European Union leaders on Friday criticized Turkey for ratcheting up tensions with Cyprus and Greece after Ankara sent a ship back into the east Mediterranean Sea on a new energy exploration mission.

“We deplore the actions and unilateral provocations of Turkey,” European Council President Charles Michel told reporters after chairing a summit of the 27-nation bloc’s leaders in Brussels.

Turkey redeployed its search vessel, Oruc Reis, near the Greek island of Kastellorizo, reigniting tensions with Greece over sea boundaries and energy drilling rights and casting doubt over the future of fresh talks aimed at resolving the dispute. The last round of talks was held in 2016.

Turkey has also angered Cyprus with its decision to open the beachfront of the fenced-off suburb of Varosha in the divided island’s breakaway Turkish Cypriot north. At their summit in Brussels, leaders said the EU “underlines the importance of the status of Varosha and reiterates its full solidarity with Greece and Cyprus.”

In the latest exchange of barbs, Turkey, which is a candidate for EU membership, and Greece this week traded accusations about “provocations,” including plans to hold military drills in the Aegean Sea later this month to coincide with each other’s national public holiday.

“I think that is very regrettable but also unnecessary — we should work on the positive aspects of our agenda instead. We have an interest in being able to go down the road we had intended to with Turkey, because developing EU-Turkey relations further is in the interest of both sides,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said.

READ MORE: Greece says no talks with Turkey as long as survey ship in area
READ MORE: Erdogan: Turkey will give Greece the ‘answer it deserves’

Tensions between the two NATO allies, neighbors and historic rivals flared over the summer and raised fears that open conflict might break out.

Cyprus in particular has been pushing hard for the EU to impose sanctions on Turkey. But on Friday, the leaders said only that they would “remain seized of the matter” and assess developments at their next meeting on Dec. 10-11.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis noted that “Europe does not take decisions from one moment to the next. It is like an ocean liner which takes a slow turn. When it turns, it takes a course which is very stable in the new direction in which it has chosen.”

“Τhe point where we will have to make decisions will be December. I still hope that we will not have to do so. But no one should doubt that Europe has the determination to do so if Turkey continues these actions. And measures will be painful, not symbolic,” he said.

Turkish Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hami Aksoy accused the EU of being insincere and unconstructive instead of “encouraging a dialogue, reconciliation and an unconditional positive agenda.”

“It should be known that the language of threats will have no effect on Turkey,” Aksoy said. “Instead of threatening Turkey, we expect the EU to present concrete and unbiased proposals that serve our common interests.”

Sourced By: Associated Press

Greece recorded 508 new confirmed coronavirus infections on Friday, topping the 500 daily mark for the first time, health authorities said, as they urged compliance with mask wearing and social distancing.

Of the 508 new cases, 227 were recorded in the Athens metropolitan area and 63 in Thessaloniki, the country’s second largest city. There were eight deaths from the disease.

“For the first time we went over 500 daily diagnoses of coronavirus,” said epidemiologist Gikas Magiorkinis. “The drop in temperatures may tilt the balance, intensifying the epidemiological trend.”

READ MORE: ‘Mini lockdown’ initiated in parts of Greece after country records 287 new Covid cases
READ MORE: Greek authorities fear “second wave” of COVID-19 as cases of infected tourists rise

Earlier, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told reporters after an EU leaders’ summit in Brussels that Greece was still among the countries faring better in Europe.

“But this may change at any moment if we do not comply with the recommended measures,” he said.

Deputy Civil Protection Minister Nikos Hardalias said the country was still in a stable situation, but “this stability is especially fragile”.

“All that is happening in Europe shows that we should not be complacent,” he said.

Sourced By: Reuters

The votes of Greek-Americans are valuable to any US presidential candidate, and Joe Biden has apparently made that clear with his vision to help Greek expatriates and aid their struggles in the Eastern Mediterranean.

The US presidential candidate expressed his commitment to “call out Turkish behavior that is in violation of international law or that contravenes its commitments as a NATO ally,” in a statement released by his campaign office yesterday.

“I have long opposed the Turkish occupation of northern Cyprus and supported a comprehensive settlement to reunify the island.”

“Unlike President Trump, Joe will call out Turkish behavior that is in violation of international law or that contravenes its commitments as a NATO ally, such as Turkish violations of Greek airspace.”

Biden’s officials added that former Vice President Barack Obama has also opposed the Turkish occupation of part of Cyprus and has supported a solution to bring a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation.

If elected, he will also “continue to be a strong voice for religious freedom globally, including the rights of the Greek Orthodox Church.”

“Joe has long been a strong supporter of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and given unwavering support for the ability of the Patriarchate to function in its role as the center of the Greek Orthodox Church. He treasures his visit in 2011 to the Patriarchate and each of his meetings with His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.”

“He has called on Turkey to permit the reopening of the Halki Seminary and criticized the recent decision of the Turkish government to convert the Hagia Sophia into a mosque,” the announcement said.”

“Throughout his many years in public life, Joe Biden has a long record of engagement on issues important to Greek Americans and a record of support for strengthening the US-Greece relationship. He has worked personally with Greek leaders over many decades to strengthen the alliance,” it said.

With increasing cases of animal abuse being observed, there has been a tightening of legal framework surrounding the treatment of animals, making animal torture into a felony.

The Minister of Regional Development and Infrastructure, Makis Voridis, decided to tighten the legal framework regarding the torture of animals after the increasing cases of reported animal abuse.

According to a statement from the Ministry, “the specific initiative of the Minister follows his announcements for further tightening of the existing legal framework in order to make the prosecution and punishment of tortured animals more effective.”

The minister adds that, “incidents of violence against animals have no place in a favoured state and constitute a serious insult to both the state and Greek society, while pointing out that there is an urgent need to toughen penalties in order to eliminate this kind of unacceptable phenomena”.

Based on data from the Report Animal Abuse Greece website, 809 complaints were registered in 2014, while in 2018 the number jumped to 3,734. The number of people arrested nonetheless remains disproportionate to the number of complaints. For example, in the first half of 2019, there were 1,799 complaints, of which only 117 were arrested.

For thirty years, there have been many academic studies showing that animal abuse is also linked to violence against humans, such as domestic violence, child abuse, and even murder.

Turkey on Thursday denied accusations by Greece that Ankara refused an overflight permit to a plane carrying Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias, forcing the aircraft to remain in the air for 20 minutes.

Greek state broadcaster ERT reported that the plane carrying Dendias back from a visit to Baghdad the previous day was kept circling over Mosul for 20 minutes because Turkish authorities weren’t granting it permission to fly through Turkish airspace back to Greece.

Turkey’s Foreign Ministry denied any deliberate move to hold up the plane before entering the Turkish airspace, insisting the plane hadn’t provided the required flight plan.

The incident comes amid renewed tensions between Greece and Turkey over sea boundaries and energy drilling rights, after Ankara redeployed its search vessel, Oruc Reis, this week for a new energy exploration mission in disputed waters in the eastern Mediterranean.

Both countries have this week accused each other of engaging in “provocations” that threaten to torpedo the planned resumption of talks between Athens and Ankara aimed at resolving disputes. Those talks were last held in 2016.

According to the Turkish ministry, the plane that took Dendias to Iraq broke down there, and the Greek government then allocated a second plane, which took off without the required flight plan.

“When the aforementioned aircraft arrived at our airspace, the plan was urgently requested from the Iraqi authorities, and after the plan was received, the flight was carried out safely,” the ministry said.

Asked about the incident during a regular briefing, the Greek government spokesman, Stelios Petsas, said that in response that “the necessary actions have been taken by the foreign ministry, with a relevant complaint.”

“It is one more provocation, in the continued provocations by the Turkish side,” Petsas said. “But I would like to remain on the fact that various explanations were given, also from the Turkish side, and we hope that this phenomenon and this incident is never repeated in the future.”

Sourced By: Associated Press