European MPs call on Turkey to end ‘illegal drilling’ in East Med

Members of the European Parliament urged Turkey to immediately end what they called illegal drilling activities in the eastern Mediterranean on Thursday, the European Parliament said in a press release.

The MEPs expressed full solidarity with Greece and Cyprus, the two European Union member states in a resolution adopted by 601 votes in favour, 57 against and 36 abstentions ahead of a Special European Council meeting on Sept. 24-25 on Turkey’s role in the eastern Mediterranean dispute.

They also called on Turkey to refrain from violating Greek airspace, Greek and Cypriot territorial waters and to stop “nationalistic warmongering rhetoric”.

EU foreign affairs commissioner Josep Borrell said in an interview last week that the tension in the eastern Mediterranean was “increasing exponentially”.