Turkey slams Cyprus for gas search
Warship prevents rig in standoff on high seas
NICOSIA, Cyprus, Feb 11, (Agencies): Turkey's foreign ministry criticized Cyprus again Sunday for a "unilateral" offshore hydrocarbons search after Turkish warships prevented an Italian rig from reaching an area off the east Mediterranean island nation where it was to start exploratory drilling for gas.
Turkish warships on Friday stopped a rig belonging to the Italian energy firm ENI as it headed toward an area southeast of Cyprus.
Turkey, in a statement Sunday, said Greek Cypriots were disregarding the "inalienable rights on natural resources" of Turkish Cypriots and jeopardizing the region's stability.
Turkey's foreign ministry said the Cyprus government was acting like "the sole owner of the island" and warned it would be responsible for any consequences. It also urged foreign companies not to support the Cyprus' government's activities.
Cyprus was split into an internationally-recognized Greek Cypriot south and a breakaway Turkish Cypriot north in 1974 when Turkey invaded following a coup by supporters of union with Greece. Only Turkey recognizes a Turkish Cypriot declaration of independence and keeps more than 35,000 troops in the north.
An ENI spokesman told The Associated Press that the Turkish warships told the rig not to continue because there would be military activities at its destination. The spokesman said the rig would remain where it stopped until the situation is resolved.
Actions
Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades said Sunday that Cypriot authorities are taking actions that will neither lead to an escalation of tensions nor overlook the fact that Turkey was violating international law.
The Cyprus government says a gas search is its sovereign right and that any potential hydrocarbon wealth generated will be equitably shared among all Cypriots after the island is reunified.
Italy's ENI, France's TOTAL and ExxonMobil of the U.S. are among the companies licensed to search for hydrocarbons off Cyprus' southern coast.
Last week, Cyprus announced that ENI and partner TOTAL had discovered
Rakhmat Akilov had sworn allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) on the eve of his assault in one of Europe’s safest cities, though the jihadist group never claimed responsibility.
The prosecution’s charge sheet, presented in late January, paints a picture of a lonely illegal alien working odd construction jobs who drank alcohol and took a potentially sizeable gas field off its southwestern coast that's close to Egypt's Zohr deposit, which is the largest ever discovered in the Mediterranean.
In earlier drilling, Texas-based Noble Energy discovered a field off Cyprus estimated to hold more than 4 trillion cubic feet of gas.
Meanwhile, Cyprus on Sunday accused the Turkish military of obstructing a ship contracted by Italian oil company Eni from approaching an area to explore for natural gas, highlighting tensions over offshore resources in the east Mediterranean.
A spokesman for Eni said on Sunday that the Saipem 12000 drill ship had been heading from a location southwest of Cyprus towards an area southeast of the island on Friday when it was stopped by Turkish military ships and told not to continue because of military activities in the destination area.
Relations
Turkey, which does not have diplomatic relations with Cyprus, claims that certain areas in Cyprus’s offshore maritime zone, known as an EEZ, fall into the jurisdiction of Turkey or that of Turkish Cypriots.
Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades said Turkey had violated international law by blocking the ship and Cyprus would take “necessary steps”, without elaborating, although he seemed keen to avoid exacerbating the situation.
“From our side, our actions reflect the necessity of avoiding anything which could escalate (the situation), without of course overlooking the violation of international law perpetrated by Turkey,” Anastasiades told journalists in Nicosia.
A spokesperson for Italy’s statecontrolled Eni said the ship, which was travelling after reporting a natural gas discovery in another prospect within Cypriot maritime boundaries on Feb. 8, would remain stationary until the issue was resolved.
“The vessel has prudently executed the orders and will remain in position pending an evolution of the situation,” the spokesperson said.
The ship was heading to Block 3 of Cyprus’s exclusive economic zone, ENI said.
Turkey’s ministry of foreign affairs, in a statement on Sunday did not make any mention of obstructing the Eni ship but said exploration of
drugs, and who acted alone.
On the afternoon of Friday, April 7, Akilov stole a beer delivery truck and barrelled down a bustling pedestrian shopping street, swerving wildly to hit as many people as possible before smashing into the facade of a department store. He killed five and injured 10.
“I was walking down the street ... and Block 3 was a unilateral move by Greek Cypriots that violated the sovereign rights of Turkish Cypriots on the ethnically-split island and Greek Cypriots were jeopardising security and stability in the region.
Greek Cypriots, who are exploring for natural gas, run Cyprus’s internationally recognised government. Turkish Cypriots run a breakaway state recognised only by Ankara in north Cyprus and say resources around the island belong to them too.
Cyprus’s state radio reported senior officials from Eni would hold talks in Nicosia on Monday.
The island was split in a Turkish invasion in 1974 after a brief Greekinspired coup. Peace talks collapsed last year.
Turkey’s ministry of foreign affairs said it would continue to protect Turkey’s own rights and interests on its continental shelf, and those of Turkish Cypriots.
“We also make use of this opportunity to strongly emphasize our expectation that companies centred in third countries refrain from supporting... this unconstructive Greek Cypriot attitude which also constitutes a major obstacle to the settlement of the Cyprus issue,” it said.
Furthermore, Greek Cypriots run Cyprus’s internationally recognised government. It has no diplomatic relations with Turkey.
In addition to Cyprus and Turkey, Israel and Lebanon are also at odds over offshore gas exploration and marine boundaries.
The Saipem 12000 had previously been commissioned to drill the Calypso, which lies less than 100 km away from the mammoth Zohr field off Egypt. It had been heading to a maritime block, known as Block 3, where it was to start work on another prospect, dubbed Cuttlefish.
Block 3, which lies far below Cyprus’s Karpasia peninsula, the pointed ‘panhandle’ of the island, lies closer to Syria or Lebanon than Turkey.
In Italy, a spokesperson for Eni said the Saipem 12000 was stopped by Turkish military ships with the notice not to continue because of military activities in the destination area.
“The vessel has prudently executed the orders and will remain in position pending an evolution of the situation,” the spokesperson said.
you don’t expect something like that to happen... All of a sudden, this truck ran me over,” Irina Zamanova, a 38-year-old Ukrainian woman who lost her lower right leg in the attack, told AFP. She said it was important for her to attend the trial and testify even though it would be “trying” to relive the events of that day.
Akilov, born in 1978, was arrested in a Stockholm suburb hours after his attack thanks to public transport video surveillance footage, and confessed.
He faces charges of “terrorism and attempted terrorism”. The trial is scheduled to last through May, with a verdict due in June. (AP)
Bid to block Navalny’s probe:
Russia’s communications oversight agency is moving to block access to an investigation published online by opposition leader Alexei Navalny alleging that Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Prikhodko received lavish hospitality from billionaire Oleg Deripaska.
The tycoon has been linked to President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who has been indicted in U.S. special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election.
The agency, Roskomnadzor, said Saturday it has placed the investigation, which was published Thursday on the website of Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, and a YouTube video of it, on its register of sites containing information not to be distributed in Russia, according to Russian news agencies. (AP)