Ankara will increase its hydrocarbon exploration efforts in the eastern Mediterranean in response to the EU’s decision to sanction Turkey, the country’s foreign affairs minister said Tuesday.
On Monday, EU foreign ministers unanimously approved an initial series of measures against Turkey over Ankara’s drilling activities off the coast of Cyprus, which Brussels has condemned as “illegal.”
Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu dismissed the move, saying that there was “no need to take it very seriously,” and added: “If you [EU] take such decisions against Turkey, we will increase activities [in the Eastern Mediterranean].”
He added a fourth Turkish drill ship would be sailing to the region “as soon as possible,” according to state media agency Anadolu.
The measures agreed Monday include a cut in pre-accession funding for Turkey in 2020 — in the order of €145.8 million — and freezing negotiations on an Open Skies agreement with Turkey as well as summits and high-level meetings.
EU foreign ministers also asked the European Investment Bank to review its lending activities in Turkey and invited the Commission to work on possible sanctions targeting companies and individuals involved in the drilling activity.
Çavuşoğlu’s defiant response came on the same day that the Cypriot government shot down a proposal by Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akıncı, who suggested forming a “joint committee” to ensure both communities on the ethnically-split island can benefit from the gas found in its waters.
The Turkish Cypriot proposal, obtained by POLITICO and shared with Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker as well as EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini on Saturday, envisioned setting up a joint committee under the auspices of the EU and the United Nations.
It includes an offer by the Turkish Cypriot administration to halt any off-shore activity in disputed areas “as soon as the rights of the Turkish Cypriots over the off-shore resources of the Island are guaranteed.”
Turkey backed the proposal, Çavuşoğlu said on Sunday, but the Greek Cypriot government on Tuesday said it “cannot be accepted” since it does not tackle the resolution of the island’s 45-year-long division. Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades will reply in detail to Akıncı’s proposal, the government said.
Cyprus has been split between an ethnic Greek south and an ethnic Turkish north since Ankara’s 1974 invasion.
The Republic of Cyprus — an EU member that is internationally recognized, except by Turkey — has issued licenses to oil and gas giants, including Total, Eni and Exxon Mobil, and expects to start extracting gas by 2025.
In response, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus — recognized only by Turkey — granted licenses to Turkey’s national oil and gas company TPAO.
In May, Turkey announced it would start drilling in what is widely recognized as Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone, prompting an international uproar and condemnation from Brussels. Ankara claimed that the areas where it plans to drill are either part of its own continental shelf or in zones where Turkish Cypriots should have equal rights over any discoveries.
The Turkish secular opposition backs the government on this issue. Its leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu denounced the EU’s measures on Tuesday, saying: “We have rights in the eastern Mediterranean and we will defend these rights until the end.”
The EU’s decision to penalize Ankara come as Turkey, a NATO member, also braces for potential sanctions from the U.S. over its purchase of a Russian missile defense system.