‘Don’t test Turkey’

Erdogan warns Cyprus over gas search

ANKARA, Feb 13, (RTRS): Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday warned Cyprus not to “overstep the mark” in the eastern Mediterranean, after Greek Cypriots accused the Turkish military of obstructing a vessel exploring for natural gas over the weekend.

Turkey, which does not have diplomatic ties with Cyprus, says some areas of Cyprus’s offshore maritime zone fall under the jurisdiction of Turkey or Turkish Cypriots, underscoring tensions in the broader eastern Mediterranean over competing claims for offshore resources.

“Our warships and security units are following all developments in the region with the instruction to do whatever is necessary,” Erdogan told members of his ruling AK Party in parliament.

“We warn those who overstep the mark in Cyprus and the Aegean,” he said. “They are standing up to us until they see our army, ships and planes,” he said, comparing the situation in the Aegean Sea and Cyprus with the Syrian region of Afrin where Turkey is waging an offensive against the Kurdish YPG militia.

Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades declined to comment on Erdogan’s remarks but said there was no cause for worry.

Cyprus is one of several states, also including Israel and Lebanon, racing to tap gas deposits in the eastern Mediterranean.

Greek Cypriots run Cyprus’s internationally recognised government, while Turkish Cypriots have a breakaway state in the north — recognised only by Ankara

Minister questioned in rape inquiry:

French budget minister Gerald Darmanin was questioned by investigators Monday over rape accusations dating back nearly a

French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe (center), meets a patient as he visits on Feb 13, the Centre hospitalier Simone Veil in Eaubonne, northern Paris. (AFP)

— and say resources around the island belong to them too.

The area where the Saipem 1200 drill ship was headed, Block 3 of Cyprus’s economic zone, is also claimed by Turkish Cypriots. Turkey’s state-owned oil company also plans to search for oil and gas off Cyprus, ethnically partitioned between its Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities.

Saipem is contracted by Italy’s state-controlled Eni , whose officials have confirmed the drill ship was stopped by Turkish ships on Friday afternoon because of a military exercise in the area.

Cyprus has seemed keen to downplay the standoff, which appears to be the worst escalation of simmering tensions since the island struck a small quantity of natural gas in 2011. “There is no cause for anyone to be concerned. This is being handled in a manner to avert any possible crisis which could create problems either to the economy or to the state,” President Anastasiades told reporters in Nicosia.

The European Union on Monday called on Turkey to avoid threats and “refrain from any actions that might damage good neighbourly” ties.

Eni and France’s Total, partners in a Cyprus venture, announced last week finding a promising gas field off Cyprus. They said the find looked geologically similar to the Zohr field off Egypt, which holds an estimated 30 trillion cubic feet of gas, the largest field ever found in the Mediterranean .

Cyprus was split in a Turkish invasion in 1974 after a brief Greek-inspired coup. Peace talks collapsed last year. decade, which he has steadfastly denied, a legal source said.

Paris prosecutors last month reopened an investigation into claims that Darmanin, 35, pressured a woman into sex in return for promising to help clear her name in a legal dispute.

The case comes in the midst of a global outpouring of accounts of sexual harassment and rape unleashed by the Harvey Weinstein affair.

Sophie Spatz, a 46-year-old former call girl, made a first complaint against Darmanin in mid-2017 but the investigation was closed soon after when she failed to attend questioning by the police.

In mid-January she renewed her complaint, triggering a new preliminary inquiry.

Darmanin’s lawyers have accused her of a “crude attempt to harm” the minister’s reputation and said he was suing her for slander.

Government officials have rallied in support of Darmanin, fending off calls for his resignation. (AFP)

Prince to spend ‘last days’ in palace:

Denmark’s Prince Henrik, the 83-year-old French-born husband of Queen Margrethe who has been hospitalised since January for a lung infection, was discharged on Tuesday to spend “his last days” at home,