Displaying items by tag: Cypriot Cold War

Another war between the Greek Cypriots and Turkey is looking likely amid rising tensions over drilling rights in the Eastern Mediterranean that is drawing in regional stakeholders Egypt, Israel and Greece. Turkey’s Foreign Minister warned the Greek Cypriots ‘you can’t take the slightest step in the Eastern Mediterranean. If you dare, you will receive the appropriate response.’ He was alluding to Turkey’s 1974 military intervention on the island that has left it divided between the internationally recognised Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus recognised solely by Ankara. Turkey’s second drill ship, Yavuz, arrived off the Karpas Peninsula on 9 July. The area was ‘licensed’ by the Turkish Cypriots to the state-owned Turkish Petroleum company, even though under international law they are not authorised to do so. Cyprus called the escalation of drilling ‘Turkey’s repeated violations of Cyprus’s sovereign rights based on the UN Law of the Sea.’ The EU and Russia are calling for restraint and respect of Cyprus’s sovereignty.