By Fatih Hafız Mehmet
ANKARA (AA) – Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Monday that Turkey could start drilling in the Eastern Mediterranean this autumn as the country had already purchased a platform.
Speaking at a joint news conference with his Turkish Cypriot counterpart Kudret Ozersay, Cavusoglu said the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) has territorial waters and a continental shelf which Turkey would take all measures to protect.
“Turkey has economic area in the Eastern Mediterranean, ” he added.
Cavusoglu also mentioned that Turkey had earlier prevented the start of some drilling works in the Eastern Mediterranean.
“Now, we have a platform and we can start drilling, ” he said.
Turkey has repeatedly warned the Greek Cypriot Administration about its unilateral hydrocarbon-related research in the Eastern Mediterranean, saying Turkish Cypriots also have rights to the resources around the area.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when a Greek Cypriot coup was followed by violence against the island's Turks and Ankara's intervention as a guarantor power.
In 2017, after two years of negotiations, the latest attempt to reunify the long-divided Mediterranean island ended in failure.
