As EU dismisses Greek call for sanctions agaist Turkey, Merkel says Union will discuss it with US, Nato

EU leaders plan to discuss arm exports to Turkey with NATO allies and Washington, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said today, after Greece's push at the December 10-11 EU summit for an arms embargo on Ankara was dismissed.

Merkel (file photo with US President-elect Joe Biden)  spoke after a summit where the EU's 27 leaders agreed to prepare limited sanctions on Turkish individuals over Ankara's energy exploration dispute with Greece and Cyprus, but postponed discussions on any harsher steps until March.

"We … spoke about how questions about arms exports must be discussed within NATO. We said that we want to coordinate with the new U.S. administration about Turkey," Merkel told a news conference. Many EU states are also members of NATO.

Merkel's comments underlined a hardening stance on Turkey among EU governments, many of whom have in the past resisted punitive measures on Ankara, a NATO ally, candidate for EU membership and host to Syrians fleeing civil war who would otherwise seek refuge in Europe.

But EU states have also grown increasingly critical of Turkey's involvement in Libya and its purchase of a Russian weapons system, among other flashpoints.

The United States is already poised to impose sanctions on Turkey over those Russian purchases, Reuters reported yesterday.

Turkey's foreign ministry on Friday rejected what it called the EU summit's "biased and illegal" approach on the sanctions.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan called on the United States and EU governments to stop being influenced by what he called anti-Turkish lobbies but, in an unusually conciliatory tone, said he believed issues could be solved through dialogue.

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