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721. Greece, Turkey exchange barbs over migrants

Greece on Thursday pushed back on criticism by Turkey that is violating the rights of refugees and migrants attempting to reach the country, saying Ankara has “instrumentalized human suffering”...

722. Greek FM insists Evros fence will be completed

723. Turkey defends Larnaca-bound flight decision

Ankara says a Larnaca-bound plane never submitted a timely request to fly through Turkish airspace, accusing the Republic of Cyprus of using the pandemic to score points for political gain...

724. EastMed a project of major geostrategic importance, Hatzidakis says

Lawmakers in Athens on Monday ratified, at the committee level, a deal for an undersea pipeline to carry gas from new offshore deposits in the southeastern Mediterranean to continental Europe signed by Greece, Cyprus and Israel earlier in the year....

725. Future for rescued refugees in north unknown

The fate of 175 Syrian refugees, trapped in the north of the island amid the coronavirus pandemic, remains unknown while a human rights group is calling on Greek Cypriot authorities to take them in...

726. Mask delivery from China hits obstacle

Medical supplies from China, which were expected to be flown to Cyprus on a Greek C-130, will not be shipped to the island with officials saying the Republic will have to send its own plane or find another way...

727. North stocking up on medical supplies

More cases in the north are being released from quarantine while others test positive, as Turkish Cypriot authorities see medical supplies and financial support starting to pour in...

728. Elections in the north postponed for six months

Elections in the north that were set to take place in April have been postponed for six months amid mounting chain reactions of the coronavirus outbreak, Turkish Cypriot media reported on Tuesday....

729. Erdogan likens Greek authorities to Nazis

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday said there is “no difference” between Nazis and the Greek authorities trying to hold the country’s border against the influx of thousands of migrants and refugees spurred to push into the European Union by Ankara....

730. Turkey announces first coronavirus case

Turkey announced its first case of the novel coronavirus on Wednesday, with “patient zero” testing positive after a trip to Europe following some 2000 suspected cases that all came out negative...

731. Berlin to take up to 100 children from Greek refugee camps

Berlin will take in 80 to 100 children from Greek refugee camps, an official in the German capital said on Tuesday, as concern mounts about migrants amassing on the Turkish-Greek border....

732. Erdogan says Greece’s treatment of migrants at border ‘murderous’

Turkey intends to take Greece to task over its alleged “maltreatment” of refugees and migrants spurred on by Ankara to push into the European Union through the Greek-Turkish border, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on a flight back from Brussels on Tuesday, according to the pro-government Daily Sabah. ...

733. EU executive tells Turkey to take migrants back from Greek border

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said ahead of talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that Turkey must move refugees and migrants away from the Greek border....

734. Special force from Cyprus flies to Greece

Nearly two dozen members of Cypriot special security forces have been deployed to Greece’s Evros region to assist in a pushback of undocumented migrants, with reports saying the situation was calmer after a tense weekend...

735. EU criticizes Turkey on migration as border clashes resume

Clashes between Greek riot police and migrants attempting to cross the border from Turkey erupted anew Friday as European Union foreign ministers took aim at what they called “Turkey’s use of migratory pressure for political purposes.” ...

736. EU considering more money for migrants in Turkey but won't be threatened, EU's Borrell says

European Union governments will consider on Friday whether to provide more money for migrants in Turkey, but will not accept that refugees are used as a bargaining tool, the EU’s top diplomat said. ...

737. Turkey deploys 1,000 police at Greek border to stem pushback of migrants

Turkey is deploying 1,000 special police forces along its border with Greece on Thursday to halt the pushback of migrants toward its territory, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said, adding that 164 migrants had been wounded by Greek authorities....

738. Greek forces use tear gas to repel migrants

Greek riot police and troops used water cannon and tear gas on Wednesday against hundreds of migrants as they made another attempt to cross the border from Turkey into Greece....

739. Cyprus says it cannot cope with migrant influx

The interior minister of the Republic of Cyprus says the island cannot host more “economic migrants” as another boatload of refugees arrived on Tuesday, clarifying that authorities would not send back those whose lives may be in danger...

740. Turkish FM alleges three migrants killed trying to cross Greek border

A war of words between Ankara and Athens over the migrant crisis escalated on Tuesday when Turkey’s foreign minister said without providing evidence that Greek soldiers had killed three migrants attempting to enter the country, a claim denied by Greece....

741. Greek army, police dig in along Turkey border after migrant clashes

Greek troops and riot police remained on high alert on Tuesday along the land border between Greece and Turkey, the main flashpoint in an escalating row between the EU and Ankara over how to deal with a new wave of migrants and refugees....

742. Guards use tear gas to disperse hundreds of migrants at Greek-Turkish border

Guards on Greece’s northeastern land border with Turkey made “deterrent use” of tear gas to disperse some 500 refugees and migrants trying to enter the country and the European Union after Ankara loosened controls on migrant flows....

743. Greek border crackdown amid concerns over Turkey

Greek government sources on Friday stressed that authorities are boosting security at the country’s border following reports that Turkey will no longer stop Syrian refugees from traveling to Europe....

744. 14 EU countries demand Syria govt, Russia return to 2018 ceasefire deal

Foreign ministers from 14 European countries, including France and Germany, demanded on Wednesday that Syrian government forces and their Russian backers end their offensive in Idlib province and return to the terms of a 2018 ceasefire deal....

745. France stands by Greece and Cyprus, says French Defense Minister

France will stand by Greece and Cyprus, supporting both in their disputes with Turkey over maritime zones in the Mediterranean, French Defence Minister Florence Parly was quoted saying in a Greek newspaper on Sunday....

746. Pressed in Syria, Turkey ups the ante in the East Med

747. Cavusoglu: Greece must be prepared to share in the East Med

Turkey is willing to reach a compromise with Greece as long as the latter is prepared to share in the Eastern Mediterranean, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday....

748. Erdogan says third Turkish drill ship to begin operations in 2020

Turkey has purchased its third offshore drilling ship which will arrive in Turkey next month, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday, adding that the ship will begin operations in 2020. ...

749. Greek-US ties and the East Med

By Lieutenant General Thomas Trask On the occasion of his meeting last month with President Donald Trump in Washington, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis remarked how the US-Greece relationship “is the best it ever was. But it can become even better.”...

750. Athens drafts package to ease tension with Anakara

Athens plans to present a package of proposals to ease Aegean tensions in talks with Ankara on confidence building measures on February 17-21....