ANKARA (AFP) - Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul acknowledged in a newspaper interview yesterday that “misunderstandings” had cooled Turkey’s ties with the United States, but said both sides were working to overcome them. “There may be sensitivities, but parties who see each other in terms of strategic partnership should overcome these,” Gul told the mass-circulation daily Hurriyet. “We will overcome them; we are overcoming them.” Such differences would be against the interests of the two NATO allies, he said, adding that his government wants to maintain the “strategic” dimension of bilateral ties with the US.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - France said yesterday that it would seek Turkish recognition of a 1915-23 genocide of Armenians once the European Union starts talks with Ankara — a move likely to enrage Turkey, which denies there was systematic genocide. “France will pose this question,” Foreign Minister Michel Barnier told a news conference. “I think that a big country like Turkey has a duty to remember.”

A Turkish foundation has bought a 1906 Ottoman oil painting for 5 trillion Turkish lira (2.6 million euros), the highest price ever paid for a piece by a Turkish painter, newspapers reported yesterday. “The Turtle Trainer” by Osman Hamdi shows a bearded man in a turban with a flute in his hands and five turtles at his feet. The painting was part of an art collection that was auctioned off Sunday to pay the debts of an insolvent Turkish bank, the daily Radikal and other newspapers reported yesterday. (AP)

The UN-administered Kosovo courts are failing to properly reason their decisions and appear reluctant to seek alternatives to imprisoning suspects who are awaiting trial, a leading European security organization said yesterday. The review of the criminal justice system in Kosovo by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe also criticized Kosovo’s defense lawyers, saying they “frequently fail to effectively represent and act in the best interest of their clients.” (AP)

Albanian police seized three anti-aircraft missiles being transported by truck through the country yesterday, news reports said. Four people were arrested after the truck was stopped in Fushe Preze, a village a few kilometers northwest of the capital, Tirana, private TV station Top Channel reported. The three missiles were made in the former Yugoslavia but the type was not immediately clear, Top Channel said, citing police sources. (AP)