Extremely angry Turkey over Greek Cyprus

 

Extremely angry Turkey over Greek Cyprus

Extremely angry Turkey over Greek Cyprus: Turkey is angry that the Greek Cypriot administration has agreed to grant exploration licenses to ExxonMobil and Qatar Petroleum in the eastern Mediterranean. Ankara sees Turkey's and Turkey's disregard for Cyprus' rights in the region as a clear provocation to escalate tensions.

Turkey's foreign ministry issued a statement on Thursday stating its position. News Daily Sabah.

The Greek Cypriot administration said on Thursday that the Council of Ministers had agreed to grant ExxonMobil and Qatar Petroleum a license to explore hydrocarbons in Section 5 of the country's declared Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The economic zone is located in the south and southeast of the country.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement that part of the license violated Turkey's territorial boundaries in the eastern Mediterranean.

‘Just like before, Turkey will never allow any country, company, ship to conduct illegal hydrocarbon exploration in its maritime territory. "Ankara will always take steps to protect the rights of Turkey and Turkish Cyprus," the statement said.

For decades, Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration have been at loggerheads with Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean over maritime boundaries, airspace, energy, and some small islands. In addition, Turkey and Greece do not agree on their maritime borders. Turkey does not recognize the territorial waters claimed by Greece and Greek Cyprus in the Eastern Mediterranean, and Turkey and Turkey view this claim as a violation of Cyprus sovereignty.