Turkey has come under fire from leaders of the European Union, who during a meeting in Brussels on Thursday condemned the country for its aggression towards Greece and Cyprus.
In a draft common statement, the European Council said that it “strongly condemns Turkey’s continued illegal actions in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea”, and underlined its “full solidarity with Cyprus and Greece”.
“The European Council urgently calls on Turkey to cease these actions and respect the sovereign rights of Cyprus to explore and exploit its natural resources in accordance with EU and International Law,” the draft read.
Meanwhile, the EU also called on Akara to release the two Greek soldiers who have been in custody for over three weeks. They expressing “grave concern” about the continued detention of EU citizens in Turkey and called for the “swift and positive resolution of these issues in a dialogue with member-states” in line with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ encouragement on keeping an open dialogue with Ankara.
They may just get their chance to do so on Monday, with a meeting scheduled between EU leaders and Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Varna, Bulgaria.