Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Dendias’ statement following the proceedings of the EU Foreign Affairs Council (Luxembourg, 14 October 2019)

“Today the European Union spoke firmly and clearly. In a voice that referred to our shared European values and to international law. It condemned Turkey for the illegal actions of the invasion in Syria and made specific reference to sanctions, to an arms embargo, and very specific reference was made to the refugee issue.

But, it also spoke clearly on the matter of the violations against the sovereignty and sovereign rights of Cyprus. It went a step further than the previous decisions and decided on measures against legal and natural entities – in other words, what the Cypriot side was clearly pursuing. We are very pleased about this.

We believe that international law must always be our guide – everyone’s guide. We must all refer to this framework, and when Turkey violates it, there need to be sanctions so that everyone understands how nations must interact and conduct themselves.”