Archived from Kuwait Times on June 18, 2009
ABOARD THE TCG GEMLIK: Turkish and Turkish Cypriot warships staged search and rescue drills off the island of Cyprus yesterday amid tensions over a disputed search for oil and gas. The frigate Gemlik and other vessels took part in the maneuvers off the northern town of Famagusta, which included extinguishing fire on a ship, rescuing illegal migrants from a sinking rubber boat and rescuing the crew of a sea plane in distress.
Turkish Cypriot military officials denied the maneuvers were a show of force, but it comes amid a rekindled dispute with Greek Cypriots over who is entitled to the island’s potential offshore oil and gas wealth. Cyprus was divided in 1974 when Turkey invaded in response to a coup by supporters of union with Greece. The island has an internationally recognized Greek Cypriot south and a breakaway Turkish Cypriot north where Turkey maintains 35,000 troops.
Turkey does not recognize European Union-member Cyprus as a sovereign country and strongly objects to a Greek Cypriot search for mineral deposits inside the island’s exclusive economic zone. That area covers 51,000 square kilometers of seabed off the island’s southern coast. Turkey has warned Cyprus against pursuing “adventurist policies” and says Turkish Cypriots should also have a say in how the island’s oil-and-gas rights are used.
Cyprus government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said Tuesday the search for fossil fuels inside the island’s zone remains its sovereign right and it’s protesting the military drills at the UN and EU. But Stefanou said both communities could share in the possible bounty if ongoing reunification talks prove successful. Cyprus President Dimitris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat restarted stalled peace talks last September, but have yet to reach a breakthrough in the slow-moving process.
This is an additional motivating factor … to continue negotiations so that we can reach a just, viable and functional settlement, to reunify our homeland,” Stefanou said.
The involvement of a US energy firm Noble Energy, which is set to launch seismic work inside Cyprus’ zone later this year, could further complicate matters for Turkey, a US ally. Cyprus has licensed Noble to search for fossil fuels near two significant gas discoveries in its Israeli offshore blocks. US authorities are siding with the Cypriot government, saying “the involvement of US firms in such investment is a business decision, not a political one.” Cyprus has also signed agreements with Lebanon and Egy
pt to mark out undersea borders to facilitate future oil and gas exploration, prompting Turkey to urge those two countries to scrap the deals.
Turkey’s stakes in the dispute are higher as Cyprus has threatened to further impede Turkey’s EU accession negotiations because Turkish warships had interfered with an offshore fossil fuel survey last year. Turkey’s EU membership bid is already hobbled with eight of 35 negotiation chapters frozen over its refusal to open its air and sea ports to Cyprus “Turkey’s policy of solving the problem through use of force has not brought any good to its advantage in the international arena,” said Prof. Yuksel Inan
at International Relations Department of Bilkent University based in Ankara. “Instead, Turkey should seriously think about taking the issue to the Security Council as a temporary member now.” – AP