International

Juncker said that Turkey can only gain from a stable, strategic relationship with the EU, and good neighbourly relations in the region.

The real estate tax bills this year will be based on the recent overhaul of tax valuations of properties nationwide. Many reports have indicated that nearly one million taxpayers will pay a higher real estate tax this year.

“Erdogan pre-planned it. He wanted them to be arrested and taken hostage and to secure their exchange for the eight [Turkish officers granted asylum in Greece]. He had organised their arrest in advance,” Kammenos had said.

The first and most important reasons for releasing the officers are the dramatic developments in the Turkish economy, and US President Donald Trump’s clash with President Erdogan.

US Ambassador to Athens Geoffrey Pyatt congratulated the diplomats of the Greek foreign ministry for their work towards the release of the two Greek army officers who were imprisoned in Turkey.

Due to the inability of political forces to understand the magnitude and consequences of the bankruptcy and the bailout commitments, it took eight years to reach this point, of a weak and insecure exit.

Their unconditional release was ordered by a Turkish court, but there have been feverish diplomatic efforts in the last five-and-a-half months – with the EU, Nato, the US and other allies - by the Greek government to pressure Ankara for their release.

'The victory of populist forces [SYRIZA] in 2015 led to a second economic crisis and the third [bailout] programme, and caused enormous harm. The country is now struggling to return to where it was in 2014,' Venizelos said.

'I have developed tremendous respect for the Greek people, who have had to accept painful adjustments. Wages, salaries, and pensions had to be cut by up to 30%. The number of employees in the public sector also had to be significantly reduced,' the ESM chief said.

A lawyer for the family of victims in the deadly Mati fire has attributed blame to the Attica Prefecture, the Fire Service, and municipalities.

Kazakidis, a Mati fire victim, said the sum was seized because he owed 4,500 euros in ENFIA real estate taxes, on his house that was destroyed.

Despite the dozens of violations daily of Greek air space by Turkish fighter jets, and the daily encroachment by Turkish fishermen in Greek territorial waters, Cavusoglu told a group of diplomats that Greece is to blame.

Everyone also witnessed the government's effort to manipulate public opinion, and the effort to temper the negative impressions regarding the catastrophe.

The presence of Turkish fishermen extremely is a daily phenomenon, fisherman Kostas Tsiftis said, as he sees about 30 fishing boats in the area each day, which cause problems for the Greek fishermen.

Pyatt said that when one comes to the region, one sees the historical and contemporary opportunities, and commercial ties between Greece and all the countries of the Western Balkans

Kostas Tzavaras said the Mati disaster revealed the nakedness of the government and the incompetence of government cadres to implement planned and decided measures which the competent ministers had prepared in 2018.

From the information currently available, it appears that judicial authorities have concluded that Fire Service officers have committed the crimes of manslaughter and arson due to negligence.

Multi-nationals and international investment schemes have turned their sight to main opposition leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis. There is a climate that investors will be on hold until the next elections.

it is crucial for the main opposition party to be extremely well prepared and well structured, so as to credibly manage the great problems of the country.

'We want to remind our Russian friends that no country in the world would tolerate attempts to a) bribe state officials, b) undermine its foreign policy, and c) interfere in its internal affairs.'