“Turkey must avoid actions threatening the sovereignty of the Member States, including the right to explore and exploit natural resources,” EU Commissioner on Environment, Maritime Affairs, and Fisheries Karmenu Vella said in response to a question from Cypriot MEPs Neoklis Sylikiotis, Lefteris Christoforou and Dimitris Papadakis
The question submitted by the three MEPs concerned the blocking of Cypriot fishing vessels from Turkey.

“In the conclusions of March 2018, the European Council strongly condemned Turkey’s continuing illegal activities in the Eastern Mediterranean. In June 2018, in its conclusions, which were subsequently endorsed by the European Council, the Council stressed that it still expects Turkey to show a firm commitment to the development of good-neighbourly relations and the peaceful settlement of disputes.
It called on Turkey to respect the sovereignty of all EU Member States and to fulfill its obligations under the Negotiating Framework, including the full implementation of the Additional Protocol of the Union Agreement in all EU Member States”, the Commissioner noted in his reply.