 

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) launched a report entitled: “Government at a Glance”.

 

An informal meeting between the Defense Ministers of NATO was held in Bratislava. (22-23 October)

 

 

President Abdullah Gül visited Serbia and met the President of Serbia Boris Tadic. (25-27 October)

 

The EU-Turkey Customs Union Joint Committee held its 23^rd meeting in Brussels.

 

 

The Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bağış visited Finland. (27-28 October)

 

 

Angela Merkel became the Chancellor of Germany for the second time.

 

 

Czech Republic ratified the Lisbon Treaty.

 

The Minister of EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bağış visited Greece and met with the Deputy for Foreign Relations Drucas, the Prime Minister Yorgos Papandreu, former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Parliament member Dora Bakoyannis. (4-5 November)

 

 

The Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bağış visited Berlin and met the Minister for Foreign Affairs Guido Westerwelle and the undersecretary for Foreign Relations Reinhard Silberberg. (5-6 November)

 

 

Prisoners in Turkey are allowed to speak in other language than in the official language which is Turkish.

 

 

The third Special Eurobarometer survey on attitudes to discrimination in the EU carried out by the European Commission was published.

 

The E-PRTR website containing information about the emissions of pollutants to air, water and land by industrial establishments was launched.

 

 

The Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bağış visited Stockholm and met the Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs Carl Bildt and other statesmen. (13-14 November)

 

 

The Minister for Foreign Affairs Ahmet Davutoğlu visited Spain and met his Spanish counterpart Miguel Angel Moratinos. (14-16 November)

 

 

The first elections after Kosovo’s declaration of independence were held. Haşim Taçi from PDK party won the elections.

 

 

President of Italy Giorgio Napolitano visited Turkey.

 

 

The Minister for Foreign Affairs met former President of the Independent Commission on Turkey Martti Ahtisaari along with the other members of the Independent Commission.

 

 

The Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy was appointed as the first permanent EU President while Catherine Ashton was appointed as the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

 

 

The European Parliament adopted series of reforms in Telecoms.

 

The Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat and Greek Cypriot leader Dimitris Hristofyas had their 54^th meeting.

 

Turkey-EU Troika Foreign Ministers meeting took place in Istanbul.

 

 

The President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso announced that he would carry his duty until 2014 and presented the new members of the European Commission.

 

The EU closed three negotiation chapters with Croatia (“Energy”, “Financial Services” and “Consumers and Health Protection)

 

 

The EU decided that the citizens of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia would be able to travel without visa to the Schengen area as of 19 December 2009

 

 

The Lisbon Treaty entered into force.

 

The Minister for Foreign Affairs Ahmet Davutoğlu attended the 17^th Ministerial Council of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

 

The 27^th EU-Turkey Joint Consultative Committee was held. (1-2 December 2009)

 

 

The Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bağış visited Brussels. (2-4 December)

 

The EU Council announced 2011 as the European Year of volunteering.

 

 

The Minister for Foreign Affairs Ahmet Davutoğlu attended the Foreign Ministers Meeting of the NATO in Brussels.

 

 

The Secretariat General for EU Affairs in Turkey opened an office in Istanbul.

 

 

UN Climate Change Conference took place in Copenhagen.

 

The Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat and Greek Cypriot leader Dimitris Hristofyas had their 57^th meeting.

 

The EU- Mediterranean partnership had a meeting.

 

 

Meeting of the European Council was held in Brussels. (10-11 December)

 

 

The Constitutional Court voted unanimously to close down the Democratic Society Party (DTP) on the grounds that it had become “a center of activities incompatible with the indivisible integrity of the state” and “links with a terrorist organization.”

 

The EU Council adopted the Stockholm Programme defining the new framework of EU efforts on police and customs cooperation, rescue services, criminal and civil law cooperation, asylum, migration and visa policy for the period 2010-2014.

 

 

An appeal against last month's decision by Swiss voters to ban minarets has been submitted to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

 

A new report published by Eurostat revealed that among the citizens of countries outside the EU27 residing in the EU, the largest groups were from Turkey (2.4 million or 12 per cent of the total number of foreign citizens from countries outside the EU27), Morocco (1.7 million or nine per cent) and Albania (one million or five per cent).

 

 

The European parliament adopted the EU’s 2010 budget.

 

Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER) gave green light to open the policy chapter on environment within Turkey’s accession negotiations.

 

 

Citizens from former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia got the right to enter the Schengen area without visa.

 

 

Turkey and the European Union opened negotiations on the “Environment” chapter.

 

 

Serbia officially applied for EU Membership.

 

The Protocol on Economic and Financial Cooperation between Turkey and Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was approved.

 

Environment Minister Veysel Eroğlu explained that Turkey needed 58,615 million Euro to bring the country up to European environment standards.