{"id":105446,"date":"2020-12-11T11:39:47","date_gmt":"2020-12-11T03:39:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=105446"},"modified":"2020-12-11T11:39:48","modified_gmt":"2020-12-11T03:39:48","slug":"eu-plans-more-sanctions-against-turkey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=105446","title":{"rendered":"EU plans more sanctions against Turkey"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"\/<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

BRUSSELS, Dec 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — EU leaders decided on Friday to draw up a list of Turkish targets for sanctions in response to Ankara\u2019s prospecting
for gas in Greek and Cypriot waters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe council adopted sanctions in the face of Turkey\u2019s \u2018unilateral actions
and provocations\u2019,\u201d French minister for European affairs Clement Beaune
tweeted, citing the conclusions agreed by the bloc\u2019s 27 leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A diplomat said the sanctions would target individuals and that further
measures could be imposed \u201cif Turkey pursues its actions\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There will be disappointment in Athens that the leaders, meeting at a
summit in Brussels, did not agree to seek an arms embargo or to target entire sector\u2019s of Turkey\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the conclusions, released by a European Council spokesman, called for a list to be drawn up of targets for \u201crestrictive measures\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The leaders mandated chief EU diplomat Josep Borrell to prepare a report on more measures that could be taken to \u201cexpand the scope\u201d of the action, to be submitted by next March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe idea is to turn the vice progressively,\u201d a diplomat said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTurkey has engaged in unilateral actions and provocations and escalated
its rhetoric against the EU, EU Member States and European leaders,\u201d the
leaders said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTurkish unilateral and provocative activities in the Eastern Mediterranean
are still taking place, including in Cyprus\u2019s exclusive economic zone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the eve of the EU summit, Turkey\u2019s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
dismissed the sanctions threat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTurkey does not care much about any sanctions decision to be made by the
EU,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe EU has never treated us honestly. The EU has never stood by any
promise it has given us but we always remained patient and we are still
patient.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greece, with French backing, has led the charge for tougher EU action
against Turkey, which has repeatedly sent a gas drilling vessel into disputed
waters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the \u201ccredibility of the
European Union\u201d was at stake as he arrived at Thursday\u2019s summit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He noted that the leaders had already agreed in October that something must be done about Turkey\u2019s increasingly assertive actions in his region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is the moment to show whether we, as Europe, really are credible in
what we have agreed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some members of the European Union and of NATO \u2014 the military alliance
that includes both Greece and Turkey \u2014 have been more cautious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Germany has led diplomatic outreach aimed at resolving the dispute, and
NATO has set up a military hotline to head off accidental clashes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking just ahead of the summit, NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg
tried to soothe tempers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He noted that Turkey was hosting around four million refugees, more than
any other NATO ally, and that the country had suffered from terrorist
attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are differences, there are disagreements, we need to address them,\u201d
Stoltenberg said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt the same time, we need to make sure that we realise the importance of
Turkey as part of NATO and also as part of the Western family.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turkey\u2019s relationship with western allies has become increasingly strained
in recent months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The United States has been infuriated by Ankara\u2019s purchase of the Russian
S-400 missile system, which is incompatible with NATO\u2019s air defence grid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turkey has also been accused of breaching the UN arms embargo on Libya,
where it is backing the Tripoli government in the civil war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And Turkish support is seen as having encouraged Azerbaijan to resume a
long-dormant conflict with Armenia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

French President Emmanuel Macron has engaged in an increasingly bitter and personal war of words with Erdogan, and has called for EU solidarity with Greece. — NNN-AGENCIES<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BRUSSELS, Dec 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — EU leaders decided on Friday to draw up a list of Turkish targets for sanctions in response to Ankara\u2019s prospectingfor gas in Greek and Cypriot waters. \u201cThe council adopted sanctions in the face of Turkey\u2019s \u2018unilateral actionsand provocations\u2019,\u201d French minister for European affairs Clement Beaunetweeted, citing the conclusions agreed by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":105447,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[209,217],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105446"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=105446"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105446\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/105447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=105446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=105446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=105446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}