Turkey has halted survey for oil and gas in the Mediterranean and had its survey vessel back to a Turkish port, days before European Union leaders are set to discuss the possibility of EU sanctions on Turkey over its intention to drill for oil and gas in waters that EU members Greece and Cyprus consider part of their territorial waters. The Turkish seismic survey vessel Oruc Reis has completed surveys in the Demre field in the eastern Mediterranean that began on August 10 and has now returned to the port of Antalya, the Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Ministry said on Twitter on Monday. After a pause of a few weeks, Turkey resumed in mid-October survey activities for oil and gas in disputed waters in the eastern Mediterranean. The Turkish drilling campaign in the Mediterranean has drawn criticism from Turkey’s neighbors, the European Union, and the U.S. State Department. […]