The 28 EU countries will temporarily stop supplying weapons to Turkey but have refrained from imposing a full arms embargo. The foreign ministers also unanimously condemned the Turkish military operation.
This marks the first time that the European NATO countries have condemned another NATO country for a military action. Several EU countries, including the Netherlands, Germany, and France, had already suspended arms deliveries. The countries again called on Turkey to âimmediatelyâ halt its incursion into Syria.
A legally watertight arms embargo was not established because its implementation is time-consuming. It was not initially expected that the EU would unanimously condemn the operation. According to diplomats, the United Kingdom and several Eastern European countries had opposed it but eventually relented.
The EU ministers also took a new step against illegal Turkish drilling activities in the Mediterranean near Cyprus. They asked EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini to continue developing sanctions against Turkish individuals and organizations responsible for these actions.
Dutch Minister Stef Blok said he expects Turkish President Erdogan will find it âvery unpleasantâ that the 28 EU countries unanimously condemn the Turkish military operation in Northern Syria and suspend their arms deliveries to Ankara. Blok made the remark after the entire EU adopted the position that the Netherlands had already taken last week, he said.
Last week, only a few countries supported the Dutch position. The âterrible imagesâ from the conflict zone, according to Blok, gave the last remaining countries a push.
The Netherlands has not ruled out further sanctions, such as suspending billions in accession aid to the candidate EU member state. Increasingly, politicians, including in the European Parliament, believe the âaccession processâ with Turkey should now come to an end.
The EU countries are addressing Turkey on the danger that IS fighters could escape, since the Kurds can no longer hold and guard them. The Kurds and the United States have repeatedly urged the EU countries to take back their âforeignâ IS fighters and prosecute them legally themselves. But most EU countries still refuse.
Meanwhile, on the battlefield in northeastern Syria, it has become clear that the cornered Kurdish militias of the Syrian anti-Assad front are seeking security by seeking protection with the Syrian government army. The SDF Kurds have granted the government army permission to enter the major Kurdish cities. This means the Kurds are, after years of fighting, returning the Syrian territory they had taken back to Syria.