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541. 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....

542. 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....

543. 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....

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

545. 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....

546. Military clash with Syria is imminent, Erdogan says

Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday a Turkish military operation to push back a Syrian government offensive against rebel strongholds in northwest Syria was now “a matter of time” after talks with Russia failed to halt the assault....

547. 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. ...

548. 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.”...

549. Turkish delegation to visit Moscow to discuss Syria's Idlib

A Turkish delegation will go to Moscow in coming days to discuss the escalating conflict in Syria’s Idlib region, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Wednesday, adding that around 1 million people had been displaced there due to Russian-backed Syrian attacks....

550. Cavusoglu slams Akinci after comment that Turkey-north annexation would be 'horrible'

“I’ve never worked with a more unreliable politician,” the Turkish Foreign Minister Melvut Cavusoglu said on Monday, referring to the Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci in response to an interview where Akinci said the prospect of Crimea-style annexation with Turkey was “horrible”....

551. House President praises Australia’s principled stance over Cyprus

Australia is a friendly country that supports Cyprus and retains a principled stance vis-à-vis the Cyprus problem, said the President of the House of Representatives, Demetris Syllouris, who is paying an official visit to the country as head of an inter-party delegation....

552. Greek Defence minister denies Erdogan's phone talk claims on Imia

Greek Defence Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos rejected on Thursday claims by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that he sent a message to Greece through Defence Minister Hulusi Akar not to make any “move” over the eastern Aegean islets of Imia, for which the two countries were brought to the brink of war twenty-four years ago....

553. Turkey deploys extremists to Libya, local militias say

Syrian militants affiliated with groups such as al-Qaida and the Islamic State group are currently being sent by Turkey to fight on behalf of the UN-supported government in Libya, according to two Libyan militia leaders and a Syrian war monitor....

554. Little US-Turkish progress solving defenses row, Erdogan says

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday Washington and Ankara had done little to solve a row over Turkey’s purchase of Russian defenses and its procurement of US fighter jets despite a November agreement, according to broadcaster NTV....

555. Mitsotakis calls for greater European solidarity on Turkey, migration

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has called for greater European solidarity in dealing with Turkish provocations against Greek sovereignty and the immigration crisis....

556. Tsipras versus the US and Trump's intervention

Opposition leader Alexis Tsipras’ critical stance toward the extension of the defense cooperation agreement between Greece and the United States is a sign of inconsistency, as he is refusing to vote in favor of an agreement that he is effectively responsible for after negotiating its parameters when he was prime minister....

557. Turkey, Greece need to resolve East Med issues, Trump tells Erdogan

US President Donald Trump on Monday called Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan to talk about developments in Libya and Syria, a spokesman for the White House said on Twitter, adding that Turkey’s differences with Greece were also discussed....

558. Nicosia suspicious over Yavuz drilling spots

The government of the Republic of Cyprus believes Turkey has obtained privileged drilling information regarding an area off the southern coast of the island...

559. US Congresspersons: USA and UNSC members must continue supporting peacemaking efforts in Cyprus

The United States and the other members of the UN Security Council must continue to support peacemaking efforts in Cyprus, Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY) and Congressman Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), co-chairs of the bipartisan Congressional Caucus on Hellenic Caucus stressed....

560. Greece has asked Germany to participate in Libya summit

Greece has asked to attend a summit in Berlin which will discuss a path to peace in Libya, government spokesman Stelios Petsas revealed on Tuesday...

561. Libya blames maritime tensions on Greece

Libya has slammed Greece in a recent letter to the United Nations, accusing Athens of refusing to play fair, while US State Secretary Mike Pompeo says he is taking on a new initiative to de-escalate Greco-Turkish tensions over maritime borders...

562. Greek Premier asks Trump for support

US President Donald Trump hailed his country's "extraordinary" relations with Greece as he welcomed Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the White House on Tuesday...

563. Tough dilemmas in Greek-Turkish affairs

Turkey’s claims in the Aegean were first brought to the table in 1973 and have escalated ever since, reaching successive peaks over 10 to 15 years and multiplying...

564. Cypriot FM works the phones over Libya

Cyprus Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides has been working the phones Thursday and Friday, discussing with counterparts of other nations the situation in Libya and a need to avoid illegal actions...

565. Athens says Ankara 'playing with fire'

Athens says Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is “playing with fire” as he seeks parliament approval to send military troops into Libya, following a formal request from Tripoli...

566. Diplomatic hype over eastern Mediterranean

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias attended Christmas Mass in Istanbul amid diplomatic tensions and power play between Athens and Ankara over gas exploration in the eastern Mediterranean...

567. Israel opposes Turkey-Libya deal

Israel opposes an accord signed last month between Libya and Turkey mapping out maritime boundaries in the eastern Mediterranean, but the deal was unlikely to lead to a conflict with Turkey, Israel's foreign minister says...

568. Woman threatens to blow up flight to Cyprus

Passengers on a flight from Istanbul to the northern part of Cyprus had the scare of their life on Wednesday seconds before takeoff when a female passenger threatened to blow up the plane...

569. Erdogan points to drilling spots off Crete

In an interview on Turkish television, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has indicated where Turkey plans to conduct research for hydrocarbons but also drilling, using a map to indicate the location east of Crete...

570. Senate approves Armenian resolution

The US Senate on Thursday unanimously passed a resolution that recognizes as a genocide the mass killings of Armenians a century ago, a historic move that infuriated Turkey and dealt a blow to the already problematic ties between Ankara and Washington...