Turkey will increase its activities in the Eastern Mediterranean and it will send its 4th ship to the region, the country’s Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on Tuesday.
“If you [EU] take such decisions against Turkey, we will increase activities [in the Eastern Mediterranean]. We have three ships in the Eastern Mediterranean. We will send the 4th one as soon as possible,” Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said at a news conference in North Macedonia.
Çavuşoğlu’s remarks came a day after the EU Foreign Affairs Council adopted conclusions on Turkish drilling activities in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The council decided to suspend negotiations on the Comprehensive Air Transport Agreement and agreed not to hold the Association Council and further meetings of the EU-Turkey high-level dialogues for the time being.
Çavuşoğlu said “there is no need to take seriously” the conclusion, adding the EU knows that its decisions against Turkey are not possible to implement.
Meanwhile, an EU diplomat has told Reuters that Ankara could lose around €150 million of €400 million the bloc had earmarked for 2020 for everything from political reforms to agriculture projects to help Turkey prepare for eventual EU membership.
BRT, Cyprus Mail
