Turkey’s Foreign Ministry press statement on the “continental shelf delimitation agreement” signed between Turkey and the “TRNC”The following statement was published yesterday on the official website of Turkey’s Foreign Ministry:

“In the Ministry’s press release, dated 15 September 2011, we have stated that upon the invitation of Turkey, a technical meeting was held at the Ministry with the TRNC. As a result of that meeting, it was agreed that Turkey and TRNC would conclude a continental shelf delimitation agreement should the Greek Cypriot administration proceed with offshore drilling activities in the south of the Island.

Since the Greek Cypriot administration has started the drilling activity on September 19, as already announced, a continental shelf delimitation agreement has been signed today (September 21) by Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President of the TRNC Dervis Eroglu while they are attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

The agreement delineates a part of Turkey’s and the TRNC’s continental shelves in the Eastern Mediterranean with a line constructed by 27 coordinates determined on the basis of international law and equitable principles.

The agreement takes into account the legitimate, equal and inherent rights of the Turkish Cypriots like those of the Greek Cypriots over the whole continental shelf of the Island.

It is also clearly stated in the agreement that Turkey and TRNC will continue their efforts towards a comprehensive settlement in Cyprus.

As it was shared in public before on various occasions, the next step is the issuance of the licenses for the exploration and exploitation of oil and gas reserves around the Island to the Turkish Petroleum Corporation by the government of the TRNC. In fact, necessary consultation and coordination to this end are being carried out by the relevant authorities of the both countries.

Turkey will continue to give its full support to the intensive and sincere efforts of the Turkish Cypriot side, which is resolved to reach a comprehensive settlement agreement in Cyprus until the end of the year in line with the expectation of the UN Secretary-General.

The Greek Cypriot side should put forward a similar political will for peace and reconciliation by stopping their drilling activities instead of wasting their energy on creating tensions, to the detriment of the solution process. It will thus be possible to reach a lasting settlement which will also help the Eastern Mediterranean to become an area of peace, stability and cooperation, while ensuring that the natural resources of Cyprus be equitably shared by the two peoples who are co-owners of the Island.”

Turkish Press :Turkey and the breakaway regime signed a “continental shelf agreement”; Ship for oil exploration is leased from a Norwegian company

Under the title: “Historic signature with Turkey”, Turkish Cypriot daily Star Kibris (22.09.11) reports that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu signed yesterday at Turkevi [Turkish House] in New York an agreement on delimiting the “continental shelf” between Turkey and the “TRNC”, breakaway regime in the occupied area of the Republic of Cyprus.

According to the paper, in statements after the signing, Erdogan said that Turkey will behave with reason and not “lend credence” to those who “hope for help” from tensions and crises. For his part, Eroglu alleged that since 2003 the Greek Cypriots launched “unilateral and illegal” initiatives regarding the wealth in the sea of Cyprus.

The paper writes also that the “agreement” signed yesterday will provide the opportunity to Turkey and the breakaway regime to jointly carry out explorations for oil and natural gas in the area. With the “agreement” they leased a ship from the Norwegian CGGV company for 20 million US dollars, in order to carry out the explorations around Cyprus and mainly in the Iskenderun (Alexandretta) Gulf. According to the paper, the Norwegian ship will carry out two and three dimensional seismic explorations.

Turkish Cypriot daily Afrika (22.09.11) refers to the issue under the title: “After the land, the sea is also divided” and reports that the Cyprus problem enters into a new period. “37 years after the border on the land, which was drawn with blood in 1974, the borders in the sea were determined with this agreement signed yesterday in New York between Erdogan and Eroglu”, writes the paper.

Afrika reports that Erdogan alleged that with this “agreement” a part of the “continental shelves” of the breakaway regime in the Mediterranean was delimited with a line obtained by unifying 27 terrestrial coordinates according to the international law and taking into consideration the principles of justice. The paper writes also that Eroglu claimed that this step was a preventive measure in the direction of forcing the Greek Cypriots to stop their explorations for oil and natural gas.

Under the title: “Agreement between Turkey and the TRNC was signed”, Turkish Cypriot daily Vatan (22.09.11) reports that Erdogan said that they protest against the “irresponsible, provocative and unilateral step of the Greek Cypriots”, as he described the start of the drilling by Noble Energy company in parcel No 12 of the Republic of Cyprus. He noted: “We want to warn the international natural gas and oil companies which do and will do business with the Greek Cypriots. Our Ministry of Energy launched an initiative on the issue of these companies not to be accepted for energy projects in Turkey and the implementation of some sanctions on them”. Erdogan alleged that the behaviour of the Greek Cypriots on the issue of natural gas and oil violates the rights and the interests of the Turkish Cypriots.

Turkish Cypriot daily Yeni Duzen (22.09.11) refers to the issue under the title: “Turkey announces Eroglu signs”. According to Yeni Duzen the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the next step of the Turkish side, which will be “the issuance of the licenses for the exploration and exploitation of oil and gas reserves around the island to the Turkish Petroleum Corporation” by the self-styled government of the breakaway regime.

Turkish Cypriot daily Halkin Sesi (22.09.11) refers to the issue under the title: “Quick response to the Greek Cypriots”. The paper reports that after the signing of the “agreement” Eroglu said that all the wealth around Cyprus belongs to both the Turkish and the Greek Cypriots and argued that accepting that the agreements and licenses on this issue could be given only by the Greek Cypriots would be “the most important injustice against the Turkish Cypriots”. The paper writes that Erdogan stated that the stance of the Greek Cypriots on the issue of natural gas and oil shows that they do not want to share a common future with the Turkish Cypriots and are not ready for a comprehensive solution in Cyprus.

Turkish Cypriot daily Volkan (22.09.11) refers to the issue under the title: “Big slap to the Greek Cypriots”.

Turkish Cypriot daily Halkin Sesi (22.09.11) covers the agreement under the title: “Challenge to the challenge”.

Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris (22.09.11) refers to the issue under the title: “The USA ‘balanced'” and reports that the President of the United States of America Barack Obama supported the joint explorations of the Republic of Cyprus and Israel for oil and natural gas and “hutted the blind eye” to the signing of the “agreement” between Turkey and the breakaway regime on delimiting their “continental shelf”. The paper writes that speaking after the signing of the “agreement” Eroglu argued that they have many times warned the Greek Cypriots not to proceed with the oil exploration in the Mediterranean and added that recently at the negotiating table he told President Christofias to postpone these initiatives. He said that the Greek Cypriot side rejected this proposal and preferred to create tension instead of focusing on the negotiations in spite of the promises it had given to the UN Secretary-General.

Meanwhile, in statements to Turkish NTV’s correspondent (21.09.11, online) after the signing of the “agreement”, Eroglu said that he had told President Christofias that the Turkish side would not sit with its hands tied if the explorations proceeded. “The agreement is the key of future agreements. It will pass quickly from the parliament”, he noted and added: “The Turkish Cypriots have rights on the entire Cyprus and this includes the surrounding area of the island. If needed, a step will be taken in this direction. The critical threshold will take place in the end of October and it will be the tripartite summit where I, Christofias and the UN Secretary-General will be participating. We hope that a result will come out from this. If the Greek Cypriots abandon the steps they are taking, we will also do it?”

Furthermore, Turkish Ankara Anatolia news agency (21.09.11) reported from New York that Erdogan said Wednesday’s “agreement” with the breakaway regime to mark “continental shelf borders” in the Eastern Mediterranean for hydrocarbon search would be ratified in the shortest time possible by the Turkish Grand National Assembly and the Turkish Cypriot so-called parliament. “We will start procedures immediately for ratification of the agreement in the shortest time possible”, Erdogan told reporters during a penning ceremony of the deal.