JANUARY 1 - DECEMBER 31, 2002*
CONTENTS
I. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
H. RELATİONS WITH EUROPEAN STATES AND THE EUROPEAN UNION
IH. RELATİONS WITH THE UNITED STATES AND NATO
IV. RELATİONS WITH MİDDLE EAST
V. RELATİONS WITH RUSSİA, CAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASİA
VI. OTHERS
I. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
January 01- New Turkish Civil Code that pledges gender equality between couples becomes official.
January 02- State Minister Tunca Toskay says that a nation-wide population count carried out in October 2000 totals 67,844,903 people revealing that Turkey's population grew more rapidly than expected.
January 10- The draft law adopting the international convention on the prevention of the financing of terrorism is approved by the Parliament.
*Prepared from Turkish Probe by Research Assistant Atay Akdevelioğlu and Elçin Aktoprak, Faculty of Political Science, Ankara University.
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February 06- Parliament amends laws governing freedom of thought and expression known as the mini reform package, as it works to ease statutes obstructing its path to full membership of the EU.
March 26- Parliament approves the reform packages as part of a bid to join the EU.
April 16- The government sends a draft law to parliament that vvill abolish the death penalty except in cases of terrorism and treason, a move aimed at easing Turkey's path to EU membership.
May 15- Turkey's parliament passes controversial lavv draft on radio and television, publicly knovvn as the RTUK lavv, vvidely criticised as an assault on media freedom and a threat to the country's Internet industry.
June 19- Parliament lifts the Emergency Rule (OHAL) in Hakkari and Tunceli and extends "one last time" for four months in the provinces of Diyarbakır and Şırnak.
July 01- A senior member of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) vvams other tvvo coalition parties that if Kurdish education and broadcasting reforms are pushed through Parliament despite MHP opposition and in collaboration vvith the opposition parties, the MHP vvill abandon the ruling three-vvay coalition government.
July 11- Foreign Minister İsmail Cem resigns, dealing a crashing blovv to the government and setting the stage for probable early elections. Turkish Economy Minister Derviş, too, resigns but later vvithdravvs his resignation upon the request of the president and the prime minister.
July 15- David Asseo, the chief rabbi of Turkey, vvho led the Jevvish community for 41 years dies at the age of 88.
July 24- A centre-left group including a former Turkish foreign minister, Mümtaz Soysal, founds a political party called the "Independent Republic Party."
August 01- Ankara State Security Court (DGM) Prosecutor Nuh Mete Yüksel fıles a complaint against Justice and Development Party (AKP) after completing investigation about AKP leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and group chairman Bülent Arınç.
July 31- Supreme Military Council (YAS) convenes and according to the decision of the council, Turkish Land Forces Commander General Hilmi Özkök vvill replace the Chief of General Staff General Hüseyin Kıvrıkoğlu. The decision vvill come into affect on Aug. 30.
August 02- Turkey's Parliament votes in favour of abolishing the death penalty in peacetime.
September 11- Turkish poliçe are on alert for the possibility that militants linked to al Qaeda may have smuggled poisonous gas into the country and could be planning attacks.
September 16- The Court of Cassation serves a deadly blow to the ambitions of AK Party leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to become the country's next prime minister. The court upholds the ruling of the Diyarbakır State Security Court No. 3 refusing a demand by the lawyers of Erdoğan that the criminal record of the former İstanbul mayor be cleaned as the amended Penal Code Article 312 no longer included the erime he vvas sentenced for.
October 03- State Security Court formally lifts the death sentence passed on PKK chieftain Abdullah Öcalan after his capture and trial in 1999. Court commutes Öcalan's death sentence to life imprisonment in line vvith the law that lifted the death penalty except for times of war.
November 04- AKP wins a parliamentary majority in eleetions that give ıt 363 seats in the 550-seat Parliament. The only other party that win any seats in the eleetions is the left-wing Republican People's Party (CHP) which wins 178 seats. Independents win nine seats in the eleetions while ali the other parties remain below the 10 percent threshold needed to enter Parliament.
November 04- Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli, True Path Party (DYP) leader Tansu Çiller and her old time rival Motherland Party (ANAP) leader Mesut Yılmaz step down as the leaders of their parties after defeat in eleetions.
November 16- President Ahmet Necdet Sezer designates Justice and Development Party second in command Abdullah Gül to form the new government.
November 28- Turkey's 58Ul government, formed by Justice and Development Party, vvins a vote of confıdence, paving the way for reforms aimed at vvinning membership to the EU and improving the crisis-ridden economy.
n. RELATİONS WITH EUROPEAN STATES AND THE EUROPEAN UNION
January 03- Bulgaria boosts the poliçe force on its border with Turkey to stem a rising flow of illegal immigrants.
January 10 - Greek Prime Minister Kostas Simitis says that he will not come to Turkey until Turkish Foreign Minister İsmail Cem and his Greek
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counterpart Yorgo Papandreou reach an agreement on the disputes betvveen the tvvo neighbouring countries.
January 10 - The Turkish General Staff announces that Greek military transport aircraft and helicopters have violated Turkish airspace three times.
January 21 - Greece said it could negotiate vvith Turkey only on the disputed issue of the Continental shelf in the Aegean Sea as part of the two-years of talks, expected to resolve key disagreements betvveen the tvvo countries.
January 21 - The European Court of Human Rights says that Italy and Turkey top the list of nations found to have violated the European Convention on Human Rights last year.
January 27 - Foreign Minister ismail Cem says Turkey is willing to discuss its territorial disputes vvith Greece and solve them at an intemational tribunal if necessary.
January 28 - Greek and Turkish agencies are to co-operate against organised erime and terrorist threats after years of fıerce competition.
January 28 - Greek Parliament Speaker Apostolos Kaklamanis accuses Turkey of pursuing "expansionist and aggressive" policies in the Aegean Sea and on Cyprus.
January 29 - Foreign Minister İsmail Cem travels to Bosnia for a one-day visit vvith local leaders, and vvith soldiers serving in the UN peacekeeping mission.
January 30- Prime Minister Ecevit flies to Bulgaria and pledges support for Bulgaria's NATO membership aspirations.
January 30- Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis maintains his veto of a proposed deal that vvould enable the EU to borrovv NATO facilities for military operations, but give Turkey the right to block some of them.
January 31- Greece promises to come up vvith a nevv proposal to resolve a tussle vvith Turkey över access to crucial NATO planning resources for the EU's embryonic rapid reaction force.
February 01- The European Council announces its pleasure at Turkey's move to lift its reservations, in place since 1992, to the Europe Human Rights Convention Article 5, related vvith the rights of freedom and security.
February 04- Turkey and Greece agree to take steps tovvards resolving key disputes follovving tvvo years of negotiations on less series issues, vvhich improves the normally-tense Turkish-Greek ties.
February 05- Croatian parliamentary speaker Zlatko Tomcic visits Ankara as an official guest of Turkish parliamentary speaker Ömer İzgi.
February 07- Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller visits Ankara and says he is optimistic the Cyprus problem may be settled by July, before his country takes över the presidency of the EU.
February 07- EU offıcials vvelcome the amendments of Turkish Penal Code Articles 312 and 159, but add that they are insuffıcient for Turkey's membership ambitions.
February 07- Spanish Ambassador Manuel de la Camara, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, holds talks vvith foreign ministry offıcials on preparations of a forum meeting of the EU and the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC).
February 10- Leader of the Labour Party (IP) Doğu Perinçek publicises personal e-mail messages of EU Commission representative in Turkey, Karen Fogg, hacked by "unknovvn bodies," and accuses her of forming a special netvvork to destroy Turkey.
February 11- Ministers from European and Islamic countries begin arriving in İstanbul for a joint meeting betvveen the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) and the EU.
February 12- Foreign ministers from European and Islamic countries open a conference in İstanbul to bridge the gap betvveen the West and the Müslim vvorld follovving Sept. 11 attacks. Foreign Minister İsmail Cem, speaking before the forum, calls for urgent efforts to destroy "deep-rooted prejudices" exposed by Sept. 11.
February 12- The leading foreign trade offıcials of Greece and Turkey meet in Athens and discuss vvays to implement a series of low-level agreements aimed at improving their relations, negotiations that are part of a broader confıdence building effort betvveen the traditional rivals.
February 13- Greece and Turkey have decided to start tentative talks on a tangle of issues that have long divided the tvvo NATO allies, Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou says.
February 13- The tvvo-day East-West summit in İstanbul ends vvith a cali for a "tvvo state settlement" to the thorny Arab-Israeli conflict.
February 15- The European Commissioner in charge of enlargement, Gunter Verheugen, says the EU vvill not change its enlargement timetable for the sake of the peace talks on divided Cyprus.
February 19- Visiting Romanian Prime Minister Adrian Nastase and his Turkish counterpart Bülent Ecevit discuss improving co-operation betvveen Ankara and Bucharest in a meeting.
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February 19- The European Parliament excludes Turkey from a meeting of agriculture ministers of the member and candidate countries.
February 28- European Parliament adopts a resolution calling on EU-candidate Turkey to "create a basis of compromise" in the face of the Armenian "genocide" accusations.
March 01- Turkey says a European Parliament resolution, urging Ankara to compromise on the accusations of killing Armenians some 85 years ago, is "baseless."
March 05- Defence Minister Sabahattin Çakmakoğlu visits Berlin and telis his German counterpart, Rudolf Scharping, that Turkey is upset about the EU üst of terrorist groups, which had excluded certain Turkish-based Organisations.
March 05- President Ahmet Necdet Sezer visits Slovakia where he says that no link should be made between the death sentence imposed on Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Öcalan and Turkey's bid to join the EU.
March 06- Defence Minister Sabahattin Çakmakoğlu meets vvith a delegation of British parliamentarians for talks that focuse on the international war against terrorism.
March 07- Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer pays an official visit to Prague.
March 12- Greece and Turkey meet in Ankara to discuss ways to try to consign their decades-old disputes över the Aegean Sea to history.
March 14- Turkey issues strong protests to Rome for the beating and temporary confınement of the Turkish soccer players in their dressing room by Italian poliçe afler the Champions League Match in Rome.
March 14- Prime Minister Ecevit, accompanied by Foreign Minister Cem and Finance Minister Sümer Oral, flies to Barcelona to attend an EU summit meeting of the leaders of the EU member and candidate countries.
March 21- Onur Öymen and Vassili Kaskarelis, the Turkish and Greek ambassadors to NATO, hold a joint reception for the 50th anniversary of the tvvo countries' membership in the alliance.
March 26- Macedonian President Boris Traykovski came to Turkey on Tuesday upon the official invitation of President Ahmet Necdet Sezer.
March 28- Turkey and Greece sign a natural gas pipeline protocol, vvhich aims at carrying Caspian gas to European markets, by extending an existing pipeline betvveen Iran and Turkey.
April 05- Denmark's Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen during his official visit to Ankara, agrees with Turkey that the outlawed Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) should be on the EU's list of terrorist organisations.
April 08- President Ahmet Necdet Sezer approves the reform package crucial for Turkey in its path to the EU.
April 11- The European Court of Human Rights decides that Turkey violated Article 11 of the European Human Rights Agreement by banning the People's Labour Party (HEP).
April 11- Yugoslavian Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic arrives in Turkey for an official visit upon the invitation of Foreign Minister İsmail Cem.
April 11- Greece and Turkey launch a new round of talks.
April 14- Economy Minister Kemal Derviş arrives in Greece, to participate in the annual meeting of the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank.
April 14- Leader of the Motherland Party (ANAP) and Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yılmaz flies to Brussels to participate in the European Convention meetings.
April 14- Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, Romanian President Ion Iliescu and Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov meet at the 5Ü1 summit of the collaboration and ensuring continuity of peace and stability between Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania in the Çeşme, district of İzmir.
April 15- Presidents of Turkey, Romania, and Bulgaria agree to speed up the delivery of emergency humanitarian aid follovving natural disasters by immediately exchanging information and easing border restrictions.
April 15- The 5m Eurasia islam Council meeting begins in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).
April 16- The 41s t Association Council betvveen Turkey and the EU is held in Luxembourg.
April 17- Bulgarian Interior Minister George Petkanov visits Turkey on the official invitation of his Turkish counterpart, Yücelen, in order to tackle illegal border-crossing and drug trafficking issues.
April 17- Government spokesman Christos Protopappas says Greece vvill stick to its objections över any proposals allovving non-member Turkey to have a say in the EU defence force.
April 19- The EU calls on Greece to settle its rovv vvith Turkey över the EU's rapid reaction force vvithin a month.
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May 13- Defence Minister Sabahattin Çakmakoğlu visits Brussels for EU defence ministers' meeting.
May 15- Greece's Prime minister Costas Simitis says that a EU defence plan giving non-member Turkey a say on EU use of NATO facilities undermines the 15-nation bloc's autonomy.
May 08- Turkey threatens to review its military ties with France över a Paris display by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) that calls Turkey's Chief of General Staff General Hüseyin Kıvrıkoğlu - as vvell as the Iraqi and Libyan leaders - a "predator of press freedom."
May 13- Foreign Minister İsmail Cem visits Iceland to attend the NATO Foreign Ministers' meeting.
May 14- Defence Minister Sabahattin Çakmakoğlu states that Turkey has fmished its job on the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) issue, hovvever Greece has been causing problems and the EU is running out of time to persuade Greece.
May 14- Greece reiterates its threat to veto any EU defence plan that vvould give non-member Turkey a say on EU use of NATO facilities.
May 21- Foreign ministers and ofFıcials from 11 Mediterranean countries promise to seek a common approach in fıghting terrorism, after a two-day conference in the Greek island of Mykanos.
May 22- The European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Commission demands that Turkey continue reforms vvithin the framevvork of a report on EU enlargement.
June 14- Environment ministers of Black Sea coastal countries, Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Turkey, Ukraine and an expert of the Russian Environment Ministry, convene in Bulgaria's capital for talks on a plan to restore and protect plant and wildlife in one of the region's most polluted bodies of vvater.
June 17- National Defence Minister Sabahattin Çakmakoğlu visits Bosnia and Herzegovina as the offıcial guest of his counterpart, Defence Minister Mijo Anic, and will head to Albania after the visit.
June 21- President Ahmet Necdet Sezer leaves for the Spanish city of Seville to attend vvorking luncheon for the EU candidate countries' heads of state/government.
June 23- The EU summit in Seville ends and fails to provide a timetable for Turkey's accession talks.
June 25- The Black Sea Economic Co-operation (BSEC) summit for heads of state and government begins in İstanbul where the leaders pledge closer co-operation.
July 03- EU last term president Spain's Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar states that EU should support Ankara.
July 04- AKP applies to the European Court of Human Rights to appeal a ruling that bans its popular leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan from running for parliament.
July 05- Chief of General Staff General Hüseyin Kıvrıkoğlu visits Albania. July 07- Kemal Derviş travels to Samos island to participate in the 5Ü1 International Symri conference.
July 09- Turkey says it supports Bulgaria's and Romania's bids to join NATO, adding the tvvo Balkan states can help bolster security in south-eastem Europe.
July 11- European Commission President Romano Prodi postpones a planned trip to Turkey because of the political crisis gripping the country.
July 12- Nevvly appointed Foreign Minister Şükrü Sina Gürel, knovvn for his tough stance över Cyprus and Turkey's EU ambitions, says Turkey's foreign policy vvon't change.
July 12- A day after his resignation, former Foreign Minister İsmail Cem announces the creation of a nevv political party aimed at toppling the ailing prime minister and pressing for EU membership.
July 12- The EU expresses concern över the political crisis in Ankara. July 12- The United States fully supports Turkey's economic and political reform process on its path to full membership to the EU, US State Department spokesperson Lynn Cassel says.
July 12- Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yılmaz flies to Brussels to attend EU convention meeting. .
July 15- Slovakian Deputy Prime Minister responsible for EU Affairs, Maria Kadlecikova, arrives in Turkey at an ınvitation from Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yılmaz.
July 18- Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit says he plans to "surprise" the EU by passing reforms in some of the most sensitive areas of Turkish politics as the last act of his government before likely November elections.
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July 19- TRNC President Rauf Denktaş warns the EU again that if the Greek Cypriot side of the island is admitted into the EU, such a move will be the end of the negotiations process and a confırmation by the EU of partition of the island.
July 21- Greek press claims that Dursun Karataş, the leader of the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) terrorist organisation is currently in Greece.
July 23- Greek government says it has no information to confırm or deny Turkish media reports that the leader of a barmed DHKP-C leader Karataş was recently in Greece.
July 24- Gunter Verheugen, member of the EU commission responsible for enlargement says that the Cyprus issue could be solved before the EU Copenhagen summit in December.
August 01- Parliament begins debating a long-awaited package of reforms designed to steer Turkey closer to the EU.
August 03- After a landmark, two-day marathon session, the Turkish Parliament adopts a majör reform package aimed at preparing the country for EU membership.
August 05- MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli says he will try to overturn reforms granting rights to Kurds and abolishing the death penalty - measures passed by Parliament to boost Turkey's bid to join the EU.
August 05- The EU says it wants clarifıcation on how the human rights reforms adopted by Turkey in a bid to join the bloc will be applied in religion, broadcasting and education.
August 07- Labour Minister Yaşar Okuyan resigns a day before Parliament debates a key job security law vvhich Turkey has promised the EU. He is replaced by State Minister Nejat Arseven.
August 13- Greek press reports that November 17 terrorist organisation member Savaş Ksiros confessed that he killed Turkey's Greek Embassy Under-secretary Haluk Sipahioğlu.
August 14- Turkish Foreign Ministry Spokesman Yusuf Buluç says, Turkey is co-operating closely vvith Greek officials regarding operations against the November 17 terrorist organisation.
August 15- Albanian Defence Minister Majko and Chief of General Majör General Pellum Qazimi visit Chief of General Staff Hüseyin Kıvrıkoğlu in Ankara.
August 19- Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yılmaz flies to EU-presidency holder Denmark to press the EU to set a date for Turkey to start membership talks.
August 20- Current EU president Denmark declines to reveal a start date for EU membership talks with Turkey, but praises its recent human rights reforms.
August 21- Public support for EU membership rises in most candidate countries this year, but dropped in the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Latvia, a regional survey shows. The survey also indicates that the highest public support to the EU membership is in Turkey.
August 22- Foreign Minister Şükrü Sina Gürel says the EU, vvhich Ankara hopes to join, should not dvvell on the influence of the military in Turkish polities as a problem and should accept the country's "peculiarities".
August 28- Speaking at the Alpbach Europe Forum in Austria, Austrian Prime Minister and People Party (OVP) leader Wolfgang Schussel asserts that Turkey is not mature enough to be accepted into the EU.
August 29- Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou says that Greece is not against giving Turkey an exact date for membership negotiations, if it fulfils the EU criteria.
August 30- The European Commissioner for Enlargement, Guenter Verheugen referring to Turkey's goal to become a member of the EU (EU) says, "We cannot hide the fact that vve need to see proper implementation (of the reforms). I do not believe vve vvill have a track record by the end of year that is sufficient to make a final judgement (on opening negotiations)."
September 02- Britain says it is vvorking hard to ensure a Cyprus reunifıcation deal by autumn, before the EU decides whether to admit the Island in its next enlargement.
September 03- Foreign Minister Şükrü Sina Gürel begins tour of Strasbourg and Brussels as part of the action plan to explain Turkey's efforts to fulfil the Copenhagen criteria.
September 03- Bülent Ecevit urges the EU on Tuesday to "open its doors" to Turkey after Ankara fulfilled some political conditions to launch membership talks vvith the bloc.
September 04- Foreign Minister Şükrü Sina Gürel asks Brussels to extradite Fehriye Erdal, the suspect of Özdemir Sabancı assassination.
September 04- Belgium government says it is vvilling to reassess Turkey's request to extradite Erdal.
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September 05- Gürel urges the EU to announce a starting date for membership negotiations with his country ahead of upcoming national eleetions.
September 05- The European Commission indicates that Turkey might stili have a long time to wait before the EU is ready to set a date for launehing the accession talks.
September 07- Greek Cypriot leader Glafcos Clerides says United Nations Secretary-general Kofı Arınan may submit his own plan to settle Cyprus' long running conflict if talks on the Mediterranean island keep faltering.
September 09- Poliçe in western city of Edirne detain 218 illegal migrants on their way to western Europe.
September 10- EU Commissioner responsible for enlargement Gunter Verheugen states that the EU wants a stable government from the eleetions to be held on Nov. 3.
September 11- In a letter sent to Ecevit, British Prime Minister Tony Blair says his country welcomes Turkey's EU reforms.
September 12- Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yılmaz says Turkey should delay its November eleetions, arguing it would help Turkey's drive for EU membership.
September 13- Motherland Party (ANAP) leader Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yılmaz renews plea to postpone polis until after the Dec. 12 summit of the EU while disgruntled deputies continue efforts to delay eleetions.
September 13- While Turkish and Greek Foreign Ministers Şükrü Sina Gürel and George Papandreou met in New York to demonstrate continued spring betvveen the tvvo countries, Greece cancels portions of a majör NATO exercise in the Aegean because of an air space dispute vvith Turkey.
September 16- In a fresh sign of warming ties betvveen their countries, Turkish Foreign Minister Şükrü Sina Gürel and Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou sign an agreement vvith the UN pledging to help each other in case of a natural disaster.
September 17- Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal telis a news conference at the European World Economic Forum in Salzburg that it will be difficult for Turkey to win a date for the start of EU membership talks by the end of 2002.
September 18- In a vvarning to the EU, human rights group Amnesty International claims systematic torture continues in Turkey.
September 19- Turkey hails an Iraqi decision to allow UN weapons inspectors back into the country vvhile Ecevit says he is concerned any US military action to topple President Saddam Hussein will damage Turkey's interests in the region..
September 20- Turkey's decision to lift its ban on teaching Kurdish officially goes into force.
September 24- Germany's defence minister pledges his country's vvillingness to take command of the international security force in Kabul together vvith the Netherlands in a move that could help smooth över tense US-German relations. Turkey welcomes Germany's decision.
September 24- With a recommendation decision adopted in the European Council Parliamentary Assembly (ECPA) Turkey is criticised regarding the application of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) decisions.
September 24- Foreign Minister Şükrü Gürel starts his contacts in Britain's capital London vvithin the scope of his tour in three European capitals London, Paris and Copenhagen in order to relate Turkey's steps tovvards EU.
September 25- Ecevit says he is concerned by the harsh tone of US rhetoric tovvards Iraq and that Baghdad should be given a chance to prove its sincerity in allovving UN inspectors back.
September 25- Council of Europe Secretary General Walter Schvvimmer sends a letter to Foreign Minister Gürel calling Turkey to abide by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) decisions.
September 25- Foreign Ministry deputy spokesman Hüseyin Diriöz says Turkey fully abides by European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) decisions.
September 25- European Parliament states in a report that Turkey should have a more constructive attitude regarding the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) issue.
September 25- British Foreign Secretary Jack Stravv, meets vvith his Turkish counterpart Gürel, and says that they discussed the Cyprus issue and Turkey's goal of joining the EU, as vvell as the Iraq situation.
September 26- The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) denies reports that the Iraqi Kurds had finalised vvork on a draft constitution and vvould submit it to the Oct. 4 opening session of their regional Parliament in Erbil.
September 26- Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreau says the EU accession of "Cyprus" as a vvhole is very crucial and if Turkish Cypriots join the EU as part of "Cyprus" they vvill form a connection betvveen EU and Turkey vvhich vvill positively affect Turkey's candidacy.
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September 26- Gürel says Turkey wants the EU to announce a starting date for talks on its membership.
September 26- Gunter Verheugen, EU.
October 03- Bulgarian Prime Minister Simeon Saxcoburggotski visits Turkey.
October 04- The Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly welcomes court decision to commute a death sentence on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) leader, Abdullah Öcalan, to life in prison.
October 09- The European Commission approves a crucial report on 13 candidate countries, recommending that 10 candidate countries should join the EU in 2004 but proposes no date for Turkey to start accession talks.
October 09- Foreign Minister Gürel says the EU could seal the division of Cyprus if it admits the island without a deal to reunite it.
October 09- Asserting that Turkey's future is in Europe, the US State Department urges the EU to move toward membership for Turkey as soon as possible.
October 09- Belgian Supreme Court of Appeals Chief Prosecutor rejects an application from Turkish prominent industrialist Sabancı family against Fehriye Erdal, one of the suspects of the Özdemir Sabancı murder, dashing hopes that she will be tried in Belgium for the crimes that she committed in Turkey.
October 10- The European Commission defends its refusal to set EU candidate Turkey a date for opening membership talks and chides the US for trying to intervene on behalf of its NATO ally.
October 10- Greece says there is no reason why the EU should not set a date to start accession talks with Turkey at its December summit.
October 11- Turkey and Slovenia hold their fırst-ever official contact at foreign ministers level vvhen foreign ministers Gürel and Dimitrij Rupel of Slovenia come together in Ankara.
October 21- The EU public poll institution Eurobarometer indicates that 31 % of Europeans support Turkey's membership vvhile 47 % are against.
October 22- The EU should continue to encourage Turkey for more steps, says Guenther Verheugen, the EU Commissioner responsible for enlargement,
October 24- European Commission President Romano Prodi says Turkey is not likely to be given a date for starting talks on EU accession Copenhagen summit in December.
October 24- Leaders of EU member states rule out giving Turkey a date at a December summit to start EU accession talks, but diplomats say the bloc's big fıve members agreed to offer Ankara a review in 2004.
October 24- Greece says it agrees on a vvay forvvard to break a deadlock vvith Turkey vvhich has hamstrung the EUs Rapid Reaction Force.
October 25- Foreign Minister Şükrü Sina Gürel says Turkey will "revievv" relations vvith the EU unless Ankara is given a date for the start of membership talks vvithin the year.
October 27- President Ahmet Necdet Sezer leaves for Denmark to attend the Summit of the EU candidate countries in an effort to persuade the EU to set a date for formal talks vvith the country on joining the bloc.
October 29- Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, vvhose country holds the rotating presidency of the 15-nation bloc, says that the results of the Nov. 3 elections vvill be a majör factor to be taken into consideration by the EU leaders at the Copenhagen summit in mid-December.
October 31- As Turkey agrees to have intemational observers for the Nov. 3 elections, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) sends its fırst-ever election observation mission to Turkey.
November 04- Enlargement Commissioner Guenter Verheugen says Turkey's nevv government should act fast to stamp out torture, free ali political prisoners and punish torturers to boost its chances of EU membership.
November 05- Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou says Greece does not fear the Islamist roots of the nevv Turkish government and believes Ankara's chances of getting a date for talks about joining the EU had improved.
November 06- The EUs representative in Turkey, Hans-Jorg Kretschmer, visits AKP deputy chairman, Abdullah Gül.
November 08- Top EU offıcials reiterate that Turkey's accession into the union depended upon its fulfılment of political criteria, ahead of a planned tour of election vvinner AKP leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to European capitals.
November 08- Former French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing, president of the Convention on the Future of Europe, is quoted as saying that Turkey is not a European country and its entry into the EU vvould be "the end of the EU".
November 08- The EU distances itself from comments by Valery Giscard d'Estaing.
November 08- US reacts to Valery Giscard D'Estaing's remarks that implicitly accused Washington of undermining the EU.
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November 09- French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin says that Valery Giscard D'Estaing's blunt remarks are personal.
November 12- German President Johannes Rau says Turkey's entry into the EU was stili a long way off.
November 12- The EU Commissioner Guenter Verheugen strongly defends Turkey's bid to join the bloc, but says he does not favour giving Ankara a date to open negotiations at the EU summit next month.
November 13- AKP leader Erdoğan visits Rome on his first foreign visit to press Turkey's bid to join the EU and show a nervous West that his party does not back an Islamic agenda.
November 13- Erdoğan outlines a plan to press for EU entry that includes strengthening freedoms of speech and religion and "zero-tolerance" for torture.
November 13- German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder says Turkey's bid to join the EU could move fonvard at the bloc's next summit if the new Turkish government shows further willingness to reform.
November 13- Spanish and German foreign ministers declare support for Turkey's bid to become a EU member.
November 14- The EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana visits Ankara, in response to an invitation from AKP leader Erdoğan.
November 15- NATO Secretary-general George Robertson telis Turkish military in İstanbul that the EU needs to quickly end an impasse över the creation of a European defence force that Turkey has been blocking.
November 15- Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi urges the EU to set a date for the start of negotiations on Turkey's EU membership no later than next year.
November 15- CHP leader Deniz Baykal asks the European Socialists Party (PES) to support Turkey's EU membership.
November 18- Seeking support for Turkey's EU ambitions, new Turkish leader Erdoğan meets Greek leaders in Athens and promises improved ties with Greece but admits key problems such as Cyprus cannot be solved quickly.
November 18- Sweden says Turkey deserves a strong sign of encouragement in its bid to join the EU.
November 20- Erdoğan visits Berlin and wins pledges by German leaders to lobby next month's EU summit for "an extra signal" that the EU is interested in integrating Turkey.
November 20- Erdoğan visits Brussels and says Ankara wants a solution on Cyprus and says it was linked to Turkey's own drive to join the EU.
November 20- Foreign Secretary Jack Straw affırms Britain's support for Turkey's entry into the EU, following a meeting with Turkey's new leader Erdoğan in London.
November 20- Greece issues a thinly veiled waming that it would veto EU plans for a majör expansion at a summit next month if Cyprus' entry is delayed.
November 20- Turkey's broadcasting authority authorises state radio and television to air limited programs in Kurdish.
November 22- Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis asks US President George W. Bush to pressure Turkey on the EESDP and Cyprus issue.
November 22- The leaders of France and Germany say that Turkey remains on track for EU membership provided it meets basic entry requirements and helps in the solution of Cyprus question.
November 22- AKP leader Erdoğan warns that Turkey's patience is running out and says his country should be given a date the start EU negotiations at an upcoming EU summit.
November 22- Conferring with leaders of the EU in bilateral talks on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Prague, President Ahmet Necdet Sezer takes Turkey's case to join the union and telis them Turkey vvould not be satisfied by any formula that does not include a date for beginning entry talks in the upcoming Copenhagen summit.
November 23- Designate Prime Minister Abdullah Gül presents his government's program to parliament, outlining plans to help Turkey's crippled economy and press its bid to join the EU.
November 25- Erdoğan begins visit to seven more EU countries in the second round of his European tour aiming at drumming up support for Turkey's membership bid. He arrives in Portuguese and meets with Prime Minister Jose Manuel Durao Barroso. Portuguese premier gives full support to Turkey indicating no country must be kept in the waiting lounge for so long.
November 25- Turkey-European Parliament joint parliamentary committee co-chair Joost Laj endik visits Ankara.
November 25- Greece's Development Minister Akis Tsochadzopoulos says Turkey is "not ready" for negotiations to join the EU,
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November 26- Tayyip Erdoğan says the EU wou!d arouse Müslim suspicions that it is a "Christian Club" if it does not give Turkey a starting date for accession negotiations.
November 26- Current EU President Denmark praises Turkey for its progress in political reforms but indicates that EU leaders are not ready to give Ankara a date for starting membership talks.
November 26- Joost Lajendik, co-chairman of the Turkey-European Parliament Joint Parliamentary Committee, urges Turkey to clarify its stance on a solution plan for Cyprus drafted by the United Nations, saying this is necessary if it wants to get a positive result, a date to begin entry talks, from the union's critical summit in Copenhagen in December.
November 26- Greece sees the new Turkish government, with its Isİamist roots, as a possible prototype for emulation in the wider Islamic vvorld, Foreign Minister George Papandreou says.
November 27- President Ahmet Necdet Sezer llies to Germany. He telis German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder that he expects Germany to continue its support for Turkey at the EU summit in Copenhagen. Chancellor Schroeder says Germany will push for the EU to send Turkey a strong signal.
November 28- Tayyip Erdoğan arrives in Portugal. The EU should admit Turkey as a member to avoid splitting the continent along religious lines and to prove that Islamic nations can also be democracies, Portugal's prime minister Jose Manuel Durao Barroso says.
November 29- AKP leader Erdoğan pays a visit to the Netherlands, the last stop of his tour campaigning for Turkey's EU membership. Dutch Prime Minister Jan-Peter Balkenende holds fırm against giving Turkey a date for starting talks to join the EU.
December 01- European Parliament (EP) reporter for Turkey, Arie Oostlander and his delegation visit the south-eastern city of Diyarbakır. He says that Turkey has to meet the same democratic values as the EU.
December 02- Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller, visiting Ankara, urges Turkey to pass a new package of reforms designed to eradicate torture before the EU summit.
December 03- British Foreign Minister Jack Straw arrives in Ankara to discuss Cyprus, ESDP and Iraq with Turkish ofFıcials.
December 04- Prime Minister Gül meets the ambassadors of Germany and France separately to teli them to lift their objections for giving Turkey a date for the start of EU accession talks.
December 04- British Foreign Secretary Straw calls on Turkish leaders to support UN plan to reunite Cyprus and expresses strong support for Turkish efforts to get a date for EU membership talks.
December 05- AKP leader Erdoğan rejects a French and German plan to give Turkey a conditional date in 2005 to start EU membership talks.
December 05- The US, implicitly opposing a Franco-German proposal and risking accusations of interference in the EU, says the union should give Ankara a date now for talks on Turkish membership.
December 08- German conservatives, campaigning to beat Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in regional elections next year, step up their opposition to Turkish EU membership saying Turkey is too poor and too different to join. Bavarian Premier Edmund Stoiber says Turkey's entry would spell the end of moves towards unifying Europe politically.
December 09- Turkey's Armenian Patriarch Mesrob E wraps up a European tour to support Turkey's bid to join the EU and counter suggestions by some European leaders that the secular Müslim country doesn't belong in the largely Christian club.
December 10- AKP leader meets Danish Prime Minister Rasmussen in Copenhagen and accuses the EU of applying double standards by having failed to give Turkey a date to start entry talks.
December 10- President Ahmet Necdet Sezer cancels plans to travel to the Danish capital in a sign of growing unrest and discouragement in Ankara ahead of the Copenhagen summit.
December 10- French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin asks fellow members of the EU to send a double message of openness and vigilance to Turkey at this week's summit.
December 11- US President Bush calls Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rassmussen of Denmark, which holds the EU presidency, to discuss the EU's relationship with Turkey.
December 11- European Commission President Romano Prodi urges EU leaders not to give Turkey preferential treatment in its bid to join the EU and said EU expansion should be limited.
December 12- EU leaders agree to review Turkey's candidacy in December 2004 and open accession talks as soon as possible thereafter if it meets the EUs political and human rights criteria.
December 12- Minister of Defence Vecdi Gönül discloses Turkey and Greece have established a direct phone line betvveen tvvo defence ministries.
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December 12- Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder says Germany will not pull its crews off NATO early vvarning aircraft över Turkey in any war vvith Iraq, potentially exposing him to accusations of softening his anti-war position.
December 13- British Prime Minister Tony Blair says Turkey might be able to start EU entry talks before a December 2004 review date if Ankara meets EU political criteria sooner.
December 13- TRNC leader Rauf Denktaş accuses the EU of seeking to build a "Christian fortress" around Turkey and effectively rules out a deal to reunite Cyprus at the EU summit.
December 14- Prime Minister Gül says an EU invitation to begin entry talks after a 2004 review is a step Fonvard.
December 14- EU and NATO fınally reach agreement as the two accept Turkey's demands on ESDP.
December 15- Erdoğan says Turkey is determined to press forvvard with its drive to join the EU despite the 15-nation bloc's refusal to grant Turkey a defmite date for membership talks.
December 16- The Customs Union deal with the EU needs to be revised in favour of Turkey, says State Minister Kürşad Tüzmen.
December 17- Prime Minister Gül says Turkey vvill complete human rights reforms to meet EU membership criteria in 2003 to try to bring forvvard the start of talks to join the bloc.
December 18- Greek Premier Costas Simitis states that next term EU President's priorities are enlargement and the share of high quality of life by ali European people.
December 19- German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder vvarns his conservative opponents not to try to stir up public sentiment against Turkish membership of the EU, saying Muslims belonged in Europe.
Cyprus issue
January 11- The Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders meet and agree to consider practical steps to settle the fate of more than 2,000 people missing since the tvvo communities began fıghting on the Island in 1964.
January 21- Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders begin an intensive round of negotiations in a bid to overcome the division of their island.
January 23- The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (AKPM) issues an advisory resolution expressing hope for the success of the Cyprus peace talks and urging the EU to set up contacts vvith the TRNC .
February 20- TRNC President Rauf Denktaş dismisses a Greek Cypriot proposal to give Turkish Cypriots control of only 24 % of the island in a future federated state.
February 25- The UN Security Council sets a June deadline for the leaders of the divided Cyprus to reach agreement on reunifying the island.
March 01- The leaders of Cyprus resume reunifıcation talks under pressure from the United Nations Security Council to reach a settlement by June.
March 03- Turkish Cypriot President Rauf Denktaş says he is vvorking vvith goodvvill for a Cyprus compromise settlement, but there are issues on which no one should expect him to compromise such as, accepting minority status and giving up on Turkey's guarantee and bizonality.
March 08- EU Commissioner Guenther Verheugen says that the EU vvill not delay the accession of nevv members, including Cyprus, until a settlement is reached on the future of the divided island.
March 20- Thomas Weston, special envoy for Cyprus at the State Department, arrives in Cyprus to help revitalise sluggish United Nations peace talks.
March 22- TRNC President Rauf Denktaş says that Turkish Cypriots vvill not accept a lovver status than the founder partnership, vvhich vvas the case during the Cyprus Republic formed in 1960.
March 26- Rauf Denktaş says a recent EU-backed deal for a nevv union betvveen Montenegro and Serbia offered a model for Cyprus.
April 17- Thomas Weston, US envoy for Cyprus, urges Cypriot leaders to stick to the UN Security Council timetable of reaching a settlement for the reunifıcation of the island by June.
April 22- Denktaş said Greek Cypriot unilateral EU accession vvill mean a partition of Cyprus.
May 02- Denktaş dismisses a nevv Greek Cypriot proposal to reunite Cyprus, insisting any settlement must involve an equal partnership betvveen both communities.
May 10- Denktaş said the chances are "great" that northem Cyprus vvould join Turkey if the EU admitted the divided island prior to a settlement vvith Greek Cypriots.
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May 14- UN Secretary-general Kofı Annan arrives in Cyprus in an effort to rescue floundering peace talks and spare the EU the daunting prospect of taking in a divided island in 2004.
May 16- Denktaş says he is convinced a June deadline for resolving the decades-long division of Cyprus was unrealistic.
May 30- The Turkish Cypriot cabinet votes to send the northern Cypriot assembly a draft lavv extending territorial vvaters to 12 miles from the present three, spokesman Salih Miroğlu says.
June 03- Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen says that the admission of a divided Cyprus to the EU would not depend on reunifıcation of the island.
June 10- TRNC Parliament formally extends its territorial waters in the Mediterranean Sea from three to 12 miles.
June 13- The Security Council votes unanimously to extend the UN peacekeeping mission in Cyprus for another six months.
July 03- Alvaro de Soto, the UN envoy for Cyprus says he sees some signs of progress in talks aimed at reunifying the divided island.
July 16- Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders resume talks on how to reunite the divided island, but fail to move beyond procedural issues.
July 19- Denktaş wams the EU again that if the Greek Cypriot side of the island is admitted into the European bloc such a move will be the end of the negotiations process and a confırmation by the EU of partition of the island.
July 25- Greek Cypriot Foreign Minister Yiannakis Cassoulides says the UN should hold off on submitting any proposals on the future of the divided island given the political situation in Turkey.
July 26- TRNC President Rauf Denktaş says that the main issue in the ongoing negotiations is their intention to establish a new partnership vvith the Greek Cypriots.
July 29- Denktaş says that if Greek Cypriots could accept a two-state formation on the island, the way toward unification on Cyprus vvould open.
July 31- Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders accepts to meet UN Secretary-general Kofı Annan in September to try to fînd a breakthrough..
August 02- Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders end a 5ü l round of UN-sponsored talks vvithout achieving .
August 26- Alvoro de Soto, UN envoy on Cyprus meets separately vvith the Cypriot leaders to prepare for the next round of talks.
August 27- Denktaş vvarns that the TRNC could hand över its defence and diplomatic affairs to Ankara if the EU admits Cyprus vvithout a solution.
August 30- Denktaş suggests that TRNC could merge its foreign ministry vvith Turkey if Greek Cypriots join the EU.
September 02- American State Department Cyprus Co-ordinator Thomas Weston arrives in Ankara.
September 02- British Special Cyprus envoy Sir David Hannay visits Cyprus.
September 03- The opposing sides in Cyprus could be close to a deal on the thorny sovereignty issue if Greek Cypriots take a further step on the nationality issue, Turkish Cypriot President Rauf Denktaş hints.
September 06- UN Secretary-general Kofi Annan holds talks in Paris with leaders of Cyprus to break the deadlock. After the talks Annan expresses optimism.
September 09- Kofi Annan urges Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders to resolve a bitter dispute över the Mediterranean island as quickly as possible.
September 11- Rauf Denktaş and Greek Cypriot leader Glafkos Clerides meet for the 53rd time in the buffer zone vvithin the scope of the direct talks process.
September 12- Greece says prospects for a solution to the Cyprus problem are at a diffıcult and critical stage as Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders prepare to meet next month at the United Nations.
September 20- TRNC President Rauf Denktaş says that the problem of sovereignty is not solved yet.
September 30- Turkey deepens co-operation vvith the TRNC, allovving Turkish Cypriots to take up Turkish nationality and forming a joint parliamentary committee to look into "integration."
September 30- Greek Cypriot leader Glafcos Clerides accuses Turkey of resorting to "threats and blackmail" to block Cyprus' expected accession to the EU by the end of the year.
October 04- Talks betvveen the Turkish and Greek leaders of Cyprus end vvithout a breakthrough, but the tvvo parties agree to continue dialogue in order to resolve the dispute.
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October 05- Greek Cypriot leader Glafcos Clerides says deep-rooted differences about sovereignty in any reunited Cypriot state are the main issue plaguing peace talks aimed at ending the island's partition.
October 07- Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktaş undergoes heart surgery in New York.
October 15- Turkish Cypriot President Rauf Denktaş makes a last-ditch attempt in presenting the Greek Cypriot leadership a "comprehensive and complete" set of proposals for a resolution of the almost four-decade-old problem of povver sharing betvveen the tvvo peoples of the eastern Mediterranean island.
October 16- The UN special envoy for Cyprus, Alvaro de Soto visits Ankara for talks vvith Turkish foreign ministry under secretary Uğur Ziyal aiming at pushing ahead the peace process on Cyprus.
October 17- Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktaş vvill be unable to return to UN-backed peace talks aimed at reuniting Cyprus for another eight vveeks after heart surgery earlier this month.
October 22- Alvaro de Soto says he hopes to help clinch a settlement for Cyprus before December, vvhen the island is due to be invited to join the EU.
October 23- United Nations envoy De Soto warns time is running out for Cyprus peace talks, but says there is stili hope of the island joining the EU this year. October 25- Greece and Turkey agree to halt military exercises in Cyprus until further notice, in a confıdence-building measure at a crucial point in negotiations.
October 26- Special envoys from the UN, the US and Britain are in Cyprus in an intense effort to avert a crisis över the island that could interfere vvith the EUs planned expansion.
October 30- Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis vvams that his government may face "critical choices" concerning the future of Cyprus as the island nears EU membership.
October 31- Turkish foreign ministry officials, EU and UN diplomats meet to discuss Cyprus.
November 06- Erdoğan telis Greek media that he favours federation betvveen the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities as a solution on Cyprus. His statement causes a debate in diplomatic circles.
November 11- UN Secretary General Kofı Annan presents a Cyprus peace plan, giving rival parties just one month to make peace on a conflict vvhich has simmered for 30 years.
November 11- Greece praise a plan by the UN, but indicates disagreement vvith some proposals.
November 11- The US State Department urges Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders to move quickly on the plan.
November 12- Rauf Denktaş visits Turkey's UN mission to discuss the UN plan, in his fırst public appearance since undergoing surgery.
November 12- Erdoğan says a solution to the division of Cyprus vvould help Turkey's ovvn EU-membership ambitions and its relations vvith Greece.
November 12- CHP, is cautious tovvards a set of proposals drafted by the United Nations Secretary-general Kofı Annan for the unifıcation in Cyprus.
November 13- Outgoing Turkish Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit says the UN plan is "pleasing", but territorial adjustments and a reduction in the number of Turkish troops on the island are unacceptable.
November 14- Rauf Denktaş describes the UN peace plan as "a nevv page" for Cyprus and pledges to study the blueprint closely ahead of its.
November 14- CHP leader Deniz Baykal states that UN Secretary-general Kofı Annan's Cyprus plan has inappropriate timing for Turkey.
November 16- Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktaş, recovering from heart surgery in Nevv York, postpones his return to the island as the deadline to begin talks on a nevv UN peace plan looms.
November 16- Greek Cypriot President Glafcos Clerides says an initial deal on the divided island of Cyprus could be in place by next month's EU summit but it depended on the health of Denktaş.
November 16- Erdoğan, visiting Cyprus on a one-day trip, says that if Cyprus unites under a UN peace plan it should not join the EU until Turkey does, shocking local observers vvith an apparent departure from Turkish policy.
November 18- The Greek Cypriot government says it accepts a United Nations plan for the reunifıcation of Cyprus "as a basis for negotiations."
November 19- Greece agrees to talks about a Cyprus peace plan but raises doubts about vvhether a deal to reunite Greek and Turkish Cypriots after three decades could be made by a EU summit next month.
November 20- Turkish Cypriot leader Denktaş says he is not yet prepared to accept a United Nations plan to reunite Cyprus, casting doubt on chances for a deal before the EU announces an entry date for the island next month.
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November 24- Nevv Foreign Minister Yaşar Yakis arrives in Nevv York. Yakis and the Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktaş meet.
November 25- Britain's special envoy to Cyprus Lord David Hannay arrives in Ankara..
November 25- The Security Council extends the UN peacekeeping mission in Cyprus for another six months.
November 27- The UN Secretary-general telis Clerides and Denktaş in separate letters that he expects them declare by Nov. 30 their vvill to sign the founding act of nevv common state on Cyprus.
November 27- Denktaş agrees to negotiate vvith his Greek Cypriot counterpart on the UN plan.
November 29- Greece's povverful Orthodox Church sharply criticises the UN Cyprus plan, challenging Athens' strong support for the dralt settlement.
December 03- Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktaş urges the EU not to jeopardise a peace deal on Cyprus by admitting a divided island at its summit meeting.
Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou arrives in Ankara.
December 05- Turkish Cypriot leader Denktaş, heading home to Cyprus, says his side is ready to begin United Nations-backed talks on a blueprint for uniting the divided Mediterranean island although both sides had "strong reservations" about the plan.
December 10- Ahead of a crucial EU summit in Copenhagen this vveek, United Nations Secretary-general Kofı Annan presents the tvvo sides on Cyprus a revised blueprint for a comprehensive settlement of the povver-sharing problem on the eastern Mediterranean island.
December 15- Foreign Minister Yaşar Yakış says a peace deal on the divided island of Cyprus is possible by the end of February.
December 16- AKP leader Erdoğan meets Greek Cypriot Left Alliance Party leader Nikos Constantopaulos and asks him to help to lift the embargo against the TRNC.
December 17- Erdoğan says AKP vvants a solution in Cyprus but this does not mean Turkey vvould pursue a "give-out-and-disburden" policy.
December 23- TRNC President Rauf Denktaş says accepting the UN Cyprus plan vvould mean bringing an end to Turkish Cypriots' presence on the island in 5-10 years.
December 25- AKP leader Erdoğan urges a solution in Cyprus and attacks hard-liners in Turkey, saying they deserve criticism because of a 40-year failure to formulate a solution.
December 26- Some 30,000 Turkish Cypriots, many waving EU flags, take to streets to cali for the reunifıcation of divided Cyprus, in the largest pro-EU rally held in the northern Cyprus.
December 29- Facing a growing domestic opposition to his handling of the Cyprus talks process, Turkish Cypriot President Rauf Denktaş returns to Cyprus to put his house in order.
December 30- Turkish Cypriot President Rauf Denktaş says he would step down if Turkey pressure him to accept vvhat he considered an unacceptable deal to reunite Cyprus. But he states he has not seen any such pressure from Turkey.
m . RELATİONS WITH THE UNITED STATES AND NATO
January 04- A delegation consisting of nine US senators visit Ankara and praise Turkey's support for the vvar against terrorism.
January 07- A US House of Representatives mission headed by Christopher Shays holds talks in Ankara on terrorism.
January 14- PM Bülent Ecevit leaves for a five-day visit to the United States to reafFırm Turkey's strong support for Washington's anti-terror campaign but also seek help paying for a peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan.
January 15- In a meeting vvith Turkey's leader, Defence Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld says the US supports Turkey in its proposal to take över the leadership of the peacekeeping force in Afghanistan.
January 15- PM Ecevit meets vvith Vice President Dick Cheney and underlines the importance of long-term reconstruction aid to Afghanistan.
January 15- The US labels Turkey as an "excellent model" for islam amid its ongoing campaign against "terrorism" in a statement that illustrated a boosted Washington backing for Ankara.
January 16- The US President George W. Bush greets Turkish PM in the Oval Office.
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January 17- President George W. Bush encourages Turkey's offer to lead peacekeeping in Afghanistan but put off a decision whether to help fınance the operation and rejected the notion that American troops might participate.
January 21- Turkey agrees to buy 14 Sea Hawk naval helicopters, on loans granted by the US Eximbank, during PM Ecevit's visit to Washington.
February 5- US Ambassador Robert Pearson, in a further bid to ease Turkey's concerns över the repercussions of a possible US strike on Iraq, says that Washington supports Iraq's territorial unity and opposes a separate state in the breakaway enclave of northern Iraq.
February 18- Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit says Turkey is supporting NATO's struggle against terrorism, openly seen as a majör world-wide security threat after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.
February 19- PM Bülent Ecevit telis a group of visiting US Congressmen that Turkey opposes a US attack on neighbouring Iraq, as it vvould deal a blovv to his country's shaky economy.
February 20- Visiting US Congressman Robert Wexler emerges from official meetings in Ankara saying that Washington should ensure full fınancial support for Turkey in order to prove to the Islamic vvorld that it vvill never leave a United States-ally Müslim country alone.
February 27- US and Turkish delegations negotiating an improved economic dialogue in Ankara make little progress on a spectrum of Turkish demands based on an argument for closer co-operation capitalising on the advanced strategic alliance betvveen the tvvo countries.
March 05- The US, in an annual human rights report, vvelcomes Turkey's efforts to improve its human rights performance, but says that the implementation of its rights reforms and progress in certain areas vvere crucial.
March 19- US Vice President Dick Cheney arrives in Ankara and plunges into talks with Turkish leaders on the last leg of his exploratory tour of Britain, Turkey and the Middle East.
March 20- US Deputy Foreign Secretary and former ambassador to Turkey Marc Grossman hints that the US backs Turkey's goal for EU membership, praising Turkey's progress in the fıelds of human rights and democracy.
March 25- Ecevit flies to Bucharest to participate in the Bucharest summit of the leaders of Central and Eastern European countries to exchange vievvs on NATO expansion and the possible contributions of the candidate states to the alliance in the nevv threat environment created after the Sept. 11 attacks.
April 15- President Ahmet Necdet Sezer begins a tour of the three former Soviet Baltic republics on Monday to offer Turkey's support for their membership in NATO.
April 15- US State Department Under-secretary Marc Grossman arrives Ankara for talks about upcoming NATO meetings.
May 20- NATO European Ally Forces Chief Commander Joseph W. Ralston meets with Chief of General Staff General Hüseyin Kıvrıkoğlu in Ankara.
May 20- The United States announces that it vvill reopen its consulate in the Aegean port city of İzmir, a mission it had closed for budgetary reasons in 1993.
May 22- US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld states that the US will make more contributions to Turkey's command of the International Security and Assistance Force (İSAF) in Afghanistan.
May 27- President Ahmet Necdet Sezer leaves for Italy to attend the presidential and prime ministerial meeting betvveen NATO and the Russian Federation.
May 28- Turkey and its NATO allies sign an agreement vvith Russia, in Rome during a NATO-Russian council meeting.
May 31- Turkey approves a request from the US for co-operation in anti-terror operations at sea.
June 25- US President George W. Bush thanks Turkey for taking command of the İSAF in Afghanistan, calling Turkey a model for Muslims of a secular and democratic state.
July 11- Turkey signs up to invest $ 175 million in the Pentagon's Joint Strike Fighter project to build a nevv-generation vvarplane, making it the seventh NATO partner.
July 12- The United States fully supports Turkey's economic and political reform process on its path to full membership to the EU, United States State Department spokesperson Lynn Cassel says.
July 14- US Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz arrives in Turkey to discuss the struggle against terrorism and the rebuilding of Afghanistan and says that Turkey vvill benefit from a regime change in Baghdad.
July 16- The United States acknovvledges that Turkey, vvhich opposes military action against Iraq, has "large and legitimate" interests in the neighbouring Arab state. United States Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz meets Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit and military leaders separately.
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July 18- US Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz says that Turkey, publicly opposed to any United States military action in neighbouring Iraq, would benefıt from the removal of President Saddam Hussein.
July 19- US lawmakers present a bili at Congress praising Turkey for its co-operation in the struggle against global terrorism and for taking över the command of the International Security and Assistance Force (İSAF) in Afghanistan, as well as for its efforts for economic reform.
July 21- Ecevit cautions that the US risked being involved in a lengthy war in Iraq if it goes ahead vvith possible plans for a military action to topple Saddam Hussein.
August 01- US former ambassador to Turkey Mark Parris states that Turkey must be a part of the Iraqi solution instead of being a "potential problem."
August 13- US Congress ratifıes the sale of early warning aeroplanes to Turkey. Turkey will buy four AWACS from the Boeing company.
August 16- US Vice President Dick Cheney promises to grant $228 million to Turkey for İSAF command.
August 28- The US promised Kurds in northern Iraq that Turkey will not take part in any US attack to remove President Saddam Hussein, Jalal Talabani says in London.
August 28- Uğur Ziyal, visiting Washington D.C. for talks on Iraq, says that a unilateral US decision to attack Iraq would take the world closer to the "laws of the jungle".
August 28- Bülent Ecevit says Turkey continues to inform the Bush administration it is opposing to a US-led military campaign to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
September 13- Turkey, fearing a US attack on neighbouring Iraq could stir widespread turmoil, welcomes a pledge by President George W. Bush to work with the UN ahead of any action against Baghdad.
September 17- The US grants $200 million to Turkey, money it promised Turkey before it agreed to take över the leadership of the Afghanistan peacekeeping mission.
September 18- US Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham joins the presidents of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey in Azerbaijan to start of construction of the Bakü-Ceyhan oil pipeline.
September 29- Assistant Secretary of State A. Elizabeth Jones arrives in Ankara to seek support from Turkey, for possible military action against Iraq.
September 30- Turkey's National Security Council (MGK) holds its monthly regular meeting and discusses the possible US operation against Iraq.
October 01- Prime Minister Ecevit says Iraq must co-operate fully with United Nations weapons inspectors to avoid United States military action.
October 02- On the eve of a possible Iraqi operation an intelligence report asserts that outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), now called the Kurdistan Freedom and Democracy Congress (KADEK), is deploying missiles on the Iraqi-Turkish border to be used against warplanes and helicopters.
October 04- Turkey says any United States military action against Baghdad must have intemational backing.
October 07- US Ambassador Robert Pearson visits Foreign Ministry Under-secretary Uğur Ziyal in his ofFıce to revise Turkey's Iraq policy.
October 09- The Bush administration is lobbying Congress to grant new economic benefits to Turkey, hoping to curry support from Ankara and other allies ahead of a possible vvar vvith Iraq, administration and congressional sources say.
October 12- PM Bülent Ecevit vvarns the US not to encourage Iraqi Kurds to proclaim their ovvn state as that could force Turkey to intervene to protect its interests.
October 16- The US ambassador in Ankara Robert Pearson attempts to ease Turkey's concerns över the fate of Iraq's northern part, implying control of the region vvill not be left to Kurds alone.
October 16- Ecevit is quoted as saying the US vvould be unable to carry out an attack on Iraq vvithout Turkish support and that he is urging Washington to abandon the idea.
October 19- A Greek Orthodox delegation from the United States arrives in Turkey to press calls that the government reopen a Greek Orthodox theological school closed three decades ago.
October 20- Army General Tommy Franks, head of US military operations in the Persian Gulf, and General Joseph W. Ralston, the US Air Force general commanding NATO forces in Europe, arrive in Ankara to seek Turkish support against Iraq.
October 21- US House of Representatives adopts a resolution, praising Turkey's co-operation in the vvar against terrorism, Turkey's EU membership efforts and calls on the EU to set a membership negotiations date for Turkey in the Copenhagen summit in December.
