Erdogan Warns EU of ‘Blindness’ as Greece Lobbies for Sanctions

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President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned the European Union to “get rid of its strategic blindness,” as Greece pushed the bloc to pave the way for punitive measures that could unleash a full-blown crisis in the Mediterranean.

The EU “should not allow itself to be used as a ram by the Greek-Cypriot side and Greece,” Erdogan said in a pre-recorded video message for participants of a workshop on the Eastern Mediterranean held in Antalya on Monday. The comments were released as EU foreign ministers discussed relations with Turkey in Brussels ahead of a leaders’ summit on Thursday, where Greece hopes to extract a commitment to sanction Ankara.

Greece wants EU leaders on Thursday to give the bloc’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell “a clear mandate” to present targeted measures next month, including an arms embargo and the prohibition of financing of Turkish banks and companies by European institutions, according to a note circulated ahead of the meeting and seen by Bloomberg. Such severe action has previously failed to garner the unanimous support of EU member states, and Monday’s meeting of foreign ministers could indicate whether Greece’s demands will have better chance this time round.

Ankara is at loggerheads with EU members Greece and Cyprus over maritime borders in the Eastern Mediterranean. Competing claims to sovereignty over waters rich in hydrocarbon reserves led to a standoff between the Greek and Turkish navy earlier this year, while an agreement in principle to begin dialog has so far failed to materialize.

While the EU has sided with its members in the dispute, the bloc is wary of an escalation that would severe all ties with one of its biggest trading partners, and upon which it also relies to stem migration to the continent. Highlighting the stakes, Greece may this week demand that Germany cancels a multi-billion dollar to sell Turkey advanced attack submarines, arguing such move risks shifting the balance of power in the entire Mediterranean.

“There have been far too many provocations,” German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told reporters in Brussels on his way into the meeting with his EU counterparts. “We will discuss today what conclusions to draw — also with a view to the European Council that is taking place this week,” Maas said, referring to the forthcoming meeting of EU leaders.

The quarrel has regional implications, as the deterioration of ties between Turkey and the EU risks undermining the already slim prospects for a resolution in the Cyprus dispute, after almost 50 years of failed attempts to reunify the divided island. Turkey has also been vying with France for influence in Libya, while Erdogan and French President Emmanuel Macron have repeatedly clashed in public over the treatment of Muslims and Islamism.

“We have clearly stated that we will not accept plans and maps that aim to confine our country to the Antalya coast,” Erdogan said in his video message released Monday. “We have expressed to our interlocutors that we will not bow to threats and blackmail and that we will not allow imperialist expansionism.”

— With assistance by Jonathan Stearns, and Sotiris Nikas

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