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541. Greek, Turkish ministers stand their ground

Greek and Turkish foreign ministers Nikos Dendias and Mevlut Cavusoglu hailed the relaunch of exploratory talks between Athens and Ankara and called for a de-escalation of tension, but both stood their ground on key issues dividing the two sides in an unusually frank press conference following their meeting in Ankara on Thursday...

542. Europe must get off the sofa

Everything we learnt from what took place in the presidential palace, and then from Brussels, reinforced the image of a weak, if not anemic Europe...

543. Turkey says ‘sofagate’ unfair criticism from EU

Turkey has blamed the European Union for seating arrangements that left European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen standing without a chair during formalities at the Presidential Palace in Ankara...

544. EC head taken aback as Erdogan and Michel snap up the chairs

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was taken aback to find her fellow top EU official taking the only chair available next to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan when the duo visited Ankara, and her spokesman made that clear on Wednesday....

545. Michel says EU will be active observer in Cyprus peace talks

The EU remains committed to the resumption of Cyprus peace talks and is looking forward to the informal meeting set to take place in Geneva later this month, where it will participate as an active observer, European Council President Charles Michel said Tuesday after meeting with Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara....

546. Anastasiades: Cyprus won't hesitate to veto EU-Turkey customs union

547. Top EU officials head to Turkey in bid to improve ties

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council chief Charles Michel are headed to Turkey on Tuesday on an official visit aimed at improving ties between Brussels and Ankara....

548. Anastasiades sends message to Turkey via Michel

President Nicos Anastasiades called on Friday on the President of the European Council Charles Michel, who is set to visit Ankara next week, to convey to the need for Turkey to show political will that will allow the resumption of substantive talks on Cyprus....

549. EU presidents to go to Turkey next week

The presidents of the European Council and the European Commission will meet Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey on April 6, an EU spokesman said on Monday, in the latest sign of improving ties....

550. EU27 open up to Turkey but with a caveat

European Union leaders made good on Thursday on a 2016 promise to deepen trade ties with Turkey, but also warned Ankara to expect sanctions if it restarts exploration over disputed hydrocarbons in the eastern Mediterranean...

551. Cyprus, Greece mount pressure for revision of EUCO conclusions

Cyprus and Greece mounted pressure on Wednesday for a revision of the draft European Council conclusions on Turkey, arguing that they should better reflect the stance taken by the EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell in his recent report....

552. Nicosia seeks revision on Turkey draft

The Republic of Cyprus has raised concerns over a joint statement to be issued by the EU27 on Turkey, with sources saying Nicosia was calling for a new draft to 'better reflect' statements by officials...

553. Cyprus rejects EU draft on Turkey which seeks to deepen trade ties

Cyprus has rejected a draft prepared for a summit of EU leaders this week which seeks to deepen trade ties with Turkey, describing it as “totally unacceptable.” ...

554. Fence wars break out near buffer zone

Opposing camps have been making headlines recently over a controversial barbwire fence near the buffer zone, with one group cutting a piece of barbed wire and the other restoring it, with all caught on tape...

555. Germany: Turkey sending wrong human rights signals

Turkey is sending the wrong messages to the European Union by withdrawing from a pact designed to counter violence against women and closing down the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas warned on Monday....

556. Borrell report on Turkey covers all bases

A report by European Commission Vice-President and High Representative Josep Borrell spells out the 'political and economic consequences' that Turkey will suffer should the country 'not move forward constructively in developing a genuine partnership with the EU'...

557. US supports Greece, Cyprus, Israel power initiative

The United States is “supportive of connecting distribution grids of mainland Europe to Cyprus and Israel via the EuroAsia Interconnector,” a spokesperson for the State Department said on Thursday, after Ankara on Monday formally protested a memorandum of understanding signed last week between Israel, Greece and Cyprus for the construction of a 2,000-megawatt undersea electricity cable....

558. Cyprus scrambles to reduce asylum backlog

Interior Minister Nicos Nouris says the government is moving forward with rejections of asylum applications under new, faster procedures to clear a system backlog, with Europe seeking a comprehensive solution and a commissioner calling on Cypriot authorities to investigate illegal pushbacks...

559. Cavusoglu to meet Dendias in Turkey in April

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Wednesday he would meet his Greek counterpart Nikos Dendias in Turkey on April 14, after the NATO members resumed talks to seek common ground in a decades-old maritime dispute....

560. Greece, Turkey resume preliminary talks on maritime dispute

Greece and Turkey began another round of exploratory talks in Athens on Tuesday, seeking common ground on a long-standing maritime boundaries dispute before a European Union summit later this month...

561. UK concerned over Varosha, reiterates call for flexibility

The UK continues to follow the situation in Varosha “with concern”, Foreign Minister for the European Neighbourhood Wendy Morton stated in response to a question by Conservative MP Matthew Offord....

562. Minister points finger at north over barbwire

Cypriot Interior Minister Nicos Nouris has fired back at critics in the north over the south’s decision to install barbwire near the UN buffer zone to halt illegal crossings, blaming the need for a fence on lack of action on the part of Turkish Cypriot authorities...

563. Critics slam 'Trump-like' fence installed in Nicosia suburb

The government came under fire on Tuesday over a decision to lay razor wire along a section of the Astromeritis buffer zone in the Nicosia district....

564. EastMed pipeline could be ready in five years

The EastMed pipeline could be in place in five years, Israeli Minister of National Infrastructure, Energy and Water Resources, Yuval Steinitz, has told the Cyprus News Agency (CNA), describing it as an extremely important project....

565. Athens sees Ankara games ahead of summit

Not only did Turkey continue to ignore Athens’ proposals for the next round of exploratory contacts between the two countries on Monday, its Defense Ministry once again revisited the issue of demilitarization of the Greek islands of the eastern Aegean, going as far as denouncing the presence of Greek warships at Kastellorizo....

566. Anastasiades, Greek PM discuss Cyprus issue

The Cyprus issue was the focus of a telephone conversation between Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades on Monday morning....

567. Analysis: The Cyprus issue today

Over the past 30 years, Turkey, and its friends in the society of nations, sought, and partially succeeded, in obscuring the importance of the Cyprus issue’s international dimension, that is the Turkish invasion and the illegal occupation of the island. The aim was to present the Cyprus issue as a one-dimensional, internal affair that exclusively concerns the relations and the rights of the two communities, Greek- and Turkish-Cypriots....

568. Akar: Turkey determined to defend rights across ‘Blue Homeland’

Turkey is determined to defend its rights across the “Blue Homeland,” the country’s defense minister, Hulusi Akar, said Friday, invoking an expansionist doctrine that envisages Turkish control over the waters of the eastern Aegean and the northern Mediterranean....

569. Erdogan wishes to improve testy relations with US

Turkey’s president says mutual interests with the United States outweigh their differences and has called for more cooperation with President Joe Biden’s new US administration....

570. Athens protests new Turkish Navtex

Greece’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday lodged a demarche with Turkey’s Foreign Ministry through its embassy in Ankara in protest at the announced plans for an upcoming Turkish hydrographic survey between the Greek islands of Limnos, Skyros and Alonnisos from Thursday to March 2. ...