AEGEAN SEA

Greek authorities have said another 27 Syrian refugees who had their initial bids for asylum rejected have been returned to Turkey.

A public order ministry statement late Thursday said the 17 men, four women and six children were flown Thursday from the eastern Aegean Sea island of Lesvos to Adana.

The snowfall and the low temperatures have created problems all over Greece. Many roads have closed and mountain villages have been cut off.

In Thessaloniki the temperature reached -8 caused water pipelines to freeze cutting water supply to many thousands houses.

Heavy vehicles are not allowed to move for safety reasons at least until Monday morning.

The tents in the Moria hotspot in Lesvos, Greece are covered with snow as the bad weather engulfs the islands of the Aegean Sea.

According to information there has been a serious problem with heating in the last days in Chios and Samos too, which the almost arctic temperatures made even worse now.

The Anadolu Hamidiye Bastion, built by the Sultan Abdulhamid II in 1892 to provide security for the Dardanelles, has been given a controversial makeover that has resulted in the desctruction of much the facility's green area.

Turkey opened its doors to Syrians and started granting them entry in April 2011. Since then, Turkey continues to allow Syrians to enter the country by strictly adhering to international law, particularly to the principle of non-refoulement. 

Before braving a "trip of death" to escape Syria, Talal Rankoussi was a chef in a Damascus restaurant considered the largest in the world.

Bawabet Al Dimashq - Damascus Gate - still holds that distinction in the Guinness Book of Records as it can seat over 6,000 people.

The president of the European Union said the 28-nation bloc will be seeking to hold a summit meeting with Turkey in the coming months to discuss the strained relations between the two.

The leaders of Greece's armed forces and police are holding emergency meetings in Athens to monitor developments in neighboring Turkey, according to government officials.

While the migration crisis has tested the relationship between Turkey and the European Union, it has also shown the strength of those ties, Slovakia's ambassador to Turkey has said. 

Over 50 percent of Turkish people regard the EU-Turkey migrant deal negatively, while some 21.7 percent said they thought the deal was a positive thing, according to a recent survey by Kadir Has University's Turkey Research Center.