Turkey Slams 'Biased' EU Med Statement

World

September 11th, 10:49am

Asharq Al-Awsat

French President Emmanuel Macron gives a news conference in Ajaccio, on the Mediterranean Island of Corsica, France September 10, 2020. Ludovic Marin/Pool via REUTERS

Turkey on Friday branded as "biased" a statement by southern European leaders threatening to draw up a list of new sanctions on Ankara in its standoff with Greece over eastern Mediterranean energy and maritime rights. Leaders of seven European countries on the Mediterranean said on Thursday they were ready to back EU sanctions against Turkey if Ankara shunned dialogue on escalating tensions in the sea. French President Emmanuel Macron hosted the leaders of six other EU states, including Greece, for a summit in Corsica in the hope of finding common ground ahead of the next EU summit this month. Showing again his anger against Turkey under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Macron said before the summit that the NATO ally was no longer a partner in the eastern Mediterranean, and that its people "deserved something" different to the way the government currently behaved. The final statement of the leaders made clear that sanctions were on the table if Turkey failed to end its "confrontational actions." "We regret that Turkey has not responded to the repeated calls by the European Union to end its unilateral and illegal activities in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea," the communique said. "We maintain that in absence of progress in engaging Turkey into a dialogue and unless it ends its unilateral activities, the EU is ready to develop a list of further restrictive measures," the leaders said, adding these could be discussed at the European Council on 24-25 September. But the Turkish Foreign Ministry said Thursday that the expressions in the joint communique “are biased, disconnected from reality and lack a legal basis.” Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hami Aksoy said that Greece needed to "unconditionally sit at the negotiating table with Turkey" in order to achieve dialogue and cooperation in the region, adding Athens needed to withdraw its military ships from around Turkey's Oruc Reis survey vessel in order to de-escalate tensions.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2501786/turkey-slams-biased-eu-med-statement