The Polish presidency of the Council of the European Union, in agreement with the European Commission and High Representative Kaja Kalas, want to lift most of the sanctions imposed on Syria since 2011 as a goodwill gesture towards the new Islamist regime in Damascus.
Turkey, which has informally assumed the role of the new Syrian regime’s representative in Brussels, is also exerting pressure. According to the presidency of the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the European Union, lifting sanctions is necessary to launch a direct EU presence in Syria through humanitarian and economic assistance.
Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis visited Damascus on Sunday and met with interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa. In statements after the meeting, Gerapetritis stated, among other things, that he discussed with the former Islamist rebel how “the new institutions of Syria” should be “absolutely compatible with International Law and, in particular, with the Law of the Sea.”
Turkey’s pursuit of an illegal Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)
According to statements in December by Turkish government officials, including Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu and the Chairman of the National Defense Committee of the Turkish Grand National Assembly and former Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, Turkey is seeking to conclude an agreement with the Syrian interim government to delimit an EEZ, along the lines of the illegal agreement that Ankara concluded with the Libyan interim government in 2019.
According to statements by the initiator of the Mavi Vatan (Blue Homeland) plan, retired Admiral Cihat Yaycı, Turkey may sign with Syria “an agreement to define an Exclusive Economic Zone, as we had done with Libya. This agreement will give 12% more space to Syria compared to the proposal of the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus. That is, it will give more EEZ to Syria. This agreement will give Turkey a gain of 4,000 km² and will spoil the plan of the Greek Cypriots.”
Turkey’s envisioned Blue Homeland that aims to steal Greek and Cypriot maritime space.
Greece and Cyprus reacted immediately to the announced aspirations of the Turkish government and raised the issue at the highest European level. The President of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides, and the Prime Minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, informed their counterparts in the European Union during the European Council on 19 December.
The Greek Prime Minister stated at the time: “Obviously, both I and President Christodoulides have informed our counterparts about these discussions that are coming to light, that some kind of Exclusive Economic Zone between Turkey and Syria could be defined, which would ignore the undeniable sovereign rights of Cyprus.”
Guarantees to reinstate sanctions if Syria takes illegal actions
The Turkish government’s statements has put Greece on alert, with the aim of making it clear, mainly to the new Syrian regime, that any illegal agreements that would affect Cyprus’s sovereign rights would result in the reinstatement of European sanctions against Damascus.
According to Kappa News, the Greek Foreign Minister conveyed this position of Greece and Cyprus to the interim President of Syria during his meeting on Sunday in Damascus.
A Greek diplomat said, “If the text [to be approved by the Committee of Permanent Representatives] is not changed, we cannot move forward.”
According to a Cypriot diplomat who spoke to Playbook: “Text is under discussion in the relevant working party, and we hope that we will be able to move to the next step of the process soon.”
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