EU sanctions on Turkey well short of the circumstances
Statement by AKEL C.C. Spokesperson Stefanos Stefanou on the sanctions approved by the EU Foreign Affairs Council
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 16 July 2019, Nicosia
The Conclusions resulting from yesterday’s EU Foreign Affairs Council in relation to Turkey’s illegal activities in the Eastern Mediterranean have confirmed AKEL’s concerns and assessments.
Cyprus correctly sought the imposition of sanctions on Turkey. But the sanctions adopted yesterday on Turkey are well short of the circumstances and magnitude of Turkey’s aggressiveness. They are also well short of the government’s expectations, and of the Foreign Minister in particular.
The approval of targeted measures wasn’t achieved and what has been decided by the Council is merely to continue the exploration of such options. It is clear that neither the sanctions adopted, nor the verbal appeals issued by the Council can force Turkey to stop drilling and all its other illegal activities in the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Republic of Cyprus.
The government must to reflect on the situation. Neither the Trilateral Greece meetings between Cyprus, Israel and Greece, nor Cyprus’ military co-operation with US-Israel have prevented Turkish drillings and provocative actions against Cyprus. Neither are effective sanctions being imposed on Turkey by Cyprus’ partners in the EU, nor is the international community assigning responsibility on the occupying power for the stalemate surrounding the Cyprus problem. If the government does not realize that its policy has led to a dangerous deadlock, then things are much more worrying.
The prolonged gap in negotiations is worsening the situation both to the detriment of Cyprus’ sovereign rights, as well as to the prospect of the solution of the Cyprus problem.
The only option is the commitment to the goal of the resumption of the negotiations on the basis of the Guterres Framework, without terms and with the termination of the Turkey’s provocative actions as the sole precondition.
