Category Archives: Turkey

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan plans ‘win-win’ approach in Athens after past feud

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Analysts believe better ties with Greece are key to repairing Turkey’s strained relationship with Europe

Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, will be arriving in Athens on Thursday for the first time in six years, determined to move on with a “win-win approach” from the disputes and tensions left by his previous trip to the city.

The last time the Turkish leader visited the Greek capital – exactly six years ago to the day – what had been billed a historic tour descended into a verbal theatre of war as Erdoğan, dispensing with diplomatic niceties, went on the offensive.

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Virginia museum to return 44 stolen or looted works to Egypt, Italy and Turkey

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Virginia Museum of Fine Arts says it received ‘irrefutable evidence’ 44 ancient art objects had been stolen or looted

Virginia’s state-run fine arts museum has begun the process of returning 44 pieces of ancient art to their countries of origin after law enforcement officials presented the institution with what it called “irrefutable evidence” that the works had been stolen or looted.

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts announced in a news release on Tuesday that it had “safely delivered” the pieces to the Manhattan district attorney’s office in New York, which it said had conducted an inquiry into the artworks as part of a broader investigation, along with the Department of Homeland Security. The DA’s office will facilitate the return of the objects to Italy, Egypt and Turkey, according to the Richmond museum.

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Turkish foreign minister told Sweden its Nato bid will be ratified ‘within weeks’ – Europe live

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Tobias Billström, Sweden’s foreign minister, says it is ‘high time to get this ratification done by Turkey and Hungary’

Sweden’s foreign minister said he is “grateful” for US support, as the country continues to wait to join Nato.

The Finnish president’s office told Reuters today the presidents of Finland and Poland did not discuss military cooperation regarding Finland’s border with Russia during a meeting last week.

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Weather tracker: Ethiopia hit by severe drought amid east Africa floods

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More than 50 people dead in Tigray and Amhara regions while UN warns of ‘crisis-level hunger or worse’ in Somalia

The regions of Tigray and Amhara in northern Ethiopia have continued to experience severe drought conditions with more than 50 people dead, as well as 4,000 cattle.

While northern Ethiopia suffers from droughts, the southern and eastern parts of the country, along with Kenya and Somalia, have been hit by flooding. Somalia suffered the worst of the flooding, with 50 people reported dead. According to the Somali disaster management agency almost 700,000 people have been forced to leave their homes.

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Sweden must join Nato soon to ward off Russian threat, says defence minister

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Exclusive: Pål Jonson unable to give timeline for completion of membership process but confident it will happen

Sweden must become a full member of the Nato military alliance “as fast as possible” to ward off the threat from Russia, the country’s defence minister has said, as impatience builds in Stockholm over its slow path to accession.

Pål Jonson said that he was unable to put a timeline on the completion of Sweden’s Nato approval process buthe was confident that Turkey and Hungary, the two remaining members left to ratify the country’s membership, would do so eventually.

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Woman’s death during Brazilian butt lift surgery prompts UK-Turkey meeting

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Melissa Kerr from Norfolk died on day of buttock enlargement surgery at private hospital in Istanbul in 2019

UK officials are to meet with counterparts in Turkey after the death of a British woman during so-called Brazilian butt lift surgery at a private hospital in Istanbul.

Melissa Kerr, 31, from Gorleston in Norfolk, travelled to the private Medicana Haznedar hospital for the buttock enlargement surgery in 2019.

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Turkey’s Erdoğan calls Israel ‘terror state’ as he condemns Gaza hospital raid

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International pressure grows for proof of Hamas HQ at al-Shifa as military operation continues

Turkey has led international diplomatic condemnation of Israel after its troops entered the Shifa hospital complex in Gaza, as the UN and aid agencies expressed concern about the impact of the Israeli operation on staff and patients.

Speaking in parliament, Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, described Israel as a “terror state” that was committing war crimes and violating international law in Gaza, and he repeated his view that Hamas was not a terrorist organisation.

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Israeli troops encircling Gaza City expected to enter in force within 48 hours

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Gaza split into two parts, says Israel, as US sends missile-carrying submarine to Middle East

The Israeli military says it has completely encircled Gaza City after more than a week of heavy fighting, in effect severing the territory into two, as Israeli ground troops appeared poised to enter the dense urban sprawl from the south.

What seemed to be the beginning of the second stage of the Israeli ground operation was accompanied by a barrage of 16 rockets fired from southern Lebanon towards the Israeli city of Haifa on Monday afternoon.

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Germany proposes giving EU candidate countries observer status at summits

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Roadmap for expansion suggests integrating countries such as Ukraine into sections of EU before negotiations are complete

Germany has proposed a detailed and innovative roadmap to expand the EU that would give candidate countries such as Ukraine early benefits including observer status at leaders’ summits in Brussels before full membership.

The proposals by the foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, amount to an offer of integrating candidate countries into sections of the EU long before technical negotiations for membership, which can drag on for years, are completed.

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Turkey’s president submits bill to ratify Sweden’s Nato membership

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Erdoğan signs protocol and sends it to Turkish parliament after agreeing to Sweden’s membership at Nato summit in July

Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has removed one of the final hurdles blocking Sweden from joining Nato by submitting a bill approving membership to parliament for ratification.

The move on Monday was in line with a commitment Erdoğan made to Nato at its summit in July when he said he would send the bill to parliament for ratification when parliament restarted in October.

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More protests expected across Middle East after Gaza hospital blast

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Hezbollah calls for ‘day of rage’ as both sides in war continue to trade blame for deadly explosion

Further furious rallies and protests are expected across the Middle East and north Africa on Wednesday after the blast at a Gaza hospital that left hundreds dead and injured.

Hamas has blamed Tuesday’s explosion at al-Ahli Arab hospital on an Israeli airstrike. The Israeli military says the hospital was hit by a rocket barrage launched by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group, which has denied responsibility.

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US shoots down Turkish drone flying near its troops in Syria

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Turkey’s defence ministry says the device did not belong to the country’s armed forces

The US has shot down an armed Turkish drone that was operating near its troops in Syria, the first time Washington has brought down an aircraft of its Nato ally.

A Turkish defence ministry official said the drone did not belong to the Turkish armed forces, but did not say whose property it was.

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Turkey explosion: suicide bomber detonates device near ministry in Ankara, say officials

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Government says one ‘terrorist’ died in explosion and a second was ‘neutralised’ after attack

The Turkish government has said two terrorists carried out a bomb attack in front of the interior ministry buildings in Ankara, adding that one of them died in the explosion and the other was “neutralised” by authorities.

The blast was the first in the Turkish capital since 2016 and took place less than a mile from the parliament building, hours before lawmakers were due to return for its reopening after a three-month summer break.

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More than 150 rescuers join effort to free ill American from Turkish cave

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In video brought to surface, Mark Dickey says he was ‘very close to the edge’ after falling ill 1km down

Local and international cave rescue teams are poised to begin an attempt to evacuate a sick American caver from a deep underground system in Turkey, in what experts are suggesting may be one of the most complex operations of its kind.

Turkish-led rescuers have said the operation to bring up 40-year-old Mark Dickey by stretcher could take up to four days, and will require constant monitoring of his health.

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Turkey, Greece and Bulgaria hit by fatal flash floods

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At least 12 people die across three countries as torrential rainstorms cause severe damage to buildings, roads and bridges

At least 12 people have died in Turkey, Greece and Bulgaria as flash floods from torrential rainstorms turned rivers into torrents, swept away bridges and inundated streets, homes and public buildings.

Greece’s climate crisis and civil protection minister, Vassilis Kikilias, said after an emergency cabinet meeting: “This is the most extreme phenomenon in terms of the maximum amount of rain in a 24-hour period since records began in the country.”

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No sign of Black Sea grain breakthrough after Erdoğan-Putin talks

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Turkish and Russian leaders hold talks as Moscow continues to attack Ukrainian grain-exporting ports

The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has concluded face-to-face talks with Vladimir Putin by claiming a deal to export Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea could be revived.

But there was no evidence of a breakthrough as the Russian leader again accused the west of reneging on promises.

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Roman emperor statue seized from Cleveland museum in looting investigation

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Warrant issued in investigation into smuggling of antiquities looted from Turkey and trafficked through US

A headless bronze statue believed to depict the Roman emperor and philosopher Marcus Aurelius has been seized from the Cleveland Museum of Art by New York authorities investigating antiquities looted from Turkey.

A warrant signed by a judge in Manhattan on 14 August ordered the seizure of the statue, which the museum acquired in 1986 and had been a highlight of its collection of ancient Roman art.

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UN complaint lodged over Turkish airstrikes on hospital in Iraq

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Exclusive: Survivors and witnesses bring case to human rights council over 2021 attack killing eight people

Turkish airstrikes that allegedly targeted a civilian hospital and killed eight people in Iraq have been made the subject of a formal complaint to the UN human rights council.

It is the first case to be brought on the issue of Turkish airstrikes against the Yazidi people. The attack on 17 August 2021 destroyed the Sikeniye medical clinic in Sinjar and left more than 20 people injured.

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Protests across Muslim nations after Sweden allows second attack on Qur’an

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Stockholm apologetic amid fears Turkey may delay lifting Nato veto following desecration of holy book

Thousands of people took part in protests across Muslim majority nations on Friday after a second incident in Sweden involving the desecration of the Qur’an.

The episode left the Swedish government apologetic and fearing that the outrage in the Middle East may delay Turkey lifting its veto on Sweden’s membership of Nato.

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Russia says decision not to extend Black Sea grain deal is final

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No more talks planned, says official, despite Turkish leader expressing hope of progress at UN meeting

The UN secretary general, António Guterres has said he deeply regrets Russia’s decision to terminate the Black Sea grain deal, saying hundreds of millions of people facing hunger as well as hard-pressed consumers will pay the price for the Kremlin’s move.

The deal was designed to alleviate a food crisis sparked by a Russian blockade of Ukrainian ports that had frozen millions of tonnes of grain exports around the world, much of it to developing countries.

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