NICOSIA, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- Cyprus said on Tuesday that it is satisfied with the adoption by the European Union (EU) of a regulation on restrictive measures against persons and legal entities related to Turkish drilling activities in the eastern Mediterranean.
The EU member states' foreign ministers agreed on Monday the sanction measures, saying that Turkish activities are illegal as they take place in areas demarcated by Cyprus as its Exclusive Economic Zone under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
"The decision activates previous political decisions and expresses solidarity with Cyprus and support on behalf of Cyprus' partners," Cyprus's government spokesman Prodromos Prodromou told the state radio.
Turkey said that it conducts drilling operations in its own continental shelf or in areas where the Turkish Cypriot state -- an internationally unrecognized breakaway entity of Cyprus -- has rights.
Responding to the EU decision, Turkey said in a foreign ministry statement that it will continue its drilling activities in the eastern Mediterranean.
