ANKARA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th September, 2018) Turkey could launch the hydrocarbon exploratory drilling on Cyprus' shelf in fall at the request of the non-recognized Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Monday.
"There is a Turkish economic zone in the East Mediterranean and the shelf of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. At its request, we are taking the necessary steps. Our energy ministry is preparing for the beginning of boring, we can proceed to it as early as this fall," Cavusoglu said at a joint press conference with Northern Cyprus' Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Kudret Ozersay in Ankara.
Ankara has been opposing offshore oil and gas exploration off Cyprus coast by various companies, claiming that it violates the rights of the Turkish community living on the island.
Offshore gas reserves off Cyprus coast were discovered by US Noble Energy company in 2011 with Cyprus granting oil and gas exploration licenses to French Total, Italian Eni and US ExxonMobil.
Cyprus has been de facto divided from 1974, when Turkey send its troops to the island in response to an attempted coup by the Greek military. Turkey occupied nearly 40 percent of the country's territory, where the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was declared in 1983. The negotiations over the island's reunification renewed in 2014 after a two-year suspension.
