Türkiye

Orbán cabinet: Migration pressure at southern border ‘has increased significantly’

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Migration pressure at Hungary’s southern border has increased significantly, a government official told a parliamentary committee on Wednesday.

The government had taken the necessary measures, Károly Kontrát, parliamentary state secretary at the interior ministry, said in the briefing to the national defence and law enforcement committee. It has strengthened the protection of the southern border and extended the national state of emergency due to mass migration to Sept. 7.

He said the European Union had so far failed to respond adequately to the migration crisis, though at the last meeting of EU interior ministers, it was agreed that protecting the external borders should be a priority, he added.

The announcement by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that Turkey would no longer hold back migrants put even greater pressure on the Hungarian borders, he said.

Tamás Menczer, a state secretary of the foreign ministry, said

political “pro-migration forces”, including NGOs, had “not gone away”.

He also said that European security now depended on the Turkish president. He said the Hungarian government supported all agreements and ceasefires aimed at ending the armed conflict in Syria to ensure that migrants in Turkey do not head for Europe. An additional two million people in Syria could, if the situation escalated further, head for Turkey.

Menczer, meanwhile, said

the Hungarian government’s hardline stance on illegal migration since 2015 had since been vindicated.

Tamás Harangozó, an opposition Socialist member of the committee, said the Turkish president’s “political blackmail” on the migration issue had caused the greatest panic. He insisted that in the midst of the new coronavirus epidemic, the Turkish president’s deeds were tantamount to “a war crime”. He added that the situation presented a real danger to Hungarians.

Lajos Kósa, the (Fidesz) chairman of the committee, said that

since the 43rd week of 2019, the number of migrants had increased significantly.

In the past 24 hours, 142 people have tried to enter Hungary illegally. Since Jan. 1, action has been taken against 8,284 people, another official said, noting wide-scale people smuggling was a problem, with 89 associated criminal proceedings launched in 2019. Smugglers are not typically Hungarian but Serbian, or people who previously migrated to Hungary, János Balogh, the head of the national police, said.

He added that many interceptions of migrants take place not only at the border but on highways deep into Hungarian territory, so immigration police are active throughout the country.

Balogh said that illegal migrants typically include Pakistanis, Afghans and Iranians.

Foreign minister: EU pledges solidarity to Greece

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The European Union has pledged its full solidarity to Greece, which is facing massive pressure due to migrants arriving from Turkey, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó said on Friday in Zagreb, after an extraordinary session of EU foreign ministers.

Szijjártó noted that during debates on the 2015 migration crisis, “Hungary was savaged in the strongest possible terms when we talked about having to protect our borders, build a fence and send soldiers and policemen to the border to protect the country.” Hungary was subjected to the harshest political attacks and compared with the darkest dictatorships of the 20th century, he noted.

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Read alsoEU leaders express unity in dealing with migrant flows after visiting Greek-Turkish border

Hungary’s stance has since become mainstream in Europe, as the “EU was speaking today about the protection of its external borders, resistance to migration pressure and supporting the fight against illegal border crossings,” Szijjártó said.

Szijjártó insisted that after five years, “the EU finally grasped that Europeans and European security needs to be protected.”

Europe has to make it clear that legal entry is the only way to reach it and that it does not tolerate illegal crossings, he said.

The EU has spent five years with the mistaken attempt to manage rather than stop it. Now, the debate ended with the section on the management of migration scrapped from the declaration, he said.

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Read alsoOfficial: Hungary up to meeting new migration challenges

Szijjártó said he had made it clear that Hungary would protect its borders and security, no matter the pressure, and had ensured Greece of Hungary’s solidarity in a similar endeavour.

Turkey announced on Feb. 28 that it would no longer be able to halt the increased number of migrants on their way to Europe from Syria and other countries.

Survey: Most Hungarians continue to back strict border measures

A vast majority of Hungarians continue to favour strong border protection measures amid increased migration pressure on Europe’s external borders, according to a survey by the Századvég Foundation released on Thursday.

The survey found that 82 percent of Hungarians were aware that a new wave of migrants could be on its way towards Europe in light of the armed conflict in Syria, as well as Turkey’s announcement that it would no longer stop Syrian refugees from entering Europe.

Read alsoSurvey: Most Hungarians continue to back strict border measures

Altogether 80 percent of respondents said the Hungarian government should beef up border security and continue working to prevent “uncontrolled migration into the country”. Fully 10 percent held the opposite view, while another 10 percent had no opinion on the matter.

Századvég found that even 51 percent of left-wing voters are in favour of increased border protection, while 29 percent say Hungary should take in people fleeing Syria.

Read alsoSurvey: Most Hungarians continue to back strict border measures

Fully 78 percent of self-declared centrists and 95 percent of right-wing voters said they opposed easing border controls.

Századvég conducted the survey with a sample of 1,000 adults.

National Security Cttee holds closed-door meeting on illegal migration in Budapest

Parliament’s National Security Committee held a closed-door meeting on Wednesday to discuss the situation arising from migration pressure on the Greek-Turkish border.

The (Fidesz) deputy head of the committee, János Halász, said illegal migration dominated national security issues. The Fidesz group called for future committee meetings to focus on illegal migration, he said.

He insisted that

100,000 migrants were ready to travel from Turkey to the European Union, while there were “hundreds of thousands” of migrants in the Western Balkans.

Many, he added, were “attacking the Hungarian border”.

Over the past two months, Hungary has witnessed the most border violations, he said.

Halász said the ruling party’s group “firmly supports” government measures to bolster border surveillance and close transit zones due to the danger of the new coronavirus.

He said Hungary also supports European Union help for countries, including Greece and Hungary, in protecting Europe’s borders.

Head of the committee János Stummer (Jobbik) said that

if necessary, Hungary would be ready to build another border fence.

Peter Ungár, delegated to the committee by opposition LMP, said after the session that restoring the agreement between the European Union and Turkey was of paramount importance, so that Turkey should retain migrants on its territory. Ungár also called for EU help for Greece in protecting the community’s borders on land and at sea.

Answering a question,

Ungár called Hungary’s fence along its border with Serbia an “effective and good institution”,

adding that Hungary’s border police were “well-prepared” for their job.

As we wrote today, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said:

“It’s time for Brussels to wake up and do what it can ensure security for Europeans instead of its hypocritical and dangerous immigration policy.” Details HERE.

It’s time for Brussels to wake up, says Hungarian FM Szijjártó

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Greece has an obligation to protect the European Union’s external, Schengen borders, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said at a press conference on Wednesday.

The minister said he contacted his Greek counterpart once migrants in Turkey set off for Europe.

Szijjártó vowed that Hungary would be able to protect its southern borders “even if a wave of migrants sweeps across the Western Balkans”.

“We won’t allow anyone to enter illegally and we will not give in to any pressure.”

It has been clear for months that Turkey, which has accommodated some 4 million migrants, has two options: either to help them return to their homelands or “open up its gates to Europe”, Szijjártó said.

“It’s time for Brussels to wake up and do what it can ensure security for Europeans instead of its hypocritical and dangerous immigration policy.”

Conditions must be created in which the refugees can return home, Szijjártó said.

As we wrote yesterday, Leaders of European Union (EU) institutions expressed on Tuesday their support for Greece and determination for a common European response to the refugee, migrant challenge after a visit to the Greek-Turkish land border. Details HERE.

EU leaders express unity in dealing with migrant flows after visiting Greek-Turkish border

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Leaders of European Union (EU) institutions expressed on Tuesday their support for Greece and determination for a common European response to the refugee, migrant challenge after a visit to the Greek-Turkish land border.

European Council President Charles Michel, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Parliament President David Sassoli, and Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic attended the press conference held in the town of Kastanies in the Evros region with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, after being briefed on the crisis unfolding on the Greek-Turkish land border since last Friday.

Tens of thousands of refugees and migrants have gathered on the Turkish side of the border, after Ankara said it could no longer prevent them from reaching Europe’s borders.

Greek police and armed forces have been strengthened on the border and until Monday evening they had prevented over 24,000 illegal crossings and detained 183 persons who crossed the border, according to Greek government sources.

In the past few days, the Greek government has repeatedly stated that it faces a national security threat and therefore has stepped up patrols on land and sea borders and requested the immediate substantial aid from other EU member states.

“The Greek borders are the European borders and what you are doing is important for Greece and crucial as well for the future of the EU. We are together, because we consider borders protection is essential,” Charles Michel said on Tuesday.

“We have come here today to send a very clear statement of European solidarity and support to Greece,” von der Leyen stated.

Greece will receive an additional 700 million euros (784 million U.S dollars) of financial aid for the management of the crisis, she announced, noting that European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) is already getting ready to deploy a rapid border intervention unit to assist Greece in dealing with the situation.

“It is the responsibility of Europe as a whole and we will manage it in an orderly way, with unity, solidarity and determination. Those who seek to test European unity will be disappointed,” she added.

“Turkey is not an enemy and people are not just means to reach a goal,” she stressed, expressing her compassion for people who reached Europe’s borders on false promises, as she noted.

Sassoli, on his part, highlighted the need for a strong common European approach on the issue which is on the table for the past five years, since the first mass flows started to cross the Aegean Sea.

Over one million reached Greece since 2015, fleeing wars and extreme poverty and continued their journey to other European countries until the closure of borders along the Balkan route in the winter of 2016 and the signing of EU-Turkey agreement aimed to stem the influx.

Under the deal, Turkey would be provided with financial assistance to accommodate the millions of refugees and migrants hosted in the country in return for increased efforts to deal with the human smuggling networks operating in the region.

“We need — we see it every day — to strengthen our common policy framework to deal with migration on a European level. We are here today for one more reason, to tell Turkey that we do not want more talks, but that Turkey respects what has been agreed,” Sassoli said on Tuesday.

Stressing that nobody wishes to see a replay of the 2015-2016 refugee crisis, Plenkovic also voiced support for Greece, calling for determination to give a European response to the new challenge.

“Greece is now the shield of the external borders of the EU… We will send a message to Turkey that good relations between Turkey and the EU depend on both of us. We will seek to find political and diplomatic solution to deescalate the situation we have today here,” the Croatian prime minister told the press briefing.

Greece has demonstrated solidarity to people in need for years and is currently hosting about 100,000 already, but cannot shoulder alone all the burden of safeguarding Europe’s borders from more massive flows, said Greek prime minister.

“Greece expects tangible solidarity from the EU and I can tell you that the presence of the entire leadership of the EU here at the outer border of Europe sends a clear signal to everyone. But let’s be honest. Europe has not been up to the task of dealing with the migrant crisis. I hope this crisis will serve as a wakeup call for everyone to assume their responsibilities,” Mitsotakis stated.

“We stand ready to support Turkey in dealing with its refugee problem and find a solution to the Syria conundrum, but not under these circumstances…

Migrants and refugees cannot be used as instruments, as pawns in a geopolitical game,” the Greek leader concluded. (1 euro= 1.12 U.S dollars)

Hungary to protect borders ‘under all circumstances’, says foreign minister in Belgrade

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Hungary will protect its borders “under all circumstances” and will not let in any illegal migrants, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said after talks with Serbian Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic in Belgrade on Monday.

“For us the security of the country and the Hungarian people comes first,” he said.

The talks focused on border protection as well as the situation in Turkey and Syria,

Szijjártó said. He said that developments at the Turkey-Greece border were worrying and suggested that hundreds of thousands of migrants could soon arrive in the Western Balkans.

Szijjártó said he had phoned his Greek counterpart and assured Greece of Hungary’s support. “Hungary knows what it is like when the country’s borders are under an organised attack … while the international liberal media is churning out fake news”.

The current situation also highlights the importance of the European integration of the Western Balkans, Szijjártó said, arguing that “the further south Europe’s defence lines are, the better”. He urged the EU to speed up its accession talks with Serbia, saying that the country was ready to open up five new chapters in those negotiations. Szijjártó called on the EU’s Croatian presidency to give its consent to the accession talks.

Szijjártó also had talks with Serbia’s European affairs minister Jadranka Joksimovic.

At a joint press conference after the talks, both ministers spoke highly of bilateral ties, both in political and economic terms, and called Hungary and Serbia strategic partners. Joksimovic also thanked Hungary for its continued support to her country’s endeavours to join the EU.

Child killed after migrant boat capsizes in Aegean Sea

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A child has died after a dinghy carrying refugees and migrants from Turkey to Greece capsized off the Greek island of Lesvos in the northeastern Aegean Sea on Monday, the Greek Coast Guard has said.

A total of 48 people were on board the dinghy when the incident took place, the Coast Guard said, adding that another child was transfered to hospital and is in a stable condition after being rescued.

Greece has tightened patrols at sea and deployed additional police and army forces on its border with Turkey, after Ankara said last week it would no longer prevent refugees from reaching Europe’s borders.

At least five boats, carrying around 200 people, have reached Lesvos so far as of Monday, while about 1,000 refugees and migrants have landed on Greece’s eastern Aegean islands since Sunday, Greek national news agency AMNA reported.

Meanwhile, the Greek government said Sunday that approximately 10,000 attempts to cross land borders had been prevented in recent days, while a few dozen people who had managed to illegally enter Greece had been arrested.

More than 13,000 people have gathered on Turkey’s land border with Greece, according to the United Nations International Organization for Migration.

On Tuesday, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will visit the Evros region, where many refugees have entered Greece via the Evros River in inflatable boats, with European Council President Charles Michel, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Parliament President David Sassoli, the prime minister’s office said Monday.

Greece has requested its European peers support its efforts to safeguard the continent’s borders.

We won’t allow any migrants here, says Hungarian foreign minister

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Hungary has protected its borders and will continue to do so, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign minister, said on Facebook on Sunday after speaking to his Greek counterpart Nicos Dendias by phone.

Dendias briefed Szijjártó on the situation at the Turkish-Greek border and the crackdown by Greek border guards against violent illegal migrants.

Szijjártó said

he supported formally convening a special meeting of EU foreign ministers to discuss the situation.

The EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, has proposed convening a special Foreign Affairs Council meeting next week at Greece’s initiative.

“We Hungarians know what it’s like for our border to be systematically attacked … while in parallel the international liberal media spread fake news,” Szijjártó said.

“We won’t allow any migrants here. I assured my Greek colleague of this,” he added.

The UN says more than 10,000 migrants have gathered at the Turkish-Greek border after Turkey said it would no longer detain asylum seekers in the country. The Greek government has accused the Turkish authorities of actively helping migrants to reach the border.

National interest for Syrian refugees in Turkey to return home, says foreign minister

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The Hungarian government supports all decisions that allow for the return home of Syrian refugees from Turkey, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó has said.

This would be in Hungary’s national interest, Szijjártó said in a video posted on Facebook on Saturday.

The migration situation in Turkey is becoming harder to handle, Szijjártó said, citing his Turkish counterpart in recent talks.

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Read alsoOrbán in talks with Erdogan on migration situation

More than four million migrants are staying in Turkey and the Turkish authorities are finding it increasingly challenging to provide for them, he said.

“Turkey has two options at the moment: either create conditions for the migrants to return to Syria or open the gates towards Europe.”

He said the Western Balkans would be flooded with hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants within a few days should the latter prevail. Those heading to the EU will come across the Hungarian border fence as their first physical obstacle, the minister noted.

“Such a situation must be avoided at all costs,” Szijjártó said.

MERKEL, Angela; ERDOGAN, Recep Tayyip; Emine
Read alsoErdogan: Turkey may close 2 military bases used by U.S. “if necessary”

The government supports all decisions that prevent another hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants from turning up in the Western Balkans and at Hungary’s southern border, he said.

It opposes all moves that could lead to the outbreak of international armed conflict in the Syrian region, Szijjártó said, adding that this would result in new waves of migrants travelling towards Europe.

Orbán in talks with Erdogan on migration situation

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Prime Minister Viktor Orbán held talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan by phone before convening a meeting of his security cabinet, the PM’s press chief said on Friday.

Orbán and Erdogan discussed the latest developments in the fighting in Syria and the migration situation in the region, Bertalan Havasi said. Erdogan told Orbán that Turkey could no longer contain all of the displaced Syrians it had taken in. The two leaders also discussed preparations for a Visegrád Group-Turkey summit to be held next month.

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Read alsoErdogan in Budapest – Erdogan calls for ‘good’ Hungary-Turkey cooperation to be maintained – UPDATE

Orbán later convened a meeting of his security cabinet which also includes the foreign and interior ministers. The cabinet reviewed reports from the security services and decided on beefing up the protection of Hungary’s borders and pay close attention to the developments on the Balkan migration route, Havasi said.

Meanwhile, he said Orbán earlier in the day expressed his condolences to Erdogan over the killing of 33 Turkish soldiers by Syrian government troops.

“I assure you that Turkey can count on Hungary as a NATO ally and a committed partner,” the prime minister wrote in a letter.

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Read alsoOrbán: Migration pressure expected to rise on southern border

Did you know that Master Orbán’s cannons brought down the walls of Istanbul for the Ottomans?

Istanbul Orban conquer Hungarian

By 1453, the Ottoman sultans tried to conquer the capital of the Byzantine Empire many times but without success. Constantinople was protected by three large and thick wall systems which made almost impossible to get into the city before firearms were invented. Mehmet II (1444-1446, 1451-1481) decided to conquer Constantinople at a young age, so he hired Master Orbán to build a massive cannon for him able to destroy the walls.

According to contemporary forces Master Orbán was born in the Szeklerland, in the Hungarian Kingdom, and first, he offered his services for emperor Constantine XI Palaiologos, the last Byzantine ruler. Constantine gladly hired him, but since the Empire was in a bad financial situation, he could not pay enough or provide fine raw materials for him – index.hu says. Therefore,

Orbán abandoned him and offered his knowledge for the Ottoman emperor, Mehmet II.

The sultan hired him, as well, and was able to provide him with an infinite quantity of gifts, quality material and a lot of money. In return, Mehmet asked him to build a cannon so huge and strong that it can bring down the walls of Constantinople, the city Mehmet wanted to conquer since the beginning of his reign. Mr Orbán lived in Constantinople before and had time to study the walls carefully, so the task was not impossible for him.

He calculated everything very carefully and built two huge furnaces able to endure even 1,000 Celsius degrees. He put copper, tin, bronze bells, gold and silver into the furnace and finally, the so-called Basilica was born.

Hungary Istanbul Orban conquer
The original blew up, but the Basilica looked similar to this cannon built in 1464. Source: commons.wikimedia.org

The prototype of the barrel was used first against a Venetian merchant ship because its captain did not want to pay for crossing the Bosporus. It sank immediately after the 270 kg cannonball hit it and its crew was executed when they reached the shore. Since the test was successful Mehmed II ordered an even bigger one with a length of 8 m and

able to fire even a 700 kg ball.

To avoid its explosion, its interior was covered with a 20 cm thick layer of bronze.

The Basilica needed 70 oxen and 1,000 people for towing until they reached Constantinople with a speed of 4 km per day. The super cannon was placed in front of the sultan’s tent, but they were not able to accurately target with it, and it needed to be washed with olive oil after each shot. Therefore, it could be used only seven times a day so the defenders could restore the holes it broke on the walls.

The siege lasted for 53 days until Mehmed was able to capture the city. Interestingly, the Basilica blew up after six weeks killing its creator, as well. 

Suspected IS terrorist’s case continues in Budapest

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The Budapest Municipal Court on Tuesday held another hearing in the case of Hassan F., a Syrian national charged with terrorism and mass murder, arrested at Budapest’s international airport in December 2018.

Hassan F. was arrested when he presented false documents at the airport for himself and a woman in his company, and was to be expelled from Hungary.

The suspicion of his having been a member of the Islamic State terrorist organisation and participating in several executions in 2015 was raised in March last year.

At a hearing in November last year, the suspect denied all charges and said he had not been in Syria in 2015, having fled to Turkey with his family the previous year.

The municipal court said it had sought information from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees office in Budapest as to when Hassan F. had arrived in Turkey but received no answer to their enquiry. The court has requested the justice ministry to apply for international legal assistance to obtain the necessary information.

Concerning video footage about an execution in Syria, the court’s expert said that it was of bad quality and it could not be ascertained if the suspect was in it.

One of two forensic experts for the court also declined to provide an opinion due to the poor quality of the footage, while the other said it was 53.3 percent likely that a man in the footage was Hassan F.

The court will hold its next hearing on Thursday when it will hear witnesses in Belgium and Malta by way of a tele-conference.

No Libya solution reached in Moscow, efforts to be continued, says Russian FM

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Intra-Libyan talks mediated by Russia and Turkey reached no settlement on Monday, though efforts to reach a deal will be continued, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday.

“We will continue efforts in this direction. So far, the final result has not been achieved,” Lavrov said during a news conference broadcast directly from Colombo by the Russian Foreign Ministry, following talks with his Sri Lankan counterpart Dinesh Gunawardena.

Earlier this month, the leaders of Turkey and Russia put forth a Libya ceasefire initiative, which the conflicting parties accepted while also agreeing to hold talks in Moscow.

The hours-long talks ended late Monday without a ceasefire agreement being signed by both sides.

Lavrov said the head of the UN-backed Libyan Government of National Accord, Fayez al-Serraj, and its foreign minister Mohamed Taher Siala signed the draft, but Khalifa Haftar, commander of the Libyan National Army, asked for an extra day and left Moscow without signing it.

Russia is working to ensure that all parties involved in the Libya conflict show responsibility for the fate of their country, he added

Saudi Arabia sentences 5 to death over Khashoggi murder

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Saudi Public Prosecution on Monday sentenced five people to death over the case of Jamal Khashoggi’s killing, Al Arabiya TV reported.

Three others were given jail terms, and all can appeal the verdicts, said spokesperson of the Public Prosecution Shalaan Al Shalaan at a press conference.

He revealed that representatives from Khashoggi’s family and officials from Turkey attended the court session.

He said that 11 individuals were charged in the cases and were in custody, in which former Deputy Intelligence Chief Ahmed al-Asiri was released for insufficient evidence.

Meanwhile, Saud al-Qahtani, the advisor at the Royal Court, was investigated in the case but was not charged.

The spokesperson said that the penalties are not final, and the convicts could appeal the verdicts.

Khashoggi was murdered inside the Saudi consulate in Turkey in October 2018, and a number of top Saudi officials were arrested in connection with the case. The Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud also ordered to re-structure the intelligent authority.

Turkey, Russia to inaugurate TurkStream gas pipeline in January

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The presidents of Turkey and Russia will inaugurate on Jan. 8 the TurkStream gas pipeline, an ambitious project stretching across the Black Sea from Russia to Turkey onto Europe, but now facing U.S. economic sanctions.

The Kremlin has announced that President Vladimir Putin will visit Turkey to attend the launching ceremony of the project, and is expected to have talks in Istanbul with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Diplomatic sources told Xinhua that Erdogan and Putin will discuss Turkish-Russian relations, including major projects, as well as the current situation in Syria, where the two countries are engaged in a difficult cooperation, and the delivery of Russian-made S-400 missile defense systems, a controversial purchase for which NATO member Turkey risks American sanctions.

“It will be the first face-to-face meeting of the two leaders of the new year to come, all matters of interest to the two nations will be on the agenda,” said the source.
“TurkStream confirms Turkey’s geostrategic position as an energy hub, coupling Ankara’s ambitions in this field with Russia’s drive to protect its share in the European Union natural gas market,” added the source, pointing to the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC), another gas pipeline recently inaugurated and pumping gas from Azerbaijan to Europe via Turkey.

The two projects will make Turkey a transitory crossroads of natural gas and a vital role in the increasing European energy needs and security, but this will also spark fresh concerns over Russian gas dependency.

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Read also€1 billion carbon-neutral town to be built in Hungary

Despite regional rivalries, Turkey and Russia have operated a remarkable rapprochement in the past few years, especially on energy issues, amid fears that Ankara is shifting away from the traditional Western alliance.

Turkey’s Energy Minister Fatih Donmez recently noted that Turkey wants to be an “energy center,” which would bolster the country’s international position by becoming a mega-transit state of natural gas to reach Europe while Turkey relies heavily on Russian gas imports.

Ankara and experts argue that the TurkStream pipeline is set to transform the buyer-seller nature of Turkish-Russian relations in a bid to make Turkey a joint provider of gas to European market.

The TurkStream pipeline runs from Gazprom’s Russkaya compressor station, located near the southern city of Anapa, all the way to the Turkish northwestern town of Kiyikoy where it connects to other pipelines. Comprising two offshore parallel pipelines, it is expected to carry 1.1 trillion cubic feet of gas every year.

The ambitious project bypassing Ukraine was completed by Russian and Turkish companies. Its construction involved two specialized vessels to lay the pipes up to 2,200 meters deep underwater.

Separately, Serbia and Hungary are building another pipeline that will pump the gas from TurkStream and take it to Europe.

TurkStream’s first line is intended for gas supplies to the Turkish market, while the second will carry gas to southern and southeastern Europe.

The second line is expected to go from Turkey through Bulgaria, then to Serbia, Hungary, and Slovakia.

Meanwhile, the U.S Senate approved the National Defense Authorization act (NDAA) envisaging introducing sanctions on companies linked to TurkStream and Russia’s pivotal natural gas pipeline project NordStream2 to Germany.

The bill also blocks the delivery of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey in response to Ankara’s purchase of Russian missiles, which employ radar systems U.S. officials argue will pose a threat to NATO’s state-of-the-art new stealth jets.

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Read alsoTurkey, Russia to inaugurate TurkStream gas pipeline in January

The Turkish Foreign Ministry blasted the decision as “disrespectful and hostile” to Turkey. Tensions have increased in the already strained relations between the two NATO allies which have several outstanding differences, particularly over Syria.

The U.S. administration has opposed the two gas pipelines, saying it would increase Russia’s political grip on Europe. U.S. President Donald Trump has said that he would ratify the bill, a move denounced by Russia.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov criticized the U.S. Congress of being “overwhelmed by the desire to do everything in its power to destroy our relations.”
On Sunday, Erdogan threatened to close two military bases in Turkey used by U.S. forces if the U.S. sanctions go into effect, a move that weakened the Turkish lira to its four-month low amid ongoing tensions.

Orbán cabinet: December sees unprecedented migration pressure in Balkans

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Pressure from migration at Hungary’s southern border has been growing, with soldiers and police taking action in connection with almost 400 illegal migrants last weekend alone, the prime minister’s domestic security adviser told public television on Wednesday.

György Bakondi told current affairs channel M1 that the so-called Balkan route had witnessed in December the most intense migration activity since the start of the migration crisis.

Until a few months ago the Serbia-Bosnia and Albania-Montenegro-Bosnia-Herzegovina-Croatia routes were the two main paths for illegal migrants, he noted.

But ever since Croatia installed more sophisticated modes of deterrence at its border, migrants have been heading for Hungary, he added.

Bakondi noted increasing activity on the Greek islands and on the Turkish-Greek green border, with more and more Syrian migrants resettling from Turkey

Erdogan: Turkey may close 2 military bases used by U.S. “if necessary”

MERKEL, Angela; ERDOGAN, Recep Tayyip; Emine

Turkey may close two military bases where U.S. soldiers are stationed if “necessary,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on late Sunday.

“If necessary, we will hold discussions with all our delegations, and if necessary, we may close the Incirlik (air base in southern Adana province) and Kurecik (radar station in eastern Malatya province) bases,” the Turkish president said in a televised interview with ATV broadcaster.

“We may need to make some decisions, too,” he said, elaborating a recent U.S. resolution passed by the Senate that recognized the killings of Armenians as “genocide” in 1915.

The resolution was “completely political,” he said, adding “it is very important for both sides that the U.S. does not take irreparable steps in our relations.”

“We regret that the polarization in U.S. domestic politics has had negative consequences on us and that some groups abuse developments of our country for their own interests in order to weaken (U.S. President Donald) Trump,” he said.

U.S. Senate on Thursday unanimously passed a resolution that formally recognizes the Ottoman Empire’s killings of the Armenian people as “genocide.”

The resolution asserts that it is U.S. policy to commemorate as genocide the killing of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923.

The resolution was passed in the House of Representatives in late October but had been blocked by Republican Senators several times at the request of the White House, which feared that its passage would infuriate Turkey.

Incirlik air base is a key military compound for the U.S. for regional operations. Kurecik Radar Station is a military installation, established in 2012 for use by NATO as an early-warning radar.