Germany Threatens Turkey with EU Sanctions

The EU has threatened to impose sanctions on Turkey next month over illegal exploration at sea. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that "Turkey has to cease provocations in the eastern Mediterranean if it wants to avoid new discussions about European Union sanctions against Ankara at an EU summit in December". “It is up to Turkey what decision will be taken at the EU summit in December,” Maas said ahead of a meeting with his EU counterparts.

“If we see no positive signals coming from Turkey by December, only further provocations such as Erdogan’s visit to North Cyprus, then we are heading for a difficult debate,” Maas said. The question of imposing sanctions against Turkey would then certainly come up again, he added.

Erdogan later visited Varosha, a beach town that has been fenced-off and abandoned in no-man's land since 1974. Ankara backed the partial re-opening of Varosha just before last month's election in a move criticized by the United States, Greece and Greek Cypriots.

Turkey has increasingly flexed its military muscle in the region, including by backing Azerbaijan in its renewed conflict with Armenia over the past few weeks.

Erdogan alluded to Turkey's dispute with EU members Greece and Cyprus and with other neighbors over territorial waters in the eastern Mediterranean.