Turkey said on Friday that Western nations, including the United States and Germany, had not given it any information to back up their assertions that security threats had prompted them to close their missions in the country. Foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu suggested the powers may have been trying to portray …
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Amendment to exclude electoral candidates with criminal past at the Parliament
An amendment setting out conditions for drafting ballot combinations of individual candidates or party coalitions running in national elections that excludes candidates who have been sentenced for serious crimes was tabled in Greek Parliament by the Interior ministry on Thursday. The Greek government saw the necessity of tabling such an …
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Senators ask Biden to link F-16 sale to Ankara to NATO enlargement
Two US Senators are asking President Joe Biden to link the issue of NATO enlargement with the request submitted by Turkey for the upgrade and purchase of new F-16 fighter jets. In the letter authored by Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Republican colleague Thom Tillis of North …
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SYRIZA to abstain from Parliament voting, demands elections date
Greece’s main opposition party SYRIZA announced on Tuesdaythat will no longer participate in Parliament voting with only one exception. At a press conference, leader Alexis Tsipras demanded the dissolution of the Parliament and immediate declaration of elections date, accusing the conservative New Democracy government of being “morally and politically compromised.” …
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Greece and Japan sign Joint Statement of Strategic Cooperation
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida at the prime minister’s residence in Tokyo, where they signed a Joint Statement of Strategic Cooperation between Greece and Japan. “With this statement, our countries significantly upgrade their strategic relations and we inaugurate a field of close cooperation over a …
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Corruption: High-ranking Police Officers offering protection to criminal bosses
Dialogues between high-ranking officers of the Greek Police EL.AS. with bosses of criminal gangs were published by newspaper To Vima on Sunday. According to the newspaper claims, a total of 27 police officers seem to have been involved in criminal activities offering protection to gangs mostly active in fuel trafficking. …
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Foreign Ministry: Turkey ‘once again distorts reality’ regarding Muslim minority
Turkey is once again “distorting reality in order to serve other purposes and certainly not to promote the rights and welfare of the Muslim Minority in Thrace,” the Greek Foreign Ministry said in an announcement on Sunday. The Foreign Ministry in Athens was responding to Turkish posts concerning the Muslim …
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Censure motion against government defeated by 156 ND votes
Greece’s conservative government on Friday survived, as expected, a vote of no confidence put forward by the main opposition party SYRIZA opposition over a wiretapping scandal targeting politicians, army top brass and journalists. 156 ruling New Democracy lawmakers voted against the motion, while 143 opposition MPs voted in favor. A …
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Commission calls on Greece to apply EU directives properly
The European Commission has called on Greece to include in its national legislation directives on fighting children’s sexual abuse on the conditions of reception of asylum applicants, it said on Thursday, among other directives the country needs to implement. The Commission is also referring Greece and another five EU member …
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Greece’s parliament honors memory of Holocaust victims
Greek Parliament honored the memory of the victims of the Holocaust ahead of International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Thursday evening by displaying the slogan “We remember” on its facade. The logo displayed a photograph of prisoners in a Nazi concentration camp. January 27 marks the 78th anniversary of the liberation …
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Wiretapping scandal: Tsipras tables censure motion against government
Main opposition SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance leader Alexis Tsipras tabled a motion of censure against the conservative government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Wednesday afternoon. Tsipras tabled the motion “in defense of democracy, transparency and justice” one day after he received an official response regarding the confirmed wiretapping of six people – politicians …
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Turkey postpones indefinitely NATO talks with Sweden, Finland
NATO has indefinitely postponed talks with Finland and Sweden at Turkey’s request. The talks were scheduled for February. Their applications have already been approved by 28 alliance countries, but Hungary and Turkey have not ratified them. NATO membership negotiations between Turkey, Sweden and Finland have been postponed indefinitely at Ankara’s …
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Neither F-16s nor F-35s for Turkey, USA makes clear
U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez expressed his clear opposition to the sale of F-16 fighters jets to Turkey warning that he will veto such a decision by the Biden administration. Speaking to Mega TV, Menendez said that the U.S. State Department should adopt a firmer stance toward …
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Hellenic Aerospace Industry seeks strategic investor
Greece’s Development and Investment Ministry on Monday launched procedures to find a strategic investor to participate in Hellenic Aerospace Industry SA with an equity stake of up to 49%. The ministry launched an invitation to the largest aerospace industries in the NATO alliance to express interest in the procedures by …
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Inquiry into Golden Dawn convict MP’s elections campaign from prison
Greek authorities are investigating how ex-Golden Dawn MP Ilias Kasidiaris has been able to launch a new political party and run a moderately successful election campaign from the maximum-security Domokos Prison. Despite restrictions on communications, the convicted neo-Nazi has 122,000 followers on YouTube – his main campaigning tool – and …
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Refuge claims girls’ death in Evros was set up; sparks confrontation ND-SYRIZA
A refugee has claimed that the 5-year-old girl’s death on an islet of the Evros river at the borders with Turkey “was set up.” Traffickers said to have suggested the allegedly fake story that became a media sensation last August. The girl had allegedly died after she was bitten by …
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Economist: Turkey could be on “brink of dictatorship”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, or rather his shadow, has made the cover of this week’s issue of the Economist in a decidedly unflattering way, as a leader that has taken his country “to the brink of disaster.” As the introduction to the financial paper’s report on the state of …
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Brussels court confirms Eva Kaili remains in prison
The court in Brussels confirmed Thursday evening that Eva Kaili remains in prison in pre-trial detention after she appeared before judicial council earlier. In an official announcement the council said that Kaili can appeal the decision within 24 hours, but she will have to appear before the Indictment Chamber at …
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Eva Kaili was “tortured” in Belgian prison, says her Greek lawyer
Eva Kaili was subject to “torture reminiscent of the Middle Ages” her Greek lawyer said on Thursday afternoon, following the hearing before the Judicial council in Brussels that will decide whether she remains in pre-trial custody or be remporary released with an ankle bracelet. “Mrs. Kaili remained for 6 hours …
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First poll in 2023: Difference ND-SYRIZA below 7%
In the first public opinion poll for 2023, the difference between ruling conservative New Democracy and main opposition party, left-wing SYRIZA has fallen below 7 percent, as the price hikes keep bothering the Greek public. According to ALCO conducte don behalf of Alpha TV, the difference between ND and SYRIZA …
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