Archive for the ‘Erdogan’ Category

Mitsotakis Won’t Confront Erdogan at NATO Meeting But Ready – The National Herald

S Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, still hoping for diplomacy, wont go on the offensive against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at a NATO meeting in Madrid unless pushed too far and has Greeces military on alert just in case.

Erdogan isnt talking to Mitsotakis, upset that the Greek leader urged the US Congress, in an address there, to reject President Joe Bidens plan to sell Turkey more F-16s that could be used against Greece in a conflict.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has been tilting in Turkeys favor in the tension between the countries and refused to intervene over Turkish fighter jets violating Greek airspace, leaving Mitsotakis on his own.

Mitsotakis will take to the Madred meeting June 29-30 the backing on paper of the European Council which urged Turkey to stop making threats against Greece, the kind of language and approach Erdogan has just ignored.

But if Erdogan goes too far at the meeting and demands again that Greece take troops off islands near Turkeys coast, citing the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne which Turkey doesnt recognize, the Greek leader is ready to come out swinging, said Kathimerini, saying that he will only respond if provoked.

Turkey has been provoking for months but Mitsotakis said that was Erdogan trying to get him to take the bait and bite back, which could escalate tensions to near-conflict level, which Greece is trying to avoid.

Mitsotakis told close associates he does not intend to turn the meeting into a forum for confrontation with Erdogan but after saying he would defend Greeces sovereignty said that, nothing is going to remain unanswered.

READY, STEADY, FIRE

He added, however, that responses would be proportionate and that Greece will rely on the international rule of law, which Turkey doesnt recognize unless invoking to its advantage.

Greece is readying, the paper said, for two likely scenarios, one in which Erdogan will veto hopes of Finland and Sweden to join NATO unless Greece demilitarizes islands, which would leave them open to being seized by Turkey in a conflict.

Mitsotakis would, the report said, reject that out of hand and leave the meeting in a gridlock, and Greece also believing Erdogan would use the same premise to push Turkish energy exploration off Greek islands and claim Greece supports terrorist organizations the reason the Turkish leader said hell block Finland and Sweden.

Turkeys Foreign Ministry said that its completely shameful that the EU remains silent on illegal actions of Greece that violate international law, without mentioning Turkey doesnt accept the law.

After EU leaders supported Greece, the Turkish ministry said that the blocs leaders were demonstrating a biased, visionless and distanced attitude towards Turkey, which it said was proof that the EU once again has failed to escape the vicious circle regarding the country.

The statement said the EU was remaining silent on what it described as Greeces illegal actions in violation of international law, including its claim for 10 nautical miles of airspace, the militarization of the islands and pushback practices, demanding the EU stop supporting Greece, an EU member.

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Mitsotakis Won't Confront Erdogan at NATO Meeting But Ready - The National Herald

Turkey’s First Anti-Immigration Party May Aid Erdogan in Elections – Balkan Insight

Since the 1923 founding of modern Turkey on the ruins of the Ottoman empire, the country has played host to all sorts of political parties centre-right, left, communist, socialist, social democratic, Islamist, far-right and extreme left. But never one that was blatantly populist, anti-establishment and anti-immigration. Until now.

When it was formed in August last year, analysts gave Umit Ozdags Victory Party, VP, little chance on the national political stage. But some are now having second thoughts, as the political sciences professor builds support by playing to unease felt by some Turks over the influx of millions of refugees in recent years.

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Turkey's First Anti-Immigration Party May Aid Erdogan in Elections - Balkan Insight

Erdogan: Turkiye will pump 10m cubic metres of gas a day from Black Sea – Middle East Monitor

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country will start pumping ten million cubic metres of natural gas per day from the Sakarya Gas Field in the Black Sea in the first quarter of 2023,Anadolunews agency reported.

Speaking at a public event marking the laying of the first offshore pipeline to carry Black Sea natural gas in the state of Zonguldak, northern Turkiye, Erdogan said the Sakarya Gas Field will reach its peak production in 2026, stressing that Turkiye sees energy as a key to regional cooperation and not an area of tension and conflict.

"It is also important that we make such a historical discovery with completely domestic resources," he added.

Turkey currently has three drillships, Fatih, Kanuni and Yavuz, operating in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.

According to the Turkish president, work will begin on a 211-kilometre pipeline in the sea to transport gas, in parallel with laying sea pipelines to extract 40 million cubic metres of natural gas per day through 40 wells that will be drilled in the discovered field in the Black Sea.

The Turkish president had previouslyannouncedthe discovery of the largest gas field in the country's history in the Black Sea, with a reserve of 540 billion cubic metres.

READ: Turkiye is getting caught between NATO and Russia

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Erdogan: Turkiye will pump 10m cubic metres of gas a day from Black Sea - Middle East Monitor

Erdogans hubris and accidents – Kathimerini English Edition

In difficult times, we refer to the advice of those who lived and handled difficult situations with Turkey. Because, as the late Greek diplomat and writer Vyron Theodoropoulos often said, history should not teach you what to do but what not to do. We are on the verge of some kind of incident, without anyone being able to predict what and when it will happen. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has too much invested to back down without losing face.

So previous experience has taught us what to do:

We should not be dragged into an escalation that is not planned and a foregone conclusion. Avoiding escalation is a great art. One wrong move, statement or decision can push into a spiral of endless actions and counteractions. We are supposed to have learned our lesson after the 1996 Imia crisis. Nothing can simply be left to chance.

We should know exactly what our key partners and allies are thinking and planning to do in the event of an incident. This is not easy either. But since we have paid dearly many times for this lack of knowledge in the past, it is absolutely crucial. We need straight talk, even if it displeases us. It is better to know the truth and the limits of each allys reaction than to be unpleasantly surprised.

All main players must speak the same language, be able to communicate without quarreling or personal agendas which is something we paid dearly for in Imia. And of course we must put aside partisan and personal issues for a while, because without a solid domestic political front one cannot go very far.

We must keep some elementary channels of communication open with the other side. Erdogan is burning bridges and making it difficult. It requires perseverance because without such channels it will be very difficult to ease tensions.

All of the above may be unnecessary remarks and it may turn out that we are going through another rhetorical and psychosomatic outburst of a very cornered and arrogant leader. But Erdogan may face the consequences of historic hubris, which could happen through his relationship with Greece.

So lets be prepared, just in case. And lets not underestimate the accident that can blow everything up. It happens in the most organized countries when everything is blurred by the fog of an escalating crisis. As former foreign minister Petros Molyviatis often points out to us with his great wisdom, do not always seek to find something deep or complicated behind a mistake. It may just be a mistake. Eyes open, then.

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Erdogans hubris and accidents - Kathimerini English Edition

Turkeys 2022 exports will exceed $250 billion target: Erdoan – Hurriyet Daily News

ISTANBUL

Turkeys export will exceed the targeted $250 billion at the end of 2022, President Recep Tayyip Erdoan has said, stressing that the existing growth-based economic model will continue to be decisively implemented.

The global health crisis followed by security crisis are making our job in terms of becoming a manufacturing hub easier. In this picture, the country that comes to the fore is Turkey. We understand that our export will exceed $250 billion, our target for 2022, Erdoan said at a meeting on the occasion for distributing awards to investors in Istanbul on June 13.

The meeting was organized by Turkeys Exporters Assembly (TM).

The first quarter has shown an increase beyond expectations in the exports figures thanks to the efforts and works by the TM, Erdoan stated.

Export figures exceeding $250 billion will make Turkey one step closer to fulfilling the 2023 targets, the president said.

Global economic problems, uncertainties and currency fluctuations also has impact on Turkey, Erdoan stressed, citing the rising cost of life in the country.

This is the empty part of the glass, but we should also look at the full part of the glass, he said, underlining economic and democratic development of Turkey in the past 20 years under his rule.

We will do everything so that our country takes more share from $100 trillion global markets.

Turkey has always been the target of some powers who wanted to stop its economic growth, and these efforts have been much more visible in the past decade, Erdoan said.

The government will not allow high interest rates but will focus on growing the economy and employment by boosting production, the president noted.

We will surely compensate the loss of our peoples prosperity. We will decisively implement the Turkish economic model based on employment, production, investment and export.

Erdogan,

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Turkeys 2022 exports will exceed $250 billion target: Erdoan - Hurriyet Daily News