Nine European countries bordering the Mediterranean who met in Athens under EUMed9 Summit on Friday agreed on global action against climate change and to preserve the natural environment of the Mediterranean. 

Referring to the recent fires that hit several South Mediterranean countries, the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said "this summer's catastrophic fires did not leave any Mediterranean country unscathed, while northern countries were hit by deadly floods”.

He added that Greece and its allies are working on building a stronger civil protection mechanism as well as protecting the forest and seas.

In a declaration issued at the end of the meeting, the leaders of nine countries committed to the implementation of the Paris Agreement to work towards the reduction of the global temperature by 1.5 degrees Celsius.

The leaders also discussed the recent crisis in Afghanistan and migration issues. Greek prime minister said, "we will not allow the recurrence of the phenomenon of uncontrolled migration flows that we experienced in 2015”.

The participants also adopted a joint declaration on issues of political and humanitarian significance; referring to peace, security, and stability in the Mediterranean as a strategic priority to the EU.

They also discussed the situation in Syria, Lebanon, Libya and Afghanistan, and the joint efforts to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic, amongst other issues.

The summit, which took place in the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre brought together leaders of Spain, France, Italy, Malta, Greece and Cyprus, Slovenia, and Croatia. Portugal had sent its foreign minister, while European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also attend the meeting./agencies

Ahead of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly, Turkey’s Communications Directorate will hold a panel discussion focusing on Ankara's perspective on the international order in the post COVID-19 era.

The panel, Rebuilding Trust and Inspiring Hope in the post-COVID-19 Era: Turkey's Perspective on the International Order, will be held at the UN Plaza in New York, Communications Director Fahrettin Altun said in a statement on Friday.

"As part of our active public diplomacy around the world that we pursue day and night in the service of our nation under the leadership of our President, we will hold a panel in New York, US," he said.

The session will discuss various issues including how the UN can be more democratic, efficient, transparent, fair and human-oriented in the changing world order, and the latest developments in Afghanistan.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's concrete reform proposals regarding the UN, which he has highlighted in his new book, A Fairer World Is Possible, will be evaluated.

Politicians, academics, and representatives from the media, think tanks and non-governmental organizations are expected to attend the discussion.

Rich Outzen, former US State Department adviser, and Kilic Bugra Kanat, research director at the Washington offices of Turkey’s Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA), will be the speakers, while TRT World's managing editor Ghida Fakhry will moderate the panel.

Erdogan will reach the US on Sunday to attend the 76th session of the UN General Assembly./agencies

Turkey has “neutralized” 18,502 members of the PKK terrorist organization since July 24, 2015, and 1,976 have been “neutralized” since the beginning of this year, the country’s Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Friday. 

Speaking at a program organized for Veterans Day at the ministry, Akar said Turkey continues to fight for its security with determination both nationally and internationally.

Turkish authorities often use the word “neutralized” in statements to imply the terrorists in question either surrendered or were killed or captured.

Turkey has carried out a series of offensives against terrorist groups in northern Iraq since 2019, particularly against the PKK. The latest ones are Pence-Simsek and Pence-Yildirim operations launched this April in Metina and Avasin-Basyan regions.

The terrorist group often uses bases in northern Iraq, just across Turkey’s southern border, to plot terror attacks in Turkey.

In its over 35-yearlong terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and EU – has been responsible for the deaths of at least 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.

Akar also mentioned that the operations will keep going on till the neutralization of the last terrorist. 

Cyprus issue, Eastern Mediterranean

In addition to the fight against terrorism, the defense minister said that activities continue on land, at sea, and in the air, with perseverance and determination to protect the rights, relevance, and interests in the Eastern Mediterranean, including Cyprus, and in the Aegean Sea.

“We sincerely believe that the problems between us and our neighbor Greece can be solved following international law, in the framework of good neighborly relations by peaceful methods and through mutual dialogue. We are making great efforts for this as well,” he stated.

“Our national issue should be known that two-state, sovereign equality-based, independent states in Cyprus are now the only way out, it should be seen by everyone. There is no chance for any project in the Eastern Mediterranean to survive where Turkey and Turkish Cypriots are not involved,” he said.

Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the UN to achieve a comprehensive settlement.

Ethnic attacks starting in the early 1960s forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety.

In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at Greece's annexation led to Turkey's military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. As a result, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) was founded in 1983./aa

A Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory panel voted on Friday against an additional, third booster shot of the COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech. 

Both the Pfizer and Moderna drug companies have said a third booster shot is inevitable, but the question for the advisory panel was whether a booster shot for average Americans was needed now, about 10 months after they started rolling out.

Pfizer has argued that its data shows a booster shot is needed after six months of the initial dose; Moderna has argued that boosters for its vaccine should come after eight months and the White House had also been targeting an eighth month booster shot.

But the FDA panel ruled solely on the Pfizer-BioNTech booster shot, and rejected it. The panel considered data from Israel, showing that vaccine efficacy declines after six months. But there are differences in the way the US and Israel calculate COVID-19 illnesses, and the Israeli data also showed that the vaccine's protection against serious illness remains strong after six months.

Also up for debate has been the belief that more initial vaccine doses need to be distributed world-wide before the average, fully-vaccinated American gets a third, booster shot.

Still, a third booster shot will be rolling out across the US, starting on Monday, for people who are considered at higher-risk of catching COVID-19, and have compromised immune systems. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will announce on Monday more guidance on where those doses will go.

Separately, the CDC announced on Friday that its finding show that Moderna's vaccine offers a better protection against hospitalization than the other widely-used vaccines. The CDC says the Moderna vaccine offers a protection rate of 93%, compared to a rate of 88% for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, and 71% for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine./aa

Turkey and Germany on Friday opposed the idea of holding a FIFA World Cup every two years.

In a statement, the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) said it has been following the situation of possible revised international calendar for some time, and is concerned about serious financial troubles for the clubs, and mental fatigue on the players expected in case of a possible change.

It said that major international tournaments have value, and attract more attention since they are held less frequently.

The federation said it supports the current international calendar, and a World Cup should be held once in four years.

Earlier, the German Football Association (DFB) expressed full support to UEFA's position that a decision on such an important matter cannot be taken without the consent of European football associations.

The association listed several reasons for its decision, including immense physical and mental strain on national team players if they play major international tournaments every year in succession.

Last week, UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin dismissed the idea, warning of a potential European boycott of the World Cup if FIFA's plans go ahead.

The South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) has also criticized the plan, saying that the proposed changes would make circumstances extremely difficult for both the clubs and nations.

Gianni Infantino, the FIFA president in charge since 2016, is said be a supporter of the biennial World Cup idea.

Saudi Arabia formally proposed its feasibility study at a virtual FIFA meeting in May./agencies