Turkey sent a second drilling vessel, Yavuz, to east Mediterranean Sea on Thursday that will begin hydrocarbon explorations off the coast of the Cyprus Island in early July.
TURKISH CYPRIOTS HAVE RIGHTS IN THE AREA
Turkey already has a drilling ship, Fatih, working in the region. Fatih vessel is operating in waters west of Cyprus Island while Yavuz will operate in the east. “The Greek Cypriot administration does not have a right to take decisions on its own or even have a say in any matter concerning the whole island,” said Turkey’s Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Donmez.
Turkey has consistently contested the Greek Cypriot administration’s unilateral drilling in the Eastern Mediterranean, saying Turkish Cypriots also have rights to the resources in the area and Ankara has the right to hydrocarbon drilling as well.
The area falls entirely within the Turkish continental shelf registered with the UN and under permit licenses the Turkish government in previous years granted to the Turkish Petroleum Corporation, the country’s national oil company.
Turkey wants to see energy as an incentive for a political resolution on the island and peace in the wider Mediterranean basin rather than a catalyst for further tensions.