Athens Denies Border Shooting Incident; MHP's Bahceli Pressures Courts on HDP Ban

LOCAL NEWS

• Athens denies involvement in fatal shooting of a Turkish national at the Greek border, with Ankara claiming shots were fired from within Greece.
  • On Sunday Turkey issued a diplomatic note saying a Turkish citizen was killed by a group of individuals in plain clothes in cross-border fire in Erdine. Turkey summoned the Greek ambassador who denied the allegations in their entirety
• MHP Leader Bahceli urges Turkey's top court to shut down the pro-Kurdish HDP party once again, despite calls from the West to respect human rights in Turkey.
  • Also reiterated calls for the restructuring of the Constitutional Court saying it must close down the HDP as it "does not have the right to violate the constitution and damage the unity of the state"
• Turkey reports 20,890 new covid cases, 96 more deaths as cases continue to rise. Turkey has administered 73.37m vaccine doses: 27m fully vaccinated, 41m fully vaccinated
• Turkey Trade minister hopes bilateral ties with Russia can improve, noting that he aims to raise trade volumes from $30bn this year to $100bn. Notes significant cooperation in the energy field and plans to expand in this area.
  • Russian deputy PM Noval also noted progress in relations, saying dynamics are beginning to recover and that Russia was interested in making investments in Turkey