Turkey has warned Greek Cyprus against its recent unilateral move to extract natural gas and oil reserves off of Cyprus, saying the move disregards the rights of Turkish Cypriots, who have their own state in the north of the island.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday: “It is understood that the Greek Cypriot government has recently started second drilling activities to search for hydrocarbon reserves in its so-called exclusive economic zone known as Parcel 12. This activity is the continuation of Greek Cyprus’ irresponsible, provocative and unilateral moves in the region in disregarding the rights of North Cypriot Turks on these reserves.”
The statement added that the Greek Cypriot’s unilateral moves to extract reserves show that the Greek side cannot work in collaboration with the Cypriot Turks. “We can no longer let the 50-year-old Cyprus problem continue,” it said.
Cyprus is divided into a Turkish north and a Greek Cypriot south. The Greek Cypriot administration is internationally recognized as representing the entire island, while only Turkey recognizes the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC).
The Turkish Foreign Ministry also referred to a statement they published on Mar. 23, 2013 regarding the energy row, saying a two-state solution was possible if the Greek side did not want to cooperate with the Turkish Cypriots in the north. “If the Greek Cypriots are to act unilaterally regarding the natural resources to the south of the island, and if they do not desire a partnership with the Turkish Cypriots, it could also be ready for the negotiation of a two-state solution,” the Foreign Ministry suggested in the earlier statement.
Turkey insists that the only acceptable solution to the dispute over Cyprus’ hydrocarbon reserves is through a proposal earlier set out by the Turkish Cypriot government. The proposal, offered twice by the Turkish Cypriots — once in 2011 and again 2012 — calls for the establishment of a committee of representatives from Turkish and Greek Cyprus, as well as the United Nations, to determine how the hydrocarbon reserves of the island should be used.