Turkey is out to control the Mediterranean
Turkish
President Recep
Tayyip Erdoğan keeps provoking and challenging the international community by
maintaining drilling for mineral resources in the East Mediterranean.
Ankara continues to
follow a policy that challenges neighboring states and threatens to stoke
tensions in the region.
Drilling off
Cyprus
The Turkish
government said it would keep drilling off the coast of Cyprus, having sent
three drilling ships to the area. A fourth ship is on its way to the East
Mediterranean.
In July last year,
the European Union imposed sanctions on Turkey against the background of its
continued exploration off the coast of Cyprus and in the East Mediterranean.
The EU also suspended
talks with Ankara over a civil aviation agreement. It also halted talks on it
on a partnership agreement.
The EU approved a
proposal by its commission to reduce aid to Turkey. Meanwhile, the European
Investment Bank called for revising prospective loans to Turkey.
The EU warned earlier
against the negative effects of Turkish practices in the Mediterranean. It
called on Turkey to refrain from these practices and abide by good
neighborliness principles, which include respecting the sovereignty of Cyprus.
Status quo
Turkey works to
impose the status quo, when it comes to the exploration of minerals in the
region. It stepped up its hostile rhetoric, especially after a group of
Mediterranean countries declared the East Mediterranean Gas Forum in Egypt last
year.
Cyprus has been
divided along ethnic lines since 1974, in the aftermath of a Greek coup that
was followed by Turkish military interference.
Efforts by the United
Nations to reunify the island came against a hard wall, including a round of
negotiations in July 2017.
