Turkey will not stop drilling in Cyprus waters despite EU threats of penalty, which Turkish parliamentary speaker Mustafa Sentop rejected as a "bluff," in a comment to Sputnik
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd July, 2019) Turkey will not stop drilling in Cyprus waters despite EU threats of penalty, which Turkish parliamentary speaker Mustafa Sentop rejected as a "bluff," in a comment to Sputnik.
In June, Turkey sent a second drilling ship to explore gas fields off the northeast coast of Cyprus, which it sees as its continental shelf. Brussels called the action illegal and warned of possible sanctions, noting that Ankara had violated the right of the Republic of Cyprus, a EU member state, to explore resources within its exclusive economic zone.
"Turkey has rights in the Eastern Mediterranean arising from international law and we are determined in exercising those. Turkey will not tolerate such bluffs or threats. Nobody can make us give up on our natural right," Sentop said.
Turkey has been at loggerheads with the European Union after it froze Ankara's membership bid. The speaker argued that Cyprus should not have been allowed to join either as EU rules require that an aspiring nation resolve its border disputes first.
"According to charter of the EU for a country to be a member of the EU they should not have border issues with other countries. Whereas in Cyprus there is such an issue. And while that was the case they accepted Southern Cyprus into the EU. So that is a very basic flow in law here, which cannot be defended," the Turkish lawmakers said.
Cyprus has been split between Greek and Turkish communities since 1974, although the Turkish-backed northern republic has not been recognized internationally. The Republic of Cyprus, which de jure has sovereignty over the entire island, joined the European Union in 2004.
