Turkey shows its fangs again, EU takes sanctions

Turkey shows its fangs again, EU takes sanctions

In recent days, due to disputes over the exploitation of marine resources in the Mediterranean region with European Union countries Greece and Cyprus, coupled with the transfer of large numbers of immigrants in the disputed territories of northern Cyprus, Turkey is gradually antagonizing its NATO ally, the EU.

On the 26th local time, France once again urged the European Union to support Cyprus and Greece in the European Parliament, and imposed a round of economic sanctions on Turkey. It is reported that this resolution has been passed not long ago, and the EU may also take some necessary sanctions in the near future.

The contradiction between Turkey and Cyprus began in 1974. Turkey, which has long coveted the territory of Cyprus for a long time, blatantly launched an invasion through the coup in Cyprus. 

Cyprus, which was unable to resist the Turkish offensive by itself, was aided by Greek forces. Under the resistance of the two countries’ coalition forces, the United Nations made an emergency mediation. 

The end result is that the two countries reached a ceasefire based on actual land control, which allowed Turkey to control 38% of Cyprus’s land and established the “Northern Cyprus State” which was recognized only by the Turkish family.

The fuse of this incident was that Turkey sent a large number of Turkish residents to an uninhabited island within its actual control, with the intention of realizing actual colonization. And this small island called Varossa was originally a tourist attraction inhabited by Cypriots. Turkey’s move has been condemned by almost all of Europe.

In the Mediterranean, Turkey also had a military confrontation with Greece over the exploitation of a newly discovered natural gas field. After Germany tried to intervene in mediation, Turkey still refused to stop and even sent more mining ships to the waters. 

This angered Germany, the current EU presidency, and contributed to a number of sanctions on Turkey that may take effect next month. It is reported that this may involve shipping, banking, energy and many other fields.

Turkey’s territorial ambitions are actually obvious to all European countries. From the mid-15th century, when the Ottoman Turkish Empire Sultan Mahomet II led troops to Constantinople, the Ottomans came over the mountains in the Golden Horn overnight.

The imperial fleet allowed Europeans to see for the first time the Ottomans’ desperate desire for territory. 

Hundreds of years later, the Ottoman Empire once again fought against Tsar Russia, one of the great powers at the time. After World War II, the unwilling Turks showed their fangs to its neighbors, Greece and Cyprus.

As a member of NATO, Turkey should have treated each other as allies with the EU, but driven by Turkey’s desire for territory from the Ottoman Empire, Turkey is facing allies. 

United States, Russia, and the European Union are all members of Turkey’s list of allies, but Turkey has also stabbed his “allies” in the back. There is a way to gain more help but not to help, so how can Turkey continue to gain a foothold in the region?