On Monday 20 January, the foreign affairs ministers of the EU Member States asked the EU Council’s ‘Relex’ working group to move forward and finalise work on the list of persons and entities involved in illegal Turkish drilling activities in the Mediterranean, in order to implement the decision on sanctions, announced the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell.
At the ‘Foreign Affairs’ Council that preceded this announcement, the ministers were informed by their Cypriot counterpart, Nikos Christodoulides, of new illegal Turkish drilling activities.
In November, ministers adopted an empty sanctions framework (see EUROPE 12367/8).
On Saturday 18 January, the spokesperson for the European External Action Service denounced the Turkish authorities’ announcement that the drill-ship Yavuz would be sent for a new drilling operation in the Cypriot exclusive economic zone.
“Concrete measures are needed to create an environment conducive to a dialogue in good faith. Turkey’s intention to launch new exploration and drilling activities throughout the region unfortunately goes in the opposite direction”, he said, recalling the importance of respect for the international law of the sea, the principle of good neighbourly relations and sovereignty and sovereign rights over maritime zones. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)