Turkey has not given up on EU but eyeing alternatives

Ankara, 29 November 2016 (MIA) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says his country has not given up yet on the idea of EU accession but is actively pursuing alternatives.

In televised remarks Tuesday, the Turkish president lamented that the "EU has insisted on hampering full membership negotiations" and insulted Turkey, AP reports. 

"Despite this, we have not — for the time being — closed the EU book," he said.

Erdogan, who has previously suggested Turkey could join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization instead, stressed his country was not without alternatives and had already entered talks with them.

Turkey-EU ties are increasingly strained in the wake of a non-binding vote by European Union legislators to suspend Turkey's accession talks over rights abuses following a failed military coup in July. The EU needs Turkey to stem the flow of refugees from its shores to Europe. lk/16:46

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Fire in Turkish dormitory kills 12, including 11 teenage girls: officials

Ankara, 30 November 2016 (MIA) - Twelve people, including eleven teenagers, were killed when a fire swept through a girls dormitory in the southern Turkish province of Adana on Tuesday, officials said, Reuters reports.

The fire, which broke out in a dormitory housing middle and high school students, may have been caused by an electrical fault, Omer Celik, a senior government official who represents the province in parliament, told broadcaster CNN Turk.

At least twenty-two other girls were injured, Celik said. Also among the dead was a woman who worked at the dormitory.

The dormitory housed impoverished girls whose families coming from nearby villages where there are no schools, Elif Dogan Turkmen, an opposition parliamentarian, told CNN Turk.

Television footage showed a blaze rising from the rooftop of a multi-storey building and teams of firefighters working to put it out. sk/08:11

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Albanian PM warns EU against leaving 'vacuum' in the Balkans

Berlin, 30 November 2016 (MIA) - Russia and Islamist militants could try to boost their influence in the Balkan nations if the European Union doesn't take them in as members, Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama said in an interview published on Wednesday.

Rama told Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung it was in the EU's interests to try and bring Balkan states into its fold.

"If we want to have a secure and stable European Union and with it a secure Europe, it's not good if there are holes," Rama told the paper.

"In addition, we shouldn't forget that there are also other, third, actors, who are playing their game and who could profit if the EU leaves a vacuum there," he said.

"I'm talking about Russia, but I'm also talking about radical Islam," he added.

The Balkan countries are sandwiched between EU members Greece and Hungary. Croatia and Slovenia have already joined NATO and the EU, while Serbia, Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania are all pursuing EU membership.

The six Balkan countries are all at different stages in joining the EU. Serbia aims to complete accession talks by 2019. However, taking on new members has sunk down the list of the EU's priorities.

Diplomats from the region have said for some time that Russia is trying to boost its influence in countries such as Montenegro, Serbia, Macedonia and now also Albania.

Rama said his country would continue to move towards EU accession, but cast doubt on the bloc's ability to take on new members.

"It's not about how long we still need, it's about how the European Union will continue to develop. In the meantime, we are politically in fairly good form, the European Union is not at present.