Imposing sanctions on Ankara will not resolve the Cyprus-Turkey row over natural resources drilling in the Mediterranean Sea, Secretary-General of the Cypriot Progressive Party of Working People (AKEL) Andros Kyprianou told Sputnik
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st July, 2019) Imposing sanctions on Ankara will not resolve the Cyprus-Turkey row over natural resources drilling in the Mediterranean Sea, Secretary-General of the Cypriot Progressive Party of Working People (AKEL) Andros Kyprianou told Sputnik.The row over natural resources near Cyprus escalated in May, when Turkey's drill ship Fatih anchored west of the island. Cyprus issued international arrest warrants for the crew of Fatih. EU leaders in late June asked the EU diplomatic service and the European Commission to submit measures that could be used to counter Turkey's "illegal drilling activities."
"For us, it is not a priority, it is not to impose sanctions on Turkey because sanctions will not open the road to the negotiations. For us, it is of vital importance to find a way to terminate the Turkish provocations and to restart the negotiations. So this should be the aim of [Cyprus President Nicos] Anastasiades," Kyprianou said, when asked if potential EU restrictions would help.
The lawmaker remarked that Cyprus appreciated the support of the European Union and the United Nation, but it was "not enough."
"For us it is of vital importance to find a way to terminate the Turkish provocations and to restart the negotiations. So this should be the aim of [Cypriot President Nicos] Anastasiades. And of course if we are not successful in this then we should think about imposing sanctions on Turkey as well," Kyprianou said.
Turkey has said it was drilling inside its own continental shelf and not breaching any international laws. It has recently sent a second drilling vessel to the area, despite clear opposition on part of the European Union.
Ankara, which rejects the exclusive economic zone claims of the Republic of Cyprus, has long been at odds with Nicosia over the status of Northern Cyprus a part of the island inhabited mostly by Turkish Cypriots. Turkey is the only country to recognize it as an independent state.
