Syria

The Greek National Intelligence service was among several top Greek state and government websites that went down on 17 January due to a wholesale cyber attack for which an ultra-nationalist Turkish hackers group with apparently strong neo-Ottoman sympathies named Anka Neferler Tim  has claimed responsibility.

The number of migrants entering Europe from Turkey rose significantly last year as people fleeing strife in Syria and Afghanistan flooded into the country and then set out for Greece, the head of the European Union's border agency said Friday.

The majority of millennials see catastrophic war as a real possibility, a survey by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) showed.

Most millennials surveyed by the ICRC believe it is more likely that a nuclear attack will occur in the next decade.

The Turkish president on Jan. 17 expressed concern on recent developments in the embattled Idlib province in northwestern Syria, saying they were an indication that the Syrian regime did not comply with cease-fire deals initiated by Turkey and Russia.

Security forces have stepped up a search operation for a couple belonging to the Chaldean Catholic minority group in Turkey's southeastern Şırnak province.

No sight or sound have been caught of Hurmuz and Şimuni Diril, ethnic Assyrians living in the remote village Kovankaya near the town of Beytüşşebap, since Jan. 11.

The commander of forces fighting the U.N.-supported government in war-torn Libya has begun meetings in Athens.

Khalifa Haftar met with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias after arriving for a previously unannounced visit late on Jan. 16.

He will continue meetings with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Jan. 17 as well as with other senior Greek officials.

France will deploy the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier and its battle group from January to April to support French military operations in the Middle East, President Emmanuel Macron said on Jan. 16.

Turkey deported a foreign terrorist to Denmark, according to the Turkish Interior Ministry on Jan. 16. 

Without naming the terrorist group, the ministry said in a statement that Turkey will continue returning foreign terrorists to their home countries.

Turkey deported nearly 780 foreign terrorists back to their countries in 2019.

Turkey's presidential spokesman discussed developments in Syria and Libya over the phone with the U.S. national security advisor, Turkish presidential sources said early on Jan. 17.

At least three Turkish soldiers were killed during an anti-terror operation in northern Syria, an official statement said on Jan. 6.

The soldiers were killed in a car bomb attack during a road control in the Operation Peace Spring zone, said the statement by Turkey's Defense Ministry.

The ministry extended condolences to the grieving families.