Fishing industry

Moscow has expressed concern over escalating tension in the Eastern Mediterranean where the Turkish military has been obstructing a ship contracted by Italian company ENI from approaching an area inside Cyprus's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) to explore for natural gas.

As Turkey continues its blockade off the southern coast of Cyprus, Nicosia has issued a Navtex reserving an area, including parts of Blocks 3 and 13 of its exclusive economic zone (EEZ), for an exercise on Thursday afternoon with live ammunition, according to the island's  Phileleftheros news site.

Italy will send a frigate to the area off Cyprus island where Turkish military has been obstructing a vessel exploring for natural gas, according to a report in Italy's Republica online edition.

According to the report, the vessel, the Maestrale-class frigate Euro (F575) of the Italian Navy, is taking part in NATO's Sea Guardian maritime operation in the Eastern Mediterranean.

The ongoing decisions, coordination and closeness between Egypt and Cyprus and the maritime demarcation deal between the two countries have been raising concern in Turkey over the past few years, amid Ankara's tense relations with both Cairo and Nicosia, said Egyptian political experts.

Amid tension over hydrocarbon-related activity in Cyprus's exclusive economic zone (EEZ), retired Rear Admiral Cem Gurdeniz has warned the governments in Nicosia and Athens that their actions are "testing Turkey's patience."

"They believe that if Turkey backs down on this one, it will also back down on other issues," Gurdeniz was quoted as telling Turkey's Milliyet newspaper.

Nicosia will delineate the rest of its exclusive economic zone (EEZ), including the north and western part, Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades said, calling on Greece to offer its "observations" as the Cypriot zones abut Greece's EEZ. 

In the final New Year's auction at Tokyo's famed Tsukiji fish market on Friday, the owner of an international sushi restaurant shelled out more than $300,000 for a prime bluefin tuna and said he was "very happy" with the result, according to Reuters.

Turkey on Wednesday issued two navigational telexes (navtexes) to conduct research within Cyprus's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) southwest of Paphos, in a move certain to revive tensions in the region.

The drill ship West Capella sailed from the Spanish port of Tenerife on Thursday headed for the Cypriot exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The ship, which is flying a Panamanian flag, is expected to arrive at field 11 off the Cypriot coast on July 12 and conduct sea drills on behalf of a consortium by energy giants TOTAL-ENI.

Athens and Nicosia are raising alarm bells as Turkey continues to dispute Cyprus's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and, in particular, its rights to hydrocarbon exploration in Block 6, which was recently licensed to a consortium of Italy's Eni and France's Total.