Turkey may sign deal to counter Cyprus drilling in Mediterranean

Northern Cyprus and Turkey, the only country to recognize it as an independent state, may sign a continental-shelf agreement that would enable Turkish Cypriots to define and drill for oil and gas in waters they claim off the Mediterranean island.

The agreement will be signed if the republic of Cyprus, a member of the United Nations and the European Union, starts drilling in waters to the south of the island, according to an e-mailed statement today from Turkey’s Foreign Ministry. The island has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded it after a coup by Greeks to unite Cyprus with Greece.

Cyprus will drill for oil and gas in its offshore territory, Cypriot President Demetris Christofias said Sept. 13, defying Turkish objections and threats to send warships to the area. Exploiting natural resources remains a “self-evident sovereign right” of a country, he said.

Representatives of the Turkish Foreign and Energy ministries, as well as the state-run oil company, Turkiye Petrolleri Anonim Ortakligi, will go to northern Cyprus tomorrow for a round of meetings with officials, according to the statement.