France

British travelers returning home from parts of Europe and beyond began quarantine under new restrictions on Aug. 15, while Russia said it had produced the first batch of its controversial coronavirus vaccine.    

A defense agreement signed between France and Greek Cyprus is against the 1960 treaties that provide equilibrium between Turkish and Greek Cypriots on the island and poses a risk for the already fragile stability and security, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a written statement over the weekend.

Countries among the hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic unveiled further measures on Aug. 14 to battle rising infections, as the number of cases worldwide passed 21 million.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said it was extending a ban on non-essential travel through border crossings with Canada and Mexico throughout most of September "to slow the spread" of the disease.

Turkey will always continue to support Azerbaijan as it has in the past, Turkey's presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalın said late on Aug. 14. 

Kalın appeared on a television program on Azerbaijan state television via the internet to evaluate Turkey-Azerbaijan relations.

As part of his initiatives regarding the Eastern Mediterranean and Libya, French President Emanuel Macron said in a tweet on Friday that he contacted his US counterpart Donald Trump, adding that their views about the region are identical and will be imposed.

Turkey has completed discussions with 92 countries for resumption of flights, the country's transportation and infrastructure minister said on Aug. 14.  

Turkey continues to operate scheduled and non-scheduled flights with 48 countries as of Aug. 13, Adil Karaismailoğlu said in a press release.

The wine industry in North Macedonia, from vineyards to grape farmers, risks collapse this year amid drastically lower demand and prices for this landmark product, the country's biggest association of wine producers, "Wines from Macedonia", warned.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke by telephone to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis about their dispute over energy exploration in the eastern Mediterranean, a German government spokesman said on Thursday.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan insists on keeping up his well-known nationalist rhetoric to which we have grown accustomed.

President Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday that any attack on a Turkish ship exploring for oil and gas in disputed Mediterranean waters would incur a "high price" and suggested Turkey had already acted on that warning.