The energy ministers from Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey will launch two-day talks in Tbilisi on December 8 to negotiate the distribution of gas from the Shah-Deniz field.

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.

Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues Co-Chair Joseph Knollenberg (R-MI) issued a statement for the House of Representatives record calling on Turkey to demonstrate a willingness to implement changes in its policy, specifically improving its relations with Armenia. In his statement, Knollenberg urged Turkey to honor its commitments, noting that the European Union (EU) has repeatedly asked Turkey to remove its blockade of Armenia, as well as pushed for normalization between the countries.

EU officials say Turkey has agreed to open one port and one airport to Cyprus, after the bloc threatened to slow membership negotiations with Ankara. Lisa Bryant has more for VOA from Paris.

"I have always said and I will say that the Genocide issue is not dominant in Armenia-Turkey relations," Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian said in an interview with the Turkish "New Anatolian" periodical.

Pope Benedict XVI, in a parting message of goodwill to Muslims at the end of his first papal trip to a predominantly Muslim nation, said Friday that the Vatican wishes to "impose nothing on anyone."

On a traffic-choked boulevard in Ankara, in central Anatolia, the bleeping of car horns and the rattle of buses mix with the muezzin's airy call to evening prayer. Is this the sound of a new Europe? Perhaps. But for Pope Benedict XVI, who arrives in the city today for his first visit to a Muslim-majority country, that's a problem.

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.

He is yet to arrive, but Turks are already protesting. Pope Benedict XVI on November 28 kicks off a controversial, four-day visit to Turkey, his first trip to a mostly Muslim country.

Thousands of demonstrators are gathering in Istanbul today to protest against Pope Benedict XVI's upcoming visit to Turkey: a predominantly Muslim country.

Turkey must be ready for Pope Benedict 16th visit to Ankara and Istanbul starting November 28, which, according to the Turkish "Radikal," will be rather difficult.