Cyprus appealed to Russia on Thursday to help ease tensions with Turkey over natural gas exploration in the eastern Mediterranean, where a long-running dispute over jurisdiction in the energy-rich area has been heating up.
A Turkish seismic ship, the Barbaros Hayreddin Pasa, sailed in waters off Cyprus earlier this week. Greece last week protested Turkey’s plans to send another ship, the Oruc Reis, to an area between Cyprus and the Greek island of Crete. Turkey postponed that project pending talks with Greece.
In a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades called for “the intervention of the Russian president in Turkey, so that Turkey is convinced to cease its illegal actions,” said the Cypriot government spokesman. Kyriakos Koushios in a written statement. .
“The Russian President … promised to intervene towards [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan to reduce the crisis, but also by participating in a creative dialogue to solve the Cyprus problem, “Koushios said. Putin said, he was” very concerned “about the situation.
Members of the European Union, Greece and Cyprus disagree with Turkey over the overlapping claims for offshore oil reserves in the eastern Mediterranean.
Nicosia’s call for Putin, who is seen as close to Erdogan, is possibly the most tangible sign of concern that tensions could escalate to the point where they spiral out of control.
Turkey-Greece relations fell to a new low last week after the Turkish navy issued a notice for seismic studies, typically a precursor to hydrocarbon research, in waters the Greeks said were theirs.
The two countries do not agree on the limits of their respective continental shelves.
Erdogan had requested that operations be suspended as a constructive approach to negotiations with Greece. But Turkey’s National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said Turkey had the right to carry out energy explorations in the eastern Mediterranean.
“Carrying out exploratory work to harness resources in marine areas under the authority of Turkey and licensed areas (Northern Cyprus) … is our right and we will definitely exercise it,” he said.
While Greece said Turkey had taken a positive step by postponing the Cyprus-Greece survey plans, it said it was concerned that operations in Cyprus had not ceased.
SOURCE:
Reuters news agency
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