After all the images in the media of hundreds of thousands of Syrians fleeing their country and looking for food and protection in Turkey, I guess most people, here and abroad, think that trying to cope with this massive influx of foreigners is Turkey's main problem in the field of asylum and migration. It is definitely the biggest logistical and financial challenge Ankara is facing at the moment.

Thanks to a growing economy and increased political prestige in the last 10 years, Turkey ranks 19th among the 100 most valuable nation brands in the world. But with no Turkish product having become a world brand so far, the target which the country has set for itself, which is to be one of the world's 10 biggest economies by 2023, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Turkish Republic, looks like a distant, if not impossible, dream. “If we don't become focused on branding, it's very difficult [for Turkey] to attain the targets set for 2023,” said Serdar Pirtini, a lectu

SEOUL, April 1 (Yonhap) -- The following are the key events in negotiations between South Korea and Turkey for a free trade agreement (FTA) that will take effect on May 1. 2008 June -- South Korea and Turkey launch a joint study on the feasibility of signing a bilateral free trade agreement. Sept. 25 -- The first South Korea-Turkey joint meeting on the outcome of their feasibility study is held in Seoul. 2009 March 26 -- The second South Korea-Turkey joint meeting is held in Ankara. May -- The joint feasibility study on the FTA ends. 2010

Israel and Turkey began talks Monday on compensation for the families of victims of a deadly 2010 flotilla raid, for which the Jewish state apologised last week, ending a near three-year diplomatic rift. "Officials delegated by the two sides will work on the compensation issue. We gave the kickstart for it today," Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc told reporters after a weekly cabinet meeting. Ties between Israel and Turkey plummeted in May 2010 when Israeli commandos staged a botched pre-dawn raid on a six-ship flotilla to the Gaza Strip, killing nine Turkish nationals.