Turkey - Page 18

Two Ukrainian men have been charged by Greek authorities after being caught trying to ferry 53 migrants from Turkey to the Greek island of Rhodes aboard a large boat.

Turkish authorities razed to the ground the historic St. Georgios Christian church late Wednesday, an iconic structure known as the “Hagia Sophia of Bursa.”

Venezuelan opposition personality Henrique Capriles admitted publicly to holding talks with the administration of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday.

Residents of a Christian village in Northern Iraq’s Kurdistan Region have been forced to abandon the settlement in recent months over Turkey’s ongoing military operations in the area, Kurdish outlets reported on Tuesday.

ANKARA — President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday played up Turkey’s military might after extending a Mediterranean gas exploration mission that has pitted it against Greece and the rest of the EU.

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey on Monday accused Greece of “piracy” and warned it will stand up to Athens’ alleged efforts to militarize islands near its coast, following claims that the neighbouring country was building up troops on one such island in violation of treaties.

Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou denounced Turkey’s conversion of the historic Church of Chora into a mosque as an act of “symbolic violence” this weekend.

Turkey has granted citizenship to a dozen high-ranking members of the Hamas terror group living on Turkish soil who have been involved in orchestrating terror attacks, the Reuters news wire reported citing an Israeli diplomat.

Yazidi groups reported Turkish airstrikes on Tuesday in Sinjar, an Iraqi city once at the heart of the nation’s Yazidi population devastated in 2014 by the Islamic State’s attempted genocide of its residents.

Greece’s coast guard said Wednesday it was continuing a broad search and rescue operation after a yacht smuggling migrants partially sank.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has warned that heated tensions between Turkey and Greece in the Eastern Mediterranean could prove to be a “disaster.” The German minister stated that the current tensions, which have been provoked by Turkish seismic resource research

The State Department on Tuesday strongly objected to a weekend meeting in Istanbul between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and a delegation of senior Hamas leaders, including wanted terrorists.

ATHENS, Greece — Germany’s foreign minister was visiting Greece and Turkey on Tuesday in an effort to ease increasing tension between the two neighbors, which are at loggerheads over prospecting rights in the eastern Mediterranean.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan hosted a large delegation of Hamas leaders, including a wanted terrorist,  in Istanbul over the weekend.

Istanbul — Turkey’s big push into the Mediterranean featuring controversial gas drilling, tough rhetoric and warships is rooted in a grand vision of a “Blue Homeland” that takes over waters claimed by EU neighbours.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erodğan said on Friday that Turkey has made its largest-ever discovery of natural gas in the Black Sea.

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has ordered that a second ancient Christian church be turned into a fully functioning mosque, just one month after a similar decision to convert Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia for Muslim worship.

The Greek government is preparing to push the European Union to introduce sanctions against Turkey if the country’s provocations in the Eastern Mediterranean continue.

People smugglers in Turkey are allegedly advertising their services under the guise of fake “cruises” on social media platform Facebook, offering to ship migrants to Italy for €5,500. The journeys are advertised as a three to four day trip aboard

Analysis of the historic peace deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) tends to focus on Iran and Turkey as the big losers. They were certainly the loudest complainers.

Turkish Islamist President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has claimed Greek naval forces attacked a Turkish research vessel in the Mediterranean, while Greek media have labelled the story “fake news”.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — The European Union’s foreign policy chief expressed “full solidarity” with Greece and Cyprus and urged an “immediate de-escalation” by Turkey after EU foreign ministers held urgent talks Friday on high military tensions over offshore drilling rights in the eastern Mediterranean.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to withdraw his ambassador from Abu Dhabi on Friday as retribution for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) establishing diplomatic ties with Israel this week.

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran and Turkey lashed out at their regional rival the United Arab Emirates on Friday over its decision to normalize diplomatic relations with Israel in a U.S.-brokered deal, accusing it of betraying the Palestinian cause.

A Turkish drone strike in northeastern Iraq’s Kurdistan Region killed three Kurds on Tuesday, “two members of Iraq’s border guard and the driver of the vehicle they were in,” according to the Iraqi military.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) – Greece’s prime minister warmly thanked France Thursday for boosting its military presence in the eastern Mediterranean, where Greek and Turkish warships are closely shadowing each other over a Turkish energy exploration bid in waters Athens claims as its own.

Tensions between Turkey and Greece remain at a high, with the Turkish government allegedly repeatedly violated Greek airspace this week with CN-235 spy planes.

The Greek coastguard fired warning shots near a boat full of migrants near Rhodes this week, deterring the migrants from reaching the island.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) – Dutch police have dismantled what they describe as the biggest cocaine laboratory ever discovered in the Netherlands — hidden at a former horse riding school — and arrested a total of 17 people from Colombia, Turkey and the Netherlands.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) – Greece’s prime minister is to convene the government’s national security council after Turkey announced its research vessel would be conducting exploratory drilling in the eastern Mediterranean in an area between Cyprus and Greece.

THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) – A car believed to be transporting migrants who recently entered the country crashed into roadworks on a highway in northern Greece overnight, killing seven people and injuring five, police said.

Greek police have arrested a Syrian migrant carrying nearly 1,500 illegal pills near the Turkish frontier as the government is set to begin strengthening the border fence at Evros.

Several Libyan officials told the Associated Press (AP) on Thursday that Turkey pressured Libya’s Government of National Accord (GNA) into accepting military assistance from Syrian extremist militias and repaying Turkey with lucrative offshore energy deals.

Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency confirmed the arrival Turkish F-16 fighter jets on Friday to Azerbaijan for joint military drills, aiding a nation that threatened to bomb a nuclear power plant this month.

Lawmakers in Turkey passed a law Wednesday requiring social media companies to appoint a “representative” to respond to government demands for censorship, a push President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed would occur after social media users mocked his newborn grandchild.

Admiral Kosmas Christidis has claimed that the Greek armed forces are fully capable of taking on Turkey militarily, as tensions remain high between the two countries in the Mediterranean.