Cyprus’ EEZ

Though there is no distinction under international law, some analysts believe that a Turkish encroachment on certain areas of Cyprus' EEZ would constitute a more limited escalation.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry threatened Cyprus with intervention if it makes any move toward drilling in its own EEZ and it slammed Athens and Nicosia for supposedly provocative actions “that increase tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean”.

“We are taking our measures against the violation of our continental shelf. The last time Greece made an incursion one nautical mile into our continental shelf [east of Crete] we issued a NAVTEX and necessary warnings.

Whoever is the leader of the Turkish-Cypriots plays an important role in the resistances of a community facing the religious, economic, and political pressures of Erdogan’s Turkey.

Dendias will raise the issue of Turkey’s escalating illegal conduct towards Greece at a teleconference between EU foreign ministers and there will be discussion of Ankara's ongoing illegal activities in Cyprus’  EEZ.

The EIB, which is Turkey’s biggest single lender, has spent between 0.4 billion euros ($446 million) and 2.2 billion euros ($2.45 billion) a year in the country over the last three years, while nothing has been invested so far in 2019.

Aside from the Fatih and Yavuz, the Barbaros seismic research vessel has also been illegally plying the waters of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the Republic of Cyprus and Ankara is poised two send a second seismic research vessel, the MTA Oruc Reis.

Cyprus has rejected Turkish-Cypriot leader’ Mustafa Akinci’s proposal for the two communities to co-manage the island's gas and oil deposits prior to a Cyprus settlement.

After the failed 2016 coup against him, Erdogan’s decisions have completely undermined Turkey’s EU course.

As the bloc needs Turkey in matters such as security and migration, an EU diplomat involved in the latest discussions told Reuters any future sanctions would be limited.

The ministry’s condemnation came just one day after Mitsotakis discussed the regional situation for 20 minutes with US Vice President Mike Pence and following a stern State Department statement criticising Ankara.

The European Council on 20 June had called on the European Commission to come up with a list of possible sanctions against Turkey over its violations of Cyprus’ sovereignty and issued the sternest warning to Ankara yet

Dendias took office even as Ankara prepared to begin illegal oil and gas drilling in Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone(EEZ) off the Karpas peninsula, which has been Turkish-occupied since 1974.

The EU admitted all of Cyprus in 2004 and according to the Accession Treaty (2003) the community acquis (EU laws and regulations) is suspended in occupied Cyprus pending a settlement of the Cyprus problem.

The incoming government must undertake specific initiatives to forge a national consensus and to shape a long-term strategy to defend Greece’s national sovereignty and broader sovereign rights under international law.

The summit conclusions reaffirmed the decision of the 22 March, 2018, EU summit’s statement “strongly condemning Turkey's continued illegal actions in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea.”

Cavusoglu said that Ankara’s sole desire is to share the hydrocarbons around Cyprus and in the Mediterranean, which effectively means laying claim to a portion of the offshore wealth of the Republic of Cyprus.

'The escalation of Turkey’s provocations in Cyprus and the continuing tensions in the Aegean do not exhibit strength but rather weakness,' Greece's foreign minister noted.

Greek diplomatic and military sources are urging extreme caution both before and after parliamentary elections and throughout the summer.

The Greek government’s statements of condemnation obviously do not address the issue, nor does a merely formal alignment of the government and the opposition suffice to confront Ankara’s provocations.