Middle East & North Africa

15 Oct 2020; MEMO: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that his country will give Greece the “response it deserves” over the countries’ dispute in the eastern Mediterranean.

“We will continue to give Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration which fail to fulfil their promises in the European Union and NATO forums, the response they deserve on the ground” Erdogan told members of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party).

15 Oct 2020; MEMO: The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) announced on Wednesday that it is deeply concerned about the Israeli military’s planned demolition of a European-funded Palestinian primary school in the West Bank, a press release reported.

15 Oct 2020; MEMO: Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics has announced that inbound tourism in Israel has retreated by 76.5 per cent since the start of the year, Quds Press reported on Wednesday.

Reporting Israeli media, Quds Press disclosed that only 837,000 tourists visited Israel between the start of 2020 and the end of September.

Foreigners are unable to enter Israel unless they have permission issued by the Housing Ministry, and any foreign visitor must spend 14 days in quarantine.

15 Oct 2020; MEMO: A United Arab Emirates (UAE) Etihad Airways plane flew above Israeli skies for the first time Wednesday, according to Israeli Defense Ministry, Anadolu reports.

“Historical event in the skies of Israel: The flight from Italy’s Milan to Abu Dhabi takes place for the first time in these minutes in coordination with the aviation authority of the Ministry of Transport,” Israeli Transportation Minister Miri Regev said on Twitter.

CAIRO, Oct 15 (NNN-MENA) – Egyptian President, Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, received, yesterday, a phone call from his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa, during which they discussed the Ethiopian grand hydropower dam, built on the Nile River, said the Egyptian presidency.

Sisi reiterated Egypt’s stance regarding the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), which seeks to reach “a binding and comprehensive legal agreement” on the rules of filling and operating the dam, through tripartite negotiations with Ethiopia and Sudan.

15 Oct 2020; MEMO: Lebanon and Israel have concluded the first round of indirect talks over the demarcation of their disputed maritime borders. The talks ended on Wednesday at the headquarters of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). The Naqoura region in southern Lebanon around the building faced tight security imposed by the Lebanese army and UNIFIL soldiers.

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey has issued notices restricting air space and waters off its Black Sea coast to allow firing tests apparently on Friday involving its Russian-made S-400 missile defence units, a week after they were transported to the area.

While Turkey already tested the surface-to-air weapons last year, further exercises could stoke tensions with NATO ally the United States, which sharply opposed the purchase from Moscow on grounds the S-400s compromise NATO defence systems.

ANKARA, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday that he would announce the size of new gas reserves off the Black Sea this week while visiting the Turkish drilling ship "Fatih".

"I will visit our drilling ship Fatih on Saturday to witness the work in person and announce the size of the new reserves," Erdogan said while addressing his lawmakers at the parliament.

Ankara has already announced 320 billion cubic meters of natural gas reserves in the Sakarya Gas Field in the Black Sea.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. diplomats and security officials privately warned the state of Nevada not to use Chinese-made coronavirus test kits donated by the United Arab Emirates over concerns about patient privacy, test accuracy and Chinese government involvement, documents obtained by The Associated Press show.

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey’s military exports to its ally Azerbaijan have risen six-fold this year, with sales of drones and other military equipment rising to $77 million last month alone before fighting broke out over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, according to exports data.

The figures compiled by the Turkish Exporters’ Assembly, which groups more than 95,000 exporting companies in 61 sectors, show Azerbaijan bought $123 million in defence and aviation equipment from Turkey in the first nine months of 2020.