Partly in Europe, partly in Asia, Istanbul straddles two worlds.

Turkey has reportedly offered to open one port and one airport to traffic from Cyprus, in a move that could potentially resolve an impasse with the European Union over Turkish membership in the bloc.

The EU is studying an offer by Turkey to open one port and one airport to traffic from Cyprus, reports Reuters.

The European Commission said the move, if confirmed, was "an important step" towards breaking the deadlock over Turkey's EU membership application.

On Wednesday, the plenary session debated the outcome of last week's eighteenth Russia-EU summit - held in Helsinki on 24 November - with the Council and Commission. Energy, human rights, overflight payments, customs issues and Russia's ban on meat imports from Poland were all part of the discussion.

The talks between the European Union and Turkey on the Cyprus issue have been suspended without adoption of any agreement, the Foreign Minister of Finland Erkki Tuomioja informs.

The European Union today repeated its long-standing call for Belarus to join the EU Neighborhood Policy.

November 14 the 7th sitting of the Armenia-EU Cooperation Council was held in Brussels. The Action Plan of Armenia and the European Union was ratified and came into force during the sitting.