Turkey warns Greek Cypriot on hydrocarbon-related acts

ANKARA

Turkey late Thursday warned the Greek Cypriot Administration about its hydrocarbon-related activities in the Eastern Mediterranean.

"We are closely following the Greek Cypriot Administration’s ongoing unilateral hydrocarbon-related activities … which disregard the inalienable rights on natural resources of the Turkish Cypriot people, the co-owners of the Island," a foreign ministry statement read.

A drilling vessel has arrived in the region to begin work in the context of the so-called licenses unilaterally issued by the Greek Cypriot Administration, according to the statement.

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

"Turkey is determined to protect both its own rights and interests in its continental shelf and to continue its support to the Turkish Cypriot side,” the statement said.

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.

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.