Turkish coup d'état attempt

There has been a dramatic reduction in the number of migrants and refugees illegally crossing the Aegean Sea from Turkey into Europe, but authorities must not let down their guard as people smugglers can rapidly change routes, the head of NATO has cautioned.

The number of migrants and refugees crossing the Aegean Sea from Turkey into Europe is falling significantly but people smugglers can rapidly change routes and authorities must not reduce their security efforts prematurely, the head of NATO said on April 21, praising Turkey's efforts to break the business model of traffickers.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu said he stood behind a March 31 announcement by the Turkish General Staff, which denied allegations that some members of the military were planning a coup, adding the statement was released "upon his permission."

The Turkish General Staff has categorically denied allegations that some members of the military allegedly linked to the Fethullah Gülen movement were planning a coup d'état, underlining it has launched a legal action against unspecified media outlets over reports it said were damaging morale, as Turkey faces an almost unprecedented combination of national security threats. 

The State Department and Pentagon ordered the families of U.S. diplomats and military personnel on March 29 to leave posts in southern Turkey due to security fears.

The two agencies said dependents of American staffers at the U.S. consulate in Adana, the Incirlik air base and two other locations must leave.

EU leaders held a summit with Turkey's prime minister on March 7 in order to back closing the Balkans migrant route and urge Ankara to accept deportations of large numbers of economic migrants from overstretched Greece.

The chief commander of the Turkish Armed Forces has paid an official visit to Germany amid a heavy agenda due to ongoing challenges in Turkey's region.

NATO ships sent to the Aegean Sea to monitor migrant routes from Turkey to Greece "have not yet started operating in Turkish waters."

The reason, reports French agency AFP, is that they are "waiting for the go-ahead from alliance member Ankara."

Greece is to send 308 migrants -- mainly Moroccans, Tunisians and Algerians -- back to Turkey under a 2002 deal signed with Ankara, a government source told AFP on March 1.

A court in the Aegean province of ?zmir has acquitted 357 suspects, including active duty soldiers, in the trial of a military espionage case where the defendants were accused of "keeping confidential military information and documents."