Turkey warns EU not to interfere on Cyprus EEZ issue

Turkey has warned the European Union that any intervention on their part on the issue of Cyprus' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) would negatively affect relations between Greece and Turkey, as well as any prospects for an end to the occupation of the northern part of Cyprus.

The warning was made through a non-paper sent to 27 of the EU's 28 member-states on June 16, Cyprus' "Fileleftheros" newspaper reports. Turkey didn't send the note to Cyprus, whose government it does not recognize.

The non-paper says the EU would be wise not to act as a judge in the dispute on sea borders and that a similar stance would further discourage efforts to solve the "Cyprus problem" and would cause Greek-Turkish relations to deteriorate.

Turkey claims that the area where one of its drillships has begun exploring for oil and natural gas, soon to be joined by a second, is within...