EU Foreign Affairs Council

Foreign Affairs Minister Nikos Dendias is heading to Paris on Monday, where he will meet with his French counterpart Jean-Yves le Drian.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan ordered the Turkish coastguard to stop migrants from making risky Aegean Sea crossings.
Thousands of migrants have massed on the land border with Greece after officials said last week that Turkey would not prevent migrants from leaving for EU territory, sparking violence and an escalating row between Ankara and Brussels.

The EU should keep its promises and not make charges against Turkey, the Foreign Ministry said early on March 7 in response to a statement by an EU agency.

"Instead of accusing Turkey, the EU should first keep its promises, apply itself to the March 18 [2016 EU-Turkey refugee] Agreement as a whole," the ministry said.

Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said Greece has "clear evidence" that the recent movement of migrants and refugees from Turkish cities towards the border with Greece "has been created and orchestrated by Turkey."

"I want to be clear that the European Union will not allow the use of human suffering," Dendias added as he arrived at a EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting.

Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias was busy Saturday contacting his counterparts in several European countries, as well  as the European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Josep Borrell Fontelles, whom he asked to convene an extraordinary meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council.

Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias travels to Brussels Monday to attend the EU Foreign Affairs Council.

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on Feb. 5 warned against deepening distrust between Turkey and the European Union and said ties are passing through a very critical period.

The minister called on the EU to open a new page in accession talks which has been stalled for the past few years.

Cyprus on Friday accused Turkey of violating international law by launching operations off the island in search of oil and gas.
Earlier on Friday, Turkish vice president Fuat Oktay was quoted as saying the drilling ship Fatih had started operations off the north-north-east coast of Cyprus.

The Turkish oil-and-gas drilling ship Fatih has started its operations off the coast of northeastern Cyprus, Turkish vice president Fuat Oktay said on Friday, despite warnings from European Union for Ankara to stand down. 

On Monday, the EU Foreign Affairs Council adopted a framework for restrictive measures against Turkey over its drilling activities in the eastern Mediterranean. 

Turkey will never bow to the EU Foreign Affairs Council sanctions and pressures declared "against Turkey's drilling activities in Eastern Mediterranean", the country's vice president said on July 20.