After using enhanced diplomacy and trade to bolster ties with Middle Eastern neighbours, Turkey now has a new weapon to seduce the Arab world: a state television channel in Arabic accessible to more than 300 million Arabic speakers.

Iranian and Turkish officials in a meeting in Tehran on Wednesday stressed expansion of bilateral relations in the field of media. The issue was raised in a meeting between Head of Turkey's state-run radio and TV (TRT) Ebrahim Shahin and his Iranian counterpart Ezzatollah Zarqami.

Building on the successes of its normalisation with Syria and Iraq, [Turkey] is facilitating efforts to reduce conflicts, expanding visa-free travel, ramping up trade, integrating infrastructure, forging strategic relationships and engaging in multilateral regional platforms.

As the US and its allies push for swift UN sanctions against Iran, Turkey urges diplomacy to settle the ongoing dispute over the Islamic Republic's nuclear program.

Turkey’s first jazz department has been established at Hacettepe University in Ankara with an enthusiastic high-profile backing from the homeland of jazz, the United States.The establishment of a jazz department will fill a big gap in this field, says Emre Kartari, founder of the department at Hacettepe University.

Turkey will join the EXPO 2010 to open in the Chinese city of Shanghai on May 1.

Germany is home to the biggest Turkish diaspora in the world, but when it comes to accepting and appreciating Turkish culture, many Germans still have reservations.

Talks are expected to focus on the German head of state's opposition to European Union membership for the predominantly Muslim country. Merkel favors a privileged partnership with the EU, while Turkey wants full membership.