Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has confidently said that he does not believe the European Union will sanction Turkey for its violation of Greek and Cypriot maritime space and Continental shelves for over a month.
He made the comments just a day after the Oruç Reis research vessel finally returned to port after more than a month of violating the sovereignty of two EU members.
It is expected that on a European Union leaders meeting on September 24-25 that a decision will be made to sanction Turkey for its defiance of international law and its threats of war against Greece and Cyprus.
The EU says it fully supports member states Greece and Cyprus in their dispute with Turkey and has said it is drawing up potential sanctions if dialogue does not begin. The bloc’s leaders could make a decision at a summit on Sept. 24-25.
Çavuşoğlu says Turkey wants talks without pre-conditions, but Greece will not accept this as talks can only be conducted when Turkey has ended its aggression.
But sanctions will likely occur, especially Turkey has announced that it will renew its law breaking seismic research in the Greek and Cypriot continental shelves.
“It could be against our ship, our company, individuals. They took such decisions in the past. Have we given up on our determination? No, our determination increased,” Çavuşoğlu told broadcaster NTV.
Turkish Presidential spokesman İbrahim Kalın tweeted on Monday that a peaceful solution could be found.
“Greece and EU countries must not waste the chance given for diplomacy and must take reciprocal steps,” he said, without elaborating what he exactly meant by "the chance for diplomacy" considering Turkey has promised to send more warships into Greece's continental shelf.
In a brief visit to Cyprus on Saturday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States remains “deeply concerned” about Turkey’s actions at sea, prompting Ankara to demand that Washington be neutral to its aggression against Greece and Cyprus.
