On Sunday, the Vice President of the European Parliament, Dimitrios Papadimoulis, stressed the need to impose sanctions on Turkey by the end of 2020.
In press statements, Papadimoulis added that these sanctions will help to prevent Turkey’s President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, from endangering regional peace.
Papadimoulis confirmed that it is likely that Turkey will continue its aggressive behaviour in the Mediterranean if the European Union does not impose sanctions during its next summit. He called on the European Parliament members to impose final sanctions and not just talk about them.
Relations between Turkey and the European Union have not been at their best during the past few months due to Ankara’s illegal gas exploration activities in the Mediterranean. Turkey carried out exploration activities in the areas claimed by Greece, a member of the European Union.
Turkey and the European Union are also at odds over the issue of the Cyprus island, which is currently controlled by Ankara in the north and Athens in the south since the Turkish invasion of 1974. The European Union is also considering imposing sanctions on Erdogan’s recent visit to the Turkish island of Cyprus, a move that angered the bloc.
Ankara strongly refused the attempt of the German forces within the mission of the European Operation IRINI to search the Turkish cargo ship Rosalina-A bound for Libya. This sparked controversy and Ankara claimed that the ship was only carrying foodstuffs.