EU Considers Imposing Tougher Sanctions on Turkey

The European Union (EU) is set to impose tougher sanctions on a number of Turkish inpiduals and entities involved in drilling in contested waters in the Mediterranean Sea, according to a draft statement prepared for EU leaders to agree at a summit on Thursday.

The draft statement indicated that EU bloc countries agreed to prepare additional sanctions list already in place since 2019.

Negotiations over the two-page statement are still ongoing and Greece and Cyprus, which accuse Turkey of drilling for hydrocarbons off its continental shelf, believe the sanctions do not go far enough, according to diplomats briefed on internal discussions.

EU leaders are considering whether to make good on a threat made in October to sanction Turkey over the drilling for hydrocarbons off the coast of Cyprus and off Greece.

The Turkish decision in late November to return a seismic exploration vessel to port has calmed tensions, yet EU officials and diplomats said broader issues – over Libya, Syria, Russia, and authoritarianism in Turkey, have hardened EU positions, according to Reuters.

A senior EU official said, “I have no knowledge of any EU government challenging the view that the situation is worse than October and that leaders should consider the consequences.”

On its part, the EU said that Turkish exploration and survey ships have continued to operate in the disputed waters with Greece and Cyprus, which Greece describes as making formal talks with Turkey over maritime claims impossible.