News archive of December 2016

A cease-fire held across most of Syria on Jan. 1 as Russia and Turkey secured unanimous passage of a United Nations resolution backing their efforts to "jumpstart" talks aimed at ending the nearly six-year conflict.

The Security Council resolution aims to pave the way for talks next month in Kazakhstan's capital Astana, under the aegis of Turkey, Russia and Iran.

The U.N. Security Council has unanimously adopted a resolution supporting efforts by Russia and Turkey to end the nearly six-year conflict in Syria and jumpstart peace negotiations.

Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades on Saturday urged Turkey to live up to its responsibilities and help to reunify the divided island when crucial peace talks resume next month in Switzerland.

Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci are to hold talks in Geneva from January 9 after negotiations broke down last month.

The number of refugees and migrants stranded on northern Aegean islands reached 10,938 people on Saturday, according to figures released by Greek police on the same day, state news agency ANA-MPA reported.

According to the report, the figure referred to refugees and migrants who had applied for asylum but whose applications had not been processed.

Sources from the Energy Ministry claim that a major cyber-attack is the source of the widespread electricity cuts across Istanbul in recent days, according to reports in the Turkish media. 

"The attacks are generally aiming to seize Internet sites and secure infiltration," a senior anonymous source said on Dec. 31, as quoted by state-run Anadolu Agency.

Turkish Energy Ministry has been under a major cyber attack, Turkish media reported citing a senior source from the ministry. The report followed the major power outages in Istanbul that has been ongoing for three days. 

A new poll by Kappa Research published on Saturday has given New Democracy a 6.3 percent lead over governing SYRIZA, with 22.8 percent of respondents saying they would vote for the conservative opposition and 16.5 for the leftist party.

The front page revelation by Proto Thema newspaper that Restructure and Administration Minister Olga Gerovasili had violated the constitution by holding public office while concurrently being a partner in a private company doing business with the state, has caused a political storm with opposition parties calling for her immediate resignation.

One of the "emirs" of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) was killed in an airstrike carried out by Turkish warplanes in Syria as a part of the ongoing Euphrates Shield operation, the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) announced on Dec. 31. 

Abu Ansari, one of the "emirs" of the jihadist group was killed on Dec. 30 in during a Turkish air operation in al-Bab.

Parts of the Trakia motorway area that had been sealed off for almost 24 hours were reopened on Saturday afternoon, the Road Infrastructure Agency has said.