Cyprus To File Court Case Against Turkey At The Hague Over Oil Drilling In EEZ

Cyprus to File Court Case Against Turkey at The Hague Over Oil Drilling in EEZ

Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades announced his intention to launch a court case with the International Court of Justice at The Hague over Turkey's oil exploration drilling in Cyprus' exclusive economic zone, media reported Thursday

ATHENS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th December, 2019) Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades announced his intention to launch a court case with the International Court of Justice at The Hague over Turkey's oil exploration drilling in Cyprus' exclusive economic zone, media reported Thursday.

"We have said that we will use every legal weapon, every international forum, every international organization, to protect the sovereign rights of the Republic of Cyprus and recourse to The Hague has that very purpose," Anastasiades said to reporters, as quoted by Cyprus Mail.

Since hydrocarbon fields were discovered in the Eastern Mediterranean, including in the exclusive economic zone of Cyprus, their development plans have led to tensions. Ankara believes that Turkish Cypriots have the right to these natural resources and have sent drilling rigs and naval ships to the region.

Furthermore, on November 27, Turkey and the internationally recognized Libyan government signed a memorandum that set a new maritime border that runs through a zone in the Mediterranean that Greece and Cyprus claim as theirs.

The Cypriot president said that a notice was sent to the Turkish embassy in Athens, since the two countries do not have diplomatic relations, but was rejected. This move, according to Anastasiades, gives Cyprus the right to recourse.

Cyprus Mail went on to quote opposition leader Andros Kyprianou, who also held a news conference on Thursday, raised doubts about that likelihood of the case being heard before judges.

Kyprianou noted, according to the newspaper, that the UN International Court of Justice's charter requires that both plaintiff and accused agree to the launching of legal procedures, only then are the court's decisions binding. This is something Turkey is unlikely agree to.

The second option, however, is if Cyprus gathers enough political backing to prompt the UN General Assembly or Security Council to request the court to hear the case. In this scenario, the court's decisions are non-binding; Turkey will not be obliged to comply.

"The opinion will not be legally binding for Turkey. It will certainly be politically useful in our struggle to defend Cyprus' sovereign rights," Kyprianou, leader of the communist Akel Party, said.

Cyprus has been split between the Greek and Turkish communities since 1974, when Turkey occupied the island's north. In 1983, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus declared its independence, without being recognized by any country except for Turkey. UN-backed attempts to unite Cyprus have been unsuccessful so far, with the dialogue stalled since the last round of talks in Switzerland's Crans-Montana in 2017.