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Roundup: Cyprus accuses Turkey of following "destabilizing" policies

Xinhua, March 27, 2016 Adjust font size:

Cyprus on Saturday accused Turkey of following "provocative and destabilizing" policies in relation to a new round of licensing for natural gas exploration in the Cypriot continental shelf.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that Cyprus is determined to go ahead with exploration of its natural wealth and more specifically in relation to hydrocarbons in its exclusive economic zone.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Friday after Cyprus invited tenders for a third round of natural gas exploration licenses, claiming that part of block 6 of the Cypriot exclusive economic zone is within Turkey's exclusive economic zone.

The Turkish statement also claimed that the Cypriot government overlooks the rights of Turkish Cypriots on the natural sources of the eastern Mediterranean island.

"The statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey ... constitutes an expression of the provocative and destabilizing attitude of Turkey. It is also an arbitrary interpretation of international treaties and conventions," the Cypriot Foreign Ministry said.

Cyprus marked its exclusive economic zone off its eastern and southern shores in cooperation with Egypt, Israel and Lebanon, under criteria set out by the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which Turkey has refused to ratify.

Turkey occupied the northern part of Cyprus in 1974, in reaction to a coup by the military rulers of Greece at the time, and set up a breakaway state which is recognized only by Ankara.

It also sent warships in the Cypriot economic zone in late 2014 to keep watch of a drilling ship carrying out exploration on behalf of the Italian-South Korean ENI-KOGAS consortium.

The renewed tension between Turkey and Cyprus has raised concern that further progress in the ongoing negotiations to reunify Cyprus may be checked.

The Cypriot Foreign Ministry said that it is within the sovereign rights of Cyprus to exploit its natural wealth, saying that it belongs to all the people of the island, including Turkish Cypriots.

"Natural wealth belongs to the people of Cyprus and that after a political settlement the entire people will be able to benefit from the exploitation of this wealth," the Ministry said.

It added that exploration for hydrocarbons is not affected by the UN-brokered negotiations to end the division of Cyprus, which are going on between Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci.

It said that Cyprus did not suspend exercising its sovereign rights because of the negotiations to find a political settlement.

It also stressed that the Republic of Cyprus is determined to protect its rights using all the peaceful means at its disposal, in the framework of international law.

After allocating five out of a total of eight blocks of its continental shelf in two previous licensing rounds, Cyprus announced on Thursday that it launched a third round of licensing for three more blocks which are believed by experts to contain rich deposits of natural gas. Endit