Ozersay says TC gas claims historical not geographical

Turkish Cypriot arguments over their claimed rights to oil and gas are not geographical but historical, the north’s ‘foreign minister’ Kudret Ozersay said on Friday.

In an interview with Reuters, Ozersay repeated that Turkish Cypriots would launch their own exploration for oil and gas around Cyprus if Greek Cypriots persist with their own plans.

“Either we will do it together – by discussing, agreeing and moving together – or things will stop, or, we (Turkish Cypriots) will do the same thing: we will start exploiting and drilling as well,” said Ozersay,

Turkey has vowed to prevent what it sees as a unilateral move by Greek Cypriots, but EU member Cyprus has shown no signs of backing down. Brussels has urged Turkey to avoid threats and refrain from actions that could damage relations with the bloc.

Asked whether the dispute could escalate, Ozersay said diplomacy would be the first tool: “We aim at cooling down the waters, not warming them up.”

“For that reason in the most recent (incident) we did not use force. We did not even demonstrate force. There was deterrence there,” he said, adding the Turkish Cypriot side had pursued diplomacy before then.

“Our argument on the issue of maritime areas is not based on geography,” Ozersay said, to an observation that Cyprus has only licensed maritime exploration areas lying south of the island, where it exercises effective control, and not to the north.

“It is based on historic rights and the rights deriving from the partnership republic,” he said from his office, less than 5 km (3 miles) from a checkpoint where hundreds of Cypriots cross daily between the two sides.

“The thing is, not only the Turkish Cypriot side, but also the international community and the Greek Cypriot side accepts and acknowledges that we are the co-owners of those hydrocarbon resources,” Ozersay said.

Greek Cypriots have repeatedly said a peace deal would allow both communities to benefit from any offshore resources, and have baulked at including the issue in reunification discussions. But peace talks collapsed last year, with no sign of resuming soon.