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Turkish drillship set to spud East Med well
CyPrus/turkey
TURKISh Energy Minister Fatih Donmez said this week that the country’s Yavuz drillship would begin work on an exploration well south- west of Cyprus, leading to heightened tensions between the countries.
Speaking at a conference on October 6, Don- mez said: “All preparations have been completed, and [Yavuz] will start its first drilling in the area either today or tomorrow.”
On Monday, Reuters cited Refinitiv Eikon shipping data as showing that the Yavuz was located around 90 km southwest of Cyprus, near acreage held by Italy’s EnI and French super-ma- jor Total. Turkey has sought to stamp its author- ity on the waters surrounding Cyprus.
In January, during a meeting in nicosia with Turkish-Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Turkey would send a drillship to the “Cyprus area” in February.
Turkey acquired the Fatih drillship in 2018 and Cavusoglu said that a second would be deliv- ered in February.
“We were going to send it to the Black Sea, now we are sending it to the Cyprus area. Our
drillship Fatih is currently in the Alanya-1 area. Its work there will be done in March. We are shifting that to the south too,” Cavusoglu said.
he added that Ankara had taken this decision because the Republic of Cyprus – a member of the EU, internationally recognised and this week hosting the Summit of Southern EU Countries – had failed to accept Turkey’s “suggestions” that ensure the rights of Turkish-Cypriots.
The government of Cyprus has said repeat- edly that all Cypriot citizens, excluding Turkish settlers living in northern Cyprus, will share the benefits of any and all hydrocarbon discoveries and their monetisation once there is a settlement to the 45-year-old Cyprus problem.
Efforts are underway now to convene a new round of talks between the Republic and the Turkish-Cypriot administration.
The last round failed last year because Turkey insisted on being the guarantor of any agreement and keeping troops stationed on the island.
The Cypriot Foreign Ministry dismissed Turkey’s claims that its efforts in the East Med to prevent exploration are intended to safeguard the rights of Turkish-Cypriots.™
Conflicting licensed areas of the Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish Republic of Cyprus
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 40
08•October•2019