Hulusi Akar

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Saturday that a planned visit by his Swedish counterpart to Ankara has been cancelled after Swedish authorities granted permission for protests in Stockholm.

"At this point, the visit of Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonson to Turkey on January 27 has become meaningless. So we cancelled the visit," Akar said.

Türkiye on Jan. 20 summoned the Swedish ambassador to Ankara over Sweden's permission for a planned burning of the Quran, Islam's holy book, near the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm.

Turkish foreign ministry officials told the Swedish ambassador, "we condemn this provocative action which is clearly a hate crime - in strongest terms."

An Istanbul court has released the head of the Turkish Medical Association (TTB), who was detained after calling for an investigation into allegations that the Turkish military used chemical weapons in northern Iraq.

Turkey's recent announcement of plans to significantly strengthen its naval force is seen in Athens as an attempt to level the playing field with Greece, amid an increase in tension between the two neighbors over maritime borders and energy rights in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean.

Turkey will never allow Greece to extend its territorial waters beyond six nautical miles, Defese Minister Hulusi Akar said Monday, as he urged Athens to "keep away from trouble."

During a visit to Turkish Naval Forces Command, Akar said Turkey has a duty to defends its interests and rights in the Aegean, the East Mediterranean and Cyprus.

Türkiye has warned Greece once again that it will never accept extending its territorial waters to more than 6 miles in the Aegean Sea amid reports that Athens is beginning to mull over increasing its sovereign waters to up to 12 miles off Crete island in the region.

A fresh incident unfolded in the Aegean on Thursday morning with the harassment of a Greek coast guard vessel by a Turkish patrol boat, with Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar presenting his version of events, claiming the Greek side "harassed and shot at our fishermen."

Turkey will not leave unanswered acts of "harassment" and "provocation" by Greece, the country's Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said Friday, a day after a Hellenic Coast Guard patrol boat was harassed by a Turkish offshore vessel. 

"We neither harass nor provoke [Greece]. But we will not leave unanswered any harassment or provocation against us," Akar said.

Greece is not responding to Türkiye's calls for dialogue and intentionally increases tension in the Aegean Sea due to looming elections, the Turkish defense minister has said, repeating Ankara's proposal for the resumption of military-to-military talks.

The death of the mother of Greek Defense Minister Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos opened a new channel of communication between Türkiye and Greece amid escalating tensions between the two countries.