Arab Winter

Turkey on Jan. 5 welcomed the outcome of the 41st Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit held in Saudi Arabia, which saw reconciliation between Gulf states.

There is no way that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan could have intended to insult Iran's territorial integrity, Iran's president said on Dec. 14. 

In a press conference, Hassan Rouhani said that "based on my past knowledge of Mr. Erdoğan, it is very unlikely that he had any intention of insulting our territorial integrity or insulting the Iranian people."

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo criticized Turkey for opposing the principles and operation of NATO and undermining its cohesion during a Foreign Ministers' teleconference on Tuesday, according to diplomatic sources.

More than 3.6 million Syrians under temporary protection constitute the majority of foreigners living in Turkey, an official said on Sept. 24.

The Greek authorities have called on EU Coordinator for the refugee crisis Maarten Verwey to pressure Turkey to implement the EU-Turkey refugee agreement, as the food of refugees and immigrants from Turkey has increased after only the second day the agreement was put into effect.

After two days of heated negotiations in Brussels, leaders from the EU and Turkey agreed on Friday on the controversial refugee deal aimed at stemming the refugee and migrant flow to Europe.

Under the terms of the agreement, Greece will start sending back migrants to Turkey from Sunday onwards.

Leader of major Greek opposition party, Kyriakos Mitsotakis blasted Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban over his stance on closed borders in the EU during the European Parliament ALDE alliance group’s meeting in Brussels.

Greece finds itself in an even more precarious position on the refugee crisis. After the de facto sealing off of the western Balkan route, Austria has called for the closing of the Mediterranean sea route. A total of 9,000 refugees and immigrants on the islands of Greece ready to cross over into the mainland and continue their journey to the north of Europe.

European Union leaders on March 7 hailed a "breakthrough" in talks with Turkey on a deal to curb the migrant crisis but delayed a decision until a summit next week to flesh out the details of Ankara's new demands.

In an article in Austrian newspaper ‘Kurier’ on the refugee crisis and its impact on the EU, European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship Dimitris Avramopoulos expressed fear that a humanitarian crisis would break out in Greece.