EU to sanction Turkey over gas-drilling activities
At a summit in Brussels Thursday, European leaders appeared ready to impose sanctions on Turkish individuals and companies linked to energy-prospecting activities in the eastern Mediterranean Sea that have raised regional tensions over the last year.
ISTANBUL — European leaders were expected to approve sanctions on Turkey during a European Council summit Thursday, in which bloc members appeared ready to agree on punitive measures regarding Ankara’s energy-prospecting activities in contested parts of the eastern Mediterranean Sea.
According to a draft statement seen by Reuters, the sanctions will likely be imposed on individuals and companies linked to gas drilling activities near Greece and Cyprus that have raised regional tensions over the last year.
The sanctions would expand on a 2019 framework through which the European Union can impose sanctions on people, companies or organizations linked to energy-prospecting activities in contested areas. In February 2020, EU officials approved travel bans and asset freezes for two Turkish officials — the vice president and a deputy director of the Turkish Petroleum Corporation.
Assessing the EU’s approach to de-escalating eastern Mediterranean tensions with Turkey, Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, Ankara director for the German Marshall Fund, noted bloc members have diverging interests and motivations toward Ankara. The disunity, he said, has resulted in sanctions discussions that lack a clear objective as well as appropriate measures to achieve a desired outcome.
