Turkey criticises EU for continued reference to sanctions

The Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Friday many areas of the European Union summit decisions concerning Turkey were “divorced from realities”, voicing concern about the bloc’s continued reference to possible sanctions against Ankara.

“It is not constructive to continue to use the language of sanctions and describe the steps taken by our country to defend our rights and those of Turkish Cypriots as illegal,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a written statement.

It said Greek and Turkish Cypriots needed to be brought together to establish a mechanism to coordinate their hydrocarbon activities and ensure the just sharing of revenues between the two sides of the divided island.

“As long as this is not achieved, the Turkish Cypriot side will continue with its hydrocarbon activities by means of (Turkish energy company) TPAO,” it added.