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The risk of conflict in the region grows by the day, but where is the UK? The Government seems intent on drawing the Royal Navy into helping to tackle the growing number of migrants crossing the Channel from France. While ships have not yet been requested, the Ministry of Defence said “nothing was off the table” to stem the flow of small boats and…

Turkey’s and Greece’s zero-sum game in dealing with the issues of maritime delimitation and jurisdiction has for decades posed a problem for the peace and stability in their region. The discovery of energy resources in the eastern Mediterranean has raised the stakes significantly. Mutual intransigence, but most importantly the growing power of ultranationalist officers in the Turkish state, is exacerbating tensions. Turkey’s Blue Homeland…

ISTANBUL—Two rival warships from Turkey and Greece have collided in the Eastern Mediterranean, officials from both countries said, amid a naval standoff triggered by Ankara’s recent decision to begin oil exploration in contested waters. The incident, which occurred Wednesday and wasn’t publicized by either side, highlighted just how close to an open conflict the two North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies have come. It involved…

As Turkey forcibly pushes ahead with its controversial activities in the Eastern Mediterranean, it is facing increasing opposition from regional states, many of which have formidable navies. Turkey’s ongoing drilling for natural gas in the Republic of Cyprus’ economic exclusion zone (EEZ) has sparked widespread opposition in the wider region. Ankara insists it has the right to drill for gas off Cyprus’ coast, claiming…

How a Turkish frigate tried to ram a Greek warship, causing the address to the nation by PM Mitsotakis – slpress.gr There was an attempt to ram the Greek frigate “Lemnos”, shadowing the Oruc Reis escorted by the Turkish frigate Kemal Reis on Wednesday at noon. Through this action, Ankara tried to get rid of the obstacles posed by the Hellenic Navy in its…

France Sends Navy to Eastern Mediterranean Amid Turkey-Greece Standoff – WSJ President Emmanuel Macron ordered French forces to the Eastern Mediterranean to provide military assistance to Greece, raising the stakes in France’s growing regional confrontation against an increasingly assertive Turkey. France’s latest move in the region follows Mr. Macron’s trip last week to Beirut in the wake of an explosion that devastated the city. By…

On 6 August, Greece and Egypt signed an historic deal delimiting their Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs), an important development for stability in the Eastern Mediterranean. The deal was a result of many diplomatic contacts between the diplomatic and technical personnel of both countries and 13 rounds of bilateral negotiations. The EEZ deal promotes the national interests of both countries in various aspects and is…

Turkey is granting citizenship to senior operatives of a Hamas terrorist cell, the Telegraph has learned, raising fears that the Palestinian group will have greater freedom to plot attacks on Israeli citizens around the world. Turkish identity papers seen by the Telegraph show that at least one of 12 senior Hamas members, who are using the country as a base of operations, has received…

Can international arbitration and mediation with its neighbors help Greece turn its energy challenges into opportunities in the Eastern Mediterranean? The discovery of natural gas resources since 2009 in the Eastern Mediterranean has enhanced the region’s strategic energy significance and raised the possibility of multilateral cooperation and economic development. Greece’s continental shelf and Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) are part of the Levantine Basin, which,…

“Israel expresses its full support and solidarity with Greece in its maritime zones and its right to delimit its Exclusive Economic Zone.”Foreign Ministry spokesman Lior Haiat The Foreign Ministry on Wednesday said it “expresses its full support” for Greece amid an escalating dispute with neighboring Turkey over energy exploration in the Mediterranean Sea. “Israel follows closely as tension arises in the Eastern Mediterranean,” Foreign…

And he won’t be able to keep the game going for much longer. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is not usually known as an economic innovator. But for the past year, his government has been running a high-stakes economic experiment. The test: How long can Turkey hide the fact that it is spending far beyond its means? Normally when governments spend more than they…

A hundred years ago, French, British and Italian officials convened in a famous porcelain factory southwest of Paris to carve up the Ottoman Empire. The Treaty of Sèvres, signed Aug. 10, 1920, concluded months of fitful negotiations among the victors of World War I and paved the way for the remaking of the modern Middle East. It imposed terms on the defeated Ottomans widely seen as even more…

As Turkish ships searching for oil and gas off the Cypriot coast – near where French company Total has been authorized by the legitimate government to drill – Cyprus and Turkey signed a cooperation agreement in defense. This lasted for three years, but occurred during a crucial period as Turkey continues to operate during the COVID-19 pandemic which has seen international companies allowed to…

Dozens of Brotherhood websites launched from Turkey shared fabricated reports and photos attacking the agreement. CAIRO: Turkey has sought help from the Muslim Brotherhood in Qatar and Ankara for its campaign against the Egyptian and Greek demarcation of their respective maritime borders. The campaign began when the Turkish Foreign Ministry announced that it considered the agreement between Cairo and Athens “null,” and that the…

More information about Greece is available on the Greece Page and from other Department of State publications and other sources listed at the end of this fact sheet. U.S.-Greece Relations The United States appointed its first Consul to Greece in 1837, following Greece’s independence from the Ottoman Empire, and established diplomatic relations with Greece in 1868. After World War II, the United States contributed hundreds of…

As the crisis in the eastern Mediterranean continues to escalate with the Turkish government in the lead, a most baffling part is being played by Mr Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union. An appointed top figure of the EU’s rather blurred foreign policy, Borrell has lately displayed a pattern of behaviour which a growing number of observers have started to question. On…

The State Department has a Turkey problem – Washington Examiner By any reasonable metric, Turkey is a rogue regime. Put aside the 46-year occupation of northern Cyprus with its ethnic cleansing and open theft of resources. Ignore also the ethnic cleansing of Turkey’s own Kurdish population. The world rightly condemned Syrian President Bashar Assad for his deliberate targeting of civilian neighborhoods in Aleppo, but…

The Atlantic Council (AC), one of Washington D.C.’s best-known think tanks, has been in the news once again for its questionable panels, articles and ties to foreign governments. The Washington Free Beacon website published an article by its editor-in-chief Eliana Johnson on Friday analysing the AC’s recent murky history with lobbyists and autocratic foreign leaders. The piece is quite damning. It starts with a reminder to readers that it…

The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday criticized a statement issued by the Turkish Foreign Ministry regarding the signing of an agreement to define an exclusive economic zone between Egypt and Greece. The Egyptian Foreign Ministry tweeted its surprise that such statements and allegations were issued by a party that did not originally know the agreement and its details. The Turkish Ministry of…

Sources tell the Washington Free Beacon that foreign governments exert pressure on the ostensibly independent think tank’s scholarship and programming When Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s bodyguards were arrested after attacking a crowd of protesters outside the Turkish ambassador’s residence in May 2017, Erdogan and his crew were heading inside for a private, off-the-record meeting with Atlantic Council fellows and board members. That event…

The Democratic candidate’s longstanding sympathy for the Kurds is likely what’s causing Ankara anxiety. He makes Erdogan nervous. Photographer: Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post It’s easy to dismiss the recent Turkish uproar over a Joe Biden video as political theater. The video, from a conversation between the Democratic presidential candidate and the New York Times editorial board, is eight months old. In it, Biden describes Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan…

A maritime boundary between Greece and Egypt does not exist. With respect to Turkey, the so-called maritime delimitation agreement signed today is null and void. This understanding will reflect on the ground and at the table. The supposedly-delimited area lies within the Turkish continental shelf as declared to the United Nations. Egypt, who surrendered an area of 11.500 km2 with the so-called agreement it…

Greece and Egypt have signed an agreement for the delimitation of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) between the two countries in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. The agreement was signed by Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias and his Egypt counterpart Sameh Shoukry in Cairo on Thursday afternoon. “It is a historic day, it is an exemplary and important agreement between two neighboring, friendly countries,Dendias said…

OSAKA, JAPAN – JUNE 28: (RUSSIA OUT) Russian President Vladimir Putin (L), Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (C) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) pose for a group photo prior to their trilateral meeting at the G20 Osaka Summit 2019 on June 28, 2019 in Osaka, Japan. Vladimir Putin has arrived in Japan to participate in the G20 Osaka Summit and to meet U.S.President…

By weaponizing immigration and launching new foreign adventures, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is increasingly acting like his Russian counterpart. And though such behavior speaks to a deteriorating political situation at home, Europeans can no longer assume that Turkey will remain firmly in the Western fold Is Turkey the new Russia? That question is increasingly being asked in European capitals as Turkish President Recep…

France beefed up its military presence in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, where tensions are growing between France’s close ally, Greece, and Turkey. Both countries claim oil and gas rights in the area. A French helicopter carrier is flanked by Greek and French military vessels during a maritime exercise in the Eastern Mediterranean, Aug. 13, 2020. Greece and Turkey both sent warships on Aug. 12…

Despite being a NATO member, Turkey has bought Russian air defense. And a recent push into Libya and its energy ambitions nearly led to armed conflicts with France and Greece. BRUSSELS — The warships were escorting a vessel suspected of smuggling weapons into Libya, violating a United Nations arms embargo. Challenged by a French naval frigate, the warships went to battle alert. Outnumbered and…

What is the added value of a 70-year-old politico-military alliance when some of its members no longer share the same values and, more importantly, when the behaviour of one member – Turkey – collides with the security interests of the rest? The recent naval incident in the Mediterranean between French and Turkish warships is another dramatic development in an already deteriorated situation involving a neo-Ottoman Turkey…

BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 1,667, July 30, 2020 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: A Turkish-US business council is promoting Turkey as a trading alternative to China with the help of influential US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a close associate of President Donald Trump. The Turkish effort to promote itself as a supply chain alternative to China comes two weeks after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan heralded a…

What if Turkey enforces its claimed maritime boundaries? How would Greece, neighboring states, and the U.S. respond? “Greece can live inside the dream world of its past… Now it is time to sit at the table for the solution of chronic problems in the Aegean.” Retired Admiral Cem Gürdeniz via Aydinlik Recent statements by US Ambassador to Greece, Geoffrey Pyatt, support the notion that…

“A thousand horsemen, we were full of joy like children / A thousand horsemen, that day we came out on top of a giant army” –two lines from a well versed poem from one of the great mid-20th century Turkish poets as I reminisce and freely translate them without consulting Saint Google. Harking back to past glory always helps to overcome the daily struggles of…

The president offered to help Turkey’s strongman beat U.S. courts, John Bolton has revealed. It only helps Iran. Donald Trump’s puzzling relationship with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has long perplexed policy watchers. Things have become much clearer after the release of The Room Where It Happened, the new book from former National Security Advisor John Bolton, which reveals new details about Trump, Erdogan, and Iran that should worry…

A militarised regime is taking shape in Anatolia as the world watches on at the expense of the well being of Turkish people. This regime is pursuing an expansionist order determined to stretch the country’s legal borders by means of a brute force.Yavuz Baydar A spectre is haunting Europe, the spectre of Turkish expansionism, set in motion by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Islamist government and…

Fulfilling a dream of his Islamic-oriented youth, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan joined hundreds of worshipers on Friday for the first Muslim prayers in 86 years inside Hagia Sophia. The Istanbul landmark once served as one of Christendom’s most significant cathedrals, a mosque and a museum before its conversion back into a Muslim place of worship this month. Thousands of other Muslim faithful came…

In the Eastern Mediterranean, the West has retreated. That leaves Turkey and Russia to fill the vacuum. PARIS — While many American foreign policymakers are focused on China and the South China Sea, some should take a closer look at Turkey and the Eastern Mediterranean, which could be the next geopolitical flash point for Europe and NATO to confront. To some extent, a similar…

On July 10, 2020, a Turkish court cleared the way for the Hagia Sophia to be converted from a museum back into a mosque. That same day, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivered a speech lauding the “resurrection” of the Hagia Sophia. No full English transcript of that speech has been made available, although a video with English subtitles is available here. Below is transcription…

On 19th July, President Recep Tayyib Erdoğan took himself to Hagia Sophia to check on preparations for the first Friday prayer, which was to coincide—what a historical clash!—with the anniversary of the Treaty of Lausanne (24 July 1923), the foundation of Turkish territorial sovereignty regained after the 1919–1923 war of independence. The “reconquest” of Hagia Sophia was supposed to be spectacular and a rallying cry, but…

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece warned Thursday it will do “whatever is necessary” to defend its sovereign rights in response to plans by neighboring Turkey to proceed with an oil-and-gas research mission south of Greek islands in the eastern Mediterranean. The dispute over seabed mineral rights has led to increased navy deployments by both NATO members in the region, where a Turkish research vessel,…

Europe should pivot from half-hearted confrontation to a rules-based relationship with Ankara. By Nathalie Tocci ROME — Whichever way one looks at it, the European Union’s policy toward Turkey does not hold water. For the past several months, the bloc has adopted a strategy of mild confrontation over Turkey’s belligerence in the Mediterranean while taking pains not to alienate a NATO ally with growing influence…

BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 1,647, July 16, 2020 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The Turkey we once knew no longer exists. Despite NATO objections and US warnings, Ankara acquired the advanced S-400 anti-aircraft system from Russia. In response, Washington canceled Turkish participation in the F-35 program. In the latest episode of this saga, a Turkish court sentenced a US Consulate employee to almost nine years in…

Recep Tayyip Erdogan is a sucker for conquest symbolism. As Covid-19 restrictions were being eased this year, he ensured that mosques reopened on 29 May to coincide with the 567th anniversary of the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople. The Turkish president has now gone on to sign a decree converting Hagia Sophia into a mosque, just in time for the fourth anniversary of the failed coup…

There is no justification for turning Hagia Sophia into a mosque – Spectator It is official: Hagia Sophia, for a thousand years the world’s largest cathedral, and since 1934 a museum, is to be turned back into a mosque. Ever since I heard of the possibility, I have been praying it would not be so because of the impact it will have on Muslim-Christian…

The reconversion of Hagia Sophia, a symbol of Istanbul and a marvel of Byzantine art, into a mosque is a historic moment. The controversial move, put in motion by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s decree, could fairly be seen as the Turkish Reconquista. Istanbul was Constantinopole in 1453 when it was conquered by the Muslim-Turkish Ottomans under Mehmed II, and the East Roman (Byzantine) Empire…

The Hagia Sophia has been designated as a mosque again, its status as a museum viewed for decades as a seal on the country’s spirit. A 19th-century illustration of the interior of the Hagia Sophia, before it became a museum in 1935.Credit…Mansell/The LIFE Picture Collection, via Getty Images IZMIR, Turkey — President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey on Friday issued a decree ordering the…

Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has officially converted Istanbul’s famous Hagia Sophia from a museum to a mosque. International leaders criticize the move as politically motivated and contrary to the building’s legacy of bringing faiths together. The president of Turkey on Friday formally converted Istanbul’s sixth-century Hagia Sophia back into a mosque and declared it open for Muslim worship, hours after a high court annulled…

On May 16, 2017, against the backdrop of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Washington, the Turkish president’s security detail and pro-Erdogan brownshirts assaulted and beat peaceful protesters in Sheridan Circle in the heart of the city. Video of the incident appears to show Erdogan giving the order for the attack. While several members of Erdogan’s team subsequently fled the country, police arrested and…

The president’s decision to turn Istanbul’s Byzantine cathedral back into a mosque seeks to erase the past “Solomon, I have outdone thee.” So remarked Justinian, the Roman emperor who commissioned Hagia Sophia, the great cathedral at the heart of Constantinople, now Istanbul. Throughout its history it has been a source of wonder and debate. Now, the decision by the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan,…

Turkey is standing in the wreckage of a foreign-policy adventure with no discernible strategy. To a group of supporters in London in late 2019, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared: “Today, Turkey can launch an operation to protect its national security without seeking permission from anyone.” It was stock-and-trade late Erdogan-era theatrics—grievance interlaced with ambition. In the past, this kind of breast-beating might have…

A new trade deal between Turkey and Venezuela, officially titled “Trade Development Agreement,” will enter into force on August 21, the Turkish T24 news website said on Saturday. The agreement was hammered out on 17 May 2018, after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s visit to Venezuela, during which he pledged to help his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro combat sanctions by the United States and…

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — The Turkish foreign minister on Monday called on the European Union to be an “honest broker” in disputes between Ankara and EU member states France, Greece and Cyprus. Mevlut Cavusoglu warned that Turkey would be forced to “reciprocate” against any decisions the bloc takes against the country. In a joint news conference with visiting EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell,…

France has informed NATO that it is suspending its involvement in a naval operation in the Mediterranean after the results of a probe into an incident between French and Turkish warships, an official at the Armed Forces ministry said on Wednesday. The official said in a letter to NATO’s Secretary-General that France had made four demands to clarify the role of the Sea Guardian operation, including its…

With its warplanes recently on exercise over Cyprus, while its warships patrol with the Greek navy, France is now more militarily active in the Eastern Mediterranean than it has been for generations. At the same time, French President Emmanuel Macron has been in Beirut, issuing instructions on the formation of a new Lebanon. Meanwhile, Paris continues to be active in the Libyan crisis, unofficially…

Turkey’s intervention in Libya, perhaps its biggest foreign adventure since World War One, might spell the end of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s reign should it fail, columnist and political scientist Cengiz Aktar said in a conversation with Yavuz Baydar, the Editor-in-Chief of Ahval. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzCP_cCUa-Y The Turkish military’s support for the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) in the battle against the self-styled Libyan National…

On June 12, Alex Nain Saab Morán, a Colombian businessman of Lebanese descent, was arrested at Amílcar Cabral International airport in Cape Verde. This was a huge blow to the Maduro regime’s illicit networks, as Saab is a key facilitator, involved in alleged corrupt dealings and money laundering in Venezuela since 2004. His arrest was made after years of investigations on behalf of the…

PARIS (Reuters) – France’s president on Monday accused Turkey of massively importing jihadists into Libya, labeling Ankara’s intervention “criminal” and he lambasted Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ambivalence towards his country’s mercenaries operating in the North African state. Ties between NATO allies France and Turkey have soured in recent weeks over Libya, Northern Syria and drilling in the eastern Mediterranean. Turkey has intervened decisively in…

Copies of John Bolton’s book ‘The Room Where It Happened’ are pictured on display at a Barnes and Noble bookstore in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., June 23, 2020. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri – RC24FH9EPVTE Turkey accused former U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton of misrepresenting President Donald Trump’s conversations with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan in his recently published memoir….

Turkey was the main topic on the agenda as the EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell arrived in Cyprus for talks on Thursday. Tensions have been rising in the eastern Mediterranean since last year because of differences over competing efforts to drill for gas. The Cypriot government says Turkish ships have been drilling and conducting seismic surveys in waters south of the island that…

President Sisi’s belligerent rhetoric underlines concern over strategic port and any deal between Ankara and Moscow Members of the Libyan National Army, based in the east of the country. Libya has been a proxy battleground for regional and international powers vying for its hydrocarbon resources. © Abdullah Doma/AFP/Getty Egypt’s leader Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has threatened to intervene militarily in neighbouring Libya if Turkish-backed forces…

“The first Foreign Policy Talks series meeting took place on Thursday, 4 June between 17:00-18:00 (GMT +3) Live on ZOOM, focusing on “The Current State of Turkish-Greek Relations”, where invited experts from the two countries assessed the key issues affecting the relationship and whether a road map on how to move ahead is possible in the near future. The speakers of the event were: Prof. Dr. Mustafa…

In a move never seen before at the United Nations General Assembly, Greece, Cyprus and Armenia objected to a bid by Turkey to become the next president of the UN General Assembly, T24 reported and then translated by Ahval on Monday. The U.N. president serves a one-year term and the office rotates among five regional groupings of UN member states and in this the…

Relations between President Trump and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey have long blown hot and cold. For the moment, they are finding common cause. President Trump and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in Washington in November. The two like and understand each other.Credit…T.J. Kirkpatrick for The New York Times ISTANBUL — Relations between President Trump and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan,…

Relations between Turkey and the European Union may indeed be back on track, but which track is that exactly? Just when I had given credit to EU-Turkey rapprochement, despite my usually pessimistic self, the usual flare-ups with Greece started up again. Can there be an EU-Turkey rapprochement despite Ankara’s “troubles” with Athens? As Turkey declares “victory” in its war against the coronavirus, one of…

Why some Middle East autocrats are harder to oust than others – Middle East Eye The Syrian and Turkish leaders rule over regimes that make it difficult for internal or external rivals to overthrow them. The political futures of both Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have recently been the subject of speculation. For Assad, a dispute with his wealthy cousin…

Turkey raises profile to be a polar power with expeditions | Daily Sabah Over the years, Turkish scientists have undertaken numerous studies and expeditions in both Antarctica and the Arctic in a bid to make the country a polar power. “Turkey carries out more effective projects to undertake polar research every year with its increasing power both in the region and around the globe,”…