Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told his French counterpart and NATO ally Emmanuel Macron on Saturday “not to mess” with Turkey, as the two continue to spar amid rising tensions in the Mediterranean.
NICOSIA, CYPRUS (AP) — Cypriot authorities have expressed alarm over the arrival of four boats carrying Syrian and Lebanese migrants in waters off the east Mediterranean island nation’s coastline within a 48-hour span.
ANKARA — President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday played up Turkey’s military might after extending a Mediterranean gas exploration mission that has pitted it against Greece and the rest of the EU.
Greece’s coast guard said Wednesday it was continuing a broad search and rescue operation after a yacht smuggling migrants partially sank.
Istanbul — Turkey’s big push into the Mediterranean featuring controversial gas drilling, tough rhetoric and warships is rooted in a grand vision of a “Blue Homeland” that takes over waters claimed by EU neighbours.
Top EU officials are holding talks in Tunisia to try to stem the growing numbers crossing from the North African country to Europe.
Former Italian Interior Minister Marco Minniti has warned that potential government collapse in Lebanon following the Beirut blast could trigger a domino effect and sweep chaos across the Mediterranean.
ATHENS, Greece (AP) – Greece’s prime minister is to convene the government’s national security council after Turkey announced its research vessel would be conducting exploratory drilling in the eastern Mediterranean in an area between Cyprus and Greece.
Admiral Kosmas Christidis has claimed that the Greek armed forces are fully capable of taking on Turkey militarily, as tensions remain high between the two countries in the Mediterranean.
ATHENS, Greece (AP) – A military helicopter operating off a Canadian frigate taking part in a NATO operation in the Mediterranean crashed into the sea between Greece and Italy, the Canadian military said. Greek state TV reported ERT said debris
A Turkish court on Saturday sentenced three human traffickers to 125 years in prison each for their roles in the death of Alan Kurdi, a two-year-old Syrian migrant child who drowned in September 2015.
President Donald Trump spoke with Egyptian President Abdel Fatah el-Sisi by telephone on Thursday and agreed to oppose “foreign exploitation” of the situation in Libya, where terrorists, warlords, and rival governments have been fighting ever since the fall of dictator Muammar Qaddafi in 2011.
ATHENS, Greece (AP) – Greece´s prime minister says he will ask other NATO members at the alliance´s London summit to support Greece in the face of fellow member Turkey´s attempts to encroach on Greek sovereignty, notably last week´s agreement with Libya delimiting maritime borders in the Mediterranean.
Pope Francis has expressed his sorrow over the recent shipwreck off the coast of Libya in which as many as 150 people lost their lives.
Turkey on Tuesday hit back at E.U. measures designed to punish Ankara for its illegal drilling operations off Cyprus, alleging anti-Turkish “prejudice and bias” in the decision while adding the fine will “in no way” affect the country’s activities in the eastern Mediterranean.
When Turkey dispatched a second ship to drill for oil and gas in disputed waters off Cyprus last month, it drew fire not just from rival Nicosia but also the rebuke of Western allies and threats of EU sanctions.
Turkey made clear on Wednesday it has no intention of heeding a European Union warning to cease illegal drilling activities off Cyprus.
What was once Europe’s biggest migrant reception centre, in Mineo in Sicily, is to officially close on Tuesday in the presence of its biggest critic, far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini.
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) – Cyprus’ interior minister is accusing Turkey and breakaway Turkish Cypriots of helping to traffick migrants to the internationally recognized southern part of the ethnically split island nation.
French high school students attending anti-racism sessions this week have been warned that it would be “bizarre” to feel greater emotion over the Notre-Dame cathedral fire than about the plight of migrants in the Mediterranean.
A tanker hijacked by migrants it picked up in the Mediterranean has docked in the tiny island nation of Malta following a special forces operation.
Sea-Eye, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) which ferried migrants to Europe, has claimed that despite a three-week search off the coast of Libya, they were unable to find a single migrant to “rescue” before returning to port in Mallorca.
MADRID (AP) – Spain’s government says that unauthorized immigration by sea has dropped in the last month, falling to 930 people arriving in February compared to over 4,000 in January.
Doctors Without Borders says 116 migrants have been “forcibly returned” to Libya after a day and a half at sea.
The director of Italy’s largest migrant reception centre has slammed left-wing open borders activists, saying mass migration policies have done far more harm than good to Italy and to migrants.
MILAN (AP) – The Italian Coast Guard says that the ship operated by the German NGO Sea-Watch will not be allowed to leave port due to safety violations.
JERUSALEM — Israel’s Delek Drilling and its U.S. partner, Noble Energy, said Sunday the foundation of their rig for the Leviathan gas field has arrived, in the first stage of an ambitious project they say will wean Israel off coal and revolutionize its economy by turning it into an energy exporter.
(AFP) — Italy’s interior minister Matteo Salvini said Sunday he was gathering legal evidence against the crew of a Dutch-flagged migrant ferry as calls grow for 47 migrants to be allowed to land.
The Italian secret service has warned that people-smugglers in the Mediterranean may seek to engineer a mass drowning in order to garner Western sympathy and resume the flow of migration.
Workers of Israel’s Sea Turtle Rescue Center have rushed to save dozens of injured sea turtles that have washed up along the country’s coast.
