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“We agreed that the unilateral measures recently taken by Turkey, of a clearly provocative nature, lead to an increase in tensions instead of reducing them. This behavior is very unfortunate and unnecessary,” Merkel told reporters at a European Union summit in Brussels.
On Friday, European Council President Charles Michel condemned what he called Turkey’s “provocations” and criticized Ankara’s resumption of gas exploration in the eastern Mediterranean.
Concluding a summit in Brussels, Michel said: “We condemn the unilateral actions and provocations of Turkey”, and stressed that the European Union intends to study the situation in December, to consider sanctions against Ankara, according to the “Agence France-Presse “.
Turkey withdrew the ship from disputed waters in the eastern Mediterranean last month to “allow diplomacy” before a European Union summit discussed imposing sanctions on Turkey.
However, Ankara has returned to send the research vessel “Oroch Prime” to explore for oil and gas in the eastern Mediterranean, specifically near the Greek island of Castillo Rizzo.
Ankara also announced live ammunition military exercises in the Aegean Sea, in response to what Turkish officials describe as the transfer of weapons by Greek authorities to islands off the Turkish mainland.
To further complicate the situation, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a controversial statement on Wednesday saying that “Turkey will give Greece the response it deserves in the eastern Mediterranean.”
In a speech in Ankara, Erdogan added: “We will continue to give Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration the response they deserve on the ground.”
Earlier, Turkey’s Energy Minister Fatih Donmez said that a Turkish exploration ship had arrived at its site of operations in the eastern Mediterranean and began recording readings on Wednesday.
Greece described the move as a “major escalation” in their dispute over sovereign maritime rights and the right to oil and gas resources in the region.
On Tuesday, the United States criticized Turkey’s decision to return the ship, accusing it of unilaterally stoking the tension and “intentionally” complicating the resumption of talks with Greece.
