Gymnich’s message is clear – de-escalation or sanctions, says Peter Stano for the new Turkish NAVTEX

The message regarding what the EU expects from Turkey and how long it expects it so that restrictive measures are not followed has been clearly conveyed to Ankara by the Foreign Ministers, Commission spokesman Peter Stano said today. Mr. Stano was asked by the Cyprus News Agency (CNA) to comment on the extension of the Turkish Navigational Telex for investigations near Kastelorizo ​​until September 19. Peter Stano reiterated Gymnich’s message and stressed that in the event of no de-escalation, as requested by the Member States, the EU is ready to adopt new restrictive measures.

Specifically, asked by the CNA to take a stand on the development and inform the press whether and to what extent there are other diplomatic moves in the background aimed at turning Turkey to dialogue, Peter Stano noted that “you are right, not everything happens in the public sphere, there are many other activities that may not be so visible at the moment.”

“What is very clear is the message of the EU, which remains the same, were the conclusions of the discussions of the EU Foreign Ministers in their informal meeting in Berlin last week. Thus, through the speeches of the Foreign Ministers, the EU was very clear about its solidarity with Cyprus and Greece and about what we expect from Turkey in order to de-escalate the situation. The Ministers were equally clear regarding the timetable – how long we expect the change in Turkey’s behavior – and the measures to be adopted if there is no de-escalation in the Eatern Meditterranean. Thus, the message is clear, and we hope that this will be taken into account by the Turkish partners and our friends and they will act accordingly, so we do not need to go through the alternative course of restrictive measures, but rather into dialogue and de-escalation through negotiations and direct talks.”

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Answering another question on the same subject, Peter Stano repeated: “The Turkish partners received a very clear message from the EU in the form of the results of the informal discussions. I think the message was quite clear, strong enough and it was made public. And without going into the details of the content of the telephone call between the High Representative and the Turkish Minister, I will repeat what I have already said, the message, the expectations, the timetable and the consequences have been very clearly articulated by the EU and we expect Turkey to act in a way that contributes to de-escalation and not the other way around.”

Asked to comment on the French aircraft carrier’s movements in the Eastern Mediterranean, he said: The situation was not good, the EU Members were very clear about the need to reduce the intensity that would change the current course of events. Repeating the message, the High Representative was also very clear that what needs to be done now is to sit down with “Turkey and try to find solutions and de-escalate the dialogue. This is the most important thing and that is where all the efforts of all the participating partners should be focused.”

Source: CNA (In Greek)