Ankara

Greece's Foreign Ministry on Thursday rejected arguments by Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar that Athens is allegedly violating international law by not demilitarizing 16 of its islands, saying Ankara's concern on legality is "hypocritical."

Akar said Greece's arming 16 out of 23 islands with "non-military status" is in violation of agreements in the Aegean sea.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu accused the European Union of being biased against his country on the Cyprus issue and Ankara's relations with Athens and Nicosia, saying the union "should actually play a balanced and objective role." 

Greece, arming 16 out of 23 islands with non-military status, in violation of agreements in the Aegean sea, should act in accordance with international law, Turkey's defense minister has said.

Speaking in his visit to Turkey's missile producer Roketsan on Jan. 23, Hulusi Akar said: "We expect Greece to act according to international law, agreements and good neighborly relations."

A fugitive suspect in the murder of a Turkish scholar researching the FETÖ terror group will remain under house arrest, a Ukrainian court said on Jan. 22.

The Kiev Court of Appeals was evaluating the prosecutor's office's objection against keeping Nuri Gökhan Bozkır under house arrest.

A Turkish court handed down jail terms to 131 members of the FETÖ following their trial, a judicial source said on Jan. 22.

A court in the capital Ankara sentenced former police intelligence chief Ramazan Akyürek to 45 years in prison, while his ex-deputy Gürsel Aktepe received 27 years.

A 5.4-magnitude earthquake struck Turkey's western Manisa province on Jan. 22, according to Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD).       

Ahmet Deniz, the governor of the province, said there are reports that some buildings were damaged but no casualties have been reported so far.       

Only four people were reportedly injured.       

Turkey's foreign minister on Jan. 22 said the Syrian regime's attacks in the last rebel-held enclave of Idlib are "unacceptable" and called on Russia to abide by a recent ceasefire brokered by Ankara and Moscow as a guarantor state.

The government of the Republic of Cyprus believes Turkey has obtained privileged drilling information regarding an area off the southern coast of the island.

Turkish Cypriot Foreign Minister Kudret Özersay said on Jan. 21 that some EU countries are attempting to mediate in Cyprus over natural resources.

"Today, EU countries and prominent countries in the past six months are attempting to assume a mediating role between the sides over the natural resources," Özersay said, speaking at the assembly in Turkish Cyprus.

Turkey has blocked a request from the Republic of Cyprus to take part in the global Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, as an adversarial relationship between the two countries is growing more intense.
Cyprus was among many countries that requested the right to participate as an observer in the first of three sessions this year of the 65-member Geneva-based body.