BRUSSELS: The European Union on Thursday imposed sanctions on two individuals over their role in Turkey drilling for hydrocarbons off the coast of Cyprus, subjecting them to travel bans to the bloc and asset freezes.
The European Council did not name them. The move followed November’s decision to impose economic sanctions.
“These persons are responsible for or involved in planning, directing and implementing offshore hydrocarbon exploration activities in the Eastern Mediterranean which have not been authorized by the Republic of Cyprus,” it said in a statement.
Cyprus’s internationally recognized government discovered offshore gas in 2011 but has been at loggerheads with Turkey over maritime zones around the island, where it has granted licenses to multinational companies for oil and gas research.
Turkey, which does not have diplomatic relations with Cyprus’s government, says it is operating in waters on its own continental shelf or areas where Turkish Cypriots have rights.
Ankara has for years sought to join the European Union, the world’s biggest trading bloc, but has run into opposition from some EU countries.
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EU imposes sanctions on two people over Turkey’s hydrocarbon drilling off Cyprus
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EU imposes sanctions on two people over Turkey’s hydrocarbon drilling off Cyprus
- The move followed November’s decision to impose economic sanctions
- Turkey says says it is operating in waters on its own continental shelf or areas where Turkish Cypriots have rights
German foreign minister says he confident NATO will remain as is
- Wadephul said NATO was “the most successful defense alliance in the world”
BERLIN: German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said on Wednesday that he had no doubt that NATO’s members remained united and was confident that the defense alliance would remain as it is.
“The United States stands by the defense of the alliance and also stands by its alliance with Europe,” Wadephul told a joint press conference in Paris with his counterparts from India, France and Poland.
“I have not the slightest doubt that we stand together in the closest possible unity and that this alliance will remain exactly what it has always been: the most successful defense alliance in the world,” he added.
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