On December 11, the European Union (EU) announced that it would be expanding its list of Turkish officials and entities subject to sanctions for Turkey’s drilling activities in waters off the coast of member states Greece and Cyprus. On December 14, the United States declared it would be sanctioning the Presidency of Defence Industries (SSB), its head Ismail Demir and several other executives for the purchase of the S-400 missile defence system from Russia.



Even after two sanctions declarations in the span of a week it remains unclear how much they will contribute to finding any solutions. Dr. Zenonas Tziarras, a researcher at the PRIO Centre’s office in Nicosia, said that these change the state of affairs to some extent but not to the degree many observers expected it would. Tziarras spoke with Turkey's Abroad Nick Morgan for a podcast.