Cavusoglou says Turkey will guard its rights in Med

Ankara is “prepared to take all necessary measures” to protect the rights of Turkey, and those of the Turkish Cypriots in the Eastern Mediterranean, according to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

In an interview with Sunday’s Kathimerini, Cavusoglu claimed that Block 6 of Cyprus’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), where hydrocarbon explorations are already taking place, is within Turkey’s continental shelf.

“It goes without saying that we will never allow unauthorized hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation activities on our continental shelf,” he said and accused the Greek Cypriots of conducting “unilateral hydrocarbon activities in the Eastern Mediterranean.”

“Turkish Cypriots, as co-owners of the island, have inalienable rights to the natural resources around it,” he said.

Cavusoglu also reiterated Ankara’s claims that there is no sea border between Greece and Cyprus, and insisted that Greece and Turkey must first resolve their disputes in the Aegean.

Athens and Ankara, he said, need to insist on building a positive agenda in bilateral relations and pointed to the upcoming High Level Council of Cooperation of Greece and Turkey in Thessaloniki.

“I invite our Greek friends to focus first on finding a comprehensive, just and lasting solution to the Aegean dispute, instead of adding more problems to the already existing catalogue,” he said.