Turkey: Turkish Cypriots also have rights on resources

By Fatih Hafiz Mehmet

ANKARA

Turkish Cypriots also have rights on the resources around the Eastern Mediterranean island, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said as he criticized Greek Cypriots' one-sided search for hydrocarbon in the region.

Turkey had warned Greek Cypriot administration also on Thursday about its hydrocarbon-related activities in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Speaking in a joint news conference with Estonian Foreign Minister Sven Mikser in Ankara on Tuesday, Cavusoglu said: "Greek Cypriots' one sided steps here are not correct. Because Turkish Cypriots also have rights on the reserves around the island of Cyprus."

He said Greek Cypriots had taken unilateral steps to carry out hydrocarbon search around the island while the talks to reunify the island were ongoing in Switzerland's Crans Montana.

"These steps also indicate the real intention of Greece and Greek Cypriot administration," Cavusoglu said.

The Swiss talks to reunify the island of Cyprus recently ended in failure.

Representatives from the EU, the Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaderships, and the guarantor nations of Turkey, Greece and the U.K., participated in the discussions that began at the end of last month to resolve the dispute.

The UN sought a peace deal to unite Cyprus under a federal umbrella that could also define the future of Europe's relations with Turkey, a key player in the conflict.

Cavusoglu added that the plan of Greece and Greek Cypriots was to delay the talks until July 12, and when Turkey and Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) took steps to counter the hydrocarbon searches, the other side planned to walk away from the talks.

He added while the Greek Cypriot administration accepts that Turkish Cypriots also have rights over the reserves; however, it continues to take steps unilaterally.

Cavusoglu also said the Greek Cypriot administration blocks Turkey's EU membership process along with several other processes, and that the EU itself paves the way for such moves.

"Now there will be other processes in Cyprus... If one side does not want [solution], it needs to be tackled," he said.

He called for the lifting of the embargo and restrictions on the TRNC.

He added that he will go to TRNC later Tuesday.

The Eastern Mediterranean island 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.