标签： Asia

A previously unannounced meeting between the top intelligence leaders of Turkey and Greece has emerged, shedding new light on the under-the-scenes diplomatic and security dynamics playing out across the volatile Eastern Mediterranean. Both Greek and Turkish media outlets have confirmed that Ibrahim Kalin, the head of Turkey’s National Intelligence Organisation (MIT), traveled secretly to Athens last week to hold talks with his Greek counterpart, Themistoklis Demiris, director of Greece’s National Intelligence Service (EYP). The closed-door gathering comes at a moment of rising friction between the two neighboring NATO allies, with disagreements flaring over Aegean Sea territorial claims, deepening defense cooperation between Greece and Israel, and growing broader security uncertainty across the Eastern Mediterranean.

For decades, Greece and Turkey have been locked in long-running disputes that touch on multiple core strategic issues: competing claims over maritime borders in the Aegean, the status and ongoing militarization of disputed Aegean islands, and the long-running conflict over Cyprus. This latest high-level intelligence contact comes just days after Greece sealed a landmark $3.5 billion defense deal with Israel, under which Israeli defense firms will support Athens in building a sophisticated multi-layered air defense network dubbed the Achilles Shield. The agreement includes the procurement of Israel’s cutting-edge David’s Sling and SPYDER air defense systems, the Barak MX interceptor system, and advanced MMR multi-mission radars. As part of Greece’s broader $28 billion national air defense modernization program, the full upgrade is scheduled for completion by 2036. For Ankara, the rapidly expanding defense partnership between Athens and Tel Aviv has become a major point of concern, as Turkey’s own relations with Israel have deteriorated sharply over recent regional developments.

Details of the previously undisclosed visit were first brought to public attention by Turkish news outlet Yeni Şafak. In his analysis published in the outlet Saturday, columnist Yahya Bostan outlined the Turkish position conveyed by Kalin during the talks: Ankara maintains that it seeks a constructive working relationship with Greece, but will not back down from defending its established national rights and interests. According to Bostan, Kalin made clear that Turkey will not accept any unilateral Greek moves that create a fait accompli in the Aegean, or alter what Ankara views as the existing status quo through the militarization of disputed islands. The Turkish side also framed Greece’s effort to build a new regional security architecture through its partnership with Israel as a misstep, stressing that Turkey poses no threat to Greece but will not tolerate any actions that undermine its sovereign rights and interests.

Greek accounts of the meeting offer a different framing, focusing heavily on the potential for expanded bilateral security and intelligence cooperation. Greek City Times reported that the talks centered on cross-border security threats including organized crime, migrant smuggling networks, international terrorism, and espionage. Greek sources specifically noted that discussions covered the presence of roughly 300 Turkish individuals linked to 15 separate organized criminal groups operating in Greece, as well as Turkish nationals accused of coordinating migrant smuggling operations departing from the Turkish coast toward the European Union. Both sides confirmed that the meeting was arranged through the long-standing regular security communication channel that has remained open between Athens and Ankara, even amid broader political disputes.

This latest exchange is far from the only point of friction between the two nations in recent months. Ankara has also pushed back against Greek policy initiatives in the Aegean, including Athens’ Special Spatial Framework for Tourism. Back in August, Turkey’s foreign ministry publicly stated that the Greek framework held no legal weight for Turkey, and called on Athens to abandon all unilateral actions in the Aegean and wider Mediterranean. “We once again emphasise that attempts to instrumentalise universal values such as environmental protection for political purposes are futile and will in no way affect our country’s established legal position,” foreign ministry spokesperson Oncu Keceli told state-run Anadolu Agency at the time. Keceli added that international maritime law explicitly encourages cooperation between coastal states in enclosed and semi-enclosed seas, including on issues related to environmental protection, rather than unilateral action.

Kalin, a long-time close confidant of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, took over leadership of MIT in June 2023, following the appointment of his predecessor Hakan Fidan as Turkey’s foreign minister. Prior to leading the intelligence agency, Kalin spent years serving as a senior foreign policy advisor to Erdogan, making him one of the most influential figures shaping Turkey’s current strategic posture. Notably, despite decades of deep political and strategic disagreements between Athens and Ankara, the two countries have consistently maintained open lines of communication between their intelligence and law enforcement agencies, creating a quiet channel for dialogue even when formal diplomatic relations have been strained.

A series of explosive eruptions from Indonesia’s Mount Anak Krakatoa have triggered a major disruption to air travel across the country, forcing authorities to suspend hundreds of flights at the nation’s busiest international airport and leave more than 20,000 passengers stranded over the weekend.

Indonesian aviation officials confirmed that 209 inbound and outbound flights were called off at Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport starting Sunday morning, after dangerous volcanic ash plumes from the active volcano were detected in the airport’s controlled airspace. The operational halt was initially imposed shortly after the ash detection, and was later extended to 13:30 local time (06:30 GMT), extending uncertainty for affected travelers.

The volcanic activity first began late Friday night, when the volcano in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra islands kicked off its latest eruption phase, marked by consistent seismic tremors, visible lava fountains that burst hundreds of meters into the air, and audible booming eruptions that could be heard across nearby coastal communities. Two additional distinct eruptions were recorded early Sunday, amplifying the volume of ash injected into regional air currents.

The flight suspension has impacted over 22,000 passengers traveling through the hub, with most of the affected routes connecting Jakarta to Singapore, as well as other key international destinations including Doha, Sydney and Kuala Lumpur. The disruption has also rippled through connecting flight schedules across Southeast Asia, with many airlines preemptively canceling services to avoid flying through ash-heavy airspace, which can cause catastrophic engine failure in commercial aircraft.

In a public safety update, Indonesian disaster management authorities have ruled out any immediate tsunami risk linked to the volcano’s current activity, easing concerns for coastal populations across the Sunda Strait. Still, Indonesia’s Health Ministry has issued urgent guidance for residents living in ash-prone areas surrounding the volcano, urging people to remain indoors whenever possible and wear properly fitted face masks to avoid health complications from ash exposure, including respiratory irritation, eye damage and skin inflammation.

Geologically, Anak Krakatoa – which translates to “Child of Krakatoa” – emerged from the ocean in the early 1900s, growing within the massive caldera left by the catastrophic 1883 eruption of its parent volcano, Mount Krakatoa. The original 1883 eruption was one of the most powerful volcanic events in recorded history, killing more than 30,000 people and altering global climate patterns for years. Anak Krakatoa has remained sporadically active throughout its existence, with occasional eruption cycles occurring every few years.

Indonesia is located along the Pacific Ring of Fire, a geologically active band that circles the Pacific Ocean and accounts for roughly 90% of the world’s earthquakes and 75% of its active volcanoes. The country is home to more than 120 active volcanoes, and regularly manages volcanic activity and associated disruptions to travel and local communities.

A remarkable story of survival has emerged from Nepal, where a 64-year-old woman has been pulled alive from the wreckage of her home, more than ten days after it was partially buried by a catastrophic mudslide. Chandika Shrestha, the elderly survivor, was discovered by rescue teams responding to the disaster, who quickly organized an emergency airlift to transfer her to a nearby hospital for urgent medical care.

The incident, which unfolded in a mudslide-prone region of Nepal, has stunned rescue workers and local communities alike. Most victims trapped in similar mud-buried structures rarely survive beyond 72 hours without access to clean water, food, or medical attention. Shrestha’s ordeal, which stretched to more than 240 hours, has been widely described as a medical and survival miracle by emergency responders.

Local disaster management officials confirmed that search teams were conducting a final sweep of partially damaged structures when they detected faint signs of life from the debris. After hours of careful excavation to avoid triggering further mud slides, crews were able to reach Shrestha and extract her from the collapsed portion of her home. She was responsive when found, though severely dehydrated and malnourished from her extended entrapment.

Rescue helicopters were immediately dispatched to the remote, landslide-hit area to transport her to a tertiary care hospital in the capital, Kathmandu, where she is currently receiving ongoing treatment for her condition. Medical teams have reported that she is in stable condition considering the circumstances of her survival.

Nepal’s mountainous terrain and monsoon season make it particularly vulnerable to deadly landslides and mudslides each year, with hundreds of people killed in such disasters annually. This extraordinary survival story has brought a glimmer of hope to a region still reeling from widespread disaster-related destruction and loss of life, with many residents describing Shrestha’s rescue as a much-needed miracle amid tragedy.

In the early hours of Sunday, Indonesia’s active Anak Krakatau volcano erupted, triggering widespread travel disruptions across the west of the country and forcing a four-hour halt to flight operations at Jakarta’s primary international hub, Soekarno-Hatta. The volcanic island, which sits in the strategically vital Sunda Strait between Indonesia’s two most populated islands, Java and Sumatra, began showing unusual signs of increased geologic activity on Saturday, according to Indonesia’s national Geological Agency. The brief but powerful eruption lasted just 30 seconds, starting at 3:53 a.m. local time.

As of Sunday morning, no injuries or fatalities had been confirmed, and no mandatory evacuation orders had been issued for surrounding areas. The closest populated settlement to the volcano’s crater is located more than 16 kilometers (10 miles) away, which officials say helped reduce immediate risk to human life. Even so, the Geological Agency issued a formal public warning, urging all local residents and traveling tourists to maintain a minimum 3-kilometer (1.9-mile) buffer zone around the volcano’s active crater to avoid exposure to sudden eruptions, flying debris and toxic fumes.

Indonesia’s Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation confirmed that fine, disruptive volcanic ash spread across multiple populated regions, including the national capital Jakarta and Lampung Province, which occupies the southern tip of Sumatra. In an official travel advisory released shortly after the eruption, Soekarno-Hatta International Airport—Indonesia’s busiest air gateway—announced it would suspend all flight operations between 5:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. local time to protect aircraft from ash damage, which can disable jet engines mid-flight.

Stranded passengers at the airport described scenes of chaos as departure boards filled with canceled flight alerts, with hundreds of travelers lining up to request ticket refunds or retrieve their checked luggage after the shutdown.

Joint monitoring efforts by Indonesia’s national volcanology agency and the Darwin Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre in Australia identified two distinct ash plumes via satellite imagery. The lower plume reached an altitude of 20,000 feet (6,100 meters) as it drifted northeast, covering portions of Jakarta, Banten Province, West Java and nearby coastal waters. The second, much larger plume rose to 50,000 feet (15,200 meters) and moved west and northwest, covering parts of Banten, Lampung and Bengkulu provinces, the central Sunda Strait, and a large stretch of the Indian Ocean off Sumatra’s western coast.

Sunday’s eruption is one of the most significant events at Anak Krakatau since 2018, when an explosive collapse of the volcano’s cone triggered a devastating tsunami that killed at least 430 people across coastal communities in Sumatra and Java. Anak Krakatau formed in the caldera of the original Krakatoa volcano, which erupted in one of the most powerful volcanic events in recorded history in 1883.