Turkish Government Approves Cypriot Drilling
Tensions between Cyprus and Turkey continue to flare as the Turkish government has granted approval to TPAO to explore for gas offshore areas in Cyprus's Exclusive Economic Zones.
The relationship between Turkey and Cyprus has historically been strained, due to Turkey's former occupation of Cyprus and its refusal to recognise Cyprus as a sovereign state.
The decision to grant the permission to Turkey's state-owned company TPAO was announced in the Turkish official gazette, Reuters reports and extends to six unspecified areas.
The Cypriot government has hit out at Turkey in response to the approvals and says it will not be threatened by the country.
"Turkish threats shall not bring us to heel," the Cyprus Mail reports President Demetris Christofias as saying yesterday evening. "Turkey is a country which operates in a bizarre way. Despite knowing that we shall not succumb to threats – and we shall not – at the same time it shows that it does not understand where its own interests lie in the matter."
Government spokesperson Stefanos Stefanou said Cyprus will take whatever actions are needed to defend itself from Turkey's move.
"The decision by Turkey to grant oil licences in areas which come under the EEZ of the Republic of Cyprus are a continuation of her actions which violate international law, and, specifically, the law of the sea," he said.
"The government of the Republic of Cyprus condemns these actions and the provocations of Turkey and is taking all indicative action to defend the country's sovereign rights."
The Cypriot section of the Mediterranean Sea has previously proven to be an attractive prospect, given a massive discovery by Noble Energy last year. In December, the company confirmed that it had encountered reserves of between 5 and 8 trillion cubic feet (TCF), with a gross mean of 7 TCF in Block 12 of the Mediterranean Sea.
TPAO has been planning to enter the waters since at least last month and is reported to have begun drilling work in the past week.