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In its conclusions Summit, which ended at noon on Friday, included the Turkish provocation.
“The European Council reaffirms the conclusions of October 2, 2020 and expresses Strong disapproval of Turkey’s provocative new unilateral actions in the Eastern Mediterranean, including recent research activities. The European Council calls on Turkey to respect the resolutions 550 and 789 of the UN Security Council and emphasizes the importance of the Varos regime, and reiterates its full solidarity with Greece and Cyprus “, reads the text of the conclusions of the EU leaders and continues:
“The European Council calls on Turkey to: reverse these actions and work to reduce stress consistently and systematically. It will continue to closely monitor the issue to follow up on its October 2, 2020 findings. “
For the arms embargo
The new conclusions text on Turkey no longer includes a reference to a possible arms embargo.
In particular, the reference to the previous text has been removed, underlining that “the European Council reiterates the commitment of all EU Member States to firm national positions on the policy of arms exports to Turkey”.
According to two diplomats, the language has also been “softened” compared to an initial plan to give Turkey a week-long ultimatum to withdraw the research vessel Oruç Reis from Greek waters.
THE Turkish provocation in Aegean Y Eastern mediterranean was at the center of their discussions EU Summit, on your second business day.
The leaders of the 27 member states discussed the issue of Turkish crime following the latest developments, even though it was not on the agenda of the current European Council.
Greece and Cyprus pressed today for a tougher European Union response to Turkey’s disputed search for natural gas in the eastern Mediterranean after Ankara resumed operations on a research vessel.
Mitsotakis: we raised the issue of the arms embargo
“I and President Anastasiadis and I have asked for an explicit reference to the text of the conclusions and the heads of state have agreed and there is an explicit reference to Turkey respecting the UN resolutions and asking Turkey to reverse these actions,” he said. Kyriakos Mitsotakis, referring to Turkey during the press conference after the EU Summit.
“We had to go a long way to explain to our partners,” he added. The conclusions reaffirmed today clearly say that there will be period of time in which Turkey’s behavior will be assessed and decisions will be made at the December Summit, Mr. Mitsotakis said.
At the Summit, the Prime Minister, as he said, raised another issue. He recalled that “in previous Summit decisions on Turkish aggression in Turkey there was a reference by the arms embargo in Ankara. It would be a sign of solidarity, either as the EU or individually by each state, to follow that path. “
Merkel: We agreed that Ankara’s actions further increase tensions
“At the summit, we agreed that Ankara’s actions in the eastern Mediterranean further increase tensions in the region,” he said. Angela Merkel after the conclusion of the Summit.
According to the German Chancellor, improving ties with Turkey is beneficial for both the European Union and Ankara.
Regarding Brexit, he stressed that neither the EU nor Britain want a “profitable” deal. “As regards the EU and myself, I am in favor of continuing negotiations, but we should also look for alternatives,” he said.
