The European Union on Tuesday renewed its sanctions regime for another year in response to Turkey’s unauthorized hydrocarbon exploration activities in Eastern Mediterranean waters.
Through this mechanism, the European bloc can adopt sanctions against individuals and entities involved in hydrocarbon exploration that the EU considers illegal as it takes place in Greek and Cypriot territorial waters. This issue is at the heart of the disputes between the neighbors and intoxicated EU-Turkey relations in the late 2020s.
Two individuals currently remain on the blacklist and are subject to European sanctions, including a travel ban to the EU and an asset freeze in the European bloc.
Specifically, these are two leaders of the Turkish oil company TPAO, its vice president, Mehmet Akalin, and the deputy head of the Explorations department, Ali Coscun Namoglu.
