Turkey summons Greek envoy over Cyprus crisis

ANKARA

Greek Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades announced Oct. 8 that they had suspended ongoing peace talks in Cyprus after Turkey sent warships to the region. AFP Photo

Turkey has summoned Greece’s ambassador to Ankara to the Foreign Ministry to express the government’s reaction over the Greek Cypriot administration’s decision to halt the reunification talks, as well as to refute Greece’s claims that Turkey has been violating Cyprus’ sovereign rights.

Kyriakos Loukakis, Greece’s ambassador to Turkey, was invited to the Turkish Foreign Ministry yesterday, diplomatic sources confirmed. The meeting came just a day after Greece summoned the Turkish ambassador to Athens, Kerim Uras, to denounce Ankara’s sending warships to the eastern Mediterranean, where Greek Cypriots are drilling for oil.

Greece and Greek Cypriots both accuse Turkey of violating the Greek Cypriot administration’s sovereign rights and of threatening to use force to halt the oil drilling.

Greek Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades announced that they had suspended the ongoing peace talks in Cyprus after Turkey sent warships to the region.

Ankara refuted the claims by underlining that both Turkey and Turkish Cypriots have rights in the eastern Mediterranean and Turkey’s warships frequently patrol the region.      

Italian-Korean energy consortium ENI-Kogas began deep-sea drilling off Cyprus for possible gas last month in the second attempt to undergo exploratory tests since the first find in 2011.

U.S. firm Noble Energy made the first find in the Aphrodite field, which is estimated to contain 102 billion to 170 billion cubic meters (3.6 trillion to six trillion cubic feet) of gas.   

Government officials in Nicosia say Ankara, which does not recognize the zone, has announced that a Turkish seismic vessel would carry out a survey in the same area as ENI-Kogas’s platform from mid-October.