EU to toughen sanctions on Turkish drilling, draft summit statement says

The European Union will impose sanctions on more Turkish individuals and companies responsible for drilling in contested waters in the Mediterranean, according to a draft statement prepared for EU leaders to agree at a summit on Thursday.

If agreed, the EU will "prepare additional listings" on the basis of a sanctions list already in place since 2019 and "if need be work on the extension" of its scope, according to the draft statement seen by Reuters.

Negotiations over the two-page statement are still ongoing and Greece and Cyprus, which accuse Turkey of drilling for hydrocarbons off its continental shelf, believe the sanctions do not go far enough, according to diplomats briefed on internal discussions.

EU leaders are considering whether to make good on a threat made in October to sanction Turkey over the drilling for hydrocarbons off the coast of Cyprus and...