erdogan

CHP's Canan Kaftancioglu accused of insulting the government and public servants, inciting hatred and enmity, mostly on the basis of tweets posted between 2012 and 2017.

The numbers are truly amazing and unique globally if one considers the number of lives that were lost over the Aegean over the past decades in an undeclared war.

'It’s a very tough situation that they’re in, and it’s a very tough situation that we’ve been placed in the United States ... we’ll see what happens. But it’s not really fair,'Trump said.

Whether one likes it or not, Turkey holds the key to managing the refugee issue and it is in a position to use it to blackmail whenever it feels cornered.

The argument that perpetuation of the status quo on Cyprus benefits the Greek-Cypriot side or at least will not change the geopolitical realities is collapsing

The government and the opposition, trapped in a ruthless political clash just ten days before the European Parliament election, are downplaying or even ignoring Turkey’s evolving and escalating hostility in the region. With constant manoeuvres, Erdogan is disputing the status quo in the Eastern Mediterranean and seeking an opportunity to advance what he views as his interests. He has pressed forward with gas exploration in Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic zone with a rather tepid international response. He formalised his claims by summoning the diplomats of neighbouring countries, including Cyprus, Egypt, and Greece. He is pressing on with huge military exercises and loses no opportunity to violate Greek airspace. If one factors in the tensions in the broader region – with attacks on ships and the open conflict between the US and Iran – it is clear that the situation is becoming explosive. The Greek government’s statements of condemnation obviously do not address the issue, nor does a merely formal alignment of the government and the opposition suffice to confront Ankara’s provocations. Unfortunately, domestic political polarisation does not permit the hammering out of a unified national line that can address current threats and provide a long-term national strategy. Pressured by domestic economic problems and his party’s loss of the Istanbul mayoralty, Erdogan is seeking a way out of his impasse abroad so as to rally his domestic political base. Erdogan is unpredictable and volatile and thus there is a danger that he might provoke a crisis that could easily spin out of control. There is enough military firepower gathered in the Eastern Mediterranean to pose the risk of triggering an explosion at any moment. The leader of the American superpower is also unstable and unpredictable enough to provoke a crisis in the region in order to flex his muscle. Meanwhile, the fact that the European Union is almost paralysed and unable at the moment to take bold decisions further complicates the situation. In Greece, the necessary national understanding is being undermined by the frenzied electoral campaign. The prime minister, who should have taken the initiative to rally political forces so as to forge a national strategy, is preoccupied with his struggle to cling to power at all costs. The result is that Greece is drifting and monitoring events as a bystander instead of seeking alliances and fending off designs and provocations. Though there is absolutely no room for complacency, we are preoccupied with polarising domestic clashes instead of seeking the basis for an understanding at least on national issues that have bedeviled us for decades. The government and the opposition, trapped in a ruthless political clash just ten days before the European Parliament election, are downplaying or even ignoring Turkey’s evolving and escalating hostility in the region.

The S-400s radars have a range of up to 570—600kms. They can detect bombers at a distance of 570kms and F-16 Fighters with a 400km range.

The emotional framework may well determine Erdogan's future behaviour. It will quite possibly resemble the behaviour of a wounded beast, which in political terms could result in a new round of provocations, violations, and claims.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has refused to back down from Ankara’s planned purchase of a Russian S-400 missile defense system that the United States has said would compromise the security of F-35 aircraft.

Foreign investors are also unhappy with the current course of economic policy. They would like the Turkish government to promote private-sector investment, keep a tight lid on the budget deficit, and give the central bank free rein to do its job.

Erdogan constantly cultivates the sense of a quest for lost Ottoman grandeur and at the same time he disputes Turkey’s traditional ties with the West.

Erdogan - who is seeking to drum up support for his Islamist-rooted AK Party in March 31 local elections - said on Tuesday Turkey would make the suspected attacker pay if New Zealand did not.

“Always a guarantor of peace, The Turkish Army has never harmed civilians, including kids and women and has never had a reputation as such,” the Turkish Defence Ministry said in a statement.

 Turkey has often made clear that its perceived interests include the territorial waters and Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) of its two neighbours.

'We tell our friends the necessary words – don’t pressure us and don’t put us in a tight spot. That is the only way that mutual trust can develop,' Erdogan said

Nicosia’s FIR covers an area of 175,000 square kilometres, which is 19 times the area of the country’s national airspace. It borders with Turkey’s FIR to the north, northeast with Damascus’ FIR, southeast with Tel Aviv’s FIR, and to the south with Cairo’s FIR.

"I am thinking of your beloved. Hanging about the consulate for hours. Looking first at one and then at the other cell phone that you had left her, hoping in vain for a call, or even a message. Ringing the doorbell at the end –'Khashoggi? What Kashoggi? There is no such person in here.'

Working breakfasts have been arranged with executives of the Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, and Morgan Stanley, as well as meetings with representatives of large investment groups and capital management funds.

The undoubtedly positive release of the two Greek army officers from a Turkish prison, after having been held hostage for months, justifies neither the government’s celebrations nor the opposition’s conspiracy theories

Only Trump decided to put the brakes on the neo-Ottoman paranoia of today’s Turkey, and its paradoxical ties to Moscow.

The return of the two officers to their country may serve as an occasion to reset relations between Turkey and its largest commercial partner, the EU

The Turkish president’s diplomatic advisor assured his Greek counterpart that the two officers will be tried in absentia, and that if a penalty is imposed it will not exceed the prison time already served

Emboldened by the huge powers he has accrued, and with ever increasing contempt for democratic institutions, the Turkish president believes that he can use a foreign national as a negotiating weapon to exert pressure

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If Erdogan cannot restrain himself in dealing with the US, what can one expect he will he do in relations with Greece and Europe?