Cyprus gas dispute

Turkey on March 26 slammed a statement by the Greek Foreign Ministry over Turkish maritime jurisdiction areas in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Hami Aksoy, a spokesman for the Turkish Foreign Ministry, dubbed the Greek statement "unfortunate and misleading."

Αs Turkish President Recep Tayyip was declaring to  members of his AK Party that Greece has resigned itself to Ankara's geopolitical designs in the Mediterranean, Cyprus' Energy Minister Georgios Lakkotrypis told an audience at the Greek foreign ministry that his country will move forward with its hydrocarbons drilling plans in its exclusive economic zone.

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on Feb. 5 warned against deepening distrust between Turkey and the European Union and said ties are passing through a very critical period.

The minister called on the EU to open a new page in accession talks which has been stalled for the past few years.

Nicosia on Thursday rejected a call by Ankara for a halt to drilling activities off the island's south as a precondition for it to stop its own activities off the divided island. 

Turkey's ongoing survey and drilling activities off Cyprus aim at protecting the rights of Turkish Cypriots, a foreign ministry spokesman said Thursday, adding that "until these rights are guaranteed, Turkish Petroleum will continue to operate" in the areas licensed by the breakaway state.

Cyprus has denounced Turkey as a "pirate state" that flouts international law as Turkey's bid to drill for natural gas in waters where Cyprus has economic rights rekindled tensions over energy reserves in the eastern Mediterranean. 

Turkey announced on Jan. 19 that it has dispatched its drillship, Yavuz, to conduct hydrocarbon exploration works in the block "G" licensed by Turkish Cypriot in the south of the island.

The Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum, in which Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) have been left out, is an unrealistic formation, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Jan. 16.

"If the purpose of this forum was really cooperation, of course, Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots would be invited to the forum as well," spokesman Hami Aksoy said in a statement.

The Greek Cypriot-Greek governments' deal to build a natural gas pipeline in the eastern Mediterranean without consulting Turkish Cyprus can only be described as a hostile attitude, Turkish Cypriot Premier Ersin Tatar said on Jan. 5

Straight on the heels of the signing by Greece-Cyprus-Israel of the EastMed pipeline agreement in Athens, the Turkish foreign ministry blasted the deal as yet another effort to lock Ankara and Turkish-occupied Cyprus out of the east Mediterranean oil and gas game.