Human migration

Turkey rescued 26 asylum seekers who were pushed back by the Greek Coast Guard into Turkish territorial waters in the Aegean, security sources said on Aug. 15. 

They were rescued from a dinghy off the coast of Foça district in Turkey's western İzmir province, said the sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

Turkey is currently hosting 5 million migrants, 3.6 million of whom are Syrian nationals, the general director of the country's migration authority said on June 16.

Greece plans to relaunch its much-criticized Golden Visa Program, becoming one of the first European countries to reopen its immigration process, after being among the first European countries to close it due to the situation created by the Coronavirus pandemic.

Tourists from all over the world are already looking at the summer months in the hope that they will finally be able to fulfill the long-awaited vacation.

With a number of countries easing the measures and some of them opening their borders to foreigners as early as this month, expectations that summer 2020 may not be limited to visiting parks and gardens are rising again.

Ankara and Baku have agreed on mutual visa exemption for all citizens holding a passport valid for six months, according to Turkey's official gazette on June 3. 

The agreement, which was signed on Feb. 25 in Azerbaijani capital, aims to "strengthen the friendly relations and cooperation between the two countries, aiming to facilitate travels of citizens of both countries."

Turkey on June 2 approved a 90-day visa exemption for Palestinian citizens holding diplomatic passports.

The exemption applies to tourism, official visits and transit passage once every 180 days, according to the official gazette.

Earlier, they were exempted from visa for a period of 30 days.

Palestine,

The process of moving thousands of migrants out of state facilities and subsidized accommodation across the country is to begin on Monday though authorities have not determined which facilities will be affected first nor how long the process will take. 

The Migration Ministry said Friday that it had "no knowledge" of a report by an international organization castigating its policy on and handling of migration, responding to a news story published in Kathimerini, though it failed to respond to the issues raised in the document.

The pandemic has complicated an already difficult situation in migration and relations with Turkey. The way that Greece is handling Covid-19, though, might suggest a way to deal with other issues, too. As many have observed, the situation demands national consensus and self-discipline.

The citizens of Hungary, Bulgaria, Italy, Greece and Spain suffered biggest financial loss amidst the coronavirus pandemic. 

The nationals of Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, Finland and Austria suffered least damages, a survey of the European Parliament shows. 58% of the surveyed said they experienced financial difficulties during he pandemic.