BERLIN: The European Union is preparing sanctions against Turkey that could be discussed at the bloc's next summit on Sept. 24 in response to the eastern Mediterranean dispute with Greece, the EU's top diplomat said on Friday.
The measures, meant to limit Turkey's ability to explore for natural gas in contested waters, could affect individuals, ships or the use of European ports, Josep Borrell said. The EU would focus on everything related to "activities we consider illegal", he added.
Borrell spoke in Berlin where EU foreign ministers met to discuss support for Greece after Athens ratified a pact on its maritime boundaries to counter Turkey's claims to energy resources in the region.
In a fresh sign of tensions, Turkey's Defence Ministry said Turkish F-16 jets on Thursday prevented six Greek F-16 jets which took off from the island of Crete from entering an area where Ankara is conducting maritime activity.
Greek media reported that Turkish fighter aircraft had harassed Greek jets which were returning to base on Crete. Accusations and counter accusations on military issues are common between the two NATO allies.
In Berlin, Borrell said the bloc was ready to sanction Turkish vessels, block their access to EU ports and cut off supplies.
"We can go to measures related to sectoral activities ... where the Turkish economy is related to the European economy," Borrell told a news conference, referring to possible sanctions.
Turkey's foreign ministry said the EU had no basis for its stance and rejected Greek maritime claims. President Tayyip Erdogan told NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg Turkey will continue to protect its rights and interests everywhere.
"Our President told him NATO must fulfill its responsibility against unilateral steps which disregard international law and harm regional peace," Erdogan's office said in a statement.
France has notably taken a tough stance on Turkey's actions in the eastern Mediterranean and French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday this was to set red lines because Ankara respects actions not words.
Borrell and German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said the EU first wanted to give dialogue a chance to cool tensions.
Turkey is a formal candidate to join the EU, although its candidacy is at risk and could be withdrawn as a type of sanction, diplomats have said.
Two senior EU diplomats told Reuters that foreign ministers agreed to leave any decision to EU government leaders, who are set to meet for a two-day summit from Sept. 24.
"Nothing will be decided before the September European Council," a senior diplomat said, although the envoy added that Turkey could also be rewarded with greater access to the EU's market of 450 million consumers if it curtailed its drilling.
EU set to sanction Turkey over ships in disputed east Med exploration area
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EU set to sanction Turkey over ships in disputed east Med exploration area
- The measures could include individuals, ships or the use of European ports, said Josep Borrell
- Tensions between Turkey and Greece escalated after Ankara sent a survey vessel to disputed eastern Mediterranean waters this month
‘No one to back us’: Arab bus drivers in Israel grapple with racist attacks
- “People began running toward me and shouting at me, ‘Arab, Arab!’” recalled Khatib, a Palestinian from east Jerusalem
JERUSALEM: What began as an ordinary shift for Jerusalem bus driver Fakhri Khatib ended hours later in tragedy.
A chaotic spiral of events, symptomatic of a surge in racist violence targeting Arab bus drivers in Israel, led to the death of a teenager, Khatib’s arrest and calls for him to be charged with aggravated murder.
His case is an extreme one, but it sheds light on a trend bus drivers have been grappling with for years, with a union counting scores of assaults in Jerusalem alone and advocates lamenting what they describe as an anaemic police response.
One evening in early January, Khatib found his bus surrounded as he drove near the route of a protest by Israel’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish community.
“People began running toward me and shouting at me, ‘Arab, Arab!’” recalled Khatib, a Palestinian from east Jerusalem.
“They were cursing at me and spitting on me, I became very afraid,” he told AFP.
Khatib said he called the police, fearing for his life after seeing soaring numbers of attacks against bus drivers in recent months.
But when no police arrived after a few minutes, Khatib decided to drive off to escape the crowd, unaware that 14-year-old Yosef Eisenthal was holding onto his front bumper.
The Jewish teenager was killed in the incident and Khatib arrested.
Police initially sought charges of aggravated murder but later downgraded them to negligent homicide.
Khatib was released from house arrest in mid-January and is awaiting the final charge.
Breaking windows
Drivers say the violence has spiralled since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023 and continued despite the ceasefire, accusing the state of not doing enough to stamp it out or hold perpetrators to account.
The issue predominantly affects Palestinians from annexed east Jerusalem and the country’s Arab minority, Palestinians who remained in what is now Israel after its creation in 1948 and who make up about a fifth of the population.
Many bus drivers in cities such as Jerusalem and Haifa are Palestinian.
There are no official figures tracking racist attacks against bus drivers in Israel.
But according to the union Koach LaOvdim, or Power to the Workers, which represents around 5,000 of Israel’s roughly 20,000 bus drivers, last year saw a 30 percent increase in attacks.
In Jerusalem alone, Koach LaOvdim recorded 100 cases of physical assault in which a driver had to be evacuated for medical care.
Verbal incidents, the union said, were too numerous to count.
Drivers told AFP that football matches were often flashpoints for attacks — the most notorious being those of the Beitar Jerusalem club, some of whose fans have a reputation for anti-Arab violence.
The situation got so bad at the end of last year that the Israeli-Palestinian grassroots group Standing Together organized a “protective presence” on buses, a tactic normally used to deter settler violence against Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
One evening in early February, a handful of progressive activists boarded buses outside Jerusalem’s Teddy Stadium to document instances of violence and defuse the situation if necessary.
“We can see that it escalates sometimes toward breaking windows or hurting the bus drivers,” activist Elyashiv Newman told AFP.
Outside the stadium, an AFP journalist saw young football fans kicking, hitting and shouting at a bus.
One driver, speaking on condition of anonymity, blamed far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir for whipping up the violence.
“We have no one to back us, only God.”
‘Crossing a red line’
“What hurts us is not only the racism, but the police handling of this matter,” said Mohamed Hresh, a 39-year-old Arab-Israeli bus driver who is also a leader within Koach LaOvdim.
He condemned a lack of arrests despite video evidence of assaults, and the fact that authorities dropped the vast majority of cases without charging anyone.
Israeli police did not respond to AFP requests for comment on the matter.
In early February, the transport ministry launched a pilot bus security unit in several cities including Jerusalem, where rapid-response motorcycle teams will work in coordination with police.
Transport Minister Miri Regev said the move came as violence on public transport was “crossing a red line” in the country.
Micha Vaknin, 50, a Jewish bus driver and also a leader within Koach LaOvdim, welcomed the move as a first step.
For him and his colleague Hresh, solidarity among Jewish and Arab drivers in the face of rising division was crucial for change.
“We will have to stay together,” Vaknin said, “not be torn apart.”
