Turkey has said punitive European Union measures against it will not deter it from continuing to search for oil and gas off the coast of Cyprus.
On Monday, the foreign ministers of the EU agreedto call off high-level political meetings, suspend negotiations on an aviation deal and reduce EU accession funding earmarked for Turkey.
The ministers of the 28-member bloc, of which Cyprus is a member, also invited the European Investment Bank to review its lending activities in Turkey, notably with regard to sovereign-backed lending.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Turkish foreign ministry said the EU’s moves “will not affect in the slightest our country’s determination to continue hydrocarbon activities in the Eastern Mediterranean”.
The ministry said that the bloc’s failure to mention Turkish Cypriots in its decisions “showed how biased and partisan the EU is on the subject of Cyprus”.