Cyprus gas dispute

Turkey's continued "illegal drilling activities only undermine good neighborly relations" between the EU and Turkey, European Council President Donald Tusk said on Monday evening, after Ankara announced its intention to drill for gas in waters where Cyprus has licensed European energy companies to conduct a hydrocarbons search.

Greece's foreign minister says top diplomats from European Union member states will decide next week on how to respond to Turkey's bid to drill for gas in waters where Cyprus has licensed European energy companies to conduct a hydrocarbons search.

One of Turkey's oil and gas exploration ships in the eastern Mediterranean will soon begin drilling southwest of Cyprus, Energy Minister Fatih Donmez said on Saturday, as Ankara and Nicosia dispute offshore rights in the area.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis urged the United States on Saturday to use its influence to defuse tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean, where Cyprus and Turkey are locked in a dispute over offshore rights.

Cyprus on Friday said Turkey's action in sending a drill ship to an area Nicosia has licensed for offshore hydrocarbons exploration was a "severe escalation" of what it called Ankara's violations of the island's sovereign rights.

Turkey is sending an oil and gas drilling ship to waters off southern Cyprus where Greek Cypriot authorities have already awarded exploration rights to Italian and French companies, according to Turkish statements on Thursday.

Cyprus' president says more offshore drilling in search for gas deposits will carry on as planned despite Turkey's "threats and unlawful actions" inside waters where the east Mediterranean island nation has exclusive economic rights.

Turkey has condemned Cyprus' announcement on Wednesday that a consortium composed of energy companies Total of France and Eni of Italy was licensed to explore for natural gas deposits in another area off the Mediterranean island's southern coast.

Turkey may send a third drill ship to operate in waters off the island of Cyprus in the Eastern Mediterranean, the country's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in an interview with Reuters published on Friday.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on Sept. 10 that Washington is stalling the implementation of an agreement to create a "safe zone" in northern Syria.