Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/274 of 27 February 2020 implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1890 concerning restrictive measures in view of Turkey’s unauthorised drilling activities in the Eastern Mediterranean

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EU) 2019/1890 of 11 November 2019 concerning restrictive measures in view of Turkey’s unauthorised drilling activities in the Eastern Mediterranean⁽¹⁾, and in particular Article 12(1) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy,

Whereas:

On 11 November 2019, the Council adopted Regulation (EU) 2019/1890.
On 12 December 2019, the European Council recalled its previous conclusions on Turkey of 22 March and 20 June 2019. It reconfirmed its conclusions of 17-18 October 2019 concerning Turkey’s illegal drilling activities in Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone and unequivocally reaffirmed its solidarity with Cyprus.
In this context, and in the light of Turkey’s continued unauthorised drilling activities in the Eastern Mediterranean, two persons should be included in the list of natural and legal persons, entities and bodies in Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2019/1890.
Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2019/1890 should be amended accordingly,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2019/1890 is amended as set out in the Annex to this Regulation.

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the date of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 27 February 2020.

For the Council

The President

D. Horvat

ANNEX

The following persons are added to the list of natural and legal persons, entities and bodies set out in Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2019/1890:

	Name	Identifying information	Reasons	Date of listing
‘1.	Mehmet Ferruh AKALIN	Date of birth: 9.12.1960 Passport No or ID: 13571379758 Nationality: Turkish Gender: male	Mehmet Ferruh Akalin is Vice-President (Assistant General Manager) and member of the Board of Directors of the Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO). He is the head of TPAO’s Exploration, R&D Centre and Information Technologies Departments. In his capacity as TPAO Vice-President and head of its Exploration Department, Mehmet Ferruh Akalin is responsible for planning, directing and implementing TPAO’s offshore hydrocarbon exploration activities. These include TPAO’s drilling activities which have not been authorised by the Republic of Cyprus, as set out below. Those unauthorised drilling activities were carried out by: the TPAO drilling vessel Yavuz in the territorial sea of the Republic of Cyprus between July and September 2019; the TPAO drilling vessel Yavuz in an area of the exclusive economic zone of the Republic of Cyprus notified by it to the United Nations and delimited in an agreement with Egypt, between October 2019 and January 2020; the TPAO drilling vessel Fatih in the exclusive economic zone of the Republic of Cyprus notified by it to the United Nations, in close proximity to its territorial sea, since November 2019; the TPAO drilling vessel Fatih in a western area of the exclusive economic zone of the Republic of Cyprus notified by it to the United Nations, between May and November 2019. TPAO has also announced further planned drilling activities to be carried out, without the authorisation of the Republic of Cyprus, by the TPAO drilling vessel Yavuz in an area of the exclusive economic zone of the Republic of Cyprus notified by it to the United Nations and delimited in agreements with Egypt and Israel, between January and May 2020.	27.2.2020
2.	Ali Coscun NAMOGLU	Date of birth: 27.11.1956 Passport No or ID: 11096919534 Nationality: Turkish Gender: male	Ali Coscun Namoglu is the Deputy Director of the Exploration Department of the Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO). In this capacity, Ali Coscun Namoglu is involved in planning, directing and implementing TPAO’s offshore hydrocarbon exploration activities. These include TPAO’s drilling activities which have not been authorised by Republic of Cyprus as set out below. Those unauthorised drilling activities were carried out by: the TPAO drilling vessel Yavuz in the territorial sea of the Republic of Cyprus between July and September 2019; the TPAO drilling vessel Yavuz in an area of the exclusive economic zone of the Republic of Cyprus notified by it to the United Nations and delimited in an agreement with Egypt, between October 2019 and January 2020; the TPAO drilling vessel Fatih in the exclusive economic zone of the Republic of Cyprus notified by it to the United Nations, in close proximity to its territorial sea, since November 2019; the TPAO drilling vessel Fatih in a western area of the exclusive economic zone of the Republic of Cyprus notified by it to the United Nations, between May and November 2019. TPAO has also announced further planned drilling activities to be carried out, without the authorisation of the Republic of Cyprus, by the TPAO drilling vessel Yavuz in an area of the exclusive economic zone of the Republic of Cyprus notified by it to the United Nations and delimited in agreements with Egypt and Israel, between January and May 2020.’	27.2.2020

Name

Identifying information

Reasons

Date of listing

‘1.

Mehmet Ferruh AKALIN

Date of birth: 9.12.1960

Passport No or ID: 13571379758

Nationality: Turkish

Gender: male

Mehmet Ferruh Akalin is Vice-President (Assistant General Manager) and member of the Board of Directors of the Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO). He is the head of TPAO’s Exploration, R&D Centre and Information Technologies Departments.

In his capacity as TPAO Vice-President and head of its Exploration Department, Mehmet Ferruh Akalin is responsible for planning, directing and implementing TPAO’s offshore hydrocarbon exploration activities. These include TPAO’s drilling activities which have not been authorised by the Republic of Cyprus, as set out below.

Those unauthorised drilling activities were carried out by:

the TPAO drilling vessel Yavuz in the territorial sea of the Republic of Cyprus between July and September 2019;
the TPAO drilling vessel Yavuz in an area of the exclusive economic zone of the Republic of Cyprus notified by it to the United Nations and delimited in an agreement with Egypt, between October 2019 and January 2020;
the TPAO drilling vessel Fatih in the exclusive economic zone of the Republic of Cyprus notified by it to the United Nations, in close proximity to its territorial sea, since November 2019;
the TPAO drilling vessel Fatih in a western area of the exclusive economic zone of the Republic of Cyprus notified by it to the United Nations, between May and November 2019.

TPAO has also announced further planned drilling activities to be carried out, without the authorisation of the Republic of Cyprus, by the TPAO drilling vessel Yavuz in an area of the exclusive economic zone of the Republic of Cyprus notified by it to the United Nations and delimited in agreements with Egypt and Israel, between January and May 2020.

27.2.2020

2.

Ali Coscun NAMOGLU

Date of birth: 27.11.1956

Passport No or ID: 11096919534

Nationality: Turkish

Gender: male

Ali Coscun Namoglu is the Deputy Director of the Exploration Department of the Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO).

In this capacity, Ali Coscun Namoglu is involved in planning, directing and implementing TPAO’s offshore hydrocarbon exploration activities. These include TPAO’s drilling activities which have not been authorised by Republic of Cyprus as set out below.

Those unauthorised drilling activities were carried out by:

the TPAO drilling vessel Yavuz in the territorial sea of the Republic of Cyprus between July and September 2019;
the TPAO drilling vessel Yavuz in an area of the exclusive economic zone of the Republic of Cyprus notified by it to the United Nations and delimited in an agreement with Egypt, between October 2019 and January 2020;
the TPAO drilling vessel Fatih in the exclusive economic zone of the Republic of Cyprus notified by it to the United Nations, in close proximity to its territorial sea, since November 2019;
the TPAO drilling vessel Fatih in a western area of the exclusive economic zone of the Republic of Cyprus notified by it to the United Nations, between May and November 2019.

TPAO has also announced further planned drilling activities to be carried out, without the authorisation of the Republic of Cyprus, by the TPAO drilling vessel Yavuz in an area of the exclusive economic zone of the Republic of Cyprus notified by it to the United Nations and delimited in agreements with Egypt and Israel, between January and May 2020.’

27.2.2020