France says sanctions against Turkey are on the table during an upcoming meeting of the European Council as tensions with Greece deepen.

The Royal Air Force is using its large air base in Cyprus to conduct surveillance on Russian military assets in the Black Sea region.

The United States says it is partially lifting a 33-year arms embargo on Cyprus, drawing a strong rebuke from Turkey, at a time of escalating tensions in the eastern Mediterranean.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan calls the French and Greek leader “greedy and incompetent” for challenging Ankara’s energy exploration in the eastern Mediterranean.

Turkey says it has found a large natural gas reserve off its Black Sea coast, which could ease the country’s dependence on energy imports.

The European Union (EU) warns Turkey to “immediately” stop its oil and gas exploration activities in the eastern Mediterranean, amid rising tensions between Greece and Cyprus on the one side and Turkey on the other.

Germany says Turkey’s failure to halt drilling activities in contested waters in the eastern Mediterranean Sea would affect relations between Ankara and the European Union (EU).

Israel continues exploiting and usurping Arab lands and resources.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu travels to Athens to ink a deal with Greece and Cyprus on the construction of a pipeline channeling natural gas from the eastern Mediterranean to Europe.

Turkey warns that the United States’ decision to end a decades-old arms embargo on Cyprus would be a “dangerous escalation.”