Drone footage captured buildings reduced to piles of rubble in the Turkish city of İzmir on Friday after a strong earthquake struck the Aegean Sea, setting off tidal waves which slammed into coastal areas and islands. Search and rescue operations continued at 17 collapsed or damaged buildings, Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency said.
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‘Everywhere was collapsing’: powerful earthquake hits Turkey and Greece – video report
Footage shows the aftermath of a deadly earthquake that struck in the Aegean sea and toppled buildings in the Turkish city of İzmir and the Greek island of Samos.
The earthquake struck about 11 miles (17km) off the coast of İzmir, causing a number of deaths and widespread damage.
Witnesses captured the moment buildings collapsed and sea water flooding in both Samos and İzmir
Continue reading...Rescue teams search rubble after earthquake rocks Turkish coast and Greek islands
At least 27 reported dead and 800 injured in quake that hit İzmir in Turkey and Greek island of Samos
Rescue teams searched through concrete blocks and rubble on Saturday after at least 27 people were killed and hundreds injured when a powerful earthquake in the Aegean Sea toppled buildings in the Turkish city of İzmir and created sea surges on at least two Greek islands.
Turkey’s disaster and emergency authority (Afad) said the quake on Friday, measuring about 7.0 in magnitude, struck at 2.51pm local time (11.51am GMT). with 407 aftershocks recorded overnight. Around 800 people were reported injured.
Continue reading...Aegean earthquake shakes Turkey and Greek islands – in pictures
A powerful earthquake in the Aegean Sea has toppled buildings in the Turkish city of İzmir and caused damage in several Greek islands
Continue reading...Aftermath in İzmir as 7.0-magnitude earthquake hits Turkey and Greece – video
An earthquake has struck in the Aegean Sea, flattening buildings in Greece and Turkey. Footage shows buildings reduced to rubble in the Manavkuyu neighbourhood of İzmir, a city on Turkey's Aegean coast.
The US Geological Survey measured the earthquake at magnitude 7.0 and said tremors were felt as far away as Athens and Istanbul
Continue reading...Two British teenagers killed parasailing in Greece, say authorities
Another teenager was seriously injured in the incident in Rhodes, says coastguard
Two British teenagers have been killed and a third seriously injured in a parasailing incident on the Greek island of Rhodes, authorities have said.
“A 13-year-old girl and a young man of 15 were found dead on the rocks near the city of Lindos in Rhodes,” the Greek coastguard’s press office said.
Continue reading...EU border force ‘complicit’ in illegal campaign to stop refugees landing
Evidence including footage of Frontex ship making waves near a migrant dinghy appears to contradict agency’s denial of involvement in pushbacks
The EU’s border agency has been accused of complicity in illegal and often dangerous pushbacks aimed at preventing asylum seekers crossing the Aegean Sea.
Even as evidence of an aggressive maritime campaign by Greece has emerged, Frontex has denied knowledge of, or involvement in, pushbacks. But new evidence, including video footage showing a Frontex ship manoeuvring dangerously near a crowded dinghy full of people and creating waves that drove them back, appears to contradict the EU agency.
Continue reading...Golden Dawn deputy leader evades arrest after jail sentence
Greek neo-Nazi ideologue Christos Pappas will not turn himself in, says lawyer
Greek authorities have been forced to acknowledge that the neo-Nazi ideologue behind Golden Dawn’s unhindered embrace of national socialism has evaded arrest as other members of the extremist group headed to prison.
In an admission that is likely to raise embarrassing questions, police said on Friday they had been unable to find Christos Pappas, the party’s de-facto number two.
Continue reading...Greece extends wall on Turkish border as refugee row deepens
Police say mobile sirens and surveillance cameras also used to deter crossings into EU
Greece has begun extending a border wall along its frontier with Turkey to deter migrants from trying to enter the European Union, the Greek government has said, after a border standoff earlier this year which has helped drive Greek-Turkish relations to a dangerously low ebb.
A total of 16 miles (26km) of wall will be added to the existing 6 mile fence along the Evros River, which forms much of the Greek-Turkish border, the government spokesperson Stelios Petsas said on Monday.
Continue reading...Rightwing hardliner wins Turkish Cypriot presidential runoff
Ersin Tatar, who favours even closer ties with Turkey, defeats incumbent Mustafa Akinci
A rightwing hardliner who has long advocated closer ties with Turkey has won a presidential runoff in the Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus.
Ersin Tatar, whose candidacy had been openly endorsed by Ankara, garnered 51.74% of the vote once all ballots had been counted, local media reported.
Continue reading...Neo-Nazi leaders of Greece’s Golden Dawn sentenced to 13 years
Leaders of violent far-right group, including former MPs, shown little leniency by judges
The neo-Nazi leaders of Golden Dawn have each been sentenced to 13 years in prison by a court in Athens, at the end of a historic hearing.
The neo-fascist group was officially laid to rest as its disgraced former MPs were shown little mercy by a three-member panel of judges. Last week the court ruled that Golden Dawn lawmakers had operated a criminal organisation under the guise of being a democratically elected party.
Continue reading...Peace hopes at stake as northern Cyprus voters go to the polls
Unofficial early results show first round voting has narrowed field to leftist incumbent and rightwing nationalist
Voters in Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus are to face a stark choice between candidates in a run-off presidential election deemed crucial for the resumption of peace talks that could end 46 years of ethnic division on the Mediterranean island.
Following a campaign fraught with allegations of overt meddling from Ankara, the 200,000-strong electorate cast votes yesterday in a first-round contest that narrowed the field to a pro-reunification moderate and a Turkey-backed nationalist who wants two clear states on the island.
Continue reading...Golden Dawn: clashes follow landmark court ruling in Athens – video report
Clashes between police and demonstrators continued on the streets of Athens on Tuesday after a Greek court ruled that the far-right Golden Dawn party was operating as a criminal organisation, delivering a landmark guilty verdict in a marathon five-year trial. Police had earlier used water cannon and teargas to disperse an anti-fascist rally attended by more than 15,000 people outside court
Continue reading...EU condemns northern Cyprus plan to reopen beach in no man’s land
Turkish Cypriot leader’s plan is described as ‘serious violation’ of UN ceasefire agreement
The EU’s diplomatic chief has condemned plans by breakaway northern Cyprus to reopen the beach of an abandoned resort in no-man’s land as a “serious violation” of a UN ceasefire agreement on the divided island.
The Turkish Cypriot leader, Ersin Tatar, backed by Ankara, has vowed to open a coastal section of disputed Varosha, prompting anger from the island’s internationally recognised government.
Continue reading...Greek court’s ruling on Golden Dawn party met with jubilation – video
A crowd of thousands cheered the announcement of a Greek court's ruling on Wednesday that the far-right Golden Dawn party was operating as a criminal organisation. The verdict follows a five-year trial and was met with jubilation by people who had gathered around the heavily guarded court complex in Athens, chanting 'Nazis belong to prison'.
Continue reading...Golden Dawn guilty verdicts celebrated across Greece
Ex-leader and MPs found guilty after biggest trial of fascists since Nuremberg
A court verdict in Athens with ramifications for the far right across Europe has been met with jubilation in Greece and internationally after judges ruled the neo-fascist Golden Dawn was a criminal organisation in disguise.
Tens of thousands people who had converged near the heavily guarded court complex in Athens in anticipation of the judgment roared in excitement as the news emerged. Many broke into spontaneous applause and punched the air as it became clear that the three-member tribunal had found the far-right group guilty of operating a gang of hit squads bent on eliminating perceived enemies.
Continue reading...‘Moria 2.0’: refugees who escaped fire now living in ‘worse’ conditions
More than 7,500 people living in tents on squalid settlement, with two other camps on Lesbos set to close
Thousands of people who fled the fire that destroyed the infamous Moria refugee camp in Lesbos, Greece, last month are living in dire and unsanitary conditions in a temporary settlement with little access to water or basic sanitation.
Just over 7,500 people are now living in tents among the rubble and dust of a former shooting range in an informal settlement that has become known as “Moria 2.0”.
Continue reading...‘Catastrophe for human rights’ as Greece steps up refugee ‘pushbacks’
Human rights groups condemn practice as evidence reviewed by the Guardian reveals systemic denial of entry to asylum seekers
At about 1am on 24 August, Ahmed (not his real name) climbed into a rubber dinghy with 29 others and left Turkey’s north-western Çanakkale province. After 30 minutes, he said, they reached Greek waters near Lesbos and a panther boat from the Hellenic coastguard approached.
Eight officers in blue shorts and shirts, some wearing black masks and armed with rifles, forced the group – more than half women and including several minors and six small children – to come aboard at gunpoint. They punctured the dinghy with knives and it sank. “They said they would take us to a camp,” said Ahmed. “The children were happy and started laughing, but I knew they were lying.”
Continue reading...As Covid cases rise again, how are countries in Europe reacting?
Tighter measures are being imposed, but they vary across the continent
Continue reading...Hurricane Ianos turns towards Crete after sweeping across Greece
Two dead, one missing and nearly a thousand rescued as floods damage Thessaly
After pounding parts of western and central Greece meteorologists have predicted a rare Mediterranean hurricane is headed south towards the island of Crete.
Authorities struggling to contain the impact of the cyclone – a so-called medicane, named Ianos – said two people had died and at least one was missing as torrential rain and gale-force winds wielded a trail of destruction.
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