Euronews: President Erdogan says 'Turkey is worn out with waiting for EU accession'. Emmanuel Macron warned Recep Tayyip Erdogan over the rule of law and ruled out progress in Turkey's EU membership bid as the French president hosted his Turkish counterpart in Paris.

Ruptly: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said the world may be “doomed” if the conviction of a Turkish banker by a US court is how the US understands justice and warned that US-Turkish ties and accords are “losing validity.”

WION: Russia and Turkey have warned US against interfering into Iran’s domestic affairs.

Al Jazeera: Mehmet Hakan Atilla has been found guilty in a US court of taking part in a scheme to violate Washington's sanctions against Iran. He and eight others were accused of moving billions of dollars' worth of Iranian money through American banks, disguised as food and gold sales.

TRT World: Sanctions Trial - Turkey: Verdict is unprecedented intervention. Former Halkbank executive Mehmet Hakan Atilla was found guilty on five counts, including bank fraud and conspiracy. He was acquitted of one charge of money laundering. Atilla was accused of helping Iran trade its oil and gas for gold to dodge US sanctions. He was accused of moving the money through US banks without their knowledge. A senior Turkish official dismissed the verdict as void and said it violated international law. Atilla's defence attorney says they plan to appeal the decision.

Associated Press: Activists protest at the Turkish embassy in Paris over jailed journalists. About 30 activists from NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF) staged a protest in front of the Turkish Embassy in Paris on Friday, holding stencil images of jailed journalists in Turkey. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is traveling to Paris for talks with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron amid protests over press freedom and the deteriorating state of human rights in Turkey. Macron is expected to raise the question of press freedom with Erdogan. They are also set to discuss Turkish ties with the European Union as well as the Palestinian issue and the conflict in Syria and Iraq. Erdogan is making his first trip to France since a failed coup in 2016 that was followed by a strong repression. Around 50,000 people have been arrested since then and 110,000 others removed from public sector jobs.

The National: Can secular government and culture survive in Turkey? Fourteen years of rule by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has certainly damaged those prospects. AEI's Michael Rubin offers his take on what the future holds.

Euronews: A court in Greece has granted asylum to a Turkish soldier who used a military helicopter to escape last year’s failed coup in Turkey.

22-31 December 2017