Turkey signed a deal with the breakaway Turkish Cypriot state on Wednesday that will pave the way for offshore gas exploration, in a move set to escalate regional tensions over Mediterranean energy reserves.
On Tuesday, the Greek Cypriot government, which has been at loggerheads with Turkey since its military invasion of north Cyprus in 1974, said drilling had begun in a southeastern offshore block, adjoining a gas field in Israeli waters reputed to be the world’s largest find of the past decade.
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan described the offshore drilling by Cyprus and Turkey’s estranged ally Israel as “madness” before signing the deal with the Turkish Cypriots to clear the path for Turkish exploration off northern Cyprus.
“We had previously brought to the international community’s attention in a clear manner ... that if the Greek Cypriots started drilling, we would take a number of concrete steps together with the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus,” Erdogan was quoted as saying by state news agency Anatolian. “To reflect this commitment, Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus today in New York signed a continental shelf agreement.”
Turkey is the only country to recognize the Turkish Cypriot state, while the Greek Cypriot government is internationally recognized and represents the island in the EU.
ILLEGAL
Both Cyprus and Greece denounced the agreement as illegal.
“Turkey has committed yet another illegal act by signing an agreement with an illegal entity, such is the pseudo-state, which has been condemned by UN resolutions,” government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said in a statement.
“Turkey is attempting to prevent the Republic of Cyprus from exercising a self-evident right, one which is acknowledged by the international community, which asks that Turkey respect international legality. Unfortunately Turkey persists in acting illegally,” Stefanou said.
Turkey’s neighbor and historic rival, Greece, reiterated its criticism of the pact.
“This move from Turkey is against international law and UN Security Council decisions. The so-called ‘deal’ is invalid and groundless,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
AERIAL INCURSIONS: The incidents are a reminder that Russia’s aggressive actions go beyond Ukraine’s borders, Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said Two NATO members on Sunday said that Russian drones violated their airspace, as one reportedly flew into Romania during nighttime attacks on neighboring Ukraine, while another crashed in eastern Latvia the previous day. A drone entered Romanian territory early on Sunday as Moscow struck “civilian targets and port infrastructure” across the Danube in Ukraine, the Romanian Ministry of National Defense said. It added that Bucharest had deployed F-16 warplanes to monitor its airspace and issued text alerts to residents of two eastern regions. It also said investigations were underway of a potential “impact zone” in an uninhabited area along the Romanian-Ukrainian border. There
The governor of Ohio is to send law enforcement and millions of dollars in healthcare resources to the city of Springfield as it faces a surge in temporary Haitian migrants. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine on Tuesday said that he does not oppose the Temporary Protected Status program under which about 15,000 Haitians have arrived in the city of about 59,000 people since 2020, but said the federal government must do more to help affected communities. On Monday, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost directed his office to research legal avenues — including filing a lawsuit — to stop the federal government from sending
A Zurich city councilor has apologized and reportedly sought police protection against threats after she fired a sport pistol at an auction poster of a 14th-century Madonna and child painting, and posted images of their bullet-ridden faces on social media. Green-Liberal party official Sanija Ameti, 32, put the images on Instagram over the weekend before quickly pulling them down. She later wrote on social media that she had been practicing shots from about 10m and only found the poster as “big enough” for a suitable target. “I apologize to the people who were hurt by my post. I deleted it immediately when I
At first, Francis Ari Sture thought a human was trying to shove him down the steep Norwegian mountainside. Then he saw the golden eagle land. “We are staring at each other for, maybe, a whole minute,” Sture said on Monday. “I’m trying to think what’s in its mind.” The bird then attacked Sture five more times on Thursday last week, scratching and clawing the 31-year-old bicycle courier’s face and arms over 10 to 15 minutes as he sprinted down the mountain. The same eagle is believed to be responsible for attacks on three other people across a vast mountainous area of southern Norway
RSS