EU may revoke customs deal with Turkey should transgressions increase
The European Union is seeking ways of imposing sanctions on
Turkey in the event that its transgressions in the East Mediterranean are
scaled up, and in the wake of its decision to convert Hagia Sophia into a
mosque.
According to well-informed sources, those sanctions are
likely to include the cessation of accession talks with Ankara and of funding,
as well as the revocation of its customs union agreement with the bloc.
EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell on Monday called on
Turkey to “urgently reconsider and reverse” its decision to change the status
of the former Byzantine cathedral in Istanbul. “This decision will inevitably
fuel the mistrust, promote renewed division between religious communities and
undermine our efforts at dialog and cooperation,” he said after a summit of EU
foreign ministers.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Çavuşoğlu held is ground,
however. He said Ankara would inform the United Nations cultural body UNESCO
about the steps being taken to convert Hagia Sophia. He also accused Greece of
being “the only country without a mosque in its capital” and referred once
again to a “Turkish minority” in the northern region of Thrace where, he
claimed, Turks were being persecuted.
Accusing Greece of “maximalist positions,” Çavuşoğlu said
that Turkey had every intention of proceeding with its plans for energy
exploration in areas delineated by the Turkey-Libya maritime border memorandum,
which includes areas of the Greek continental shelf.
Cyprus President Nikos Anastasiades is due in Athens on
Tuesday for talks with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis that are expected to
focus on Turkey’s activities in the East Med that have already encroached on
Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone.
Turkey’s decision to convert Hagia Sophia into a mosque
sparked more objections on Monday. German government spokesman Steffen Seibert
expressed “regret".
Meanwhile the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece said the
monument would become “a symbol of division and fragmentation.”
