[ad_1]
- The EU has given Turkey an ultimatum on gas exploration in the eastern Mediterranean.
- Turkey is threatened with new punitive measures if there is no progress in the dialogue in the coming weeks.
- Greece and Cyprus claim the maritime zone for themselves and have long demanded more support from their EU partners in their dispute with Turkey.
- Turkey maintains that the area where the ship searches for natural gas belongs to the Turkish continental shelf.
EU foreign representative Joseph Borrell made it clear that a list of new punitive measures could be discussed at the special EU summit on September 24 if the dialogue with Turkey does not produce any progress. These would also include economic sanctions, Borrell said after consultations with EU foreign ministers in Berlin.
Turkey’s behavior generates frustration
Borrell also announced that work on new EU entry bans and planned property freezes due to illegal drilling in Cyprus should be accelerated and completed quickly. “It is clear that there is growing frustration with Turkey’s behavior,” he said, referring to Turkey’s ongoing gas exploration.
We want to give diplomacy a chance, and Turkey must create the conditions for it and refrain from the provocations that, unfortunately, we have to face again and again.
As host of the meeting, Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas made a similar statement, describing the relationship between the EU and Turkey as “more than burdened.” At the same time, she emphasized: “We want to give diplomacy a chance, and Turkey must create the conditions for this and refrain from the provocations that we unfortunately have to face time and time again.” It was agreed that issues of international law should be submitted to the International Court of Justice for clarification.
The Turkish research vessel “Oruc Reis” has been searching for natural gas in the eastern Mediterranean off the Greek islands and western Cyprus since the second week of August.
Keystone
Dissent over belonging to the waters
Greece and Cyprus have long demanded tougher sanctions due to Turkey’s gas exploration. They believe that they are made in their maritime zones and are therefore illegal. Turkey rejects the accusations. It takes the position that the waters in which it seeks natural gas belong to its continental shelf, even if they are near the Greek islands of Rhodes and Kastelorizo.
The EU had already imposed the first entry bans and asset freezes in February. It was also decided in 2019 to restrict the allocation of EU funds and to suspend negotiations on an air transport agreement.
The controversy had come to a head recently due to the start of a new fact-finding mission in Turkey. There is a similar conflict on the island of Cyprus, off whose coast rich reserves of natural gas have already been discovered.
