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Tuesday, October 13, 2020
The German government and the US government speak of a provocation: After a hiatus of just one month, Turkey sends another exploration ship to a maritime zone claimed by Greece. Sanctions against the NATO partner are still in the room.
The United States and Germany have harshly criticized NATO partner Turkey for its approach to the gas dispute in the eastern Mediterranean. During a visit to Nicosia, Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas called on the Ankara government to refrain from provoking provocations in the leadership of Greece and Cyprus. “Pressure, threats, intimidation and military activities do not resolve the tensions in the eastern Mediterranean,” said a spokeswoman for the US State Department in Washington. “We call on Turkey to stop these calculated provocations and start exploratory talks with Greece immediately.”
The background for this is that, after a month-long hiatus, Turkey sent another exploration ship in search of gas deposits to a maritime zone that was in dispute with Greece over the weekend. In addition, Turkey allowed the opening of a beach in the Turkish-occupied part of Cyprus for tourists. Turkish troops marched to the northern part of Cyprus in 1975. Since then, the island has been divided.
“Provocative step”
Maas said opening the beach was a “completely unnecessary and provocative step.” Therefore, the German foreign minister canceled Ankara from its mediation trip on Tuesday. “It is up to Turkey to create the conditions for the talks,” Maas said after meeting with fellow Cypriot Nikos Christodoulides and before continuing to Greece. He “made a conscious decision” to travel only to Cyprus and Greece and not to Turkey as originally intended.
Christodoulides also harshly criticized both decisions. However, both foreign ministers avoided calling for new EU sanctions against Turkey. Maas noted that the EU had set Turkey as a mid-December deadline to start trusting its western neighbors. So far, Ankara has done nothing in this direction.
EU Summit Theme
Within the EU, Cyprus and Greece, but also France, pushed for sanctions against Turkey, which is also accused of meddling in the wars in Libya, Syria, Iraq and the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The Cypriot foreign minister said dealing with Turkey would be a topic at the EU summit on Thursday and Friday.
“Germany and the EU stand beside Cyprus and Greece in solidarity,” Maas stressed. “The half-life of the commitments should exceed two days,” he added, referring to Turkey’s previous commitments to reduce escalation.
After a month-long hiatus, Turkey sent the exploration vessel “Oruc Reis” to the southern region of the Greek island of Kastellorizo for seismic measurements. The ship was removed from controversial waters in the run-up to an EU summit last month. Gas reserves are suspected in the area, but their size is controversial.
