Eastern Mediterranean

Turkey has played a key role in the fight against terrorism, providing infrastructure and platforms for liberating territories controlled by ISIL, NATO's secretary-general said on Nov. 23. 

Speaking at the 66th Annual Session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, Jens Stoltenberg made the comments while addressing questions from parliament members.

The mutual defense assistance clause, activated in the event that one of the two countries' territorial integrity is threatened, is probably the most important part of the defense and foreign policy cooperation agreement signed by Greece and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) last week, according to sources with inside information.

Turkey's foreign minister will pay official visits to the Caribbean region next week, the ministry said on Aug. 14. 

Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu will attend the inauguration Sunday of Dominican Republic's President-elect Luis Abinader Corona, according to a statement that said Abinader will receive Çavuşoğlu after the ceremony.

Any attack on a Turkish vessel engaged in energy exploration along Turkey's continental shelf in the Eastern Mediterranean will pay dearly, warned Turkey's president on Aug. 13. 

The Egyptian presidency said on Thursday the maritime deal signed earlier this month between Athens and Cairo is "a turning point in the bilateral relations between the two countries."

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to hold a telephone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel this week, according to reports in the Turkish media.

Erdogan wants to raise his proposal for a commonly accepted "formula" among the states of the Eastern Mediterranean, Turkey's Sabah newspaper reported.

Turkey will continue to protect its rights and interests in the Eastern Mediterranean "without any compromise," the country's National Security Council said after a meeting on Tuesday.

The council, chaired by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, also said it would  continue providing "military consultancy to Libya's legitimate government."

The unprecedented situation we are experiencing due to the pandemic calls for level-headedness, restraint, understanding and cooperation. Unfortunately, some politicians are insisting on their maximalist visions. They talk about changing international treaties and seeking border changes so that they correspond to those of their "heart."

The Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum, in which Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) have been left out, is an unrealistic formation, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Jan. 16.

"If the purpose of this forum was really cooperation, of course, Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots would be invited to the forum as well," spokesman Hami Aksoy said in a statement.

Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akıncı received the UN special representative at the capital Lefkoşa on Jan. 10. 

The meeting with Elizabeth Spehar took place at the presidential palace.