This article was published in LOGI's July 2020 newsletter in partnership with Kulluna Irada. 

French President Emmanuel Macron has called on the European Union to sanction Turkey following a decision by Ankara to undertake a new round of seismic research activity near a Greek island in the Eastern Mediterranean. 

“What’s at stake is a power struggle in particular of Turkey and Russia, which are asserting themselves more and more and in the face of which the EU is still doing too little,” Macron said during a joint news conference with Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades in late July.

Macron called Turkey’s actions a “provocation” and accused it of “violations” of Greek and Cypriot maritime zones. 

A Turkish foreign ministry spokesman responded that Ankara  “cannot be threatened by sanctions. But Turkey has since halted its research activity and expressed readiness to engage in dialogue with Greek authorities without preconditions. 

Turkey has been at the center of growing tensions in the East Med due to its unilateral seismic research and hydrocarbon exploration activities off the coast of Cyprus. It has been engaged in a long dispute with Greece over the extent of its maritime zone and continental shelf.

Photo Source: BalkanInsight