The European Union has frozen plans to include the leadership of the Turkish oil corporation in the sanctions list.
It is reported by Reuters with reference to four EU diplomats.
In December, EU leaders proposed an asset freeze and entry bar for Turkish oil corporation officials for Turkey’s “unauthorized drilling activities” to explore for natural gas in disputed waters in the eastern Mediterranean.
The EU also agreed to consider tougher economic sanctions at the March 25-26 summit.
But the more constructive tone of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan this year, German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s support for reconciliation, and the first direct talks between old enemies Turkey and Greece over the past five years have helped change the mood.
The new administration of US President Joe Biden also called on Brussels not to impose sanctions at a time when Turkey, a NATO ally and an EU candidate country, is more willing to compromise, European and American diplomats said.
“Work on additional blacklists of Turkish persons has stopped and we are no longer talking about economic sanctions,” said one EU diplomat.
A second EU diplomat said the work “never really started” and a third said that “the diplomatic path has priority.”
The EU Foreign Service declined to comment on the information about the sanctions.
