KKTC slams Greek Cypriot move on oil exploration
Turgay Avcı, foreign minister of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC), reacted harshly yesterday to a reported unilateral move by the Greek Cypriot administration to launch offshore oil and gas exploration in waters surrounding the divided island of Cyprus.
Greek Cypriot daily Phileleftheros reported that the Greek Cypriot administration has been preparing to launch exploration in the waters between Egypt and the island of Cyprus in early 2009 and that ongoing negotiations with two companies concerning the planned exploration have entered their final stage, the Anatolia news agency reported. A deal could be signed next month with those two companies, the daily said, citing Greek Cypriot sources. A few days ago a new tender was announced, with a December deadline, the daily also said.
Exploration of oil by the Greek Cypriot administration is a violation of legal rights of Turkey and the KKTC over Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) in the region, Avcı said yesterday in a written statement.The Turkish Cypriots "have encountered a new Greek Cypriot provocation and irresponsibility on the eve of the meetings," Avcı said, in an apparent reference to a scheduled meeting between Greek Cypriot leader Dimitris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat which will take place on Sept. 3 and mark the start of direct negotiations to resolve the Cyprus issue.
Greek Cyprus is supposed to offer successful applicants exclusive exploration rights over the exploration blocks. If a commercial discovery is made, production would be shared between the licensee and Greek Cyprus under a production-sharing contract.
Greek Cyprus signed accords with Egypt in 2005 and with Lebanon in 2007 to delineate the sea boundaries between them along with the limits of the continental shelf. Ankara opposes those agreements on the basis that international law states that sea boundaries between countries and the limit of the continental shelf for each country need to be delineated in a consensus amongst all the coastal and neighboring states when the issue is in a semi-closed sea like the east Mediterranean.
http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=151247&bolum=102
ate bale...the pirates of the mediterranean are at it again...
and then this beauty...
Ankara opposes those agreements on the basis that international law
international law and "turkey=fascists state" in the same sentence?...priceless
:):)
