ISTANBUL
Turkey supports common use of resources for both sides of Cyprus, said the Turkish energy minister.
Turkey's attitude towards the situaton in Cyprus is the same as its approach towards the northern and southern parts of Iraq, said Taner Yildiz, Turkey's Energy and Natural Resources Minister on Monday.
The Greek Cypriot administration put peace talks on hold in early October after Turkey sent a research ship to explore oil and gas reserves off the island's southern coast.
"Turkey never abused its geographical advantages in any projects and Turkey believes to use energy for peaceful aims," Yildiz said during his speech at the International Mediterranean Energy Conference held by the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce.
Turkish and Greek governments agreed on Saturday to improve bilateral and regional cooperation on energy, especially concerning natural gas pipelines and electricity interconnection networks.
"We agreed with Yannis Maniatis, Greece's environment, energy and climate change minister that we can share only what is avaliable and that we cannot share something that is not avaliable yet and we need to make positive efforts for this," said Yildiz.
Turkey and Greece are the guarantor countries for the disputed Mediterranean island of Cyprus. Both Turkish and Greek Cypriots are trying to find a way to settle their decades-long conflict.
Negotiations between the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and the Greek Cypriot administration had resumed after a two-year pause in February 2013.
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