SMS Goeben

The Turkish drillship Yavuz has withdrawn from the coastal waters off Cyprus, just south of the Karpasia (Kaspas) peninsula where it had aimed to prospect for hydrocarbons, it emerged on Tuesday. 

The vessel moved to the Turkish port of Tasucu and is now located opposite the Karpasia peninsula for reasons that remained unclear. 

Amid heightened regional tensions, a fourth Turkish ship, the Oruc Reis research vessel, is on its way to the Eastern Mediterranean, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced Monday via his Twitter account.

The US State Department on Tuesday called on Turkish authorities to cease immediately any "unlawful activities" in Cyprus' territorial sea and remove its drillship, Yavuz.
Turkey has already established a presence in the region with its Yavuz and Fatih drillships and the Barbaros research vessel.

A fourth Turkish ship, the Oruc Reis, is on its way to the Eastern Mediterranean, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu wrote on Twitter on Monday. 

He was responding to comments by the leader of the opposition Turkish Republican People's Party Kemal Kilicdaroglou who had questioned why Turkey did not currently have a presense in the area.  

Aboard the frigate accompanying the Yavuz drilling vessel in the Eastern Mediterranean, Hulusi Akar and commanders were briefed about Turkey's activities in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean seas.         

Ahead of Friday's crucial meeting between Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish-Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci, Turkey's Energy Minister Fatih Donmez has announced that a second exploration vessel will be dispatched to the Eastern Mediterranean by the end of August.

Two Turkish drill ships are continuing operations in the eastern Mediterranean and another ship will join them this month, Turkish Energy Minister Fatih Donmez said, as a dispute over natural resources there fuels tensions between Turkey and Cyprus.

Completing ignoring EU warnings and sanctions and repeated US warnings, Turkish Defence Minister Fatih Donmez announced that Ankara's ultra-modern drilling ship Fatih has reached a depth of 5,000 metres in drilling to the west of Cyprus and that a second drilling ship, the Yavuz, will begin drilling in a few days off the coast of the Turkish-occupied Karpas peninsula, the north-easternmost tip

Turkey's foreign ministry said on Wednesday it rejected statements by Greek and European Union officials that Turkish drilling for gas and oil off Cyprus was illegitimate and said the EU could not be an impartial mediator on the Cyprus problem.

A second Turkish drillship arrived on Monday off the coast of Cyprus, just south of the Karpasia (Kaspas) peninsula.
Just before midnight, Turkey issued NAVTEX 765/19, according to which Yavuz will drill until September 30 with the help of three supporting vessels, "VOS PRIME," "VOS PRINCE" and "POSH SINCERE."