Turkey

The resignation last week of the Turkish Cypriot government has added further uncertainty to the future status of the long-divided island.

The release of the European Commission progress report this month on the status of reform in Turkey pointed up agriculture as an area in which the country will have to dig particularly deep as it drives towards full membership.

While widely regarded as one of the chief casualties of Turkey's 2000-2001 economic crisis, Turkey's construction sector is nowadays showing increasing signs of a turnaround.

With the release this week of a European Commission progress report advising the beginning of membership negotiations with Turkey, there is a decidedly sunny aspect to market watchers these days.

Fixed in the crosshairs of militant Islamist groups, this month saw Turkish lorry drivers and businessmen subject to a fresh series of kidnappings and murders in neighbouring Iraq.

Brussels has fixed a spotlight on Ankara this week, as the Turkish parliament looked to amend the country's 78-year-old penal code. Attention was drawn by a rancorous debate over a controversial government-sponsored amendment to the code which would have criminalised adultery. The debate provided opponents of Turkish European Union accession with further ammunition to question Turkey's Western and secular credentials and drew sharp criticism from EU officials. With the pressure on, the government backed down at the last minute, withdrawing the controversial amendment.