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The EU on Thursday stepped up its rhetoric over Turkey’s” drilling for oil and gas off Cyprus, raising the threat of sanctions if Ankara refuses to back down, AFP reported.

The news agency reminds that the discovery of huge gas reserves in the eastern Mediterranean has fuelled a race to tap underwater resources and triggered a dispute between Turkey and EU member Cyprus, which also plans to ramp up its exploratory activities in the area.

As Turkey sent a new ship to search for hydrocarbons off the coast of EU member Cyprus, the bloc repeated its condemnation of Ankara’s “illegal drilling activities”.

The 28 EU leaders meeting at a summit in Brussels said they “deplored that Turkey has not yet responded to the EU’s repeated calls to cease such activities”.

Earlier this week EU states tasked the European Commission, the bloc’s executive, with preparing “appropriate measures” to hit back at Turkey. On Thursday they went further, brandishing the threat of sanctions against individuals and companies involved in the drilling.