Category Archives: Turkey

France recalls ambassador to Turkey after Erdoğan questions Macron’s mental state

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Macron’s office says ‘rudeness is not a method’ after Turkish president calls for counterpart to have ‘mental checks’

France said it would recall its envoy to Turkey for consultations following “unacceptable” comments by the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, that suggested his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, needed a mental health check-up.

In the highly unusual move, a French presidential official said the French ambassador to Turkey was being recalled from Ankara for consultations and would meet Macron to discuss the situation after Erdoğan’s outburst.

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EU border force ‘complicit’ in illegal campaign to stop refugees landing

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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.

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Rights group seeks to use UK sanctions to stop abuse of Turkish lawyers

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Arrested Lawyers Initiative says hundreds punished on trumped-up charges and hundreds more await trial

Campaigners are seeking to use the UK’s Magnitsky-style human rights sanctions against Turkish prosecutors and officials responsible for arresting and imprisoning thousands of lawyers.

Organisers of the Arrested Lawyers Initiative (ALI) are gathering evidence about the alleged torture and mistreatment of judges and legal representatives detained in Turkish jails.

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Greece extends wall on Turkish border as refugee row deepens

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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.

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Rightwing hardliner wins Turkish Cypriot presidential runoff

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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.

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Nagorno-Karabakh: Armenia and Azerbaijan announce new truce plan

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Warring parties say ceasefire over disputed territory to take effect from midnight local time

Armenia and Azerbaijan have announced a new attempt to establish a ceasefire in their conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh starting from midnight local time (8pm GMT).

It comes a week after a Russia-brokered truce frayed immediately after it took force. The two sides trade blame for breaching that deal. On Saturday, Azerbaijan accused Armenia of striking its second-largest city with a ballistic missile that killed at least 13 civilians and wounded 50 others.

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Peace hopes at stake as northern Cyprus voters go to the polls

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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.

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Fresh Azerbaijani shelling shatters peace after fragile ceasefire agreed

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Any hope for a truce in the long-running conflict in the Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh was short-lived

The streets of Stepanakert were quiet as a ceasefire went into effect on Saturday afternoon, but the local population’s ears were still ringing from shelling and drone strikes that have decimated this highland town over the past 13 days.

The peace – and any hope of a lasting truce – was short-lived. Air-raid sirens in Artsakh, a de facto Armenian republic inside Azerbaijan’s borders, were screaming again before nightfall. Residents who have refused to flee the assault retreated back into bomb shelters and basements, bracing for another sleepless night.

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EU condemns northern Cyprus plan to reopen beach in no man’s land

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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.

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Turkey and UAE openly flouting UN arms embargo to fuel war in Libya

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Guardian joint investigation finds both sides send military cargo planes to region, in blatant violation of agreement to end conflict

Turkey and the United Arab Emirates are carrying out regular and increasingly blatant violations of the UN arms embargo on Libya, fuelling a proxy war that is evading political solutions, a joint investigation by the Guardian has found.

Flight data and satellite images show both nations using large-scale military cargo planes to funnel in goods and fighters to forces or proxies inside Libya, routinely violating the 2011 UN arms embargo despite political promises to abstain.

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Turkey and Russia’s deepening roles in Libya complicate peace efforts

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Ankara’s assertive foreign policy is an increasing factor in broad geopolitical dispute

Plans for a durable Libyan ceasefire are to be endorsed by diplomats from 15 countries on Monday, but the value of the commitments made in the virtual meeting are belied by signs that deepening involvement in the country by rival external powers including Russia and Turkey could complicate efforts to form an interim government of national unity.

The Libya conflict has to be seen as not only a long-running power struggle in the country itself but also part of a wider geopolitical dispute in which Turkey’s assertive foreign policy – ranging from the eastern Mediterranean to Azerbaijan – is an increasing factor.

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Families ‘devastated’ after man dies and two fall sick during Turkish dental trip

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Sister of Richard Molloy, from Northern Ireland, travels to resort to repatriate his body

The families of a Northern Irish man who died and two of his friends who fell critically ill after a dental tourism trip to Turkey desperately want to bring their sons home, their local MP has said.

Richard Molloy, 33, was found dead on Saturday in the Turkish port city of Marmaris. His two friends , Declan Carson and Aaron Callaghan, fell critically ill and were reportedly found unconscious in the trio’s rented apartment.

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Nagorno-Karabakh: Azerbaijan accuses Armenia of rocket attack

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At least one person killed in Ganja incident, as former Soviet republics move closer to war

Fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh has escalated dramatically after Baku accused Armenian forces of firing rockets at Ganja, which lies outside the contested territory.

At least one civilian was killed and four more injured in the attack on Sunday on Ganja, Azerbaijan’s second largest city, 100km (60 miles) north of the Karabakh capital, Stepanakert.

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One dead and two critically ill after dental treatment trip to Turkey

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Trio from Northern Ireland reportedly found unconscious in apartment in Marmaris

A Northern Irish man has died and two of his friends were left critically ill after a dental treatment trip to Turkey, it is understood.

The trio, who were described by their MP as “three fit and healthy young lads”, were found in the Turkish city of Marmaris on Saturday.

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Syrian recruit describes role of foreign fighters in Nagorno-Karabakh

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Deployment of 1,000 Syrians to Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict shows Ankara’s rise in region

A Syrian fighter sent into combat with Azerbaijani forces in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh has detailed the extent of foreign involvement in the new conflict with Armenia that, after six days of clashes, is taking on a regional dimension.

The deployment of 1,000 Syrian fighters working for a private Turkish security firm, as well as Ankara’s outspoken support for Azerbaijan in the worst fighting between the two neighbours since 1994, confirms Turkey’s rise as a regional power – and threatens to upset the fragile status quo in the Caucasus, long seen as Russia’s domain.

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Russia says it and Turkey urge end to hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh

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Russia says two countries’ foreign ministers have found common ground after French journalists injured during shelling

Russia and Turkey’s foreign ministers have agreed to the need for an immediate cessation of hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh, according to a Russian statement, opening the door to a possible end to fighting in the breakaway region.

The potential breakthrough was at odds with an earlier statement by the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who hours earlier had called for a full Armenian withdrawal from the area – which is legally Azerbaijani territory but administered by ethnic Armenians – and condemned international efforts to resolve the conflict.

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Nagorno-Karabakh: at least three Syrian fighters killed

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Syrians on the ground are believed to be contractors working for Turkish security companies

At least three Syrian opposition fighters have been killed in skirmishes in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, the Guardian has learned, confirming earlier reports of foreign involvement in the battle between Armenian and Azerbaijan over the territory and increasing fears it may spiral into a wider regional conflict.

As fierce combat between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces stretched into a fourth day, the presence of Syrians on the ground – believed to be contractors working for Turkish security companies – signalled a new frontier for Ankara’s increasingly assertive foreign policy.

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Turkey issues arrest warrants for 82 over pro-Kurdish protests

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Mayor among those wanted for unspecified offences during 2014 protests sparked by Isis seizure of Kobane

Turkish authorities have issued arrest warrants for 82 people, including a mayor, over pro-Kurdish protests six years ago, officials and local media have said.

The warrants relate to October 2014 protests in Turkey sparked by the seizure of the mainly Kurdish-Syrian town of Kobane by Islamic State fighters.

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United Nations general assembly: China rejects Trump’s ‘baseless’ Covid accusations – live

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Follow live as Jair Bolsonaro, Donald Trump, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin – among others – deliver video messages

...and we have photos of Xi Jinping’s background:

Some more analysis, this time from our diplomatic editor, Patrick Wintour, on Turkey’s talk:

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan used his general assembly address to set out Turkey’s bitter objections to its exclusion from the East Mediterranean, but said he was ready to resume talks bound by international law to address their contested maritime claims in the eastern Mediterranean and Aegean. By his recent rhetorical standards, the speech was one of Erdoğan’s mildest.

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US deploys additional troops and armoured vehicles to eastern Syria

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The move follows a number of clashes with Russian forces now stationed along the Turkish border

The US military has stepped up its deployment of troops and equipment in north-eastern Syria after a rise in tensions with Russia in the region.

US central command “has deployed Sentinel radar, increased the frequency of US fighter patrols over US forces, and deployed bradley fighting vehicles to augment US forces” in the area, which is controlled by the US and its Kurdish allies, spokesman Captain Bill Urban said in a statement.

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