EU leaders were on Thursday set to condemn Turkey’s provocative actions in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean and express “full solidarity with Cyprus and Greece” at the meeting of the European Council in Brussels.

According to a text of the draft conclusions, the summit would “strongly condemn Turkey’s continued illegal actions in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea”.

The draft reads that “recalling its conclusions of October 2014 and the Declaration of September 21, 2005, the European Council urgently calls on Turkey to cease these actions and respect the sovereign right of Cyprus to explore and exploit its natural resources in accordance with EU and International Law.”

It further calls on Turkey to respect international law and good neighbourly relations, “and normalize relations with all EU Member States, including the Republic of Cyprus.”

Citing sources, state broadcaster CyBC said the Cypriot delegation in Brussels were satisfied with the draft text.

Speaking from the Belgian capital, government spokesman Prodromos Prodromou said Nicosia anticipated a ‘strong statement’ from the European Council.

“We are expecting clear support for the sovereignty of the Republic of Cyprus and its sovereign rights. We expect that, going forward, the European Council’s conclusions will form the basis for shaping EU-Turkey relations.”

According to the spokesman, Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone is a part of Europe and should be seen as such.

Earlier in the day and ahead of the summit, president Nicos Anastasiades met in Brussels with president of the European Council Donald Tusk to discuss the agenda and Turkey’s behaviour in the Eastern Mediterranean.

The meeting took place in a constructive atmosphere, and according to a government source, Anastasiades placed emphasis on Turkey’s behaviour, which was contrary to Tusk`s recommendations in his statement after the informal summit of February 23.

Anastasiades also highlighted the need to send a clear message to Turkey through the summit`s conclusions, which Tusk will also convey to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan at the EU- Turkey summit taking place next week in Varna, Bulgaria.

Last month, a drill ship contracted by Italian oil and gas firm Eni to explore offshore Cyprus was forced to abandon the area, after Turkish warships blocked its path to its target in Block 3 of Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone.

Despite criticism of Ankara’s human rights record as well as its recent military entanglement in Syria, the EU needs Turkey’s cooperation in tightening the lid on immigration into Europe from the Middle East.</s>President Erdoğan says he will not let natural reserves be exploited by Greek Cypriots

A showdown over natural gas and oil deposits in the seas off Cyprus is set to intensify, with Turkey announcing it is to send a drilling ship to the region days after the US energy company ExxonMobil dispatched its own survey vessels to the area.

As tensions flare over the potential spoils off the divided island, the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has declared he will not tolerate the prospect of reserves being exploited by Greek Cypriots at a time when his country is engaged in conflicts elsewhere, not least against Kurdish fighters in northern Syria.



Last month, Turkish warships were ordered to prevent drilling operations by ENI, an Italian energy company commissioned by Cyprus’s government, in what was seen as a brazen act of brinkmanship.

Turkey argues the self-proclaimed Turkish republic of Northern Cyprus should also be allowed to exploit the offshore wealth, claiming that areas designated for drilling fall under Ankara’s maritime jurisdiction or that of the Turkish Cypriots.



“Hopefully it has been instructive for some who saw an opportunity to act unilaterally when Turkey is engaged in anti-terrorism operations elsewhere,” Erdoğan said of the gunboat diplomacy on Tuesday, adding that Ankara would be deploying its own newly acquired drillship to the waters off Cyprus imminently.



The sabre-rattling is causing growing concern. Optimism had mounted over the east Mediterranean’s potential as a gas-producing hub after geological surveys pointed to vast reserves around Cyprus. If unlocked, the resources could reshape energy geopolitics, transforming the region economically and lessening Europe’s – and Turkey’s – dependence on Russia for gas.

“Our approach is to keep calm and go on,” the Cypriot government spokesman, Prodromos Prodromou, told the Guardian. “We cannot accept Turkey interfering and creating problems in what, as underlined by the EU, is a sovereign right to exploit our natural wealth.”

As ExxonMobil’s two ships began work, Wess Mitchell, the US state department official in charge of American policy in Europe, visited Nicosia for talks. Four foreign energy firms have been licensed to explore for oil and gas in areas off Cyprus’ southern coast.

But euphoria over an energy bonanza has run up against old enmities and the failure to reunite the island – divided since 1974 when Turkey invaded in response to a coup aimed at creating a union with Greece.

“We are heading for a full-blown crisis in the eastern Mediterranean,” said Hubert Faustmann, professor of political science at the University of Nicosia. “And that is because Turkey is determined not to allow exploitation of any resources without its consent and participation of Turkish Cypriots.”

Talks aimed at uniting Cyprus’s feuding communities collapsed last summer and it had been hoped discovery of hydrocarbons would help re-energise negotiations. The island’s president, Nicos Anastasiades, insists the offshore wealth will be shared by both communities once a solution is reached. But many now fear worse is to come.

The brinkmanship coincides with already strained relations between Greece and Turkey. Warning foreign energy companies not to “overstep the mark” last month, Erdoğan said Ankara would be prepared to take military action, just as it had done in Syria, if required.

“We recommend that foreign companies operating in Cypriot waters not trust the Greek [Cypriot] side and become a tool for business that exceeds their place and powers,” he said. “The Greeks and Greek Cypriots would stop swaggering when they saw the Turkish military with its ships and warplanes approaching.”

Erdoğan, whose Islamist AKP movement has teamed up with the nationalist MHP party in the run-up to the elections, has increasingly spoken of the need to protect Turkey from its “bad neighbours”, triggering fears among western diplomats in Athens, Ankara and Nicosia that tensions will be further stoked over Cyprus.

Despite drawing a strong rebuke from the EU, which says it is the island republic’s sovereign right to exploit the resources, the Turkish government appears unfazed by criticism of its gunboat diplomacy. Several weeks after warships sabotaged ENI’s drilling efforts, Turkey’s prime minister, Binali Yıldırım, repeated that “provocative actions will be met with the appropriate response”.

“There is a real danger of a Turkish confrontation with international drill ships,” said John Roberts, energy security specialist at the Atlantic Council. “The Turkish government does not recognise the government of Cyprus in the way the rest of the world does and that means its does not recognise the Republic of Cyprus has an exclusive economic [maritime] zone. If it pursues this argument to its logical end, it will use force to keep uninvited visitors at bay, which would put it at odds not only with the EU but partners in Nato.”

The best way to resolve the crisis speedily, he said, was for Anastasiades to come to some agreement that whatever is found is shared equitably. Even if extracted, experts have cautioned that it may take decades for the offshore resources to be commercialised at a time when markets are flooded by cheap gas. But in a region riven with competing claims over maritime boundaries, the spectre of Cyprus teaming up with Egypt and Israel to become an alternate supply hub has further incensed Turkey, itself keen to remain a major transit hub.

Egypt, which has the eastern Mediterranean’s biggest gas reserves, and has signed a key agreement with Cyprus, has also exchanged angry barbs with Ankara. With some fearing Ankara could take on ExxonMobil, officials have sought to downplay the prospect of the two survey ships running into trouble. Addressing reporters, the US ambassador to Nicosia, Kathleen Doherty, said activity would be limited to environmental and archaeological research in an area south-west of Cyprus.

Exploratory drilling – which Ankara has vowed to stop – would follow later this year. “I sincerely hope that both sides use that time to find a way to resume negotiations to reunify the island,” she said.</s>A showdown over natural gas and oil deposits in the seas off Cyprus is set to intensify, with Turkey announcing it is to send a drilling ship to the region days after the US energy company ExxonMobil dispatched its own survey vessels to the area.

As tensions flare over the potential spoils off the coast of the divided island, the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has declared he will not tolerate the prospect of reserves being exploited by Greek Cypriots at a time when his country is engaged in conflicts elsewhere, not least against Kurdish fighters in northern Syria.



Last month, Turkish warships were ordered to prevent drilling operations by ENI, an Italian energy company commissioned by Cyprus’s government, in what was seen as a brazen act of brinkmanship.

Turkey argues the self-proclaimed Turkish republic of Northern Cyprus should also be allowed to exploit the region, although others claim that areas designated for drilling fall under Ankara’s maritime jurisdiction or that of the Turkish Cypriots.

“Hopefully it has been instructive for some who saw an opportunity to act unilaterally when Turkey is engaged in anti-terrorism operations elsewhere,” Erdoğan said on Tuesday, adding that Ankara would be deploying its own newly acquired drillship to the waters off Cyprus imminently.

The sabre-rattling is causing growing concern. Optimism had mounted over the region’s potential as a gas-producing hub after geological surveys pointed to vast reserves around Cyprus. If unlocked, the resources could reshape energy geopolitics, transforming the region economically and lessening Europe’s – and Turkey’s – dependence on Russia for gas.

“Our approach is to keep calm and go on,” said a Cypriot government spokesman, Prodromos Prodromou. “We cannot accept Turkey interfering and creating problems in what, as underlined by the EU, is a sovereign right to exploit our natural wealth.”

As ExxonMobil’s two ships began work, Wess Mitchell, the US state department official in charge of American policy in Europe, visited Nicosia for talks.

But euphoria over an energy bonanza has run up against old enmities and the failure to reunite the island – divided since 1974 when Turkey invaded in response to a coup aimed at creating a union with Greece.

“We are heading for a full-blown crisis in the eastern Mediterranean,” said Hubert Faustmann, professor of political science at the University of Nicosia. “And that is because Turkey is determined not to allow exploitation of any resources without its consent and participation of Turkish Cypriots.”</s>BRUSSELS – With Turkish warships blocking Cypriot waters from foreign energy companies licensed to drill for oil and gas, European Union leaders meeting in the bloc’s capital called for it to stop and for recognition of the island by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Turkey has unlawfully occupied the northern third since a 1974 invasion and Erdogan, in the wake of collapsed reunification talks last year, sent warships into Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), part of which Turkey also claims.

Turkey – which wants to join the EU to which Cyprus belongs – refuses to recognize the legitimate government, bars Cypriot ships and planes, and has demanded a share in any potentially lucrative finds of energy while insisting Turkish-Cypriots also share in

“The European Council strongly condemns Turkey`s continued illegal actions in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea and underlines its full solidarity with Cyprus and Greece,” said the final text of the European Council’s statement, the Cyprus Mail said.

Without an army, the EU takes to issuing press releases of various concerns, grave, deep, etc. as it otherwise has little leverage even though it could further stymie Turkey’s entry hopes that were dashed when Germany and France said accession talks should halt.

“Recalling its conclusions of October 2014 and the declaration of 21 September 2005, the European Council urgently calls on Turkey to cease these actions and respect the sovereign rights of Cyprus to explore and exploit its natural resources in accordance with EU and international law,” the EU statement said.

“In this context, it recalls Turkey’s obligation to respect international law and good neighborly relations, and normalize relations with all EU member states including the Republic of Cyprus,” it added.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry responded with a blast back. “The statement that was issued contained unacceptable comments against our country that serve the interests of Greece and the Greek Cypriots,” spokesman Hami Aksoy was quoted by Agence France-Presse as telling reporters.

Earlier in the day and ahead of the summit, Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades met the President of the European Council Donald Tusk to discuss Turkey’s belligerence in the Eastern Mediterranean.

 The EU tries to walk a fine line with Turkey, speaking out during tense moments but backing off later as it needs that country’s cooperation in not letting refugees and migrants who went there after fleeing war and strife in the Middle East to get to Greek islands and try to reach more prosperous European countries before the borders were shut to them.</s>BRUSSELS (AP) - European Union leaders are set to condemn Turkey's efforts to stop natural gas exploration off Cyprus ahead of a meeting next week between top EU officials and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

In a draft statement, seen by The Associated Press, they call on Turkey "to cease these actions and respect the sovereign rights of Cyprus to explore and exploit its natural resources in accordance with EU and international law."

Last month, Turkish warships blocked a rig from reaching an area southeast of Cyprus where Italian company Eni was scheduled to drill.

Ankara said it would prevent any further drilling off Cyprus without the direct involvement of the ethnically divided island's breakaway Turkish Cypriots.

The EU leaders, meeting in Brussels Thursday, urged Turkey to normalize ties with Cyprus.</s>BRUSSELS — European Union leaders are set to condemn Turkey's efforts to stop natural gas exploration off Cyprus ahead of a meeting next week between top EU officials and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

In a draft statement, seen by The Associated Press, they call on Turkey "to cease these actions and respect the sovereign rights of Cyprus to explore and exploit its natural resources in accordance with EU and international law."

Last month, Turkish warships blocked a rig from reaching an area southeast of Cyprus where Italian company Eni was scheduled to drill.

Ankara said it would prevent any further drilling off Cyprus without the direct involvement of the ethnically divided island's breakaway Turkish Cypriots.

The EU leaders, meeting in Brussels Thursday, urged Turkey to normalize ties with Cyprus.</s>EU leaders are set to condemn Turkey’s efforts to stop natural gas exploration off Cyprus ahead of a meeting next week between top EU officials and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In a draft statement, they call on Ankara “to cease these actions and respect the sovereign rights of Cyprus to explore and exploit its natural resources in accordance with EU and international law,” AP reports. Turkey said it is ready to prevent any drilling off Cyprus without the direct involvement of the ethnically divided island’s breakaway Turkish Cypriots. The EU leaders, meeting in Brussels Thursday and Friday, urged Turkey to normalize ties with Cyprus, which was split in 1974 when Turkey invaded in response to a coup by supporters of union with Greece.</s>BRUSSELS — European Union leaders are set to condemn Turkey’s efforts to stop natural gas exploration off Cyprus ahead of a meeting next week between top EU officials and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

In a draft statement, seen by The Associated Press, they call on Turkey “to cease these actions and respect the sovereign rights of Cyprus to explore and exploit its natural resources in accordance with EU and international law.”

Last month, Turkish warships blocked a rig from reaching an area southeast of Cyprus where Italian company Eni was scheduled to drill.

Ankara said it would prevent any further drilling off Cyprus without the direct involvement of the ethnically divided island’s breakaway Turkish Cypriots.

The EU leaders, meeting in Brussels Thursday, urged Turkey to normalize ties with Cyprus.</s>BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union leaders are set to condemn Turkey's efforts to stop natural gas exploration off Cyprus ahead of a meeting next week between top EU officials and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

In a draft statement, seen by The Associated Press Thursday, they call on Turkey "to cease these actions and respect the sovereign rights of Cyprus to explore and exploit its natural resources in accordance with EU and international law."

Last month, Turkish warships blocked a rig from reaching an area southeast of Cyprus where Italian company Eni was scheduled to drill.

Ankara said it would prevent any further drilling off Cyprus without the direct involvement of the ethnically divided island's breakaway Turkish Cypriots.

The EU leaders, meeting in Brussels Thursday and Friday, urged Turkey to normalize ties with Cyprus, which was split in 1974 when Turkey invaded in response to a coup by supporters of union with Greece.

The leaders also expressed "grave concern" over the detention of EU citizens in Turkey and called for swift dialogue to have them released. Turkey is still holding two Greek soldiers who Athens says strayed across their border on March 1 due to bad weather.

Despite threats from Brussels to cancel a summit with Turkey next Monday, preparations are still going ahead and it appears Erdogan will hold talks in Varna, Bulgaria, with EU Council President Donald Tusk, Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov.

Mainly Muslim Turkey is a candidate to join the 28-nation EU but its membership talks are at a virtual standstill, in part due to tensions over Cyprus. But the EU relies on Erdogan to ensure that refugees and other migrants don't leave Turkey in search of sanctuary, jobs or better lives in Europe, and so is cautious about how it handles Ankara.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>EU Affairs Minister Ömer Çelik on Friday criticized statements from EU leaders that Turkey is illegally blocking the exploration of a potential natural gas field off the island of Cyprus.

"The statement released by EU leaders is not acceptable for Turkey," Çelik said. He added that it was the EU that accused Greek Cyprus and Greece because of the failed Crans-Montana negotiations to resolve the problem of the ethnically split island last year. He also cited the constructive and benign approach Turkey will adopt during Turkey-EU summit scheduled to take place on March 26.

EU leaders released a statement on Thursday that said Turkey is continuing illegal actions in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea.

The EU "urgently calls on Turkey to cease these actions and respect the sovereign rights of Cyprus to explore and exploit its natural resources," the statement said.

EU leaders in Brussels discussed relations with Turkey in light of the upcoming summit, with Greek Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras speaking on recent concerns.

Greek Cyprus has been trying to exclude Turkish Cyprus and Turkey, which has been conducting seismic surveys in the area and exercising its legal rights in accordance with international maritime law. The government in the south of the island last month commissioned Italian energy company ENI, which declared the discovery of a potentially sizable gas field off the southwestern coast close to Egypt's Zohr deposit, which is the largest-ever discovered in the Mediterranean. However, Turkey immediately deployed warships to the region and prevented the Italian energy firm from continuing its operations in the region. As a result, ENI's drilling vessel left the area. The disregard for Turkish Cyprus's rights in the region did not stop with the ENI vessel. Following the Turkish Navy's blockade of ENI, early in March, vessels from U.S. oil giant ExxonMobil and state-owned Qatar Petroleum consortium were reported to have arrived in the Eastern Mediterranean to conduct offshore drilling activities.

The issue has reignited old tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean. The island of Cyprus has been divided since 1974 into a predominantly Greek south, which is an EU member, and a Turkish north whose sovereignty is only recognized by Ankara.
Turkey announces it is to send a drilling boat to disputed waters claimed by both Cyprus and Northern Cyprus.