Earlier this week the Greek Cypriot media reported remarks by the US ambassador to the Greek Cypriot administration in southern Cyprus, who said that an American company is expected to soon start exploring the Cyprus coast for oil and natural gas. The announcement by US Ambassador Frank Urbancic came on Tuesday while speaking at the Cyprus International Fair, Greek Cypriot media reports said on Wednesday. Urbancic revealed that an American company planned to start exploring the island's southwest coast in the near future, without providing the name of the company.
Officials at the US Embassy in Ankara approached by Today's Zaman said they had no statement to make on the issue, while officials at the Turkish Foreign Ministry declined to comment on the issue, saying they were still examining the news reports. US Embassy officials, meanwhile, also noted that they didn't have the name of the company mentioned by Urbancic.
The Greek Cypriot policy of unilaterally delineating the sea boundaries between the island's coastal neighbors and the limits of its continental shelf dates back to 2003. It has since been infuriating Ankara, which says that Greek Cypriot actions in the east Mediterranean are “provocative” because, it is assumed, they will harm the equal rights and interests of the Turkish Cypriot people vis-à-vis the natural resources of the island.
According to international law, the sea boundaries between the countries and the limits of the continental shelf of each country need to be delineated via a consensus among all coastal and neighboring countries when the issue is a semi-closed sea like the east Mediterranean.
The Greek Cypriot attempts have been considered by Ankara as having a particularly negative impact on ongoing negotiations aimed at reaching a comprehensive resolution of the Cyprus issue, since Greek Cypriot actions concerning sea zones are essentially an integral part of the comprehensive resolution issues. With such a view, Ankara is firm that it is not possible for the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC) or Turkey to accept such activities by the Greek Cypriot administration.
As of Thursday, Greek Cypriot leader Dimitris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat had met for a new round of reunification talks. The two leaders have met over 25 times since fully fledged power-sharing negotiations began last September, focusing on concerns involving the harmonization of federal and constituent state laws, delicate property issues and European Union membership.
Turkish officials state that Greek Cypriot intransigence, over and above everything else, reflects its stance in ignoring the fact that there is not a single authority on the island that legally and de facto represents the Turkish Cypriots and the entire island of Cyprus.
Additionally, the same officials are angered by the fact that the Greek Cypriot administration has been extending its unilateral attempts, which are defined as “irresponsible” by Ankara, into Turkey's zones of authority in the east Mediterranean, recalling that Turkey also has legitimate rights and authorities in sea basins west of Cyprus starting from longitude 32° 16' 18''. This fact was declared by the Turkish capital back in March 1994 in a letter sent to the UN that was later published as a UN document.
Ankara expects third parties to abandon their support for the Greek Cypriot moves and instead to concentrate their efforts on getting the ongoing negotiation process in Cyprus to succeed.
Turkish Cypriot Foreign Minister Hüseyin Özgürgün, meanwhile, has responded harshly to news reports based on the remarks by Urbancic, underlining that no country or institution has the right to conclude agreements on behalf of the whole of Cyprus with the Greek Cypriot administration, which represents only the Greek Cypriot people.
The exploration, which is reported to start soon, ignores the fact that both Greek and Turkish Cypriots should benefit from the use of natural resources on and around the island, Özgürgün said in a written statement released on Wednesday.
Özgürgün said Urbancic's presentation of the American company's involvement in the issue as “a pleasant development and a success for Cyprus,” is not acceptable, as the Anatolia news agency reported.
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