BRUSSELS – Speaking from the European Union capital, Greece’s major opposition New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis repeated his call for Turkey to return two Greek soldiers being held after accidentally crossing the border during a storm while on patrol near an area where Turkey lets refugees and migrants try to sneak across into Greece. In a draft common statement, 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.”

The draft noted that “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 draft also expressed “grave concern” about the continued detention of EU citizens in Turkey and called for the “swift and positive resolution of these issues in a dialogue with member-states.”

Arriving at the Brussels summit, Tsipras said it was important the EU insist on Turkey respecting international laws but also to keep dialogue open with Ankara. Despite tension between the two countries, and with worries Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has been stepping up provocations, will use the Greek soldiers as bargaining chips to force the return of eight Turkish soldiers seeking asylum after fleeing a failed coup against him, a coming EU-Turkey meeting in Bulgaria is still on.
The European Union calls on Turkey to cease military actions aimed at enforcing Turkish claims to disputed natural gas deposits. The bloc also asks Turkey to release detained EU citizens.