Showing posts with label Greece. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Greece. Show all posts

Thursday, January 26, 2017

Greece’s Top Court Rejects Extradition of Turkish Officers

By NIKI KITSANTONIS
JAN. 26, 2017


The New York Times

ATHENS — Greece cannot extradite eight military officers who fled Turkey after a failed coup in July, the country’s Supreme Court ruled on Thursday. The Turkish government had demanded that the officers be handed over, and it immediately protested the court’s decision.

The court, Greece’s highest, ruled that the eight officers — two majors, four captains and two noncommissioned officers — would face “the curtailment of their fundamental human rights” if sent back to Turkey, and it called for their immediate release. The decision is irreversible.

The officers fled to northern Greece in a Turkish Army helicopter on July 15, saying they feared for their lives, and there was pressure on the court to deal with two seemingly irreconcilable demands: ensuring that the officers’ human rights were respected without angering a sometimes prickly neighbor.

Greece to rule on Turkish servicemen later this week



The Washington Post

By Associated Press January 23
ATHENS, Greece — A group of Turkish servicemen who fled to Greece in a military helicopter after last year’s failed coup have appeared at Greece’s Supreme Court in a closely watched extradition hearing.

Court officials said Monday that a decision would be announced on Thursday.

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Fate of Turkish troops who fled to Greece to be decided this week

Mon Jan 23, 2017 | 8:10am EST

Reuters

Greece's Supreme Court will deliver its verdict on Thursday on whether or not to extradite eight Turkish soldiers who fled to Greece in a helicopter after a failed military coup in July, the Athens News Agency reported.

Turkey alleges the men were involved in the July 15 coup attempt against President Tayyip Erdogan and has demanded their swift extradition.

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Greece sees progress on Cyprus, says Turkey should drop 'aggressive' talk

Wed Jan 18, 2017 | 4:47am EST


Reuters

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Wednesday progress had been made in ending a decades-old stalemate over the division of Cyprus, but urged Turkey to drop 'aggressive rhetoric' to reach a deal.

"We are optimistic but with prudence and responsibility, as this situation merits, we will continue to work hard...and hope that we have positive results in the near future," Tsipras said in a speech in the Greek parliament.



"A precondition to that is that the other side... particularly Turkey, come to negotiations in similar spirit, putting aside aggressive rhetoric, and work seriously and responsibly."

Cyprus was split in a Turkish invasion in 1974, triggered by a brief Greek-inspired coup. The conflict is a key source of tension between Greece and Turkey, which are fiercely defensive of their respective ethnic kin on the east Mediterranean island.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has accused Greece of "fleeing" efforts to reunite Cyprus and said Turkey will retain troops there for ever to protect minority ethnic Turks.

Talks in Geneva last week failed to produce a breakthrough over the former British colony, though Britain, Greece and Turkey - its 'guarantor powers' under a 1960 independence treaty - agreed to continue consultations on security arrangements which could govern Cyprus after a settlement.

Officials from the three countries were due to meet at a Swiss resort later on Wednesday to discuss the matter.

At issue is a dispute primarily between the Turkish and the Greek sides on whether the system of guarantee should stay in place, allowing Greek and Turkish forces to remain stationed on the island, and the right of intervention in the event of a breakdown of constitutional order.

(Reporting by Michele Kambas, editing by Renee Maltezou and Mark Trevelyan)

Friday, January 6, 2017

Mersch Says ECB Policy Shift Premature as Economy Shows Strength

by Carolynn Look  and Fabio Benedetti Valentini
January 6, 2017, 12:00 PM GMT+2

Bloomberg

Improving euro-area economic numbers and a faster-than-forecast inflation pickup aren’t enough to warrant an immediate shift in the European Central Bank’s policy, according to Executive Board member Yves Mersch.

“It is absolutely premature today to claim victory over a weak economy,” Mersch, considered one of the more hawkish members of the ECB’s Governing Council said in Paris on Friday. “We have good results but it is absolutely premature to say: drop the guard.”

Thursday, November 10, 2016

Greece's Golden Dawn says Trump win a victory for ethnically 'clean' states

Wed Nov 9, 2016 | 4:18am EST

Reuters

Nov 9 Greece's far-right Golden Dawn party hailed Donald Trump's election as president of the United States, calling it a victory against "illegal immigration" and in favour of ethnically "clean" nations.

Golden Dawn, Greece's third-largest party, took its first seats in parliament in 2012 on a backlash against austerity policies in Greece, which has received three international bailouts since 2010.

Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Greece Defies EU, U.S. on Sanctions for Iran’s Bank Saderat

Athens bucks allies by vetoing renewal of sanctions against bank U.S. accuses of financing terrorism

The Wall Street Journal

By LAURENCE NORMAN in Brussels and  NEKTARIA STAMOULI in Athens
Updated Nov. 1, 2016 4:28 p.m. ET

Greece has defied its European allies and Washington by blocking European Union sanctions on an Iranian bank the U.S. accuses of financing terrorism, officials familiar with the move say.

Athens’s action last month marked the first time a European country has picked apart the sanctions regime meant to remain in place following the July 2015 nuclear accord with Tehran. The regime is designed to constrain Iran’s ability to resume illicit activities and pressure it to stick by the agreement.

Thursday, October 27, 2016

Turkey calls for end to NATO's migrant mission in Aegean

Thu Oct 27, 2016 | 8:34am EDT

Reuters

By Robin Emmott and Sabine Siebold | BRUSSELS
Turkey is seeking an end to NATO's counter-migration mission in the Aegean Sea and it is telling the U.S.-led alliance that the sharp drop in refugees trying to get to Greece means there is no longer a need for warships to patrol its coast.

Turkish Defence Minister Fikri Isik told other NATO defense ministers on Wednesday that Ankara no longer saw a need for the mission to continue beyond the end of December, according to two people briefed on the exchanges, despite strong support across the alliance for the mission.

"This was a temporary mission, and the goal has been reached in this temporary mission. There is no need to extend it further," Isik told reporters in Brussels on Thursday.

UPDATE 1-Greece names Total-led consortium preferred bidder for offshore gas drilling

Wed Oct 26, 2016 | 1:05pm BST

Reuters

Oct 26 Greece named on Wednesday a consortium of France's Total, its biggest oil refiner Hellenic Petroleum and Italy's Edison as the preferred bidder for an offshore gas drilling block in the west of the country.

Greece, which signed up to a third bailout last summer, has made several fruitless attempts over the last 50 years to find big oil and gas reserves. Its debt crisis and important findings in neighbouring countries has prompted the country to step up those efforts.

Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Greece awaits Obama trip amid tough bailout talks


The Washington Post

By Derek Gatopoulos | AP October 25 at 12:08 PM
ATHENS, Greece — Greece’s government says it was facing pressure from the International Monetary Fund to aggressively scale back union powers and employment rights, as the White House confirmed Tuesday that U.S. President Barack Obama will pay a post-election visit to Athens.

Obama’s Nov. 15 trip could boost efforts by the left-wing government in Athens to press for debt relief from European bailout lenders, as the country’s national debt approaches 180 percent of Greece’s stagnant gross domestic product. Obama will travel on to Germany after his Greek visit.

Thursday, October 20, 2016

Greece Might Just Get a Boost From an Unlikely Source

The cash-strapped nation stands to gain a lift to demand from the aid effort for refugees

Bloomberg

Nikos Chrysoloras

October 20, 2016 — 7:01 AM EEST

As European Union leaders gather in Brussels on Thursday with the refugee crisis on the agenda, some of them may repeat the claim that their economies can't bear the cost of aiding people fleeing war and persecution. Greece ought not to be one of them.
After all it has been through in the past six years, the arrival of tens of thousands of refugees from across the Aegean may in fact be giving the country a mild, short-term stimulus.
Hundreds of millions of euros have been spent so far to provide shelter, provisions, and support to migrants and asylum seekers, in a period when government-funded spending has taken successive cuts.

Wednesday, October 12, 2016

4 more Turkish servicemen lose asylum claim in Greece

Published October 11, 2016

Fox News

THESSALONIKI, Greece –  A state asylum service in Greece has rejected claims by four more Turkish military servicemen who fled in the wake of their country's failed coup attempt in mid-July.

Eight servicemen fled to the Greek border town of Alexandroupolis by helicopter, and all remain in police custody in Athens. Seven have now had their asylum claims rejected, following the latest decision announced Tuesday, with a decision pending for the eighth.

Saturday, October 1, 2016

Greece says Erdogan's remarks on islands 'dangerous' to relations

Fri Sep 30, 2016 | 12:07pm EDT

Reuters

Greece on Friday accused neighboring Turkey of endangering ties between the two NATO allies by questioning the wisdom of an almost century-old treaty that established the modern boundaries between the two countries.

At a speech in Ankara on Thursday, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said the Treaty of Lausanne, a 1923 peace accord which forged modern Greece and Turkey's borders, was essentially a defeat for Turkey because it "gave away" islands to Greece.

Friday, September 23, 2016

Greece Rejects Asylum Requests by Three Turkish Officers


Trio were part of group of eight soldiers who fled after failed coup attempt in Turkey

The Wall Street Journal

By STELIOS BOURAS and  NEKTARIA STAMOULI

Sept. 21, 2016 1:08 p.m. ET

ATHENS—Three of the eight Turkish army officers who fled to Greece after July’s failed coup attempt in Turkey have had their asylum requests rejected, a Greek government official said Wednesday.

The requests of two of the officers were rejected owing to a lack of cooperation with authorities, a second Greek government official said. All three have the right to appeal.

Monday, August 1, 2016

Refugee inflow into the Aegean Islands after the coup.

Aegean islands alarm as refugee numbers rise after Turkey coup attempt
EU voices fears that deal struck to curb migration is at breaking point as tensions grow between Turkey and Greece

The Guardian

Greek authorities on a number of Aegean islands have called for emergency measures to curtail a growing flow of refugees from Turkey, which Athens attributes to the impact of the attempted coup in that country.

Since the failed 15 July putsch, the number of Europe-bound migrants willing to make the perilous journey across the Aegean has increased noticeably, with the Greek government announcing that as of yesterday some 9,420 men, women and children had been registered on Lesbos and other islands.

Sunday, July 17, 2016

Mitsotakis' mission: Saving Greece from Tsipras

Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the leader of the Greek conservative party Nea Dimokratia, says he wants to "liberate" Greece from left-wing Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. He tells DW how he intends to accomplish this.

Deutche Welle

If Greece were to hold elections tomorrow, the pro-European conservatives Nea Dimokratia (New Democracy, ND) would clearly win. According to polls, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who has headed his party since January, has gained popularity. Many believe he would be a better prime minister than Alexis Tsipras.
The pro-European and neoliberal Mitsotakis, a scion of a Greek political dynasty, holds degrees from Harvard and Stanford. He has worked in politics and investment banking. His father, Konstantinos Mitsotakis, is a former Greek prime minister and his older sister, Dora Bakoyannis, former mayor of Athens, also served as Greek foreign minister and culture minister.

Eight Aboard Military Helicopter Seek Asylum in Greece

6:20 AM ET
Jul 16, 2016
Sat Jul 16 2016 09:20:46 GMT+0300 (GTB Daylight Time)
Niki Kitsantonis
ATHENS

The New York Times

Greece has arrested eight people aboard a Turkish military helicopter that landed in Alexandroupolis shortly before noon, the country’s Ministry of Public Order and Citizen Protection said.

The eight individuals have requested political asylum, the ministry said in a text message to reporters, and the helicopter has been placed under guard.

Saturday, June 4, 2016

French Prime Minister Expresses Support for Greece

France is interested in investing in Greece in areas of energy, transportation and tourism

The Wall Street Journal

By NEKTARIA STAMOULI
June 3, 2016 11:52 a.m. ET
0 COMMENTS
ATHENS—French Prime Minister Manuel Valls on Friday expressed his country’s interest in investing in Greece and promised the crisis-battered country more support with reforms needed to overcome the financial crisis, as well as help in dealing with the refugee crisis.

“A eurozone without Greece, a Schengen Treaty without Greece, represents another view of Europe that we do not share,” Mr. Valls said during a press conference with his Greek counterpart Alexis Tsipras.
He said he was confident the next bailout funds for Greece would be disbursed soon and added that he hoped a solution for Greece’s debt problems would be found.

Monday, May 23, 2016

Euro Area Said to Plan $12 Billion for Greece After Review

 Ian Wishart

 Eleni Chrepa

Bloomberg

May 23, 2016 — 11:39 AM EEST Updated on May 23, 2016 — 1:23 PM EEST

Greece’s European creditors are preparing to disburse 11 billion euros ($12.3 billion) once the nation successfully completes a review of its bailout program.
The funds will be used to clear arrears and to cover debt servicing needs, including a 2.3 billion-euro payment scheduled to the European Central Bank in July, according to a draft of the European Commission’s compliance report for the Greek economic program seen by Bloomberg News.

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Forecast Bright for Greek Tourism, Despite Refugee Crisis

Voice of America
http://www.voanews.com/content/greece-tourism/3332701.html

Margaret Besheer
May 16, 2016 3:10 PM

Despite the ongoing migrant and refugee crisis, Greece expects to welcome a record 27 million tourists this year.

“I think it’s an achievement given the fact that we have capital controls, we still have the refugee and migration crisis - which make tourists think twice if they want to visit Lesbos or some other places that are migration hubs,” the government’s top spokesperson Lefteris Kretsos told reporters on Monday.

“Greece is a brand name in tourism. It was always, and I think it will always be,” he added.