A draft text on measures against Turkey prepared by COREPER, the silent approval procedure for which ended without any objections by member states, is set to be presented before the EU Foreign Affairs Council, on Monday for adoption, CNA sources have said.
The text was drafted by the Permanent Representatives of the 28 EU Member States (COREPER) regarding the measures against Turkey, due to the continuing and escalating illegal activities within the Republic of Cyprus’ territorial waters and its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The Council`s silent approval procedure ended in Brussels today without any objections raised by member states, CNA sources said, which means the text will be presented before the FAC for adoption on Monday.
As regards the substance of the measures, as was provided for by the texts proposed by the Commission and the European Exernal Action Service (EEAS) it is envisaged that enlargement funds of €146 million from the pre-accession funds of Turkey will be cut, the investment activity of the European Investment Bank in Turkey will be frozen, the EU-Turkey aviation agreement will be frozen and a series of high-level EU-Turkey dialogues will be cancelled.
The EU 28 will also continue to closely follow developments and will call on the High Representative and the Commission to continue their work for possible targeted measures in view of Turkey’s continued illegal actions within the Republic of Cyprus’ territorial waters and EEZ.
Turkey issued in May a navigational telex, announcing its intention to start drilling off Cyprus until September 3. Since May 4, the Turkish drill ship “Fatih” is anchored in an area that falls within the EEZ and continental shelf of the Republic of Cyprus.
A second Turkish drill ship, “Yavuz”, arrived off the island’s northeastern coast on Monday.
(Cyprus News Agency)
