Turkey threatens EU with a response if further sanctions are imposed

Turkey continues its aggressive diplomacy and ignores warnings concerning its belligerent stance in the area of the Mediterranean Sea. The last to speak out was the Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, in response to warnings from the European Union (EU) following the visit of the EU High Representative Josep Borrell to Ankara to meet with the Turkish diplomat. 

The Eurasian nation has been developing an expansionist strategy in the Mediterranean arc for months, which resulted in active involvement in the civil wars in Libya and Syria and in extending its influence in economic areas which are in conflict with the maritime borders of nations such as Cyprus and Greece, members of the EU, with the firm objective of consolidating its gas and oil prospections in the area. The military involvement of the nation led by Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the North African and Arab country is unacceptable to much of the international community; More so, taking into account that Turkey assigned to these conflicts mercenaries in salary linked to former branches of jihadist terrorist groups such as Daesh or Al-Qaeda, as already reported by several media, in order to fight alongside the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA), led by Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj, and to settle in the northwest of the Syrian territory, around Idlib, the last bastion of the insurgents fighting against the Syrian regime of Bachar al-Asad.  

Turkey has a great geostrategic and financial interest in this area. In fact, one of the remarkable facts was the pact signed by Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Fayez Sarraj in November 2019 by which the Eurasian country assured the military support to the GNA against its rival of the Libyan National Army (LNA) of Marshal Khalifa Haftar and by which, as a compensation, the distribution of exclusive economic zones in the Mediterranean area took place, denounced by Cypriots and Greeks for violating their maritime jurisdiction.  

After meeting with Josep Borrell, Mevlut Cavusoglu assured that his country would respond in its own steps if the EU imposed further sanctions on Ankara. In this regard, France announced last week that EU foreign ministers will discuss the issue of Turkey on July 13 and said that further sanctions against the Ottoman country could be considered, in addition to the measures taken in response to Turkey's drilling in the economic zone corresponding to Cyprus, a country integrated into the EU sphere. 

“If the EU takes additional decisions against Turkey, we will have to respond to this,” said Mr Cavusoglu at a press conference with Josep Borrell in the administrative capital of Turkey. 

As relations between Ankara and the EU deteriorate, the bloc in February imposed a travel ban and asset freezes on two people for their roles in their unlawful exploration of Cypriot waters. In this vein, Cyprus remains an important battleground for the intra-island confrontation between the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and the Greek Cypriot south. The island was divided in two in 1974, when Turkey intervened in response to the coup d'état that sought to annex the island to Greece, and the conflict continues today. The Republic of Cyprus controls the south and is the only entity recognized internationally, being a member of the EU since 2004; while in the northern region the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was proclaimed, only recognized by Turkey, the country on which it depends for subsistence. 

At this point, the Greek Cypriot Government sealed agreements over the past few years with Egypt, Israel and Lebanon for the delimitation of its own exclusive economic zone, under which it has already granted several exploration and drilling licences. Meanwhile, from the Turkish Cypriot side, their rights are considered to be violated by not being taken into consideration when concluding such important international covenants. The Executive aligned with the Greek power pointed out that the benefits of these gas agreements will be passed on to the Turkish Cypriots once the reunification agreement is reached, something that seems to be very far away since all attempts to do so have failed so far. In this scenario, on May 16 the EU condemned the operations of the Turkish drilling ship Yavuz which has been operating in Cyprus since April. 

Mevlut Cavusoglu criticised the EU for not keeping its promises, for issues such as the Cyprus dispute and the 2016 agreement on migrants. He said Turkey would not allow itself to be held hostage by Greece and Cyprus, and called on the EU to be an “honest broker”.

This year, tens of thousands of migrants tried to cross into Greece over land and sea borders after Ankara said it would no longer stop them. The flow has since slowed but Mr Cavusoglu said Turkey “will continue to implement its decision”.

The tension between Turkey and the EU had become clear during the press conference led by Mevlut Cavusoglu and Josep Borrell. The Turkish foreign minister openly criticised his guest for an alleged lack of impartiality on the part of the EU in supporting Greece and Cyprus with regard to Turkey's gas exploration problems.

"The root of the problem is that the Greek Cypriots are conducting unilateral gas exploration without regard for the rights of the Turkish Cypriots. So we also send ships," Cavusoglu said. "The Greek side considers itself the sole owner of the island and the EU supports it. I have told Borrell that the EU should be part of the solution, not part of the problem. If the EU becomes a fair, equidistant broker, we can work with it," he said. 

Josep Borrell has already made clear on Monday with his statements on the "wide disagreements" between Brussels and Ankara. "The situation is far from ideal. Libya, Syria, immigration and also the extraction of gas in the Mediterranean need more dialogue", explained Borrell. "The aim of the visit was not to conclude a concrete agreement, but to measure the temperature, to share concerns, but it was clear for both sides that there are broad disagreements," said the EU foreign policy chief, without forgetting that dialogue is necessary between the parties. 

The EU's top diplomat reiterated the EU's full support for the Cypriot position in the dispute over the delimitation of the maritime exclusive economic zone to the west of the island, where both Nicosia and Ankara are claiming rights. "In some cases there must be bilateral negotiations and in others, such as Cyprus, they must be more than bilateral, but it is clear that the EU supports Greece and Cyprus," he said. "The solution is to avoid any kind of provocation and to negotiate according to the Maritime Law, which has different interpretations, but the EU supports the Greek and Cypriot interpretation," Borrell said. 

As for the burning issue of Libya and Syria, Josep Borrell also addressed it in his subsequent meeting with Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar. "The ceasefire in Syria is very weak, but it seems that the coronavirus has also reduced military activity. Turkey must keep the border open so that humanitarian aid can continue to be sent to hundreds of thousands of people," Borrell said. 

With respect to Libya, he stressed that Turkish military support to Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj, the prime minister of the GNA recognised by the EU and the United Nations (UN), "has reversed the situation" of the civil war, in which Marshal Jalifa Haftar is trying to control the territory. 

As for the recent naval incident in the Mediterranean, in which, according to the French executive, Turkish warships threatened a French frigate that was trying to inspect a vessel suspected of violating the arms embargo on Libya, Borrell said that Akar explained the Turkish version to him, saying that such events are "unacceptable" among NATO members.