return back to turkey back and forth and so they are in a precarious situation in that life in turkey is at least safe but it isn't a long term future they have sometimes family members already in western europe that they're trying to trying to join and in other cases they are trying to support family members in syria so they're trying to make the best of a situation and they know that the window through which to get to you western europe might be very short so they're taking advantage of it unfortunately they are unlikely to receive a very warm welcome in the conditions as marianna said in some of the camps in greece really at overcrowding breaking point and what greece really needs to see is more solidarity from european member states because of course this is not a european refugee crisis it's a syrian crisis as with a real crisis is and europe needs to always keep that in perspective and go camillus you're from the european stability initiative is you're going to provide the solidarity that turkey and greece need. well i wish i could tell you yes but the evidence of the last few m

regime not of the nato countries cannot came and help look turkey it but if turkey is safe ok i don't care about you or stan why border i all over the hospital and all 1000000 we lost the economy will be 6000000 and i will open the door for support to europe that all of a sudden all the european countries know there's a that will be again the 30 years of years of i'm going to have to interrupt you just because i've got to get more questions into some of the other guests here because you answered a couple of questions there thank you for brees it looks like you want to jump in go ahead well i just would like to get the record straight out 1st on the entire n.t. myside assistance it's not accurate to say that neither france or the u.s. wanted to send their systems they were actually beating for sending those systems to turkey there was even a chinese firm beating for that and the reality is for the past 10 years and cairo has been has been basically hedging and playing with different or 1st and depend. on the political when at some point it was actually there were they say us about the

turkey is the. priority in the very beginning was the fact that international institutions should be involved in this in the indias the indian issue and if that is if there needs to be an international court proceeding it must be done because. this was a this was. openly a murder case and turkey wanted those who are responsible for this to be judged and and punished if it is. necessary and of course there is another dynamic in this but maybe i can tell that as we know that in turkey that is that there are big number of who are distant from many countries especially from the middle eastern countries and such at such a nerd or such and such as is didn't what is what. would have the risk to instigate further evidence like this 30 wanted to really give the message that it can't tolerate any other incident like this because turkey is a safe haven for those who are big or pressed by their own regimes so turkey welcomed many of the figures from different countries and they can stay here as long as they. th

how has that pushed turkey into this confrontational stance essentially pushed turkey out of the western orbit and i mean the very shot and yes it has done so for a very long time because i don't know if a past decade probably even longer no one in turkey believes that the european union has any interest and accepting them so they lost interest and that a long time ago i would say politically but also in the minds of the people let us take a very quick look at the domestic situation in turkey to one. k. pay party have engaged in severe repression at home particularly when confronted with perceived threats. after the failed coup attempt against him in july 26th team president early one had tens of thousands of dissidents arrested and declared terrorists. also detained $170.00 domestic and foreign journalists like denise a german citizen who was imprisoned without charges for an entire year. better won almost seems to untie going to europe and the west deliberately his a.k.p. is considering leaving an international convention for combating violence against women as well as lifting penaltie

borders as refugees flee turkey. what we have seen now on the border is just a last chapter of the sad story and refugees for the last few years in greece we see unrest on the border we see different versions for what's happening but we do know that the border is closed and people are not permitted to seek asylum which is a violation of the refugee convention and also european union law ok but there may be videos going viral showing very alarming pictures of greek authorities using using government guns and violence arguably against refugees do you have any evidence of this footage is real. we have some seen some footage that indicate that for instance. greek forces are using tear gas against people trying to climb the fence yeah a stun grenades apparently are allegations as well that have been made us live under there the defacto boss of the e.u. says it is a european border not a greek border and she thanks greece for being our european shield in these times do you feel that that's in the spirit of an idea $51.00 r

how does that pushed turkey into this confrontational stance essentially pushed turkey out of the western orbit and i mean the very shot and yes it has done so for a very long time because i don't know if a past decade probably even longer no one in turkey believes that the european union has any interest and accepting them so they lost interest and that a long time ago i would say politically but also in the minds of people let us take a very quick look at the domestic situation in turkey after one and his cape a party have engaged in severe repression at home particularly when confronted with perceived threats. after the failed coup attempt against him in july 26th team president early one had tens of thousands of dissidents arrested and declared terrorists. also detained for $170.00 domestic and foreign journalists liked an easy job a german citizen who was imprisoned without charges for an entire year. better one almost seems to antagonize europe and the west deliberately his a.k.p. is considering leaving an international convention for combating violence against women as well as lift

having good relations with turkey they will seek to slow this down and find some solution with turkey i just met reluctant to comment on this idea that russia is targeting civilians and hospitals on purpose. this this would make much sense if this is to a large extent become conflict about the hearts and minds so it's not just cruel it would also be very stupid so i would i would dismiss start us very crude propaganda i don't think definitely russia is not targeting and the civilians and if you look at how careful they have been. compared for example the americans incinerated aka i think. i think what one shouldn't argue that ok russia has gone after the surveillance that would make much sense to me though let's let's not bring back my one cabal in here into the debate let's talk about a such a deal for a 2nd because that was critical wasn't it was a huge win for turkey's president to pave the way for to achieve his big strategic goals of moving kurdish fighters from the border and clearing space perhaps to some of the 3500000 syrian refugees living in turkey to go back home he's a bi

. ♪ >> turkey under u.s. sanctions. a defined president says the action is an attack on his country's rights. how will this play out? this is inside story. ♪ >> welcome to the program. it has been battered with u.s. sanctions over the deployment of russian defense weapons. turkey has said it is evaluating appropriate action for what it considers a hostile attack. on, has insisted it will not rollback its missile system. turkey's military agency has had authorizations banned by the u.s. the organization's top officials will face asset freezes and visa restrictions. the delayed move comes as president-elect joe biden prepared to take office and it is expected to increase tensions between washington. the turkish president says sanctions going to stop his country from building up its defenses. >> from our nato ally the united states, we expect support in our battle against tourist -- against terrorist organizations, not sanctions. we are never a country that chases after conflict with its neighbors. we are fighting for th

or agrees of turkey on some sort of a an attack on kurdish held positions. you know to the to the east if if turkey expands its protected zone westward towards kurdish position after an agreement with russia perhaps of the united states this will allow. the gant to present this as some some sort of quid pro quo. kind of agreement you know a give and take agreement like like the ones that happened in. us they're always there swap battlefields. and you know in return for expanding the turkish zone. and the turkish plans ok you know returning refugees into that zone ok powerful in moscow on that idea of bashar al assad being allowed to run his own affairs seems to me that as far as it is concerned moscow doesn't want to relinquish its undoubtedly big amounts of leverage that it has with damascus but on the other hand it doesn't want to use that leverage with damascus why not. well. first of all. the acid regime has a degree of autonomy. it's not just russian backed it's also very much a ring in backed and iran is providing actually more support most likely if y

i'm not sure i don't think turkey actually wants war i think turkey knows very well that international mediation will step in turkey knows that the e.u. will make efforts that germany will make that the u.s. even though they have their own issues at the moment will also not want this conflict so i think is using his aggressive rhetoric because it always helps him domestically but that at the same time he is relying on international diplomacy as we can see in while one is using aggressive rhetoric says foreign minister has expressed at the same time that he is ready fun to go she ation so. so let me come back. to what you said in your opening statement about the language of international law and fair sharing of mediterranean resources as we heard there from charter both sides citing international maritime law law of the sea and so on turkey says greece is manipulating international law to him its right to oil and gas resources in the mediterranean to a very small corner of the gulf of antalya. but is that even possible isn't international law clear on this point it's not clear like on t

know turkey and the e.u. countries have signed a deal in 2016. which ended up by turkey's sealing its southern borders. for the syrian refugees who are who are plenty who are usually used as a transit troops to cross to europe including some afghans and pakistanis and based on what the turkish interior ministry told yesterday a bowl 100000 refugees if locked to western side of it and managed to cross from turkey to the other side which is denied by the week or so it is of course so in short after all those sentences i can say that turkey is trying to gain leverage through diplomacy which is soft power in a way and through military which is the hard power on the ground before meeting with russian president vladimir putin and i also have to add that to morrow turkey is going to have at the legation a guest from the united states u.s. and white james jeffrey who's a former ambassador to the turkish capital in ankara is coming with a delegation with a senator from the united states and he will be coming to heart

in the steps turkey has proven itself in its fight against quote 19. germany on the other hand says it wants to monitor how the epidemic here in turkey develops they say they certainly don't want to have to fly out german citizens stuck abroad again if the situation worsens but some also say it's not just about the pandemic but also about politics because relations between turkey and germany are still strained there are a number of contentious issues syria libya the human rights situation here in turkey or refugees and some say this travel warning might also be a means for germany to seek some political concessions and that was. speaking to me a short while ago from istanbul now in other coronavirus news around the world officials in the english beach town of bournemouth have declared a major incident after a massive crowds flock there in hot weather authorities said ignoring public health guidance on the coronavirus was irresponsible the declaration allows them to initiate an emergency response including the deployment of additional police patrols. u.

period turkey is seeking. to try to get weapons from the euro atlantic community that say from nato despite the fact that it was antagonized by the by the nato countries because of turkey's purchase of s. $400.00 now because of the development thing eclipse turkey turned again to the your atlantic community but your atlantic community. does not want to get involved in turkey's fight in exhibit did it surprise you personally when the one said it biased 400 defense systems yes i was surprised because i worked in nato on several occasions in the past in my 40 years of diplomatic career i also worked in the nato headquarters in brussels and also i studied in nato defense college and also i worked in the nato department in the turkish ministry of foreign affairs so well all these things during this long period of mine in diplomatic service i knew that turkish defenses team is integrated to need to system and. a defense system which is not interoperable with with this system that's to say as $400.00. has to be an au

most of turkey . in july 121 ataturk assumes command of the war against the occupying forces once again he proves himself a master strategist he declares general mobilization demanding that every turkish citizen contribute to the production of arms and ammunition. even women transport shells to the frontline. this highly motivated army under most of our canals command eventually defeats the greeks resoundingly at the battle of sakaria. ataturk is given the honorary title ghazi the conqueror. in 1922 ataturk and his war against the greek occupiers in is now on the edge in khost this also marks a significant turning point in his personal life. the city falls to the turkish army without resistance. breaks out in christian areas of the city. a fire begins in the armenian quarter and becomes a conflagration forcing local inhabitants to flee. 10 days later the christian areas have burned to the ground could ataturk have prevented this. these are when ataturk arrived in israel he had defeated the greeks my o

collation in the conflict between turkey and syria. turkey's defense minister warned that turkish troops will retaliate against and if air that attack. also announced operation spring shilled and your campaign aimed at pushing syrian government troops out of the so-called buffer zone near the border. we do not aim to face off with russia our only aim is to stop syrian regime's most ekers radical groups the displacement of civilians. turkey has stepped up its military campaign in it lipped province it responds to that of 34 soldiers in strikes on thursday a. funeral processions in turkey for the deaths soldiers have turned into rallies calling for revenge in rebel held it live people took to the streets showing support for turkey's bistrica a little western syria in recent fighting in southern it to provinces to keep that rebel groups recaptured villages they lost a few weeks ago including symbolised. further south syrian government forces have launched an offensive to some the main the city was a major opposition stronghold but in 2017

and said they still expect turkey to uphold its end of the deal i acknowledge that turkey is in a difficult situation concerning that we forgot to add the refugees and the migrants but what we see now cannot be an answer or solution we expect $32.00 on their its commitments i mean from the south turkey migration to lower the statement and the votes in the situation very very closely this is a crisis but it can also become an opportunity for europe an opportunity that would allow us to defend collectively our external warda. are in for more i'm joined now in the big table by cinema dar she is with the think tank the german institute for international and security affairs her focus is on turkish refugee policy and migration is good to have you on the show thank you by opening the gates to europe turkey's president appears to be powerful he appears to have the leverage here. but you say this may be an act of just. walk. well i i mean on the bend on the lawn that you just threw that took as the leverage that was given to it in in 2016 mentor ken you're up agreed to cooperate over migration cont

discovery from turkey's point of view since we are talking about 320000000000 cubic meter. yours which is a significant result can see there in that tricky has been almost fully dependent on gas imports once guess we'll be produced that these fields it can be a source of the transformation of turkey's guest supply structure and we did discuss turkey will be able to reduce its reliance on foreign gas what is very important we drink artie's gas discovery is a defect that it came at a very good time from turkish perspective because in the upcoming years some of turkey's long term gas contracts will expire including a contract with russia's gust from for instance until last year russia was the key source of gas for 30 so now turkey will probably be able to use its new discoveries as a bargaining chip to reach more favorable contract terms when it will be of a negotiating its gas contracts for a suppliers thomas has been really good to talk to and counting across many thanks indeed for being with us thank you thank you it is my pleasure. peru's economy has shrunk by more than 30

most of turkey . in july of 921 ataturk assumes command of the war against the occupying forces once again he proves himself a master strategist he declares general mobilization demanding that every turkish citizen contribute to the production of arms and ammunition. even women transport shells to the frontline. this highly motivated army under most of our canals command eventually defeats the greeks resoundingly at the battle of sakaria. ataturk is given the honorary title ghazi the conqueror. in 1922 ataturk and his war against the greek occupy as in on the edge in khost this also marks a significant turning point in his personal life. the city falls to the turkish army without resistance. breaks out in christian areas of the city. a fire begins in the armenian quarter and becomes a conflagration forcing local inhabitants to flee. 10 days later the christian areas have burned to the ground. could ataturk have prevented this. these are when ataturk arrived in israel he had defeated the greeks my opin

has reasons when from on course perspective turkey has reasonable interest and turkey into just. so john there has long been there's long been a view held by a greek migration analysts that turkey has its hands on them on the tap as it were the turkey has always held it within its power to hold back all released refugees and that was demonstrated amply i think in the e.u. turkey agreements statement that you mentioned in march 2016 when after this agreement was signed the flows immediately stopped so turkey demonstrated that it had the ability to put its hand on the tap and stop the flow now it's has demonstrated the opposite of course such the other side of that's ability which is to open the. the greek government has said that we are now the defenders of europe's orders because we need to this turkey of this weapon there's a strategic reason for greece behaving the way it has. not only for its own sovereignty not only to demonstrate that it has the ability to control its borders which as you well know has always been a. vitally important issue of national defense and security b

turkey. i do not think so because even though my friend does not know the real name of the turkish defense industry prison for this is not a particular month agency this is a stiff place that all projects are to be coordinated but the turkish procurement agency is separated in many different branches on their ministry it off the national defense forces isn't a strine of sanctions of course you have an f. back to do. agency but this is not at procurement agencies probably that will be ongoing projects which will not be affected such as in the case off the f. 16 programs but for the new cases if you assess the wants to buy some for exam procure some issues from the united states it is all name probably dos projects will be affected but i do not think that it will create too much problem for the turkish defense in dust in the next coming years especially in terms of logistics up live but for the large slot forms in order like turkish fighter jet programs will be affected but laws on all the long

turkey. is punished. missile defense systems from russia. president says the action is an attack on his country's winds so how will this play out between these nato allies this is inside story. hello welcome to the program. it's been flattened with u.s. sanctions over the deployment of russian as 400 defense weapons turkey has set its evaluating reciprocal action against what is considered as a hostile attack has also insisted it won't turn back its but chase of the missile system. turkey's military procurement agency has had its export licenses and authorizations banned by the u.s. the organizations top officials will also face asset freezes and visa restrictions the long delayed move comes as president elect joe biden prepares to take office and it's expected to increase tensions between washington and unka turkish president has said this sanctions won't stop his country from building up its defenses. they're not all from our nato ally the united states we expect support in our battle again

for turkey was. rather than. fixing a date or reading it in tangled in the idea of becoming a full member of europe in one day you'll lose this process you know to put moral order to its interior to its kitchen and make turkey thanks to the accession process make turkey a country with more fundamental rights and through them better democrats bit a functioning democracy more transparent market economy and then if turkey achieves this because of the excess in process what then turkey ultimately joins do if in union or not it was going to be alive and but it maintains very good to the nations and also it has adopted or internalized the european standards yes exactly stacked here thank you after the break will the european union use coronavirus to wash its hands of the next global refugee crisis we talked to the norwegian refugee council plus the communist approach to covert 19 from fane yong health counselor for the prominent mission of china to the u.n. and why boris johnson thought it might be a good

the european is accusing turkey. you can argue. for its own political what's turkey's reply to that. well the turkish government rejects criticism that this was a you know blackmailing the european union their line of argumentation is that they are at their limit at their capacity when it comes to hosting refugees here so this is why they are doing it but clearly we have indication we talk to people here the movement of people here towards the border has been facilitated by turkish authorities. you know as we've been reporting a number of these migrants thanks so much for that you hear from the border area a seeking to enter europe come from syria where fighting is now raging in the north turkey and russia have troops on the ground there and they're supporting opposing sides the recent weeks of escalating military action in the province have left dozens of turkish troops dead and created a dynamic where russian and turkish forces could wind up in direct confrontation preventing that will likely be on the agenda during the russian a

turkey is a valued nato ally and turkey. most affected by the terrible conflict in syria. which has suffered the most terrorist attacks and we chose millions of refugees and that point that un stoltenberg makes about refugees could be crucial because while turkey deals with syria to the south it also appears to be putting pressure on europe to the north remember there are millions of syrian refugees in turkey many of whom have always wanted to travel on into europe and ankara is now saying it won't necessarily stop them if that happens on a full scale it would go against the deal that turkey signed with the e.u. back in 2016 syrians in turkey are in fact already making their way to the greek border and greece is reportedly tightening its sea and land crossings in response. so let's talk all about this and introduce you to today's panel starting on skype from a stone but we've got who is the managing editor of the daily sabah english language newspaper in amman wilf dinnick spokesman on syria for the humanitarian aid organiza

like france did it like the other countries in it so no one should be blaming turkey because turkey is assertiveness inside the middle east for example let's take a look at the turkish policy inside you did more than 4000000 people is needed inside their rations forced last 4 and half 1000000 people all over the borders of turkey most people believe directly go to the nato council news and turkey was the only constant it who fought together to beat the iranian media all together be it against russian forces and also the s.s. regime not of the nato countries cannot came and help look turkey it but if turkey is safe ok i don't care about you or stan why border i all over the hospital and i'll be lost the economy will be 6000000 and i will open the door for support to europe that all of a sudden all the european countries know there's a that will be again the 30 years of years of i'm going to have to interrupt you just because i've got to get more questions into some of the other guests here because you answered a couple of questions there thank you for brees it looks like you want to

turkey has been calling on the e.u. to share the burden of the refugee crisis and on nato to deploy pair to it besides on the border with syria but nato doesn't seem to be willing to provide military support offering for the time being the sympathy by call on them to stop their offensive to respect international law and to back you in efforts for a peaceful solution to this dangerous situation must be deescalated urge an immediate return to the 2018 cease fire. then simone's turkish and russian officials held talks in unkind to defuse tension turkey wants the syrian army to pull out behind the demilitarized zone stop its offensive and allow civilians to return home russia is a key ally of president bashar assad who rejects turkey's expanded presence in syria and insists they will fund civs by his troops is legitimate there will continue and if russia and turkey fail to overcome their differences they might and . you know wide and prolonged regional confrontation in syria possible but al jazeera jill very well turkish bo

to stay never roam ♪ >>> one very turkey lurkey is very lucky turkey lurkey. in pennsylvania, it managed to survive thanksgiving and is now home to stay. >> looking forward to a very merry christmas. will ganss has more. >> turkey lurky, i can't say it five times fast. most of us had turkey on the menu over the holiday weekend. but a family in pennsylvania, the turkey is more family than feast this year. >> so the plan was, is we were going to hatch them, raise them and then they were going to be dinner. >> but no fowl play for via the turkey this thanksgiving. >> it was nighttime. we heard a crack and it was via's egg. >> maci knew from the moment via was born back in march they'd be baste friends -- i mean best friends. >> it started out with instant snuggles on the couch when she was very tiny. then, i don't know, their little relationship, they just bonded. >> what exactly does a 6-year-old girl do with an 8-month-old turkey. >> i like to gobble with her sometimes. >> as one does. >> i do like gobble, gobble. >> stuffing as much quality time into each day

violations against its own people my guest this week here at the foreign policy forum in berlin is turkey's presidential spokesman ibrahim kalin how does he justify his country's highly controversial policies. and a broad. brimmed cali welcome to conflict zone thank you let's start with mr adie once trip to washington a couple of weeks ago. he went to change minds to change influential minds in the united states to talk about the justification for your military action in syria but he appears to have failed to change those minds comprehensively what about happen do you think but for us to visit went well actually we have a good relationship with the trumpet ministrations some people that the congress will be with trump rather than the ministration well if you want to make that distinction that's for domestic american politics to comment about but obviously some people in the congress have a different view the ones he hoped to influence how to differ yeah and our president made a very clear to. actually for why we went in there because our goal has been to clear our border with syria from mor

efforts are made not to isolate turkey turkey is a player there's no question about that in these the mediterranean and again it's understandable that they feel a little bit isolated in this story so i think they're there to another challenge for the new leadership here in brussels is to try to find a way forward on easing the tensions in the relationship with turkey and the e.u. does need to tread carefully at the end of the day turkey is an absolutely key partner not least on migration then of course it is still a candidate for membership in the much longer run even if with the other one of ministration that is not so easy. at the moment but ways need to be fined found to keep turkey on board but right now the challenge is to get behind the un process in libya to provide a longer term stable settlement in that country and to do that i think is a top of the agenda for the e.u. gabriel michel from everything that i'm hearing here there is a certain amount of common sense and pragmatism to keeping turkey on side does israel believe that that sim porson so or is it a priority right. i t

saying that turkey shot tear gas was going to tell us. well that's right this is part of this growing escalation of tension between turkey and greece both sides are ramping up their security presence and waging a very bitter war of propaganda across the mainstream media greece is accusing turkey of aiding and abetting and encouraging migrants to enter into greece unquote disabuses and said this is outrageous to accuse turkey of mistreating refugees given turkey is the world's biggest host of refugees in the country and it's all part of this escalating route between turkey and the wider european union. president at a time set to head to brussels on monday for talks what does he hope for. well i think one will be looking for greater support from the european union more money at the moment the funds that europe were going to give to turkey in relation to my kids is being frozen because of this present crisis will be looking for that money to be frozen but beyond that he's looking for support for this idea of creating a safe haven inside syri

they like turkey they have. managed to pull off they are maximum 3 months because yes like this idea that every small little island every small little greek island can declare its own economic zone that probably wouldn't yeah i mean international probably wouldn't agree with that and what. turkey's point so in reality it's not so necessary for john to be as aggressive as he is he could also step back and rely on national law which obviously he's not willing to do and he's never really been interested which of course the point you made about symbolic politics well i mean one thing i mean the word. energy has the most people topic but this issue is not that was the energy it's a different form of sovereignty and it's about the job that is i mean the fact that you have a country like u.a.e. which has no border to it to use a mediterranean like you know doing drilling with griese. does indicate how joe pulled the it is a job pull the competition and this problem of the reason that france is in the game as well too i

russia in turkey. negotiate deescalation regarding what is next for syria also the coronavirus is a time to start rethinking the impact of globalization. good food descriptions sound up even for the owners so how to choose this pet food industry is telling us what to feed our pets really more based on what they want to sell us and was necessarily good for the pet turns out may not be as healthy as people believe we have animals that have you know diabetes in arthritis they have auto immune disorders allergies we are actually creating these problems it's a huge epidemic of problems all of them i believe can be linked to fairy simple problem of diet and some dog owners so heartbreaking stories about their pets streets the larger corporations are not very interested in proving or disproving the value of their food because they're already making a $1000000000.00 on it and there's no reason to do that research. in the united states presidential candidates debate the future of the u.s. and the world. max kai

coming to turkey support the europeans instead were very critical of turkey's actions in libya and along the border with greece where turkey has been allowing refute g.'s to move migrants to move in their efforts to enter europe so i think the turkish government and president early gun made the correct decision in the circumstances which is that turkey really was not in a position to advance and to throw back the syrian army back to the original sort she sees far lawyers that were agreed in september 2018 and the result is that they pulled back and have allowed the syrian army to retain its military gains and they've taken steps to the way towards a reopening the highways but it's but this hasn't resolved the issue here because turkey still refuses to start dealing with this jarvis element that is in bedded in we it's like 2 steps forward one step back it's not resolving anything and a lot of people are saying this is a temporary solution to a problem that only turkey can now solve because we have to remind our viewers the syrian government sees these jihadists elem. it's as terrorists a

economic zone between cyprus and turkey and at the same time. move what we've been conditioned all the relevant security council resolutions on what osha that is allow they could accept a legal residence operative to return under the auspices of the un i think and that is and that such a scenario where we have some small but major steps towards cooperation at least that. it may create a positive climate who refuse 10 assurance and at least try to build on some confidence ok here i thought for a 2nd but james james and you like to jump and yes we can be very honest and say look it sounds nice to have confidence building measures but i've been working on cyprus for 30 years and i can tell you that all confidence building measures do is actually reduce trust we need to be focusing on an overall settlement so the idea that you're going to get the greek and turkish cypriots to sit down to reach a comprehensive deal on energy. and not do it i just can't see it happening and all we're going to do is get drawn into this debate for another couple of year

turkey stand within the alliance. well i think part of the problem is that president assad who on those very hot and very cold so he was if we think back 5 years very hostile to russia and russia's role in syria then he became a partner in trying to find ways of alleviating fighting and bringing at least some cease fires to syria i mean the last few months he's full amount with russia but only back in october he fell out with the west big time when he attacked the kurds in northern syria so i think part of the problem for turkey is that the president's policies seem are predictable not only to the syria and russia but also to his allies and this means for people in brussels i think are reluctant to nail that colors to the turkish martin case president cranks them into something for the want to get into. it's been reported to the earlier today a turkish official said the country was no longer got going to stop refugees from entering the the european union it sounds like a weaponized thing of. refugees could that ever h