EU condemns Turkey’s continuous drilling for gas in Cyprus regional water

BRUSSELS, (ST)- The European Union has condemned the Turkish regime’s continuous illegal drilling for gas off the Cypriot coast despite calls for stopping these excavation acts.

The EU held the Turkish regime responsible for “aggravating the differences” between the two sides.  

In a joint statement issued last night, the foreign ministers of the 27 EU member countries renewed their call on the Turkish regime to stop such activities and respect Cyprus’s sovereignty and rights. They regretted this regime’s noncompliance with the EU’s repeated calls for abandoning such moves.

 The ministers hailed the Cypriot efforts for negotiations on this issue, stressing that the latest Turkish escalation led the situation towards a wrong path.

Last July, the EU approved a set of political and financial sanctions against the Turkish regime over its continuous illegal drilling for gas in the Cypriot regional water.

 Hamda Mustafa