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Nothing will stop drilling
By Alexia Saoulli
ALTHOUGH the government is taking Turkey’s reaction to its upcoming plans for natural gas exploration off its southern coast very seriously, nothing will deter its plans to begin drilling, the Foreign Minister said yesterday.
FM Erato Kozakou-Marcoullia said Cyprus had launched its exploration plans in line with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and that it would go ahead with those plans.
“We are taking Turkey’s threats seriously and are doing everything possible,” she added.
Kozakou-Marcoullis was speaking in response to Turkish media reports regarding Turkey’s latest reaction to the government’s drilling plans in collaboration with Israel this autumn.
On Sunday Turkish daily Hurriyet reported that Turkey has been urging the US administration to postpone the date of natural gas exploration activities off the coast of Cyprus by US firm ‘Noble Energy’.
Earlier this month Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu said Turkey would “show the appropriate reaction of any further step is taken”.
A Turkish Foreign Ministry official told Hurriyet drilling should be postponed pending the island’s reunification because the Greek Cypriot exploitation of the island’s common natural resources could entirely sap its desire for a solution.
The official said Ankara was urging Washington “not to sacrifice the political reunification process of Cyprus for trade”.
“We told the US officials that the unilateral oil and natural gas exploration activities by the Greek Cypriots were against international law and could lead to the end of the ongoing negotiation process for Cyprus unification,” he said.
Turkey has already conveyed its reservations to the US Embassy in Ankara and to the US State Department in Washington and will bring the issue to the attention of higher-level US officials, the official told Hurriyet. Turkey also plans to convey its concerns to the members of the UN Security Council, the Turkish daily added.
But Kozakou-Maroullis said the government had already made a demarche to the European Union and the Security Council in order to prevent Turkey from realising any of its threats and that any steps Cyprus had taken with regards to the exploration drilling was in line with international law.
The FM said for Turkey to be able to criticise and put forward its position it had to ratify the UNCLOS and then be in a position to criticise others.
She said Cyprus had ratified the Convention in 1988 and that Turkey had not yet even signed it.
“We also concluded agreements with three of our neighbours for the delineation of the exclusive economic zone. With Lebanon and Egypt in 2007 and Israel in 2010,” she said.
Turkey has already objected to the agreement with Egypt on the grounds that it has rights in an area that run from its southern coast to the northern coast of Egypt.
Acting government spokesman Christos Christofides yesterday also made it clear the government would not be dissuaded from going ahead with the drilling and welcomed the US State Department’s reaction to Turkey’s stance.
On Wednesday the US administration said it was aware of Turkey’s position on the issue, and although it reiterated its commitment “to support strongly the efforts of both Cypriot parties to reunify the island into a bizonal, bicommunal federation” it said it “views the plans in terms of securing energy supplies through better energy diversity” and that “is something that the United States strongly supports for all countries”. The statement was reported by Hurriyet.
House president Yiannakis Omirou also yesterday commented on the issue and accused Turkey of resorting to its familiar tactics and threats. He said the US and EU rightly supported Cyprus’ rights as a sovereign state and that no foreign power had the right to intervene. He added that Turkey’s argument that the drilling would jeopardise peace talks was unfounded and that Turkey was responsible for holding Turkish Cypriots hostage to its expansionist policies.
Ankara has repeatedly objected to the government’s bilateral agreements with Egypt, Lebanon and Israel and has said the agreements are invalid because the territory did not first solicit the approval of Turkish Cypriots.
“It’s improper that the Greek side is acting unilaterally as if they were the sole owner of the island,” the Turkish FM official told Hurriyet on Sunday.
The government signed a production-sharing contract with ‘Noble Energy’ earlier this year to launch exploration activities in November in block 12, an 800,000-acre economic zone southeast of the island which borders Israeli waters and where massive gas fields were found under the seabed.
Meanwhile Greek Defence Minister Panos Beglitis told Greek daily Ethnos Greece was not afraid of any threats posed by Turkey and that its reaction showed its understanding of international law regarding the peaceful coexistence and coordination of states.
FM Erato Kozakou-Marcoullia said Cyprus had launched its exploration plans in line with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and that it would go ahead with those plans.
“We are taking Turkey’s threats seriously and are doing everything possible,” she added.
Kozakou-Marcoullis was speaking in response to Turkish media reports regarding Turkey’s latest reaction to the government’s drilling plans in collaboration with Israel this autumn.
On Sunday Turkish daily Hurriyet reported that Turkey has been urging the US administration to postpone the date of natural gas exploration activities off the coast of Cyprus by US firm ‘Noble Energy’.
Earlier this month Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu said Turkey would “show the appropriate reaction of any further step is taken”.
A Turkish Foreign Ministry official told Hurriyet drilling should be postponed pending the island’s reunification because the Greek Cypriot exploitation of the island’s common natural resources could entirely sap its desire for a solution.
The official said Ankara was urging Washington “not to sacrifice the political reunification process of Cyprus for trade”.
“We told the US officials that the unilateral oil and natural gas exploration activities by the Greek Cypriots were against international law and could lead to the end of the ongoing negotiation process for Cyprus unification,” he said.
Turkey has already conveyed its reservations to the US Embassy in Ankara and to the US State Department in Washington and will bring the issue to the attention of higher-level US officials, the official told Hurriyet. Turkey also plans to convey its concerns to the members of the UN Security Council, the Turkish daily added.
But Kozakou-Maroullis said the government had already made a demarche to the European Union and the Security Council in order to prevent Turkey from realising any of its threats and that any steps Cyprus had taken with regards to the exploration drilling was in line with international law.
The FM said for Turkey to be able to criticise and put forward its position it had to ratify the UNCLOS and then be in a position to criticise others.
She said Cyprus had ratified the Convention in 1988 and that Turkey had not yet even signed it.
“We also concluded agreements with three of our neighbours for the delineation of the exclusive economic zone. With Lebanon and Egypt in 2007 and Israel in 2010,” she said.
Turkey has already objected to the agreement with Egypt on the grounds that it has rights in an area that run from its southern coast to the northern coast of Egypt.
Acting government spokesman Christos Christofides yesterday also made it clear the government would not be dissuaded from going ahead with the drilling and welcomed the US State Department’s reaction to Turkey’s stance.
On Wednesday the US administration said it was aware of Turkey’s position on the issue, and although it reiterated its commitment “to support strongly the efforts of both Cypriot parties to reunify the island into a bizonal, bicommunal federation” it said it “views the plans in terms of securing energy supplies through better energy diversity” and that “is something that the United States strongly supports for all countries”. The statement was reported by Hurriyet.
House president Yiannakis Omirou also yesterday commented on the issue and accused Turkey of resorting to its familiar tactics and threats. He said the US and EU rightly supported Cyprus’ rights as a sovereign state and that no foreign power had the right to intervene. He added that Turkey’s argument that the drilling would jeopardise peace talks was unfounded and that Turkey was responsible for holding Turkish Cypriots hostage to its expansionist policies.
Ankara has repeatedly objected to the government’s bilateral agreements with Egypt, Lebanon and Israel and has said the agreements are invalid because the territory did not first solicit the approval of Turkish Cypriots.
“It’s improper that the Greek side is acting unilaterally as if they were the sole owner of the island,” the Turkish FM official told Hurriyet on Sunday.
The government signed a production-sharing contract with ‘Noble Energy’ earlier this year to launch exploration activities in November in block 12, an 800,000-acre economic zone southeast of the island which borders Israeli waters and where massive gas fields were found under the seabed.
Meanwhile Greek Defence Minister Panos Beglitis told Greek daily Ethnos Greece was not afraid of any threats posed by Turkey and that its reaction showed its understanding of international law regarding the peaceful coexistence and coordination of states.
Source: www.cyprus-mail.com
August 17, 2011