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The international community is working to avert an oil spill in the Red Sea that risks becoming the worst natural disaster ever seen in the broader region, threatens global shipping, and could trigger a new wave of migration. An oil tanker off the coast of Yemen, has been deteriorating by the month since it was abandoned in 2017. A spill would be four times bigger than the historic Exxon Valdez...

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Is it time for the US to start treating the Eastern Mediterranean and Aegean as bigger than a Greco-Turkish dispute? Endy Zemenides, the Executive Director of the Hellenic American Leadership Council, argues in his latest piece for Kathimerini - “Dangerous Double Standards” - that continuing to get this wrong, and continuing to give Turkey a free pass when it comes to invasion, occupation and...

13 λεπτά

High energy prices are driving decades-high inflation numbers across Europe and the world, adding additional financial stress on governments, businesses and households. In Greece, inflation is at a 25-year high and price increases for many basic food items are in double digits. Greece’s government has taken steps to help households deal with rising costs, introducing subsidies, tax cuts and...

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The US government’s non-paper on the EastMed Gas Pipeline is back in the headlines after Representatives Bilirakis and Malliotakis sent a letter to the State Department in which they pushed back against the Biden administration’s shift in policy on the EastMed Gas Pipeline. The two members of Congress said that in canceling the project the State Department “has unilaterally taken [energy]...

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Turkey has been escalating its rhetoric against Greece, openly disputing Greek sovereignty of its east Aegean islands. In fact, this week Erdogan threatened that Turkey is prepared to issue “a warning at the highest level” to Greece if Athens doesn’t change its position with regards to the demilitarization of the Aegean islands. Greece’s foreign ministry officially protested these comments and...

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Israeli President Isaac Herzog is set to visit Ankara in mid-March, which would make him the first Israeli president to visit Turkey since 2007. This trip comes as Turkish President Erdogan attempts to mend relations with countries in the region - such as Israel, Egypt, and the UAE - in order to end Ankara’s diplomatic isolation and give a much needed boost to the Turkish economy. Israel,...

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Ukraine has lately been the scene of an unfolding political and military thriller that could potentially upset the existing balance in the region and have long-term consequences for Europe’s security architecture. The crisis has put Turkey and Russia’s relationship into the spotlight, especially as Turkey’s President Erdogan tries to balance Ankara’s close ties with Moscow and the West. This...

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In recent years US-Greece relations have reached new heights, with officials on both sides describing them as the best ever in decades. As Greece and the US grow closer, their cooperation is directly affecting Russia. Greece is hosting more American troops and deepening its economic ties with the US, ultimately frustrating Russia. This heightened US presence is also making Greece an indirect...

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Earlier this month President Biden proclaimed that the leader of the Islamic State was killed in a Syrian hideout. The raid, which took place a few kilometers from the border with Turkey, did not include Turkish forces. In fact, President Biden praised the Syrian Democratic Forces, with Kurdish fighters at its core, for their contributions in the raid. Turkey’s exclusion from the raid, and the...

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The Ecumenical Patriarch and the Greek state both sent complaints to Turkey in the wake of footage showing a DJ playing electronic music at the historic UNESCO-listed Monastery of Panagia Sumela. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew described the incident as an insult, and said that holding the event was “incompatible” with the monastery’s “religious character and its history.” Greece added that...

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In letters sent to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres last July and September, Turkey for the first time disputed Greece’s sovereignty over its east Aegean islands. Over the years, Turkey has attempted to establish the Aegean as a disputed area, and has brought new issues to the table such as so-called gray zones and disputing Greece’s maritime boundaries and airspace. Experts note that with...

14 λεπτά

Sunday’s Kathimerini featured an in-depth report on the challenges Turkey’s unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) pose to Greece’s security, and explored the ways in which Athens is working - both diplomatically and operationally - to counter their intrusions in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean. Meanwhile, as Athens looks to deal with the challenges posed by Turkey’s UAVs, it also has its...

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JPMorgan recently announced the acquisition of a 49% stake in the Athens-based startup Viva Wallet, and its investment will reportedly top $1.15 billion. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon also visited Greece and said that JPMorgan is looking to further expand its presence in the country. In the meantime, reports indicate that Facebook’s parent company, Meta Platforms, is also planning significant...

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Turkish President Erdogan visited Ukraine on Thursday where he reiterated Turkey’s support of Ukraine and signed a number of deals on trade and defense. These include joint production in Ukraine of Turkish drones, expanding a partnership that has seen Ukraine buy at least 20 unmanned aerial vehicles from Turkey. During the visit Erdogan offered to mediate between Ukraine and Russia, stressing...

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While the latest polls in Greece show the ruling New Democracy party maintaining a double-digit lead over opposition party SYRIZA, they also point to an impressive increase in support for the center-left Movement for Change (KINAL). Over the last months KINAL has been able to attract frustrated moderate voters from both New Democracy and SYRIZA, raising questions for both major parties. Expert...

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Turkish warplanes struck suspected Kurdish positions in Iraq and Syria early on Wednesday in a new aerial offensive. The Kurdish-led administration in northeast Syria condemned Turkey’s airstrikes and urged the international community to intervene to stop what it called “Turkish aggression.” It said the Turkish strikes came days after the Kurdish-led and US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces...

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Cypriot Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the State Department on Tuesday, where the two discussed deepening the bilateral relationship, which Secretary Blinken said was “stronger than ever.” They also discussed the 3+1 mechanism with Greece and Israel, and additional bilateral and regional issues. There was no mention in the readout, however, of...

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On Tuesday Cypriot Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides will meet with Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the State Department, putting the US-Cyprus relationship in the spotlight. Blinken and Kasoulides will focus on further deepening bilateral relations, the Cyprus problem, energy issues, the 3+1 format, as well as other issues of regional and international interest. Nikos Christodoulides,...

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The Russia-NATO crisis over Ukraine is putting Turkey’s balancing act between Moscow and the West into renewed focus. Because it is a NATO country, and because Russia has been building a strategic relationship with Ankara since 2016 to counter NATO on missile defense, Turkey’s decisions are going to be watched carefully in Moscow, Washington, and Brussels should the Ukraine-Russia crisis...

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The winter storm that swept through Greece this week and shut down Athens and other parts of the country has seen the government come under fire for its handling of this extreme weather event. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis issued an apology on Wednesday acknowledging the insufficient response of the state to the storm, which left thousands of motorists stranded in their cars, while...

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